789Phil

I know this thread is reserved for grad school acceptances, but I was recently accepted to the Rock Ethic Institute's PIKSI program. I am very excited to be spending a week at Penn State this summer doing philosophy with some amazing people!

I'm also interested in American Philosophy. Although, I'm specifically interested in Classical Pragmatism. If you are a fellow pragmatist, I recommend William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience and his The Will to Believe. Also, John Dewey's Democracy and Education and his Experience and Nature (if you're feeling bold, it's arguably his most difficult work). Peirce's The Fixation of Belief is great too. I can keep going with Classical Pragmatism, but I'll stop there in case none of this is what your interested in. Let me know otherwise. It would be great to hear what, specifically, you are interested in regarding American Philosophy, and it would be cool to swap reading recommendations (Pragmatism is my main interest, but I've read, and enjoy reading, other things within American philosophy) Also, feel free to PM me if you are interested in talking about Amer Phil more generally and want to reserve this thread specifically for reading recommendations. (I was happy to see your AOI, this is the first time I see even the words "American Phil" in a thread, in a long time)

I'm curious if there is any correlation between tailoring personal statements and acceptance rates. Did anyone aim for an acceptance at a particular school and, thus, tailor their personal statement specifically for that school? And did they get accepted (assuming having passed GRE and GPA cutoffs)? I'm just curious if the personal statement (fit) is perhaps *the* most important thing (once GPA and GRE cut offs are passed). After all, it makes sense if it is: why would a program accept a person whose research interests are outside the scope of courses they can offer? I'm thinking the better we convey how the program we are applying to is the best program for us, specifically, (via personal statement) , the more likely you get in. Thoughts? I really want to know if people who wrote modified personal statements for individual programs were accepted to more programs (Although I realize PS is just one of many factors)

Congrats on your score!!! I'm aiming for similar scores, especially on verbal. A perfect on verbal would be beyond amazing for me! Thanks for sharing

I have a few friends willing to give me their MCAT verbal study materials. I need to do really well on the verbal section of the GRE and my weakness is usually Reading Comp on practice tests. Does anyone know if MCAT verbal is similar to GRE reading comp?

Kaplan IS insanely expensive :/. Good Luck!!!

Has anyone tried Barron's Online Prep Course? Its on sale for $69, and I'm wondering if it is worth the investment. I scored V155/M157 (using Magoosh), and I'm trying to boost both sections above 163.

I noticed the deadline change too, I hope it was not due to a paucity of applicants - I sure there are a number of potential reasons for the change. If you don't mind me asking, are the other programs you applied to similar? I noticed there aren't very many phil summer programs. I was interested in Rutgers' summer program but didn't apply because I couldn't attend those dates if admitted :/

Is it possible (by that I mean, "is there any likelihood," or "is there any rule against") an undergrad (although, I will graduate soon) trying to submit a book review? It seems the con against writing a review is that it is considered "not time well spent." But, what if I have time to kill. However, what I really want to know is if my undergrad status means an automatic "no," if I were to email and ask to write a review like Brook suggests. After all, he did say "...introduce yourself as someone who is a postgraduate working in a general field on a particular topic." Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks, for letting me know. Normally, I'm not this worrisome, but I had an unstable connection when I submitted my app so I couldn't help but wonder if mine went through (even though my email says sent). I should just ask. By the way, Good luck! (Although, I know you said you might have another obligation in the summer. I hope you get to do what you're looking forward to the most )

By any chance did you receive an email conformation that your app was received? I didn't, I'm just curious

Did anyone else apply to the Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute (PIKSI)?