logos0516

Has anyone claimed the CUNY acceptance?

My biggest reason is my advisor would've told me today that some acceptances went out. Or at least I HOPE he would've told me when I spoke with him. There was a hold up with one of my transcripts, so he personally e-mailed the adcom to let them know. I mean, if I were accepted or rejected, or waitlisted, I would like to think he would've told me, instead of just kept me in the dark. If I'm correct, it means that even if the CUNY acceptance is real, which I doubt, they haven't finished going through all of the applications yet.

But it is still weird that only one person posted a CUNY acceptance. I feel like, if they were making calls tonight, they would've been a little earlier in the evening, and there would've been at least a few more.

It's really hard to say at this point. Different schools have different policies on sending out acceptances. My advisor said some schools send out a few at a time, while others send them out all at once. While I think it is POSSIBLE that the previous Michigan posts were real, if they were, this suggests Michigan has sent out a few acceptances already. BUT since the number of posts of Michigan acceptances was small (I would've expected more people to post), this either suggests that there are more acceptances to send out, or, unfortunately (or actually, fortunately), that the Michigan posts were fake. So yeah, it's possible they're fake. Why people would deliberately post fake acceptances is beyond me. There are a lot of people that are really stressed out over these notices, and to me, fake postings are a pretty crappy thing to do.

Also, the CUNY post said "26 February," while where I am, it is still 25 February, so it could be an international acceptance.

I'm in CUNY, and I spoke to my advisor today. There wasn't much news on the acceptances, waitlists, or rejections, but he is pretty keyed in to what's going on with the admissions cycle, even though he isn't on the admissions committee himself. Now, I just met with him about 7 hours ago, and I have to imagine that if acceptances were really out, he would've told me or indicated that to me. But he said nothing of the sort, we just spoke in general terms about admissions, and he said he would let me know when information is available on my application. So while it's possible that the CUNY acceptance is real, I am a little skeptical at this point. Only thing we can do is wait and see what tomorrow brings. If by tomorrow evening it is still the only CUNY acceptance up, then yeah, I think it's a safe bet to assume it was fake.

I haven't heard a thing from Michigan, one way or the other.

Yeah who got the CUNY acceptance?

I'm not good with either waiting or uncertainty, so I try to be busy. What helps me most is either reading or listening to music or going to the movies. And, of course, always and everywhere having immediate access to my phone (in case they call) or e-mail (in case they get in touch that way). I got waitlisted at a school so that took some of the edge off, it lets me know that I'm in the running and that my application is at least good enough to be competitive at a top-40 school. Like, they wouldn't have wait listed me if my application were defective in any way. I think the acceptances for a lot of schools will come out this week, but that's just a hunch. So you won't have to wait much longer, hopefully, before you hear something.

I had the same worry as this questioner. I want to work in ethics and epistemology, but I submitted a writing sample on Descartes' Meditations, which I thought was far and away my best work. There are people in all the departments I applied to that specialize in Early Modern philosophy, so I didn't think it would be a big deal. I think far more important than the specific topic of the writing sample, is its quality. I think I would have been at a disadvantage submitting a paper in ethics that wasn't my best, and that would've reflected negatively because they would've said "well, this applicant wants to specialize in ethics, but his paper on a topic in ethics isn't outstanding." So I think I dodged that by giving in my very best paper.

Thanks guys, I appreciate that. I just hope none of my comments get back to any faculty in my department. If they saw them, that would not be good.

I see my comments have generated a LOT of responses. Let me say two (2) things: one, I apologize for the comments that people found offensive and repugnant in earlier posts. There is no excuse for that type of discussion on my part, and I take full responsibility for my actions. I think this should be a forum where people feel they can gather and calmly, intelligently discuss issues related to not only philosophy, but graduate school in general. Getting overly emotional and needlessly vindictive seriously undermines the prospects for calm, reasonable debate. I regret things I said that others found offensive, and I will not post anything else in a demeaning, offensive, or inflammatory tone again.

MAybe what you're saying EngineerGrad is writing to them now, at this stage of the process, would send the wrong impression, given i've already sent in my applications. Maybe they would see it as too....calculating? too....disingenuous? These are all possible, and I don't want to come across that way. SO I'll have to refrain now for the time being from approaching it any further.

