verificationist

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

So no one knows anything. Great!

So no one knows anything. Great!

It just takes one, don't give up hope yet ~

I think you should have Ave forward it to him, Nikolay. I'm sure he either knows Chalmers or someone else who knows him.

I think you should have Ave forward it to him, Nikolay. I'm sure he either knows Chalmers or someone else who knows him.

Work on your writing sample. That's all I can say with the extremely meagre experience I have. It is always going to be worse than you think it really is. So if there's anything wrong with your application it's probably your writing sample. I've seen people with worse GREs and pedigree get into far better places. It's the always the sample.

Well, that certainly seems like a very opportunistic and money-grabbing move on NYU's part. They should be ashamed of it. If you're willing to pay for a Master's programme you're much better off doing it at a British university, where Master's students are actually taken seriously and where you're actually working towards a degree that can get you into a PhD.

Well, that certainly seems like a very opportunistic and money-grabbing move on NYU's part. They should be ashamed of it. If you're willing to pay for a Master's programme you're much better off doing it at a British university, where Master's students are actually taken seriously and where you're actually working towards a degree that can get you into a PhD.

Well, received my last rejection today from Boston U. Accepted with funding at 1/11 programs, rejected at all the rest. I'm a good example for the advice a few others have given on here: "Remember, it only takes one acceptance." I'm really happy to have gotten this acceptance, as I'm not sure what I would have done with the next year otherwise. Something far less worthwhile than taking a PhD in Philosophy, I'm sure.

I'm sorry for having to voice disagreement again. It seems to me that your professor is being very responsible in teaching the class what they need to know. I agree with what Dumbnamechange said, which was that everyone is a philosopher just means no one is a philosopher. I don't think everyone is a philosopher. I also don't think that the best way to learn philosophy is to have the freedom to do it the way mature philosophers do.
Science students high school and below don't do experiments the way scientists do, but someone who has never gone through that process is unlikely going to become a scientist. There're ways of teaching tools that necessarily involve guidance (or even restrictions) that don't exist in the real field.

Relativism! Boo!

I want to risk disapproval and voice a different view. I think your professor has a point. There are several issues conflicted here. First of all, just because someone isn't a philosopher doesn't mean their view cannot be of philosophical interest - and conversely, just because someone's view has the potential of eliciting philosophical interest, doesn't mean they're a philosopher.
Moreover, the exercise of "doing philosophy" is, of course, valued in proposing original views and investigating philosophical matters in discourses not previously investigated. But the purpose of an undergraduate education in philosophy is, in my opinion, to familiarize students with the way philosophy as an academic discipline functions, and in doing so equipping students with tools with which the student can then go on and make original contributions. As such, there is great value associated in restricting the course of study to a focused and well defined group of people, namely, academic philosophers.

Well, I think there might be other factors. GREs aren't that important, and your Q and R scores are stellar for philosophy. But your W score is pretty low. (This is probably nothing, though. I know a guy with an offer at NYU who got a 4.5). Nobody will care about your non-phil GPA if your phil and grad GPAs are that good. Especially not if you have good letters of recommendation, which I assume you have, since few teachers would agree to give you a letter unless they can say good things about you.
 
If I may say so, I think the problem might be with your writing sample. Perhaps it's not bad, just on an outdated topic, or not suited to the faculty interests of the places you applied to. I also think you might have overreached. Having 1/3 of your applications on T20 and 2 more of them in places as reputable as Duke or Brown is a huge risk. But don't let any of this discourage you. Just reapply next year with a better sample and be more strategic about your choices. Focus on keeping good relationships with your recommenders or other potential recommenders, and in showing them that you want to improve for the next season.

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

OK, people, it's decided. After having been rejected by Columbia and having gotten a first-round acceptance into UT-Austin, it is Texas for me next year. Ah, that certainly is a big 'take that' to Northwestern, Maryland and Brown for having spurned my writing sample!
 
Haven't hear from Ohio nor U Conn at all. Presumed rejection from Mass.-Amherst, but I still love them because I sent them a weaker writing sample, since unfortunately my main sample was too long for them.
 
Will decline the following offers:
 
Missouri
U of Miami
Colorado (waitlist)
Indiana (waitlist)
 
My stats were these:
 
GRE: 170 V, 162 Q, 5.5 A
BA Philosophy. British degree. Very low 2:1, borderline 2:2
 
I am doing an MA in the UK, but I didn't send any graduate grades because I didn't have any yet. I think it's a miracle I got a good outcome given how low my BA grades were, but one caveat is that it's from a place with very, very good pedigree. All recommendations are from well-known people. I think I got into UT-Austin because I wrote on a very traditional phil of language topic, and perhaps it resonated with some of the faculty there. That's it, I guess!

Got the offer letter from UT-Austin. 14,500 a year if you have an MA (which is the case with me). Whoa, you know, even if it's for 6 years that's a pittance (they give you two summers of $5000 and it increases when you're ABD, though).

Time to call my parents and remind them how much I love them...

Got the offer letter from UT-Austin. 14,500 a year if you have an MA (which is the case with me). Whoa, you know, even if it's for 6 years that's a pittance (they give you two summers of $5000 and it increases when you're ABD, though).

Time to call my parents and remind them how much I love them...