riverstyx
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Posts posted by riverstyx
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A friend of mine who has a masters degree in philosophy asked me about this, and I wasn't sure of the answer.
He has a masters degree in philosophy from a public university (West Coast). He didn't do so well, and he thinks that if he applies to PhD programs in philosophy, he will almost certainly be shut out.
He asked me whether getting a second masters in philosophy with a slightly different specialization would be possible (metaphysics as opposed to philosophy of science). I haven't really heard of such a thing, but I figured I would post to get people's reactions.
I would think philosophy graduate programs would not admit a student who already has a masters in philosophy solely to get a second masters degree in philosophy. But then again, if a student has a masters degree in philosophy and applies to a PhD program and gets admitted, s/he will receive a second masters degree along the way anyway.
Any thoughts?
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Anyone attending CUNY feel free to pm me.
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Thank you everybody also for replying to my many, many posts and questions throughout this endeavor. I appreciate the support you have given me.
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Accepted at CUNY and will be attending. Full fellowship support.
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Is anyone still making up their minds about CUNY?
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I emailed UW-Madison and specifically asked for my rank on the wait list, but the only thing the admissions person told me was that they were waiting for some of their initial admitted offers to make their decisions, which they would do by April 15th. That's it. So I take that to mean I am not highly ranked on the wait list. Someone at CUNY told me my admissions chances were "pretty good" and that "it is looking good" and so I hope I will be able to go there next year! I am admitted to Syracuse but wait-listed for funding there.
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I heard at the University of Miami that there are two spots left, and two offers still outstanding. So whether or not they go to their wait list depends on whether the last two applicants left to reply accept their offers or not.
As far as UW-Madison, don't forget that quite a few people have declined a spot on their waitlist, so if the list was originally around, say, 30 people, it's probably down to ~20 now.
I emailed someone on the admissions committee at CUNY over the weeked. He said the wait list hasn't budged yet, but he was "sure" there would be news on Monday. Does that mean I should feel free to email him and ask for another update? Or is it best to just leave him alone for now?
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Lots of schools are forced to wait until the 15th, because their initial applicants who were accepted often don't make final decisions until that day. That's what one professor told me. I would not infer anything negative at this point, especially if there are no other posts up indicating that applicants from those schools had been accepted off the wait list yet.
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I haven't heard anything from Miami since they responded to my email in late February. I had asked them whether there were any updates, and they said no, most applicants make their decisions the last week before April 15th. They said if anything changed, they would email me. Now, should I email them again asking them if anything has changed on the wait list? It is the last week before the 15th, after all.
CUNY got back to me and said unfortunately nothing has changed with their wait list, but they were "sure" there would be news by Monday.
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I emailed all of my wait list schools and two of three got back to me. The only one that didn't respond at all is CUNY. I'm guessing I should take that as a bad sign. Some schools are more re tight lipped than others, though. Either way, like your you said we will find out in a few days.
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Is this all really going to come down to the last two or three days? (April 13th-15th) I was looking over past years, and it seems that many schools were already taking people off of the wait lists by April 7-8th. But it's already the 9th and not much is posted on the results page. And it seems none of the results are from the big-name schools.
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Do you think at this point it is appropriate to contact the schools we are waitlisted at and ask for an update? I contacted them initially (which for me was one month ago), but all I want to know at this point is if I am realistically in the running. I know I will probably receive an ambiguous answer, but I don't want to come off as a pest if I do contact them. Thoughts?
I contacted Wisconsin and the only thing they told me was that I was still on the wait list. I had specifically asked for my chances of admission, but they said nothing. I emailed CUNY and Miami and hopefully they will get back to me soon.
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I'm waiting on Penn. I've been accepted to CUNY with funding off the waitlist and am weighing that vs. LSE. Still totally lost! Any thoughts greatly appreciated
When were you accepted off of the wait list at CUNY?
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I emailed my waiting list schools to see what my chances are. Only Wisconsin got back, but the only thing the person said was that I was still on the waiting list. That's it. Is there some policy certain schools have about being deliberately tight lipped about their wait lists? Because in March the other schools had told me I should feel free to check up with them in April and that they would update me accordingly. What should I take from the fact that he didn't tell me anything?
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Well Purdue told me that my chances of being accepted off the waitlist was low, and I know that UW-Madison's waitlist is notoriously long, so I'm just not too hopeful at this point. But yes I am waiting until April 15th!
I'm in the same boat as you regarding my wait lists. I got in to Syracuse (wait-listed for funding), and I am wait-listed at Miami, CUNY, and Wisconsin. I think either CUNY or Miami are my best prospects so far, though I'm hoping to get into CUNY over Miami. As for Wisconsin, yes, they have a long wait list, but there are a lot of changes going on there, and so that may influence people's decisions on whether to attend or not. Who knows. But for me things will likely go down to the wire. Good luck!
