dgswaim

For reals. I'm kinda lonely. Having solodarity withdrawals.

Yeah. These waiting lists really throw a wrench in things. In my case I'm wait listed at several places I'd really like to go, but for different, somewhat non-overlapping reasons. I have no clear picture of where I'll be doing my PhD, which is nerve-racking given that this affects my family in profound ways, too. It doesn't help that I'm generally indecisive, either.

I'm really hoping that when the Mizzou DGS told me they'llbe releasing next week that he meant *early* next week. Like Monday.

I'm watching videos about colors with my 10 month old daughter. The characters are crayons that can only say their respective color in annoying, high-pitched voices. I need a drink.

Do you think we could pool our wait lists together and trade them in for a couple of offers?

Nice!

Awesome!

Withdrew my application to Purdue. Edit: Paul Draper emailed me back and mentioned that the committee had met today. If anyone is waiting on Purdue, sounds like results might be out soon.

Why did I apply to be rejected at Princeton? Woulda been sweet to work with Halvorson on category theoretic interpretations of theory structure in science... but phil bio is my real wheelhouse. The allure of prestige is a powerful thing...

(1) I used one writing sample. They say you should use the "best piece" you've ever written. I think I've written better stuff, actually, but the paper I used felt "samply." What do I mean? Well, a lot of the real research that I've done is on obscure and technical stuff on the history of biology, model organisms, and debates over theory structure in science (category theory, set theory, and the like). My thought (and my advisor's thought) was that not many folks on adcomms would have enough background in the specific literature sets that I'm dealing with in those topics, and so it might be better to submit something more generally accessible. So, I used a paper on models in science and the intersection of truth and pragmatics. I think the paper is sort of philosophically unremarkable, but it seems to have done me ok. So, maybe there's some wisdom in the notion of using a broadly accessible piece of writing, so as to make it appealing even to non-experts. (2) My GRE scores weren't very good. Granted, I didn't study or practice for them at all. I decided to use my time going to conferences and working on my thesis instead. Plus I have a kid... so I dunno. My time is stretched thin as it is, and I'm not sure I think the GRE is that important anyway (I actually think it's an utterly useless metric, but that's beside the point!). I guess, ceteris paribus, you do what you can to get the best score you're capable of. I didn't. Take from that what you will. (3) I'm the only person applying from my program, so I can't speak from experience here. It seems unlikely that this would count against you, though. (4) I'm doing ok in this cycle, and I actually have a BA from a no-name university (although it is a very good regional university) and a no-name MA program. LSU, as an MA program, is really well-known for the continentalists in the department (Protevi, Schufreider, Raffoul). I don't do continental philosophy. I came here because they had just hired Charles Pence, and he specializes in the stuff that I do, and there just aren't really very many MA programs with well-connected philosophers of biology. Granted, philosophy of biology is a weird sub-discipline, and most of the best folks in philosophy of biology are not at top-teir Leiter programs... which is really just to say that my case is probably not all that helpful with respect to making inferences about the admissions process in general. Although, it may be good to think about who you'd like to work with in your AOI and whether they're well-connected in the philosophical community in which they participate. An enthusiastic letter from a person that an adcomm member considers a good professional friend can be quite beneficial. (5) I was pretty specific, but that's mainly because I've done quite a bit of actual research in my sub-discipline. But, I explicitly noted the fact that I'm open to taking on new interests and research areas. It's probably good to be specific so that they can evaluate fit more easily, but it's likely best not to seem closed-minded. (6) I didn't contact POIs. I ran into a few at conferences and stuff, but that's rather different.

Person B: DECLINE PENN PLEASE

My program is probably having the best year on record! Of course, I'm literally the only person applying to PhD programs out of my program this year... but hey! That's a 100% placement record for this year!

Seems to me that the main "impact" of continental work is best glimpsed by how much it's influenced other parts of the academy (the humanities, anyway).

Hmmm... I don't do vulnerable well. As I think about it, I don't really know to what degree most of what I do really "counts" as analytic philosophy. I mean, I do lots of logic, but I'm not a logic expert. I'm sort of an advanced dilettante in that area. History and philosophy of evolutionary biology is the only area in which I've done real research. This isn't really what one typically thinks of when one thinks of analytic philosophy... though I'm certainly closer to the analytics, stylistically. I wanted to do stuff on Husserl and Gadamer when I was an undergraduate... but the texts are just so damn hard.

Well, I didn't say you were pathetic, or that anyone else is. I can tell you that my experience working as a graduate assistant in a large state university has ben nothing like what you describe. The teaching/grading workload is enormous.

Actually, what's pathetic is that anyone thinks 30k is a lot of money.

I need to know what kind of bourbon it is.

I'm just not smart enough to understand continental philosophy, so I do analytic philosophy.

Do you mean wrt to Columbia in particular, or in general?

Based on my email exchange with Fr. Prof. Vitali, I feel pretty certain that initial acceptances and wait lists have all been sent at SLU.

This will truly test my skills of argumentative persuasion...

Anyone thinking about declining PENN???

Declined Oklahoma wait list (ranked 3rd on list)

Removed myself from the waiting list at Oklahoma. Hope that helps somebody (I was pretty high on the list).

When talking with the faculty members I'm interested in working with, I make it a point to ask them what projects they're currently working on and what they think they'll be doing in the near future.