overoverover

Only a couple of days to go, and I'm still waiting on UCLA and UConn. Not particularly optimistic at this point, but still refreshing my email obsessively.

Sorry to hear that, that's a shame.

Sorry to be a bother everybody, but... Anybody accepted or on the waitlist at UConn and planning on declining?

Anybody who is accepted and/or waitlisted at UConn planning on declining in the near future? I'm very anxious to hear from them again...

Congrats! I'm a bit jealous, admittedly. Hoping to get a similar email in the next month!

It isn't always, but it could be due to institutional factors. Basically, my point is that by accepting an offer you know you might eventually turn down before April 15 makes things complicated for lots of other people. Suppose A is in at X and waitlisted at Y. She knows she prefers Y, but accepts X early. X emails B, who is waitlisted at X and accepted at Z, that she won't be admitted. B then takes the offer from Z. When A rescinds the acceptance at X to attend Y, this puts B in a weird place when X makes an April 15 phone call to her. Perhaps she already signed a lease, or has begun corresponding with Z's faculty. That's just one example; I take it there are more. Basically, if you're on a waitlist for a school you'd prefer, don't accept early. It might make things complicated for others. Plus, it's unprofessional.

That makes it hard for others who might be waitlisted at Y. If you take the spot at Y, then somebody else doesn't get the offer, and so when you turn down Y after the fact for X, Y can't give that to somebody else (for various reasons). Just waiting is the best option.

I know at least three people who went through the MA program at GSU and all speak incredibly highly of it. If you get the Brains and Behavior fellowship, even better, because the teaching load is alleviated. All three taught, wrote their theses, and applied and were accepted to several PhD programs. They're also some of the most on-point philosophers I've ever met, and they credit that to GSU.

Seems to me that Syracuse is really good, fit-wise. But Establishment is right to raise some worries about that program. (N.B.: I'm waitlisted at UConn, and would almost definitely accept their offer if I get it, so keep that in mind)

I use this "philosophy is communal" line to justify going to bars with my cohort after class.

Yeah, philosophy is a communal discipline: you learn by talking and writing and sharing with others, thereby opening yourself up to criticism. It's hard to find this kind of atmosphere (consistently) outside of academia.

Thanks, everybody! Also, Edit_Undo: just saw you're in at Calgary. I know one of the profs there quite well (he was my advisor at BU), and so I can say with pretty high confidence that if philosophy of language is your thing, Calgary is a great choice.

Thanks, friend. It's been a lackluster admissions process for me, but I'd absolutely love to go to UConn.

Waitlisted at UConn, with "pretty reasonable" chance of admission.

I did my undergrad there, so feel free to send me any questions.

I'm assuming the email was a form letter, and that they won't change it to reflect position on the waitlist. I'm not optimistic about my odds (and yeah, I'm not a fan of the way they run things, though I've heard good things about the department more generally).

I emailed them yesterday. I was told I was still under consideration and that an offer was unlikely but possible.

I'll chime in. I'm someone who got into a PhD program, accepted the offer, and attempted to transfer because some key faculty left. It's really hard. I've definitely improved dramatically in two years, and yet I still got basically shut out (I was told by UCLA that it was "possible but not likely" that I'd get an offer before April 15, and I'm still waiting on one other school, but I've received 9 rejections). This is partly to say that, even if you improve a lot in a year (or 6 months before the next applications), there's no guarantee that you'll get in anywhere, even the place that accepted you this year. I'd say accept the offer, then see if you really want to transfer after a year or two. There's also a chance you'll love the program and won't want to leave.

Yeah, seems DN took down the post. It only said the offer was made.

Daily Nous posted that UC Irvine made 5 senior offers, including to Sarah Paul from Madison: http://dailynous.com/2015/03/11/uc-irvine-makes-five-senior-offers/

Quick point: Hintikka isn't teaching at BU anymore. The website is just out of date.

Same here, even checked my app status online to see if I just didn't get the rejection email. I don't think it is unreasonable to assume being on UCLA's internal waitlist, but it's impossible to draw any other reliable conclusions from that.

That speculation seems unfounded. Just because the graduate school sends the rejection doesn't mean the department failed to properly review the apps.

Seems low, but Madison has a pretty low cost of living (according to friends that live there).

UCLA is rejecting people via their website. Maybe I'm not totally shut out yet?