deverettf

That said, Errol Lord has a proven track record, and it is likely, nay, guaranteed that you'll be offered admission to better programs being Errol Lord. If I were in your position, and it were possible for me, I'd probably choose to be Errol Lord.

MattDest brings up a good point--is it possible that you can transfer from the PhD program you'd attend to a better program? Is it likely? And how much better? (Perhaps it would be difficult to find out about this--presumably, it's a bit tactless, and probably strategically poor, to ask the PhD departments directly how often people do this.) That said, Tufts has a proven track record, and it is likely (though by no means guaranteed) that you'll be offered admission to better programs coming out of Tufts. If I were in your position, and it were affordable for me, I'd probably choose Tufts.

Just to let you all know, I turned down my Michigan offer today (not the best fit for me in light of other offers). I hope that opens up a spot for someone else.

Claiming a Michigan acceptance! I'm afraid I don't have any details about how many offers are being made, etc.

I claim another Columbia rejection!

A good chunk of my summer will be spent at CUNY's Latin/Greek Institute. Got to cram all of Latin grammar into my head before I go off to grad school!

So far, three Columbia rejections have been reported on the philosophy gradcafe webpage. Two of them are for the Philosophy PhD program, and both look suspicious: for one, the comment reads "(0a, 0a, 1r: 1) I just don't get it, I thought I played this perfectly"; for the other, the comment reads (as though quoting from a rejection email) "We decided that you didn't suck up enough during your undergraduate years and I concur with this decision." The remaining rejection is for a Philosophy of Religion program. This report seems genuine, but I think the program is affiliated with the department of religion, not philosophy (http://religion.columbia.edu/graduate/handbook/fields-study/philosophy-religion). That said, both waitlists and acceptances have been reported for Columbia, so you're probably either rejected or on some kind of internal waitlist.

From the "Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistants": "In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the instutition to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written relase from any previously accepted offer." I don't know how difficult it is to obtain a written release, though.

I just sent you PM answering your questions, lakobos.

I had this concern about one of the schools I was interested in. I just asked the POI, "What are your plans for the next five years?" You can also ask the more direct question, "Would I be able to have you as my primary advisor for my dissertation three years from now?" or some such thing. It's tactful insofar as you don't point out that they're rather long in the teeth...

As I recall, someone had posted a Harvard rejection by phone. Maybe calling people is just the Harvard way...

Is Spinoza really not in vogue right now? My sense is that he's currently a pretty "hot" figure in early modern. (Or do you mean that he's not popular in philosophy overall?)

I've been listening to more music lately--usually loud stuff that takes my mind off anything else that might otherwise occupy it.

I have charitably concluded that lamparem is engaging in some sort of performance art, and I'd hate to restrict artistic expression. Why do you hate freedom, zizeksucks?

WHAT KIND OF MONSTER POSTS FAKE INFORMATION ON TGC??????