DontFly

Not useful for OP but might be useful for others: UC-Irvine LPS will continue to have interviews. This is a requirement coming from the School of Social Sciences, and so will not go away. UC-Irvine Philosophy, however, belongs to the School of Humanities and consequently does not have this requirement. My best knowledge is that they are not considering doing interviews in the near future.

I don't know anything about DePaul, but I just want to say that I tend to give people's negative experiences a lot more credibility than positive ones. Most people don't mind most places (and some people shine wherever they are), but having one person experiencing it so negatively they can't help but express it publicly is alarming enough.

Presumably all three of your letter writers have (or will have) read your writing sample and gave you detailed response? You could also try presenting it to undergrad conferences. If you have a friend who's got a more successful season this year or who is in grad school already, then you can ask them to take a look at your sample too. Of course you won't change everything they tell you to, but it's a good way to get a second opinion on what doesn't make sense to people who haven't been working on it for so long.

As a Canadian student with some familiarity with these schools, I'll just say that I'll take UWO over UBC anytime. This is especially true is most of their MAs are placed internally. (Though it seems that UWO expects MAs to apply in their first year, which might be a deterrent.) Feel free to PM me for more information.

Too lazy to find the original source, but here're some things along the same line: http://amj.aom.org/content/50/4/923.short -> on emotions being beneficial for decision making http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699931.2014.896318-> on positive vs. negative emotions being beneficial for different kinds of decision making There's also loads of studies on maximizing vs. satisficing, which cautions against the temptation to over-analyze choices (in the sense that maximizers tend to choose objectively worse choices than satisficers, and are also not as happy as their choices), but it is only distantly related to the topic of choosing grad programs.

I mean it! Research show that people make important decisions best (best in the sense that they are more likely to be happy about years in the future) when they're angry or in need of going to a bathroom... The idea is to shut down decision center of the brain and go with emotional reaction. That said, I do agree that it's hard not to analyze it. What I sometimes do is to flip a coin - not that I'll do what the coin tells me to, but usually as soon as I see what the coin tells me, I'd have a strong aversion/acceptance towards that option.

Slight update: Madison made 6 offers, but one accepted without visit (from out of the continent). I have told them that I declined, but I still haven't received the official offer yet, and so cannot officially decline. I don't know if they'll have to wait for people to officially decline before they can take wait listers. (I suspect that they don't, though.) If I understand sidebysondheim correctly, UNC made 20 offers for 10 spots (usual cohort size). If they get more than 10, they may be able to wiggle and swallow, and take fewer next year. I gather that there's very little wiggle room at UWM, which is probably why they're particularly cautious about the offers they made.

I sort of did at UCI, even though I had never visited campuses before and thought that the feeling was natural (until I went to Davis and UWM and didn't feel that way). I think psychologically the best way to make an important decision is to expose yourself to all options, and go with gut feeling. Don't try to analyze it by doing a pro/con chart. Go with whichever place that excites you the most!

Alright, decision is final -- Will attend: UC-Irvine (LPS) Total programs applied: 16 Declined offer/wait list (WL): Western Ontario (WL); U of Washington (WL); U of York; UC-Davis; UW-Madison. Visited: UC-Davis, UW-Madison, UC-Irvine AOI: philosophy of science (general & social), decision & game theory GRE (taken in 2012): verbal (162/ 89%); quantitative (167/94%); writing (4.5/ 80%) Background: 2-year MA in philosophy from Canada; double-major undergraduate degree in philosophy and psychology from Canada. Note: I know quite a few people are interested in UW-Madison. I have already let them know that I will be declining, but I can't do it officially until I get the official offer (it's still pending approval). If anyone is seriously considering UW-Madison (or UC-Davis) but could not arrange a visit, and would like to know what I thought of the schools and/or why I declined them, feel free to PM me. It would be helpful if you also tell me your AOI.

A lot of people will blame you. You just can't hear them.

Yep, I agree entirely -- both on now being too early anyway and on courtesy shouldn't stop people from exploring options. To be honest, if OP says "yes I would accept X if they call me on the last day", I couldn't think of a better alternative than to hold off until last day. I guess that's where all the last day phone calls coming from.

Wow big time congratulations! I think I read it on someone's signature that one of those schools has climate problem. Can't remember which one, though.

I agree partly - The part I disagree is the part you say there's no reason to accept early. There is a courtesy reason - people might be waiting on that school also, and would really love to be able to plan ahead. Accepting/declining early is considerate to the wait listers. I do agree that OP should think about what would happen if University X calls you on the last day, wanting to know if you'd go. If you won't accept it then, then I think a good idea might be: wait after X's visiting days, wait a couple more days, and remove yourself from there if you haven't heard anything still.

