Infinite Zest

I was talking to someone about this the other day. I don't really get distracted by noise, but my focus is lost once the noise becomes relevant.

I don't know if this counts, but I like being in a loud cafe while reading philosophy. Maybe it's that I love the feeling of being totally focused in a distracted environment.

Overlapping interests! Woo!

Just a bit of advice on auditing logic/math classes: I think it's very important to keep up with homework assignments, at least to some degree. There's a huge difference between understanding a proof and being able to effectively generate one.

I think those scores are fine. I have a friend who got into T10 gourmet report schools with those same scores. Continental programs seem to value quant a bit less anyway. I wouldn't retake it.

I'll second Magoosh. I'd also recommend using some ETS material.

I did all of my research before writing my philosophy honors thesis. This amounted to something along the lines of ~50 citations. That beings said, I've cut down the honors thesis into a writing sample, and I now have ~35 citations in the paper. I think that a good number of citations can *hint* a few things: a.) You've taken the time to understand the topic of your writing sample incredibly well. b.) You can make general arguments; in other words, you can argue against a view held by several philosophers, not just one philosopher's idiosyncratic point. c.) You know how to do substantial independent research. d.) You are aiming to do professional academic work. Furthermore, I think merely reading ~50 papers on the topic of your writing sample reduces the chances that you'll make an unoriginal argument and increases the chances that you'll say something substantial. Personally, I feel that my writing sample would have been shabby if I didn't spend a few months doing intense research on the topic, but maybe that's just my way of doing things.

I feel like doing well on the GRE is a sort of perseverance test. In that sense, it might actually be a good indicator of success in graduate school.

Yeah, I've sent it out to a few trustworthy readers, so I'll see what comes back. I can't imagine changing anything more than a sentence or two. I think there's a certain point where it's not worth changing anything--I guess I'd rather be done now than later! Now onto personal statements!

I think I've reached a weird point: I've been working on my writing sample for a year now, and I don't see anything left to change. Neither does my adviser. Should I call it quits? I'm sure there are problems with the paper, but I just don't know who else to ask, especially since I'm not close to many other professors who are familiar with the topic. I guess this isn't a bad position to be in.

I could see this hurting you. After all, it may seem a bit disingenuous to send an email of this sort of email just a few months before applications are due. I could also see a candid email being misconstrued as an obsequious one. On the other hand, I think an email like this sent at the right time can be incredibly valuable.

Will your score hurt you? I have no idea. I don't think anyone on these forums knows that. (I'd like to think none of us are on admissions committees.) Things to consider: Do you think you can do any better? Can you afford a retake? Are there other parts of your application that you should be spending time on? It is, after all, September, and you should begin polishing your writing sample if you haven't started already. I did a bit better the second time around, and I'm glad I retook the exam. At the end of the day, it's your judgement that matters, not mine.

Update (for anyone interested): I retook the GRE today and ended up with a score 5 points higher, improving in both quant/verbal. For anyone in a similar situation, I'd suggest retaking the test, especially if you were nervous the first time. I don't know if this grade bump will help at all, but I do know that when I get rejected to school X, I won't say to myself "if only you'd taken the GRE more seriously." That in itself was worth the effort, for me at least.

I agree with your second reason. As for the first, I think a lot of people realize the danger of picking a "hot topic" only after they have a writing sample/polished paper completed. I doubt that many people would scrap a sample just because it's on a hot topic. It is, of course, possible to pick a contemporary topic that isn't trite.

My writing sample's on recent analytic philosophy (2000s). I'm also surprised that many people aren't writing on more contemporary topics.

Yes. MIT's program looks amazing.

That sounds super interesting!

This is all great advice!

Philosophy

Sure, I'll send you a message. By the way, against my better judgement, I've decided to retake the GRE. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Have you considered meditation? http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/how-meditation-might-boost-your-test-scores/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Have you tried Magoosh or Manhattan for prep? I found all other companies useless.

Whoa.

Although I can't really answer this question, I will say that I thought GRE math was a lot more straightforward/more enjoyable to study than GRE verbal. Also, GRE math can be improved much more easily than, say, reading comprehension, in my opinion. Of course, all this info might be irrelevant to you. (You're not taking the GRE, right?)

Like I said, I was probably overreacting. On that note, a 165 verbal does seem to be a bit below average for a top PhD program. Am I mistaken here? UChicago reports an average of 710 on verbal (167 new score). Sure, 2 points isn't a big difference, but a 165 still doesn't seem to be a score to boast about. As far as the quantitative score goes, I guess I'm just frustrated because I was scoring around 166 on ETS practice tests.