sar1906

Definitely. As far as pedigree goes, it speaks to the public image of the program, but the public image is one thing, while the concrete life of the program is another completely. Looking at the placement records of each program would help clarify the differences. Are you looking to continue on to a PhD?

OK. What are your areas of interest and have you looked at the placement for each program?

When did you hear from UNM? Is it a funded position?

I mean, it sounds like she genuinely doesn't know, which means you'll just have to check and see when the time comes.

Gotcha. Well it sounds like it could go either way. Depends on how much movement there is on the wait-list.

You wrote s/he DOESN'T expect it will budge, and then "from what s/he said the wait list WILL budge." Which is it? If she doesn't expect it will budge then she doesn't expect they will be able to extend you an offer, but you can stop by to double-check.

It took me almost four years after reading Nietzsche until I could read Kant. What did reading Nietzsche do to you?

So you're thinking about re-applying to get into a higher-ranked program? Could you live with yourself if you abandon this position and end up getting shut-out next year?

Definitely. When I asked the DGS from one of the SPEP schools, he basically said, "I don't why. We easily could have selected you, but we didn't."

Congrats! Was that off the wait list? I could have sworn someone said they emailed the DGS and received the response that they had sent out all notifications. Maybe that was BU?

To the individual accepted to Memphis with funding. Were you originally on a funding wait-list and what is the package like?

The University of Oregon Philosophy program's Colin Koopman works on Foucaul. Emory, Penn State, and Vanderbilt. John Protevi at LSU.

Cool. So you've been accepted or you are finding out for next admissions season? Have you visited? I think a major consideration for thinking about the quality of the program is the placement rankings, which you should be able to find on the department website. How fixed are you in terms of research interests? Emory might provide a slightly more diverse philosophical climate if you are interested in branching out a bit.

I definitely associate DePaul with the heavier continental work, especially German Idealism and Heidegger, whereas I associate Emory strongly with American philosophy in addition to its various other areas of specialty. I don't think you can go wrong at either. Are you going in with a M.A.?

Update just posted. Rejected from Fordham.

To what extent has AOI been directly considered as a criterion for graduate admissions? We all know that there needs to be a good research fit between the prospective student and the program, but is that all there is to it? What do we really mean by "good research fit?" After considering some of the notifications received by myself and others this season, it seems to me that AOI plays a much greater role in the admissions process than realized. Take for example notifications received by three applicants, 1, 2, and 3, from three strong SPEP programs, Emory (E), Vanderbilt (V), and Penn State (PS): Accepted (+), Rejected (-) 1: +V, -E, -PS 2: -V, +E, -PS 3: -V, -E, +PS We see that each applicant was accepted to a program that rejected the other two. This notification pattern is simply unheard of in the biological sciences and, I presume, many other more quantitative disciplines. We might chalk it up to the idiosyncratic preferences of each program, the black box of philosophy graduate admissions, God's mysterious ways and so on, but that would simply take us back to pre-Grad Cafe speculative admissions preparation. So how do we understand this? How about AOI? The admissions committees are not simply looking for high GRE scores, quality writing samples, strong GPAs and glowing letters of recommendation (best student I ever heard and so on). They're not even looking for a "good research fit." Would faculty really want an incoming graduate student to work on the same topics they are? Admissions committees are looking for students whose research interests not only "fit," but complement, fill in and expand their own. Philosophy faculty admit students whose areas of interest could potentially make new connections, fill in gaps, and expand departmental research. Anyway, I'll stop there. Any thoughts? I'm curious what PGR applicants think. TLDR: AOI is a much more important criteria than previously realized. Consider not only AOI "fit" with program research, but how they might expand, fill in gaps, and make new connections between faculty research interests.

Good, good. OK, so how about some warning signs that would cause you to hesitate joining the program?

Could have sworn I replied to this...Anyway, great list. It's given me a lot to work with. Thanks!

Another option is teaching English abroad. IMO a solid gap-year option, gives you the opportunity to broaden your perspectives a bit living in a foreign culture, immersing yourself in a foreign language, and also (generally) allows plenty of time for working on next year's application.

I see. Makes sense. So it seems that once applicants reach a certain minimal standard of quality in their letters, GPA, writing sample, etc., they just need a lot of luck.

How does that work??! They decide partially based on AOI? My initial field was biochemistry and it follows the expected pattern of acceptance by rank.

Wait listed to the University of Oregon. Nice and realistic e-mail from Scott Pratt.

Has anyone heard anything from any of the SPEP schools besides Penn, Vanderbilt, and Stony Brook?

Thanks for all of the feedback and keep it coming! Many good questions here.

For anyone who has already been through the interview and visitation processes, what are some important questions you asked/wish you had asked? Questions for graduate students? Professors? What did you wish you had known before you started? For example: For older graduate students: How would you describe the political climate of the program? How do faculty resolve their disagreements? Are those disagreements primarily philosophical? What is the average length of time to completion of the Ph. D.? What are some of the approaches of some of the faculty when working with graduate students? Hands-on? Laid-back? Micro-managing? How does the job market look from your position? For faculty: How would you describe the overall philosophical atmosphere of the department? What advice do you have for prospective graduate students? I'm sure there must be some current students around. I know this would help me and hopefully other prospective students.