dgswaim

I wouldn't worry about going over the limit by a few pages. The sample I submitted was just under 25 pages, and I had the same worry. I consulted one of my professors and he told me, "Better to submit the entire paper than to cut sections that are important to the structure of the argument. Put another way, a paper that's too long is a venial sin, whereas an incoherent paper is a mortal sin."
 
His advice was echoed by professors from many of the departments to which I applied. I wrote to several of them in advance asking whether they might prefer that I send just a section of the paper, or the paper in its entirety, and in each and every case they told me to go ahead and send the whole thing, if I indeed felt that it was the best reflection of my philosophical abilities. So I would say that you should fret not. The most important thing is to send what you think is your best piece of work to date, and it sounds like that's exactly what you're doing.

Something to consider, just as regards time investment, is to stick mainly to more specialized journals. I don't know what your area is, but in philosophy of science, for instance, the top philosophy of science journals (e.g. Philosophy of Science, BJPS, Studies A, Synthese, etc.) are much faster than the top "generalist" journals. I have a paper under review right now that started out at Phil Sci. It was 3 weeks from editors desk, to peer review, back to editor, to rejection ("bad fit" ). But that quick turnaround is nice, especially as a grad student with limited time resources. It's back out for review at European Journal of Philosophy of Science, which should also be relatively quick.

Maybe I should restate. I don't think lack of pedigree counts against you very much as long as your application is strong in other ways. 
Edit: I can draw some anecdotal evidence (super reliable, I know) from my own case. I was a hair's breadth from being admitted to ND (HPS), and I'm still in the running at Indiana (HPS) (two very top-notch HPS programs). I've been admitted and wait listed at some of the best places for my particular specialty (phil bio). I have a BA from a good, but unknown SLAC, and an MA from a place that's mainly known for producing Heidegger and Derrida scholars.

I actually don't think pedigree counts for much.

Whatever you do, make sure to be underdrag and you'll be just fine. Otherwise it's really a bit dicey. 

I actually don't think pedigree counts for much.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

Start establishing good habits of self care. Get yourself in a strong routine of exercising, sleeping well, and eating right. It will be easy to slip into bad habits with this sort of thing once you're under way, and then it becomes a lot harder to bring yourself back into good habits. Get that stuff drilled down now and your mental health will thank you later.

It's worth noting that whatever you think of a department's current composition of fellow students, it's going to change a lot over 5+ years. You'll have new people coming in every year as they're admitted, and people leaving every year as they finish. So don't get to caught up on how you feel in a department right now. 

It's worth noting that whatever you think of a department's current composition of fellow students, it's going to change a lot over 5+ years. You'll have new people coming in every year as they're admitted, and people leaving every year as they finish. So don't get to caught up on how you feel in a department right now. 

It's worth noting that whatever you think of a department's current composition of fellow students, it's going to change a lot over 5+ years. You'll have new people coming in every year as they're admitted, and people leaving every year as they finish. So don't get to caught up on how you feel in a department right now. 

It's worth noting that whatever you think of a department's current composition of fellow students, it's going to change a lot over 5+ years. You'll have new people coming in every year as they're admitted, and people leaving every year as they finish. So don't get to caught up on how you feel in a department right now. 

My approach to the SOP was to use the same basic format for each one, but to populate it with different relevant details relative to the department to which it was being sent. So mine was tailored without having to write a totally brand new statement for each and every school.

Just wanted to note: I'm happy to talk to folks about the dept at UPenn, should anyone have any questions!

I'm a current student at Penn. This is a tough question to answer. The simplest answer is that PhD admissions in philosophy is competitive everywhere. Penn is roughly in the top 25 programs in the US (I think), so it's going to be pretty competitive, but less so than the top 10, I suppose. I was admitted off the waitlist the year I applied. There were about 110 applicants, with 5 students initially admitted, and a waiting list of 7 or so. This seems about typical. Sometimes the waitlist is bigger, sometimes a few more offers. I can try to answer more specific questions, if you want to DM me.

I actually don't think pedigree counts for much.

I've been accepted to UCSB! I'm ecstatic to have the opportunity to continue studying philosophy.