LogicalForm

Claiming an Oxford (BPhil) acceptance.

MeonticDodals, thanks for your advice. I should clarify...I didn't mean to imply that merely the credential of the Toronto M.A. would get me into a high ranked Ph.D, but rather, as you say, the M.A. at U of T would give me another year to become a better philosopher under some great professors, and would give me the opportunity to get letters from some of them. If I choose to attend Toronto (or Western for just the M.A., which is also an option), it will be with the plan of taking another year off afterwards (as I've done this year after my B.A.) and applying to Ph.D programs for entrance in Fall 2016. My dilemma was more concerning whether I should just go with the Ph.D offer I have on the table now, or do a one year M.A. with the intention of improving my abilities/letters/GREs and my chances in another cycle. It's true that another drawback would be that the M.A. would require taking more time off, but as long as I remain current and try to stay engaged, one or two years off from school doesn't seem like that much in the long run to me. Does that make sense?

I'm in a similar position to this one. (Hi, longtime lurker here, finally joined up this morning). I was accepted to Western Ontario (Ph.D) and Toronto (M.A.), and it's making the decision a lot more difficult. If it were just two M.A. offers, I think I would easily go with Toronto, but the fact that I could start my Ph.D this fall at what I feel like is a decent place for my AOIs is pretty enticing. There's a part of me that thinks going to Toronto will allow me to elevate myself into having a chance at all the schools I was rejected to this year the next time I apply, but another part of me which thinks I should just accept the offer I got from Western and get started, since this whole application game is so unpredictable. I'm just going to try to get advice from as many people as possible.