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I, like you twinkie eater (lol love the screen name), have been accepted to 2 unranked phd programs, both funded offers, and while I am waitlisted at more reputable schools, I don't see those prospects coming to fruition. Of the two programs, U. of South Florida is the one that has a better placement record and the program is a stunning fit for me interest-wise. I was accepted into great MA programs that I applied to in case I got shut out of all the PhD programs I applied to. Now your situation is of course most likely different than mine- I'm older and have less time to afford to my schooling if I want to have a shot at enjoying a career at this point (I'll be 34 in August), which is a major factor in why I'm not choosing an MA in order to better my chances at being accepted at a more prestigious program at a later point. The other factor is precisely what you mentioned in your post- I am perfectly content with the prospect of teaching philosophy at a small liberal arts college after receiving my PhD. The irony is that having come from an unknown, tiny liberal arts college is what I believe to have been a detrimental factor in my admissions process, but I truly did enjoy my undergraduate experience; the setting was intimate and there was a genuine camaraderie between the professors and students. I don't need prestige to factor into my professional legacy. I just want to teach philosophy and publish. I am hoping that we can accomplish such goals with such phd programs.
How come you don't see either of your two wait list offers coming to fruition? Will you wait until April 15th to make up your mind?
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Found this link for the University of Wisconsin, Madison philosophy admissions on their website: http://grad.wisc.edu/education/academicprograms/profiles/765.pdf
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Does anyone have any idea how far down their wait list UW Madison goes?
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Yes, around the middle in a waiting list of about 30. They said they usually make it to half of the list and that they had only 4 places for 120 applicants.
UW-Madison also has a large wait list, and they are also accepting only 5. So maybe they will make it through half of their wait list too. Pretty loose reasoning on my part, but hopefully correct!
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unreal how different the approaches are at these various programs! 20 offers at UNC versus 5 offers at UW-Madison! In that case, does UNC have a tiny waitlist as opposed to Madison's enormous one? I know there was the decline at Madison early this week, but nobody has mentioned being accepted off the waitlist. Perhaps someone who doesn't post here has been offered the spot.
Well, I think the person who said s/he was going to decline UW-Madison said s/he already told the department of the intention to decline, but couldn't yet officially decline because s/he hadn't received the official offer yet. If that's the case, then Madison won't admit anyone off of the wait list for a little while longer, at least not until the official decline is in. I think their post is in the "decisions" thread. There must be a reason why Madison has such a long wait list. I imagine that a lot of people decline for one reason or another, and so they need a long list. It just doesn't make sense to make things more difficult by needlessly filling up the list with names of people who they think don't have a good shot at being accepted. But also in the decisions thread, I think someone said Colorado had a long wait list of around 30, and that they only had spots for 4 students. BUT the professor said that they usually go through about half of the wait list. So that's good, maybe that means things will be similar for UW Madison. I mean, going through half of a wait list of 30 means about a 50% chance of acceptance off of the wait list. Not bad, in my opinion.
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Anybody visit University of Wisconsin, Madison yet? How did the department seem? Any ideas on whether you'll accept?
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No clue. Looking at the results page, and judging by the ratio of UW Madison rejections to wait list notifications posted, there are well over 100 people on the Madison wait list. But if I had to guess, I'd say there are more like 30.
But okay, here's one reason Madison might have such a long wait list: A *lot* of people end up turning down Madison. But that would mean, of course that in fact Madison does actually accept more than just a few people off their wait list.
It sounds like it should be right. I imagine a lot of people who get into UW-Madison are competitive at other top schools as well, and like I said in another post, many people don't find the idea of studying in Wisconsin attractive because of the climate. So there must be a reason. I mean, if everybody was accepting an offer right off the bat, then there wouldn't be a reason to keep such a long list.
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Why does UW-Madison keep such a long wait list if they only accept very few off it? What's the point? And how long is "long"? 20? 30?
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I was offered off wait list because someone declined without visit (at least one person did so from this forum). Now that all 5 of us have confirmed our visits, I think any movement will happen after next week, when visitation is over.
Personally I sincerely have no idea whether or not I'll accept. My decision on Madison is going to depend exclusively on my visit. Sorry for not being more definitive about it. If you want more information on my experience so far with them and the information I gathered so far, feel free to PM me.
Well good luck to you, whatever you decide to do. I have a few wait lists and I am expecting to hear back from them in another few weeks, so hopefully it will all work out!
Second Master's Degree?
in Philosophy
Posted
Yes that makes sense. I would guess it depends on each school's policies on admissions for the same or a similar degree. Maybe it's on a case-by-case basis, but probably for most schools the answer is no. I know for PhD admissions to philosophy most every school will not admit a student for a PhD who already has a PhD in philosophy, and there's no reason to think it's any different for masters degrees.