adri86

Hey guys, I'm a current Brown grad student and just wanted to offer a couple of pointers on finding an apartment. First, I would recommend finding a place with a roommate for a few reasons. 1. Utilities (in the winter months) are expensive and it's a good idea to have someone to split them with. You can alternatively mount this obstacle by renting a place with utilities included (in particular, heat). 2. It will automatically broaden your social horizons which can be quite important insofar as you'll be both busy and brand new to town. 3. You can afford a nicer apartment, which will improve your quality of life, ceteris paribus (I say "ceteris paribus" because if you land an awful roommate, then the cons very well may outweigh the pros they provide), if you have someone to split costs with. 4. It's very common to have a roommate-- I'd say more common to have one than to not have one as a grad student. If falling within the Brown grad student cultural norms matter to you, then having a roommate is no problem. Second, how should you hunt? 1. Come visit Providence, and just drive around the neighborhoods you'd like to live in, keeping an eye out for "for rent" signs. After weeks of searching on craigslist, etc., this is how I ended up finding a place. I found a roommate independently of this method, of course, via the grad student listserv (see below). 2. Subscribe to the grad student listserv! You can send out messages to all current subscribing Brown grad students (and also receive any that others send out). 3. Just use good old craigslist. This medium can work for finding a roommate, or a place, or both. Just send me a personal message if you have other questions! And welcome to Brown!

Haha, just noticed that. I will just delete this thread and repost under the Providence topic. Thanks. ....On second glance, it doesn't appear that I have the ability to delete the post here. Perhaps the site's administrators can help us out by deleting the thread! Thanks!

Hey guys, I'm a current Brown grad student and just wanted to offer a couple of pointers on finding an apartment. First, I would recommend finding a place with a roommate for a few reasons. 1. Utilities (in the winter months) are expensive and it's a good idea to have someone to split them with. You can alternatively mount this obstacle by renting a place with utilities included (in particular, heat). 2. It will automatically broaden your social horizons which can be quite important insofar as you'll be both busy and brand new to town. 3. You can afford a nicer apartment, which will improve your quality of life, ceteris paribus (I say "ceteris paribus" because if you land an awful roommate, then the cons very well may outweigh the pros they provide), if you have someone to split costs with. 4. It's very common to have a roommate-- I'd say more common to have one than to not have one as a grad student. If falling within the Brown grad student cultural norms matter to you, then having a roommate is no problem. Second, how should you hunt? 1. Come visit Providence, and just drive around the neighborhoods you'd like to live in, keeping an eye out for "for rent" signs. After weeks of searching on craigslist, etc., this is how I ended up finding a place. I found a roommate independently of this method, of course, via the grad student listserv (see below). 2. Subscribe to the grad student listserv! You can send out messages to all current subscribing Brown grad students (and also receive any that others send out). 3. Just use good old craigslist. This medium can work for finding a roommate, or a place, or both. Just send me a personal message if you have other questions! And welcome to Brown!

How are you guys coordinating living arrangements?

Yeah! I'm heading there for philosophy.

An update from WGI: Now, in addition to the rejections, 10 people have been waitlisted and there were over 250 applicants (which I suppose means something like 252 ). Who's still standing without any notice (besides me)?

Quoting tarski: "I've been having an interesting mix of confidence and fear these past few days because one of my schools has done some initial rejections, and I wasn't one of them." (my comp is effing up and I can't get the regular quoting command to work) Hey tarski, I am in the same boat! I got a little rush from noticing that I was not in the initial round of rejections from one program, but fear has rapidly resumed its position as the dominating emotion. Best wishes!

Does anyone know if there is data on whether this upward trend is more widespread than just Brown?

Others have told me that it goes a long way. In fact, where my LOR writers have connections was a huge factor in drawing up my list of schools to which to apply.

I haven't contacted grad students at programs I'd like to join myself, but I was quite close with several grad students in my program as an undergraduate. Said grad students were sometimes contacted by prospectives so I was clued in about how they handled the resultant correspondence. My two cents is simply this: If you contact current grad students, contact one who has been around, preferably one is currently dissertating. If they include any information concerning a working dissertation title in their bio, this is a good indicator that they are a serious, senior student. Since such students are experiencing the more trying period of their graduate school stay, I'm willing to bet that they will be more likely to be brutally honest which is what I'm also betting you want. They are no longer in a head-spin over being admitted or in denial (I suspect) about rejoining the real world in a dire economic climate. Of course, it may be interesting to contact both newbies and oldies for comparison's sake. Working hypothesis: oldies will give you more dirt!

I agree that prospective philosophers seem to be bustling about predominantly at the livejournal forum, which may detract from their participation here. However, I think the fact that it is particularly competitive to gain admittance to a Ph.D. program in philosophy may actually contribute to the anonymity or apparent lack of posting altogether. The reason is that, in a field in with fewer spots available, the academic world is smaller. In a smaller academic world in which you have connections, the more easily you may reveal your identity which is something many people on forums such as these would rather avoid. Call it narcissistic paranoia or whatever, but I am one such paranoid applicant if I may admit it. Less dramatically, this forum is a place where we can express our anxieties and both gain and solicit advice in a uniquely comfortable and accepting environment in virtue of the level of anonymity. Just a little speculation over a few empirical questions. Haha. But I'm a skeptic about a priori knowledge, so that's not so bad for me!

Nice idea. I'm interested and I am on Central time.

Hi All, I am currently taking a year off between undergrad and graduate school (as long as I am accepted somewhere, of course), which means that I am simply waiting it out at this point. Up until now, I have been busy working on my writing sample, reading philosophy which was relevant to it, and thusly feeling rather engaged philosophically. But post-submission, I am at a loss for motivation. Are there any other philosophy program applicants who are enduring a transition year-off as well? I am interested in hearing how you are staying engaged with philosophy or if you have any thoughts about the experience that might be helpful. Cheers, Adri