I'm sorry for having to voice disagreement again. It seems to me that your professor is being very responsible in teaching the class what they need to know. I agree with what Dumbnamechange said, which was that everyone is a philosopher just means no one is a philosopher. I don't think everyone is a philosopher. I also don't think that the best way to learn philosophy is to have the freedom to do it the way mature philosophers do. Science students high school and below don't do experiments the way scientists do, but someone who has never gone through that process is unlikely going to become a scientist. There're ways of teaching tools that necessarily involve guidance (or even restrictions) that don't exist in the real field.

I don't see how this is immoral. It's not like every time it'll work; it's not like every letter writer is willing to do this for you; it's not like luck doesn't play a role in applications. Admission committee members prefer you if you come from a prestigious school; if they know/respect your letter writers; if your writing sample agrees with their own view. I don't see how getting your letter writer to speak for you is any more "immoral" than this. Plus they're nor lying about you.

I heard that LSE is one of those places where you come in, and you write, and that's it. There's very little course requirement. I considered applying there but decided against it, because I know I'm not ready to start writing. I value taking courses a lot. That said, if you're really pulled together and are ready to write, then LSE is probably a good place to save some years and graduate sooner.

One of my letter writers had told me that, sometimes, it's possible for a letter writer to contact a school about a student, thus bumping the student ahead on the wait list. This is only possible if the letter writers know someone on the admission committee, though. I highly doubt the committee members would have time to read more work.

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.

That's the plan! It's a quite interesting situation for me. On the one hand, I'm going on campus visits and am getting recruited. On the other hand, I have also been helping my MA department to recruit others. It's interesting to be on both sides at the same time.

They told me (Now that you mentioned it I'm not so sure I was supposed to share it.. but WTH) I was offered off the wait list, so I think it's still moving. They're also pretty explicit in telling us that they have a long wait list, and, if we want to decline, we should do so sooner, which I think is very considerate of them. So far every interaction I've had with them has been really positive. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd start to put pressure on us once the visit had finished.

This might just be repeating some of your own thoughts, but I think the climate at an MA is more important than the people you work with (i.e., their academic reputation and fit), because MA programs tend to be short and mostly focused on acquiring knowledge and skills already in philosophy, rather than really generating new knowledge with a supervisor. Most, if not all, philosophers possess the skills you're trying to learn. Finding someone who's willing to spend time teaching you is more important than someone who's brilliant but doesn't bother with you. So, I'm with Ian on not responding being a really bad sign.

I second this concern from the analytic side. I think there is no harm in keeping philosophy as a hobby, and it seems reasonable to expect that someone who has learned it systematically as an undergrad is able to appreciate it more than someone who hasn't. But hoping that the kind of skills developed in private is comparable to that in grad school, let alone as a working philosopher, is a little too optimistic. At least for most people.

I just realized you were talking about UW Madison. Well... this may be a bit awkward for me, but... I'm pretty sure the reason she can't say anything is because their visiting days are 19-20. If there will be any movement, it'll be after the visits. They are only taking 5 students this year, and all 5 of us are visiting, which makes it doubly hard to judge (because people who don't visit probably are not really interested in going). Once they see us, they might have a slightly better idea. (I don't know if this is at any degree helpful, though. Personally, I'm super undecided. But if I do turn it down, I'll do so before April so others have enough time to plan ahead.)

I want to risk disapproval and voice a different view. I think your professor has a point. There are several issues conflicted here. First of all, just because someone isn't a philosopher doesn't mean their view cannot be of philosophical interest - and conversely, just because someone's view has the potential of eliciting philosophical interest, doesn't mean they're a philosopher. Moreover, the exercise of "doing philosophy" is, of course, valued in proposing original views and investigating philosophical matters in discourses not previously investigated. But the purpose of an undergraduate education in philosophy is, in my opinion, to familiarize students with the way philosophy as an academic discipline functions, and in doing so equipping students with tools with which the student can then go on and make original contributions. As such, there is great value associated in restricting the course of study to a focused and well defined group of people, namely, academic philosophers.

I'll vote against thesis, provided the following: Not having to write a thesis still gives you a supervisor It is common practice (or requirement) for non-thesis students to write a writing-sample length paper with the supervisor in a process similar to that of the thesis. I come from an MA with two options (thesis vs. professional paper). If you plan to go on to do a PhD, what you need at the end of the MA is a really polished writing sample. Not a thesis. Nobody will (let's face it) read your MA thesis. But if MA is all you want, then by all means do a thesis. Also note that writing a thesis may significantly lengthen your time in the MA. EDIT: After reading your replies, I'd like to make the following clarification - Thesis at my program is 100-150 pages long, where professional paper is 20-25 pages. If the difference is simply "write or not write", I'd say go with "write". While thesis may help with writing sample, it is really difficult to get just as good a shorter piece from a part of the original piece. I know this by having to adapt my 20-page writing sample to a 10-page one (which some places require) - it takes a lot of time; I didn't get as much help on the shorter one as I did with the longer one, unless I wanted to present it as a different project and extended my stay. I've still got a hope at polishing it for publication soon after I start my PhD, which, if happens, would give me a head start.