dgswaim

To cheer up.

Most. Boring. Day. Ever.

Those are great scores. Kick the shit out of my scores, for sure. I've had some limited success... though I feel I've done pretty well, considering my background. I scored a 162 verbal, 151 quant, 5.5 AW. I'm sure that if I wind up taking an MA I'll probably spend some time working on my algebra and geometry skills and retaking the test, as torturous an experience as I find it to be.

Condolences to all those denied by Michigan. From what I'm reading it sounds like y'all were put through quite the ringer!

I don't see the size or religious orientation of your degree-granting institutions as a liability. I got my BA from a small Catholic university. I wouldn't worry about getting an MA from a state school or anything like that. I think I would have to agree with bar_scene_gambler here. Work on developing a strong, well researched writing sample, and work on some french and/or german. I would add that it couldn't hurt to do some prep for the GRE (if you've not taken it or taken it but not done well). A strong GRE can really help put a strong application over the top.

I'm very keen on the idea of working with Zagzebski. Very fond of her work.

I sort of hope you were listening to The Flaming Lips, or something like that.

I've only read Nietzsche informally, but insofar as he does metaethics, wouldn't it only be so in the sense that he purports to undercut the ontological/metaphysical foundations of ethical positions? I ask in earnest. I'm not that familiar with him.

Just accepted to the MA at Oklahoma. Applied for the PhD. No funding at the moment, though there is a possibility for funding of some kind in the future. Another option, I guess.

Thanks for the info. It might not help me, but it certainly won't hurt. Leaning toward Lawlor University?

Thanks!

Wait listed at Purdue. Ugh. I can't stand it. So vividly do I see in my minds eye sitting in seminars with Michael Bergmann and Paul Draper. I can't stand it. I really can't.

Anyone know anything about the Purdue waitlist? Anyone claiming?

I was reading an interview with Rosenberg where he said something to the effect that he made a category mistake early in college career by studying philosophy. He thinks he maybe should have been a theoretical physicist.

Did you just downvote yourself?

UC Riverside comes to mind, although I don't think they have anything going on phil of biology-wise. Wisconsin might be a good fit. Lots of people working in ethical theory (including metaethics), Elliott Sober doing phil biology, and a couple people doing german idealism, Spinoza and that sort of thing. Wisconsin is a pretty big department with diverse interests. A little something for everyone there.

I just want everyone to get in everywhere. Except dfindley. Or maybe especially dfindley. I can never decide...

Can anyone claim the Illinois rejection via post? Was it Illinois Chicago, or was it Illinois Urbana-Champaign?

No reason to be depressed. You got in at HFU!

Riverside is a great department. If I end up getting my MA this time around, I'll probably apply to their PhD next time around. There are worse places to live, too. I grew up in Riverside, actually.

Well, congrats!

Is it normal to admit a student with an MA to study toward an MA? Would they maybe be admitting you to the MA with the expectation that you'd be continuing on to get a PhD in their department? Seems odd and confusing to me.

What Establishment said, basically. Most of what I'm interested in with respect to phil religion could just as well be called metaphysics, and I find second-order logic to be a useful tool with respect to projects of this kind.

I'm mostly brushing up on some epistemology and 1st and 2nd order logic. Other than that, I've been spending time reading a lot of pop-science and history books. I like pop-science books. I don't read a lot of fiction, so it ends up being sort of like the equivalent of reading a novel for me.