philoguy

I got that as well, pretty laughable.

Is it appropriate to follow up on applications and inquire into the specifics of why you were rejected?

Yup, stony brook. Appreciate all the responses and insight, just seemed odd to me (and him).

Hi all, asking for a friend who recently received a letter of rejection that ended by stating "we [school rejecting him] hope you apply again next year." I've seen my fair share of rejection letters, but I've never seen one like this. I was wondering if anyone had any insight into this and whether it might be worth it for him to follow up with the school.

Clinging right now, haven't heard anything. I did take a look at my application and there was a notification telling me that they didn't have my test scores, which is weird because they explicitly stated they don't want gres(?).

Anyone have any educated guesses as to when we might hear from the following schools (or if someone has heard back and I simply missed the post/announcement): Georgetown, Arizona, UCSD, CU Boulder. Any info would be much appreciated, as I've received one explicit rejection and a few implicit ones (by means of acceptance and waitlists going out and not being in either group) and am stressing out quite a bit.

Thanks so much!

Hey, what is the name of this Facebook group/are more people posting there? Just trying to figure out where I am while slowly losing hope. Wustl, umd, and Wisconsin were all schools I thought would be nice fits and it's looking like all acceptances have been sent out for each. I've only heard back from one school which was a rejection from ubc, so just looking for a glimmer of hope at this point.

Thanks all, sincerely appreciate the advice.

Hi all, my department advisor recently had a discussion with my M.A. cohort about the upcoming Ph.D. application season. It was, overall, a pretty scary talk so I figured I'd come on here and float some questions about my prospects given my stats. My M.A. program is a first-year program at a large university that has had an interdisciplinary program for a while, so it does have a track record of PhD admission success, the body of applicants are not large and the vast majority of them went on to study political philosophy/applied ethics. I attended my school for a few reasons: convenient location (I was working in the same city at the time of my acceptance), faculty that are somewhat if not very prominent in my AOI (mind, CogSci, moral psychology, animal cognition/ethics, phil of biology), and I felt at home based on my visit and correspondence with various professors. Attending my current university did not come without its drawbacks: I turned down some better-known M.A. programs (Claremont Grad, SFSU, Carleton University) and accepted an offer at my current school before I got off the waitlist at some really top notch programs (UWM, Georgia St.). However, I've really enjoyed my time here and have developed great relationships with those aforementioned faculty. With that said: Entering year 2 of the program, I have a 3.9 GPA. This is a big improvement on my 3.3 overall and 3.6 major GPA at my undergrad institution (a top liberal arts school). My GRE scores are 160, 164, and 5.5 (85th, 87th, and 98th percentile). My recommendation letters are probably going to be very good, 2 of the 3 coming from professors who are somewhat to very well known in their fields. I'm working on polishing the living hell out of my writing sample. My current goal is to get into a top 10-20 program based on my interests. Things that I'm worried about: 1) undergrad GPA (see above); 2) My GREs - they seem strong to me, but I feel as if I have any shortcoming in such a competitive pool it could prove fatal; 3) No publications: I have submitted some papers to conferences and journals but no word yet; 4) My M.A. program, as stated, is in its infancy but I'm hoping this will be mitigated by the recommendation letters coming from well-known faculty Anyways, thoughts about how realistic acceptance to a top 15 (maybe top 10?) school is given my current academic standing would be much appreciated. Do I have a shot? Do I need to get something published/speak at a conference? Retake my GREs?

I second this. I've only seen once accepting posted on the boards

Any idea when Brandeis might release?

Yes he was! I'm not all that familiar with his work but I do know that he was there around that time.

Just got word that I've been admitted to Claremont's MA program! Huge congrats to all the recent Oxford admits also btw

Really helpful, thanks so much!