pecado

So do you study how one knows mathematics or logic? Or do you study knowledge with mathematics and logic as tools for your investigations?

Whatever it is, I am doing it right now.

So on the topic of formal epistemology, what is formal epistomology?

Please stop the discussion. It was obviously a joke, without a lot of importance. There 2 pages of silly discussion right now, in the thread of the rejecteds... You are giving a bad image of us rejected ones, like if this proved that we had to be rejected!

I honestly think that the single Brown acceptance might be fake. But, anyway, do you know if Brown has a wait list?

Strangely enough you do complain about Princeton having only one admitted applicant, and nobody says a thing about Brown having only one too! And, I can't find anyone claiming that admission. Anything to say about it?

May I know where?

If they accepted you to the PhD then they do think that you are prepared to study the PhD, and you should take the chance, UNLESS you do not want to study at that school for some big reason -but if there is such a reason you should not have applied to that school in the first place-. So, go for the PhD, unless you do not want that school. Believe me, I, and I bet most people here, do not consider ourselves ready enough for the PhD, specially because we have never been in one and we do not really know how it feels. But we do know that if we get it we will do our best effort to achieve success in it. And I bet that is your case. So do not be afraid of it, it is possible to succeed, you only need to try and try and try and try... Also, what you would do during the PhD is very different -and in my opinion better- than what you would do in the Master. You would be starting your personal research soon, and you would get the degree younger, and therefore the opportunities -in every aspect of your life- that you would get would be very different, and I think, better, if you choose the PhD now that if you postpone it. STUDY NOW THAT YOU CAN. Which is similar to "Eat now that there is food, because when there is not, you will not eat even if you want".

So you both were only rejected without an offer to the master? What does you application website say? I have not received any email! But someone here said that they already contacted the accepted ones. Then what are they waiting to send all the rejects? Why?!

Hello, how did you get your rejection notices from Chicago? Do you think you all got it at the same time? If one has not received an email yet, and the application website says nothing, what does that mean? Do you think they are sending first the rejections recommended to the Master, and they will send later the non recommended rejections? Or do you think there may be a chance they are still considering some people? Also, have you noted that all the accepted candidates are international only?

I want to know what you think about the CUNY Graduate Center, if you plan to apply to it, and how it compares to other schools (in example, Columbia). I am indecisive about applying to it. The fact that Saul Kripke teaches there, and that it is in the center of New York (in front of the Empire State) makes it attractive. But today I am reading many negative reviews saying that there is a lot of bureaucracy, that the teachers do not care about the students, that they demand too much -more than other universities- from the students, that there is exaggerated security, that the installations are not comfortable in the inside, and that you can't have a complete and fulfilling university experience because there are not undergraduate students, and it lacks the spirit and life of a liberal university. What do you think? Today it is the last day to send the application and I can't decide. As I don't have plenty of money, I could use that money to apply to other better university -if this university is as bad as the reviews say-.

Brown has 15 members, MIT has 18 members, Columbia has 24 members.

You should have put an option that said "Not listed in the PGR", because some of us are applying in other universities, outside the USA, that are not ranked there. Also, for a more world perspective, perhaps using the QS world rankings in philosophy might be of better utility. I am sorry, I had to say it. Nonetheless, this poll is answerable for those applying only at USA's schools, and it will actually let you know exactly that: what is the ranking of most of the USA's universities a person from here is applying to. I dare to guess that the most voted result will be 10-20, for I suspect these are the schools that have those extreme admission ratios of 2%... Although we may find a surprise and discover that this is the case at the other universities, or something more surprising.

I have been looking at the number of teachers and researchers of the departments of philosophy. There are many interesting variances, most in USA are either 15-30 or 30-40, and many other foreign universities have bigger departments with 60-100 or more. So, many foreign universities have two or four times more faculty members in philosophy than those of USA. What is better? A larger department or a smaller one? Some thoughts: SMALL DEPARTMENT More intimacy and attention, everyone knows everyone. Less variety of current investigations. Probably less students, and therefore less people to know and to talk with, although you know everyone. BIG DEPARTMENT Less intimacy and more anonymity, you know only the nearest ones. More variety of current investigations. Probably more students, and therefore more people to know and to talk with, although you will not know everyone. The size of USA's departments of philosophy surprised me, I did not expect them to be so small. Also, there is not a correlation between the "prestige" of a department and it's size, many of those well regarded departments are very little, specially in the USA. Anyway, the size of the department will affect your experience as graduate student, definitively. What do you think?