EngineerGrad, right about the time I should be relaxing for bed, I am percolating with new ideas. I agree you don't want to come off as desperate, so an email communication should be worded *Very* carefully, and be brief and to the point. Don't make it seem like you have an agenda, that you want something from them. I might say something like "Dear PRofessor X, "I am a current applicant to NAME OF UNIVERSITY, and while my chances of getting in are probably slim at this spoint, I wanted to say I enjoyed reading your works in graduate school, in particular article (A) and article/book B. It would be great to study with you if it become a reality. Too bad the school doesn't have an interview process in which I could participate. That would (i hope) shed more light on my interest in your university and my scholarly readiness to study there. Sincerely, Logos0516

Engineergrad, I salute you for being so proactive about your admissions to this particular university, whichever one it is. I never thought to contact anybody at my top school and perhaps now it is too late. I think you are doing everything you can to get into this school, and hopefully your effort will pay off, although nothing is certain, and admissions committees can be very unpredictable. Don't worry about not hearing anything official, just go to the event and be honest and forthright about why you want to go there. If this is your top choice, or a choice you really want, then your interest and enthusiasm will show through. Good luck! (Part of me is wondering whether I shouldn't contact certain professors at my schools, though I wouldn't know what to say.

What is really considered a "top-tier" university...top 10? Top 15?

Wait a minute, so maybe I should contact my top choice and ask to attend an event or should just e-mail professors at the school. I don't know who's on the adcom though

Ok, well, I see my comments have generated a LOT of responses. Let me say two (2) things: one, I apologize for the comments that people found offensive and hateful in earlier posts. There is no excuse for that type of discussion on my part, and I take full responsibility. Two, I cannot, and will not, abandon philosophy. I have always thought myself fortunate that I knew that I wanted to be a philosopher. I knew this before going to high school, and in high school, when most students didn't even know what philosophy was. I majored in it in college, and I am studying for my MA now and doing well (3.83 GPA). I feel that it is too soon to dismiss my prospects, considering (1) I have only received two official rejections, (2) I have a good shot at the Phd program from the MA program I am in, considering I am doing well there already and am getting along with the professors, and (3) one top-30 school has already indicated interest in my application, by the graduate admissions chair personally. So I personally think the discussion about leaving philosophy is a bit premature at this point, though I realize I brought that discussion on with overly emotional and hyperbolic posts.

Given how quickly the results are coming in, here: http://faircloudblog.wordpress.com/predictions/, with few exceptions, hopefully the rest of the schools on that list will make decisions in the next two weeks.

A fine post, thank you. And contrary to what the other guy, Mocha, I think?...said, I will never give up on philosophy. It is in my blood, and I'm the type of person that needs to do something in life that has meaning for me, and philosophy is that thing. Don't worry, I'm not taking Mocha's post seriously, he's just frustrated because I've been posting on here a lot. But I've been shut out before, and after clawing my way into a good MA program and doing as well as I can there, it would really be devastating to me to get shut out again, and that's why I feel I can't do anything more...honestly, I wouldn't know what else to do. My writing sample, on Descartes, is one of the best I've ever written. My grades in my MA program are as good as they're going to get, and they should be good enough for a good school. I'm just running out of ideas on what to do/add to my application at this point. And I'm not getting any younger. Deep down I do honestly think I'll have a good chance at the school I'm at now, but it's just *so* discouraging to be rejected and to see implied and anticipated rejections, one after the other. I confess my expectations were too high, and believe it or not, I was actually relying too much on my writing sample to carry the day, not the book, which I didn't send everywhere. I think people say good things about the book, mostly, and they've given insights I hadn't thought about. But it's really getting down to the wire for me here, so that's why I'm so despondent. If I don't get in, I'm out of options. Or at least it certainly seems that way.

I spoke to the grad admissions director late last week and he said the wait list would go out by the end of this week.

Yeah it was a complicated decision whether to send the book or not. I just thought using everything I had might help, but ultimately it probably depends on how much they know about the publisher, and/or how much they actually investigate the publisher themselves. I can't argue with what you're saying.

Top-25 schools get top-25 Phd graduates, after (a) establishing a sufficient research and publications, ( going through the often-times necessary teaching as lesser-ranked schools.

Yeah I would imagine a lot of it depends on what type of research you've done and how influential it has been.

You dont have to read my posts. If you have nothing relevant or constructive to say, then move on to something else.