dgswaim

Apply to Penn. Our department isn't using GREs in admissions anymore, given they're objectively useless.

Apply to Penn. Our department isn't using GREs in admissions anymore, given they're objectively useless.

Just a clarificatory note: You said (per the link to Leiter's blog) that Michigan is only placing 20% of their grads. The figure from Leiter is actually that Michigan is placing 20% of their students into PhD-granting institutions. I feel quite confident that the percentage of students placed into full-time jobs at colleges of all kinds is quite a bit higher.

It might be worth considering getting one of your letters from an undergrad prof, if you have one that will write an especially strong letter. When I applied to PhD programs, I got two letters from MA profs, and one from my undergraduate advisor. 

With good letters and a strong sample I'd bet you can get into a good MA program, and then springboard to a pretty good PhD program. I know a lot of people in good PhD programs (including myself) with backgrounds similar to this.

With good letters and a strong sample I'd bet you can get into a good MA program, and then springboard to a pretty good PhD program. I know a lot of people in good PhD programs (including myself) with backgrounds similar to this.

It might be a problem if you want to do philosophy of mind, and your paper for that course received a B+, and you wanted to use that paper as your writing sample. Other than that, doesn't matter.

It might be a problem if you want to do philosophy of mind, and your paper for that course received a B+, and you wanted to use that paper as your writing sample. Other than that, doesn't matter.

I had an A- and a B+ during my MA. I did fine. They're not scrutinizing grad transcripts that hard.

I had an A- and a B+ during my MA. I did fine. They're not scrutinizing grad transcripts that hard.

I had an A- and a B+ during my MA. I did fine. They're not scrutinizing grad transcripts that hard.

Philly is really not that intense.

I've been on team Trash The GRE In General for a while.

Also, just in case it makes anyone feel better, I got a 149 on my quant section, and I did fine. And this for someone that does philosophy of science and logic!

I've been on team Trash The GRE In General for a while.

Also, just in case it makes anyone feel better, I got a 149 on my quant section, and I did fine. And this for someone that does philosophy of science and logic!

This only holds if each trial is independent of the others, which doesn't seem likely. 

My understanding of the process here at Penn is that the admissions committee reads the packets for the first round of cuts, and then applications that make it past the first or second cut will then be sent to faculty members with expertise in the applicant's AOI.

Although we just lost Andrew Chignell, Penn is definitely still worth considering. Gary Hatfield is a great on Kant (the most widely used translation of the Prolegomena is his, for instance), and Rolf Horstmann is here every fall. 

Hey guys. Just wanted to let y'all know I'd be happy to answer questions about the department at Penn via PM. Good luck to all!

Probably in several senses, but the clearest of them is that applicant pools overlap, so the probability of your being admitted to school s is conditioned on whether other students that applied to s have accepted other offers. When they do, it alters the probability of your being admitted to s.

This only holds if each trial is independent of the others, which doesn't seem likely. 

My entire cohort (which is just 4 people, granted) started out on the waiting list. Probably 75 percent of folks across all the cohorts were wait-listees to start. I can affirm that nobody cares.

I got into it for the ladies. 

I know a phil PhD student who's in his mid 50s. He came back to philosophy after a successful career in finance. People have done it.