psm1580b

Every time I see a post that isn't one of my schools

Oh I'm feelin' the Bern... of rejections

And I totally get that. Nothing but respect for Chicago.

I mean, clearly.

Rejected from Chicago. Email to check website. Whelp... first official rejection. Also, I was not referred to the MAPH--those went out a couple days ago/yesterday. Possibly because I already have an MA.

Me too.

I started my college career about 8 and a half years later than many people and chose initially to attend a terminal MA program. I do not regret it one bit. Given your situation, and the need for absolute dedication and focus in a PhD program, I think the MA is your best bet. I was lucky to go to a ranked MA program in philosophy and feel it has prepared me in ways that I would otherwise not feel prepared.

Thank you.

Dammit, no! When I finally get an acceptance I want my dancing Christian Bale.

If anyone, like me, needs a little good news, I took a look back at some prior results for Indiana HPS for 2015 and noticed that the number of posted WL's was equal to the number of acceptances (+1 who was accepted off WL and declined). So, there's a little bit of positive news for those of us who were WL'd...

This

*phone in lap* *email open* so whats up people?

... A tear falls landing in my wine sobbing ensues while images of Camus on the beach play before my eyes...

Something else that comes out in the quality of the writing is your interest in the topic. I passed my thesis defense no problem and graduated. But one person who read my thesis (after much writing-sample shortening/editing) looked at me and said, "You hate this topic, don't you?" Well. That told me everything I needed to know.

You're welcome

I AM LITERALLY DOING ALL THE ROOTING RN

Indiana HPS, and UC Irvine LPS,

Please let us know how it went! Good luck!

I don't know why this happened, but I distinctly remember my first feedback at all last year being a letter. I want to say it was Duke, but I honestly cannot remember.

any luck?

It's funny you say that, a lot of people tell you to use your "best" work--regardless if it is in the area you wish to research. For a M.A. person, that's probably your thesis. It's what you've spent your most time on and had probably the most significant feedback from peers and faculty. Last year that's what I used. I submitted a paper that was really not at all related to the people that I was hoping to work with. This year I switched it up and submitted a paper that was within philosophy of physics. Last year: 15 rejections. This year (so far) one HPS program waitlist. This is clearly not enough data to form a conclusion from, but it is definitely pointing in a particular direction. Of course, another interpretation is that last year I was not graduated and therefore what they were receiving in my application was not actually complete. This year, there remain no questions about my last two semesters of performance. (I've always wondered if this played any role at all...)

Funny, I heard that as well when I went to pursue my terminal M.A. I didn't hear it from my own faculty, but other people and various online resources. However, based on the acceptances from my program that I've seen over the last couple of years... that's just blatant b.s. Maybe it depends on whether the MA program is rated highly?

Not at all, go look at the history of Indiana's HPS on the results page. They only release "waitlists" and then a couple weeks later those that they can fund from the waitlist are granted acceptance.

Stanford was bad--for some reason I was getting tons of emails like that from them last year. Like they signed me up for their spam once they decided on who their acceptances were.

I teach three courses so I can stay fairly busy. I wish I were teaching more, but c'est la vie I suppose.