Gnothi_Seauton

Congrats, zizeksucks!

I appreciate the aim of On What Matters, but it seems to me that it is more of a reduction than a unification. I think what Parfit shows is that, with some modifications to Kantianism and Contractualism, both can be reducible to some sophisticated form of Rule Consequentialism. Basically, I'm not sure how the Kantian and Contractualist elements add to the Consequentialist elements of Parfit's theory. This is not necessarily a criticism. I'm interested if others have the same take. I also selected "Other," though not because there is some other theory to which I subscribe, but rather because I think all the options have problems and I don't subscribe to any particular normative ethical theory. My interests are geared more towards metaethics. I think the differences between and among these theories become starker at the metaethical level. Also, to pro_Tonto, welcome!

A Syracuse acceptance is up!

No word yet from UPenn. Penn is quite late at this point given its early application deadline and history of sending acceptances in early February.

It should be noted that a Ph.D in the UK, at least, is generally only a dissertation (no coursework). They normally require that a student have a research Master's degree before moving on to the Ph.D. That's why doctoral applications require such detailed research proposals: you're expected to have a dissertation idea already because that's what you're doing from day one.

I have an MSc from a European university. I can't help much with programs in continental philosophy, but I do know that it is very difficult to get funding for Master's-level programs if you're an international student (here, by "international," I mean "non-EU"). The reason is simple: these programs make a lot of money through international students and they don't usually want to sacrifice it, no matter how good the student might be. That said, I had an amazing time and got to meet a lot of really smart people and really great philosophers all while spending time in one of the coolest cities in the world. It was expensive, but I would do it all over again if given the chance. Pretty much the only sources of funding are going be the big scholarship competitions (Fulbright, Marshall, Gates Cambridge, Rhodes, etc.). But those deadlines have passed by now, I'm sure. If you're interested in a Ph.D, then that probably changes the funding situation a bit, but I don't know enough about it to speak to it.

Looks like someone just posted an acceptance to WashU's PNP program on the results page.

The best place to look is on the faculty pages of the top 25 departments. I wouldn't look at the Ph.D institution of older professors. I would focus on where the assistant and young associate professors got their Ph.Ds. I would bet that places like Harvard, Princeton, NYU, and Rutgers are strongly represented.

I think we can still trust the results page. A couple fake posts shouldn't be used as grounds to discredit all the posts.

Good info! I didn't apply to NYU, so I haven't investigated their website especially closely. They claim in their FAQ section that they don't release offers until March, so the earlier ones were almost certainly fake.

So, do we think that the previous NYU posts were fake, or do we think this new post is fake?

Here's another resource. Same blog. It provides the date of initial communication from each department, but I don't think he tracks UConn. If you have questions about other schools, this is a good place to start: http://faircloudblog.wordpress.com/predictions/ I think UConn was pretty early on in the process. Either late January or very early February.

If memory serves, Michigan acceptances went out about a week and a half ago. Maybe late in the week not this past week but the week before. I'm sure if you scroll back far enough in the results pages, you'll find them. And I think one person who was accepted to Michigan posted in the Acceptance Thread here in the forums.

ianfaircloud, a frequent poster in these forums, has kept some pretty great data on his blog. See this: http://faircloudblog.wordpress.com/notifications/ Green=Sent out acceptances Yellow=Sent out waitlists Red=Sent out rejections

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=philosophy Three have been posted. One provides an excerpt from the rejection letter.

I hope the Harvard rejection is fake. Being rejected by phone sounds brutal.

My hunch is to say that most of the people in these forums did not contact any professors at the departments to which they have been admitted. I didn't contact anyone. I did, however, mention in my statement of purpose specific people in each department whose work matches with my interests.

I'd still say don't worry yet. 8 of my schools have released results and I've only heard from 3. You won't know anything until you hear from all of your schools (or at least until all of your schools have released results). I wouldn't assume any kind of "trend" in your results thus far. There's no reason to think that an outright rejection at one place means anything with respect to what will happen at another place.

I wouldn't say that, in and of itself, rejection (or implied rejection) from a lower ranked school should be taken to indicate that one won't get accepted to a higher ranked school. I applied to one of the first schools to release results (Duke). After not hearing anything, I started to have the same feelings as you. I thought that top 25 was out of reach. About a week later, I got an offer from UNC-Chapel Hill. I still haven't heard anything from Duke, so I'm assuming that I'll be rejected. MattDest, another frequent poster here, was waitlisted at Missouri (ranked around 50) and accepted outright to Arizona, a top 15. There are too many factors at play in admissions that depend on chance. I wouldn't worry yet.

Brown acceptance posted!

I'm pulling for you, zizeksucks!

I have just declined my offer from UVA. I sincerely hope that helps someone here!

I take posting results to be a way of informing other applicants that acceptances/rejections/waitlists from some given school have gone out. After all, many people in these forums have expressed the sentiment that silence is almost as bad as rejection. Furthermore, I think having a sense of the number of acceptances that have gone out is helpful. I hope that no one views posting acceptances as a way of showing off or something, which, I take it, is what you're worried about.

General questions: I would ask about the attentiveness of professors with whom you're interested in working (basically, do they really help you out, or do they seem uninterested in grad student work?), whether the stipend is sufficient to cover living expenses, and what their perception is of their chances on the job market. Climate questions: I think there are two kinds of climate questions. First, you could ask about concrete events. "Have any inappropriate incidents ever happened?" Second, you could ask about current students' sense of the climate. "Do you feel that you're treated as an equal?" As for asking current students to coffee, if I put myself in the shoes of a current student and try to evaluate how I would feel, I think I would be happy to meet with a prospective student. I certainly wouldn't find it weird. But maybe others have different reactions.

Someone posted an acceptance from Toronto. Congrats to that person! Let's hope it means more results are on the way this afternoon!