You will have to go to other city, I doubt that all the universities you are applying to are located near your family's town. It will not be very different if you go to Europe, the real difference will be that many people will not be speaking English, and that it will be harder for you to travel home. But, there are many advantages. You will get the chance to get a broader vision of philosophy, instead of being USA centred -as many students in the USA seem to be-. I am sure you are accustomed to the USA's living circumstances, but life in other places of the world is not so terrible, specially in Europe, where many countries have higher living standards than the USA. You will find a different living ideology, and, if anything, it will help you develop a better cosmopolitan personality. I have travelled only 2 times outside of my country, which seems like very little abroad experience. Nonetheless, those 2 travels made me realise many things about the world and the society. Going abroad is nourishing, and more if you are a philosopher, you will be able to directly experience all those things you only theorized about, like other political systems, other languages, other moral, other priorities. I personally think that you would enjoy going to Europe, you will find a very different ambience, with a different architecture, etc. And do not be fooled by the rankings, and what is said in your near circle. It is obvious that if you live in the USA, your academic circle will be from the USA and they will know better about the USA than about anywhere else. So they probably does not know a lot about European universities, but that does not mean that the universities there are bad or of less quality than at the USA. There are prestigious and fantastic universities there too, they actually started there. If I were you, I would try, and take the chance. You will not regret it. And if you do, you can return home and try to get into a national university. Also, consider that you will have to apply to a master, not to a doctorate, because the European system requires you to do so. But that is good, you could go there and make the master, and if you don't like it, it will only last 1 or 2 years, and you will be able to come back, with an awesome European title, which is a rarity that not many will have at home.

If you can, make a shorter article. Your text probably has many "parts" you can identify, perhaps in one place you talk about X argument, and in another one you talk about Y argument. Select the most important argument, and make a short version around that argument. This is very easy, as you already know the theme and you have worked a lot on it, and you will probably need to only copy that section, and rewrite the beginning and the ending. You can mention that it is part of a longer work. I honestly think that it is far more important to demonstrate a magnificent arguing ability, to show that you know how to research, and to show that you can make original criticisms and original proposals. If you do that, the length might be irrelevant.

An abstract is, according to my studies -every teacher I had agreed-, mandatory in any philosophical text, no matter how long or how short, although the abstract might be shorter or longer according to the length -if it is a book, the abstract is the prologue or introduction chapter, if your article is 1 page long, one sentence in the beginning might be enough-. You should always put it, so the reader know what to expect, what to seek, what is the general idea you are working towards. So, I am putting an abstract in every text I write, including my sample, even if there is not a request for it. I recommend you to do it, it will show that you know how to write academic articles.

The doctorate there usually lasts 3 years, 4 maximum. The detail is that you MUST study a master degree first to be even able to apply to the doctorate. And the masters there are usually full of coursework, so there is your answer: there it is the coursework you want. Keep in mind what I said of the master requirement if you are applying, you have better chances of being accepted first to the master. In the countries where master is mandatory, you have little to null chance to be accepted directly into a doctorate program -sometimes it is forbidden-. Good luck.

You can apply to programs that do not require GRE. Also, if you have money, you could apply to programs abroad, specially in Europe. They are good, and better than many in the USA, although you will probably have to apply to the master level first, then to the doctorate.

I have been reading about graduate studies and philosophy "rankings" for 3 years, while planning to apply finally this year. I found this gradcafe the last year, and I have read many threads here. And there are abundant comments that cite the Gourmet's rankings and Leiter's website. I have read those rankings and I find many deficiencies. The worst one is, I think, its blatant focus on the United States, something that would not be bad if the people were not interpreting them as the world's rankings. Leiter's website keeps the same tone of "USAism", it is academically priggish, and bossy on the readers. I feel disappointed with this, and I really hope that they do not portrait the general ambience of the philosophy in the USA. Gladly wikipedia says that Leiter teaches law, not philosophy. But many of the participants in his website accept and play by his rules. I am not sure why you never consider other rankings -like the QS philosophy rankings-, or perhaps, not using any ranking at all. The QS ranking is, or at least it tries to be, global, although it is clearly inclined in favour of the USA's universities; yet, many posters here give exclusivity to the Gourmet's report. I think all this is bad because, the reason why one tries to study the postgraduate degree at other university is to get a broader vision of philosophy, and avoid developing a provincial view of philosophy. That is the reason why I am trying to study abroad. But, giving so much credit to Leiter and his rankings seems a symptom of provincialism -or nationalism?- in that country's academy. I am really interested in studying the deepest problems of philosophy, but I am also interested in not having to stand that senseless ambience that these websites demonstrate. I hope someone here alleviate my frustration and show me that I am getting a wrong image of USA's academy, and that it is actually better, friendlier, freer, and more enjoyable. Please give me your opinions. Thanks.