Nastasya_Filippovna

I am too!!

okay so I was accepted to Wayne state's PhD program with a Fellowship- it is a tuition waiver, a generous stipend and health insurance for the first year, and they say that in most cases that GTAs are offered for the next several years (up to 5 years). What I like is they have 4 professors with apparently a strong working knowledge of my beloved Donald Davidson, as well as vast experience with Putnam et.al (basically the philosophers I have the greatest interest in, as well as a program focused on philosophy of language and mind). I know this is not a well-known program- does anyone perhaps who is currently in an MA or PhD program know much about Wayne State? They have been incredibly kind and personal in their communications, and it does sound like a very personal and small program, but any personal knowledge would be helpful!

This is so true- i had a real range with my letter writers, one who got his out weeks ahead of deadlines, and two others that had to be reminded constantly and I felt incredibly pushy, but I knew it had to be done. Thank God they all were dependable and got them in on time, but as far as getting the application completed, it's the worst part! I would just try and be as pleasant and profusely grateful in each little reminder I sent. This is where I was thankful I had a good rapport with them prior to the requests - i don't believe they felt as "put out" as if they barely knew me and then received my "demands"

oh lord i know right- i got two emails confirming my app was complete- and i knew it was! And then the worst- I got a call- the location said RIVERSIDE CALIFORNIA- my heart started pounding -- IT WAS A FREAKING TELEMARKETER. Oh god the cruelty!

haha I saw that! But as a disclaimer, it was sadly not me- I got the email on the site- it was painful for them to tell me that i was rejected- as painful as a pre-written letter sent to every other rejected candidate can be

That's fantastic you are keeping so busy reixis! It's truly the only way to stay sane! Unfortunately, one bad habit I have run into is the discovery of the app Crossy Road on my phone- it is basically a game designed for 10 year olds and I am becoming a little obsessed with it! Other than that, reading, work, and I'm just beginning to audit a course on Wittgenstein and I'm super excited about that!

haha thank you! you know how there is a comments section on the acceptance page- I'm surprised that for Northwestern there aren't some "WOOHOOS" or something- thats a big deal school!

and it was not mine!

Well looks like someone is going to U. Cincinnati!

See that is terrifying to me- first of all, congrats again on your acceptance to U. Missouri- talk about overdue and well-deserved! But my God- look at your credentials- MA from TUFTS- creme de la creme of masters programs (and amazing GPA from Tufts no less), excellent GRE scores - and you get shut out last year?!! That is really disturbing to me.

ok I am totally going to have to figure out how to do that!

I'm curious, do you think there are advantages to accepting a PhD offer from an unranked school before accepting an offer from a good Masters program? I have heard many say that it "isn't worth going" if the school isn't highly ranked, however some say that it isn't worth attending a school outside of the top 20 outside of the top 50. Given the fact the job market for philosophy professors is scant regardless of school pedigree, would a school outside the top 50 only create a detrimental influence for those intent on pursuing an academic career in a prestigious institution? I would just wonder if accepting a PhD offer at an unranked school would be a wiser option than taking the slower, more expensive, and perhaps riskier path of the MA.

On the topic of MA vs Undergrad, how many here are apply as undergrads or Masters students? From what I can tell in the bios, it appears that the majority have their masters, but perhaps my inference is influenced by my intimidation- I am applying with my bachelors degree, and from an absolutely irrelevant institution at that!

So everytime I get the buzz on my phone that an email comes in I race to check it- and it's nothing but a damn piece of junk- examples of my disappointment: is this a decision? no, but an isaac's sandwich is 10% off. Is THIS a decision?? No, but I can sign a petition to save the north american quail. Is this a decision? No, but if I buy $200 worth of aveda hair products, I get free shipping. Just thought I'd vent a bit. LOL!

A HUGE congratulations to you! What a rollercoaster ride for you this weekend- I saw that you received a rejection from WUSTL, just to check the email again and receive such amazing news!! Take that WUSTL!

Thank you for your incredibly kind offer! They got back to me today in fact! Everything was sorted out- they found the one letter and the other wasn't there- I contacted my prof who in fact had a blonde moment and forgot to send it out! He got it to them today!

oh thank you for the reminder! I keep forgetting tomorrow is a holiday!

interesting UConn is being mentioned here- I'm having a lot of stress about my app to UConn and it's the only one- two of my letter writers never received the link to UConn in their spam or regular email so I had them send the letter to the department's email - philosophy@uconn.edu. I have been emailing them to ask if they received the letters and added them to my application and have not received a response- granted I know they are incredibly busy but it's just hard when you are unsure whether or not your application is in limbo! I just emailed graduate admissions yesterday (why I didn't think of that sooner is beyond me) and am hoping for a response tomorrow!

This is very true- I personally find him to be, along with Nietzsche, the most compelling of the existentialists (in fact I have no interests in the 20th century existentialists). I think you make a great observation about the language- Danish- ahhh, if only he had been German! That has probably deterred many a scholar from pursuing Kierkegaard in detail. I was lucky to have a professor who adored him- she always said that even her militant atheism could never drive her away from her adoration for K.!

I think it is fascinating too that as someone interested in philosophy of religion that you like Nietzsche. I am an avid fan of Kierkegaard (and not philosophy, but Dostoevsky has been the greatest influence in my life, personally), and I am also a huge fan of Nietzsche. I think there are some themes in both Kierkegaard's and Nietzsche's works that would be fascinating to compare and analyze and frankly I'm not sure how much scholarship has been devoted to that (could be, because I've only ever personally explore scholarship devoted exclusively to Nietzsche).

PreciselyTerrified thank you so much for taking the time to provide this information! A self-paced course like that would be perfect right now and I think I may very well do that! My logic course in school was unfortunately with a lot of nonmajors and my professor was wonderful, but he really slowed the pace down for them and we failed to cover a lot of important material. I have some serious catching up to do!

I'm auditing! Last semester I audited a course on cognition and language, and this semester a course on Wittgenstein. I really wanted to audit Mathematical Logic too, especially being that logic is my weakest philosophical subject, but of course that course conflicts with my work schedule. Ugh- damn job.

That is just absolutely horrible. Oh my God. And especially considering your background story, your prof should be particularly pumped to get those letters out for you! It does seem like there is always one professor that is the hardest to contact. :/ That was the most stressful part of the entire application process for me! Please keep us posted because I am pulling for you reixis!

my plan is just to keep as busy as I can! I'm already asking work for more hours haha!

Let's hope that we on the Grad School Cafe are the ONLY people apply to any phd programs in philosophy! (HA...HA)