Silly_Socrates

Hey! I just found this thread so I thought I'd say hi! I only applied to one program (the musicology PhD at WashU) and am anxiously waiting to hear back. I'm in a somewhat non-traditional position as an applicant because I don't have any formal degrees in music, and I also have a PhD in a different field. I discussed my background with the program director a few months ago to ensure it made sense for me to apply and to explain my project idea (which would be about about stylistic differences in polka music as well as researching the influence polka has had in St. Louis). One question I have after reading this forum though, is if it fairly normal for music programs to do interviews before announcing acceptances?

Just seeing if any of you all are around! Maybe we could organize something to meet up and get a drink. Eh? Anyone?

I declined both South Florida and Bowling Green. I knew very little about the city of St Louis and the university before I visited. I was actually a little hestitant, but was just blown away by how neat the city is and all the program has to offer me. I'm really looking forward to attending SLU.

accepted my offer from Saint Louis University!

I'm in MU's SOAP program, so I sent you a PM.

Thanks, I'll be sure to look into him if I end up in St. Louis.

I think SLU has slightly better placement than USF, and SLU also offers more courses in medical ethics, which is my main concern. Not to mention, SLU's stipend is larger and guaranteed for 5 years. However, i would likely choose Bowling Green or Michigan state over SLU given their strengths in applied ethics, but I am still waiting to hear from MSU and am on a waitlist for funding from BGSU. I am visiting SLU next week, so I'll see how I like their department and city.

I was waitlisted for funding as well at USF, but I will be declining soon. From what I was told from the department, they usually are able to fund up to the 6th person on the waitlist. I hope funding works out in your favor!

I'd be interested.

Best of luck to you!

1) Ian, to answer your question, the envelope is time stamped with 2/21 as well. 2) The online status of my Madison application has been updated to say "denied." So if you haven't heard anything via post or email, it seems as if the website has been updated!

It was postal mail. I live in wisconsin, so first number of my zip is 5. The letter was dated February 21st, so I am actually surprised it did not arrive Saturday.

Nope. Online status still says pending.

I can claim a Madison rejection. The letter said they were accepting 7 out of over 170 applicants.

I've lived in Milwaukee for the past 6 years, and additionally, I grew up in a suburb about 20 minutes away from the city. Housing is difficult in my opinion, but if you're coming from NYC you might be pleasantly surprised with prices. I would say average is ~$500 for a decent place with roommates, but some searching can land you a good place with roommates for $300. Remember that you will be paying heating bills in winter. In my apartment, which is an older house ( as most of them are around here), we pay about $200 for heat and electric combined in dec-march. The city is great for someone in their 20's. It is a pretty young crowd, especially around uwm. The downtown, 3rd ward, and 5th ward is also a mix of students and young working professionals. Brady st is a great area to live in my opinion. You have a variety if bars to choose some that will suit a variety of styles, trivia, restaurants, coffee shops, and is on major bus lines. Riverwest is awesome as well. A mix of students, families, and welcoming community members. They have fun bars, a farmers market, and both a book and food co op. A car is not necessary since we have buses, but it does come in handy once in a while. In winter it can be more of n inconvenience to have a car since winter street parking regulations go into effect. You also have to put up with cleaning snow off your car which is a pain. You can try to find a parking space to rent indoors, but that costs about $80-100 a month and be difficult to find. We have a ton of festivals in summer, plenty if breweries, and some great museums. If you have ny specific questions, PM me!

I got the Saint Louis U acceptance! What a great feeling!!!

Personally, I found that my 'philosophical maturity' came about during my masters program. I think that undergrad is an opportunity to gain interest in philosophy, and you should be able to show on your grad apps the potential you have at being a devoted and evolving philosophy student. The beginning years of a grad program are to develop your interests and abilities quickly (at least they were for me). In undergrad, I was never required to do a senior thesis or the like, so I felt a bit disadvantaged going into a masters program. Surprisingly enough, my masters does not require a thesis or comp exams either, but I have pursued the opportunity of working one on one with professors in my AOI. Within the first semester of my masters, I felt I had found the area of philosophy to which I would be most devoted and interested in. To address the second part of your post, I think it is good to gain life experience and recommend it to the highest degree. I ended up graduating a year early (and unexpectedly) from undergrad. I did not have time to apply to grad programs, and I am now quite thankful I had not. I was 20, almost 21, and I had a lot of energy to get out of my system first. I used that year to get a job in a law firm, which made me realize that I wanted to pursue philosophy and not law. I got to go abroad and take a few grad level classes which also helped to affirm my decision to do philosophy at the graduate level. I got to travel, live with new people, make new friends, etc. You have the luxury of free time, which allows you to learn new topics not because you are required to, but because you have an actual interest in them. Perhaps you’ll find new areas of philosophy that you never had come across before, but which you wish to learn more about. Heck, maybe you’ll get really interested in a completely different area and decide to go get another bachelor’s degree. I am glad I had time to have some great experiences, mature, save up some money, and to develop personally. I think if you applied to graduate programs, you probably have a pretty good idea of what you’re getting yourself into. It is a huge commitment. You have to know you’re ready and able to handle such a commitment. But also to note, grad school can supply a lot of the experiences I got from having a year off. You make new friends, get to travel all over for conferences, perhaps save money (assuming you’ll go out less cause you need to spend more time researching/writing, etc.), and most importantly, you develop intellectually.

I'm an A, so as early as it gets!

I told myself that my early-in-the-alphabet last name was the reason I was the first person to report a rejection from Bloomington, and it was not because my application was so bad that they just had to reject me ASAP.

Very generic email. Lots of applicants, tight budget constraints, yadda yadda.

That'd be me. I posted to the rejections thread. I'm definitely not heart broken over this, as Indiana was not one of my top choices. But I'm glad to have heard something finally.

I can confirm the Bloomington rejection! Hearing a rejection after not hearing anything thus far is surprisingly much more exciting than imagined.

----------- I applied to MSU and this is actually one of the schools I'm most interested in. They have a track in health care ethics which i would love to do, and some faculty I have read a lot of and think I would enjoy working with. What I have researched and been told of MSU, it is one of my top choices.

I was just reading more about Madison's philosophy program. They say that they accept ~25 students, Does anyone else think that is a lot? Does this mean the actual incoming class size is 25?

I'm okay with users knowing my undergrad and masters university since I've had a good experience with my department over the years. So if anyone has questions about Marquette University let me know.