Cecinestpasunphilosophe

Congrats! Did you just find out now?

Accepting Stanford's offer now. I can't believe this entire process is over. It's been one hell of a ride.

Ann Arbor just offered me a spot off their waitlist, which I have declined. So if you're still on their list - they may be getting in touch with you soon!

Meno's Paradox for the 21st Century.

Perhaps. The entire application process is so opaque and mysterious, it very well could be the case that the only difference in my application that mattered to admissions committees was the writing sample I was able to improve over the summer. But seeing that I would be "master's-prepared" when starting my Ph.D. might have helped. Seeing the Latin and Greek reading list I will have completed by September might have helped (at least for my applications, given the emphasis on philology in a lot of ancient philosophy programs). The extra semester working (in one form or another) with most of the professors writing me letters might have helped. Who knows?

I think the MA definitely helped. Granted, Ancient Phil is a bit of a unique situation, and my MA was in Classics - but I also have friends who did MAs in Philosophy and have done very well this cycle. So, in my anecdotal experience, doing an MA seems like an excellent idea.

I was declined everywhere I applied last year, except for Fordham. Decided to try again, begged the grad director at my program to let me do a one-year MA, slaved over a new writing sample over the summer... and it worked out. I think it's definitely worth a shot.

I wish I thought I would go somewhere. I really feel torn between Chicago, Princeton, and Stanford at this point. And I have no idea how I'll manage to make up my mind by Friday.

I've come to characterize my complaints about the difficulties of making my decision as being of the form: "Look at my yacht! It's so large! I have so much cleaning to do!"

I'm a big fan of MySpace, personally.

Just withdrew my application from ND. No direct benefit, I know, but it will hopefully prove helpful down the road.

Just declined my Toronto admission. Hope this helps someone!

Which is why the rankings, especially area rankings, should always be taken with a shaker of salt. My favourite example of this is comparing the phil of religion PGR rankings from 2011 to 2015. In 2011, UNC-Chapel Hill was ranked 2nd (I think) in the English-speaking world for philosophy of religion. In the most recent ranking, it's nowhere to be found. Why? Because the Adams family moved from UNC to a 3-year position at Rutgers' new Centre for the Philosophy of Religion, which is also why (along with Zimmerman) Rutgers is currently in the PGR's second tier. Especially when dealing with smaller/less well-known AOIs, the PGR should only be used to point you towards those departments where big names in the field are to be found... and even then, if you've done your homework, you should be able to do that without the PGR's help :)

(in robot voice): "Too Catholic? Does not compute. Cannot do. Beep boop."

I'm glad you specified the robot voice. Otherwise, John McDowell would have been doing the voice-over in my head.