Erratic_Akratic

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Just declined an offer from Toronto (PhD).

If the cost of living in the area of C is such that, to have in an affordable rent, you'd have to live a lengthy commute away from your university, I'd take that into consideration. But as I see it, the most important element of funding packages isn't so much the amount of the yearly stipend. A negative tie-breaker, for me, would be a package that fares poorly on these two questions: How many hours of teaching (and grading) are part of the stipend? What are the funding possibilities beyond year 5? Though I value teaching, I wouldn't want to teaching and grading at a rate of 10 hours/week, each semester. And I would want to make sure that the department has the means to help students finish up their dissertation by funding them beyond their fifth year, and not solely on the basis of teaching (which keeps you away from writing your dissertation). Good luck with your decisions!

Why in the world would anyone look me up on academia, 25 miles away from Ann Arbor, on the very day Michigan were phoning admitting students… That's one cruel coincidence!

Could anyone confirm my (unreasonably confident) hope that all the Princeton admits contacted so far work in Ancient philosophy?

Well done! I'll be rooting for you to get in come crunch time on April 15th! (somewhat self-interestedly)

I think you will survive! Each rejection hurts, but it's unreasonable to take any single rejection too much to heart. The application process is insanely competitive. We all know this. At any given place we're rejected, it's actually far more likely that the admission committee simply preferred some other applicant, than that they did not want us in the program simpliciter. The whole process is a competition, not a personal evaluation. Consequently, I don't think we should take any single rejection on the personal level. Any single acceptance, conversely, is an incredible academic encouragement! And if you've been admitted in a program where you think you'll be able to flourish as a philosopher, nothing can take that away from you.

Claiming a Harvard wait list as well. The letter isn't the most hopeful - but I'm not letting that keep my expectations down! Here's to hoping we both get in through the back door!

I'm currently finishing up an MA from in a francophone Canadian department, and preparing to move to an American PhD this upcoming fall. So although my own experience is somewhat limited, I may have some insight into your questions. My department is "reputed" in the history of philosophy, if it enjoys any reputation at all. But my core interests are in issues of contemporary analytic philosophy. So I'm quite certain the reputation of my department played no role in deciding where I have or will be admitted. As for you, on the other hand, being associated with Jean Nicod or the Berlin School of Mind and Brain would certainly boost your chances, as these are indeed well-reputed schools (especially if the areas of analytic philosophy you wish to work in during your PhD are informed by research in the empirical/mind sciences). Still, I don't think you should worry too much about reputation. What makes a successful applicant is not the quality of your previous education but rather the quality of your application. This may seem trivial, but to me it suggests you may be raising the wrong question (assuming that, your ultimate concern is to be admitted to an American PhD program). If what determines whether you are admitted to a PhD is the quality of your application, then an important factor in deciding between MA schools is whether these programs will give you the tools, and especially the guidance, to do well as an applicant. If it is not customary for MA students at Jean Nicod, for instance, to go on to a PhD in the states, that may be a problem. To be sure, whether a program prepares you well as a PhD applicant is not the only factor to be considered. You should definitely take into account the intrinsic qualities of the MA program, as well as the unique experience of studying abroad. But regarding the specific question 'whether that will help/hurt my chance", I would worry rather little about reputation, and quite a bit about the actual track record (or potential) of a program at preparing its master students for PhD applications.

Thanks!

Anyone claiming the Toronto admission? With all the action we've been having tonight I only just say it!

A notable difference is that the Brown admittance specified receiving a faculty-wide fellowship, which in itself would explain why no other admissions have been extended (or reported, for that matter). In the Princeton post, there were no grounds for allaying suspicion once the post remained a singleton (well, it didn't in fact, there were other posts, but you get the point).

Same here! Syracuse has a really great program in metaphysics and ethics. All the same I will probably take myself off the list shortly. Hope you get in!

The Brown admission did mention receiving some special fellowship, so there's a chance that is just a very early admission, and others will follow en masse later. (Trying to stay positive!)

As a (francophone) Canadian estranged from Toronto, that made me laugh! But I think concerns about being disadvantaged as an American applying to Canadian schools are, to a certain extent, warranted. For instance, Toronto essentially only admit Canadian students into their MA program (at least, that's how it was these past years). Even for prospective PhD students, I would be surprised if the eligibility of Canadian students to governmental fellowships did not give them a competitive advantage. These fellowships are quite generous (35k a year for 3 years), and, as a rule of thumb, if you're good enough for the Toronto PhD program, you're good enough to get the fellowship. So it would make sense for ad. coms to admit a minimum number of Canadian students into their PhD program, in the hope of saving some money overall.

There seem to have been only few rejections sent out (given the number of rejections posted on the grad café). So I would keep my hopes up given you are not one of the unlucky few. On the other hand, the small number of rejections posted is also evidence that are still many rejections to be sent around! All in all, then, I would say the situation calls for a very tempered optimism.

Southern California

Just received an e-mail from USC to check website, which contained a letter bearing bad news. As early rejections are uncharacteristic from USC this was a case of excitement brutally dashed!

I think you're entitled to feel frustrated at people taking a swipe at that MAPH. Even when we are critical about our own MA programs (as I am about mine), it's always unpleasant to hear others knock it down, especially when they know little to nothing about it. Then again, bear in mind that in the context people are just venting their disappointment after being rejected from the PhD program. The MAPH just happens to be a handy punching-bag. That's isn't fair, and it isn't very sensitive either. But don't take it to heart. I think the comments express a surge of disappointment rather than a considered view about the qualities of the MAPH. Your experience and insight into the advantages of the program (including placement), on the other hand, would probably be extremely useful to anyone on the forum who is in a position to seriously consider the MAPH offer.

Quite right! Sorry if I came off suggesting the opposite. My impression is only that, considering philosophy is (for better or worse) becoming an increasingly specialized field, and considering graduate applications in philosophy are becoming increasingly competitive, MA programs whose sole function is placing students in PhD programs may fare better in that respect than an interdisciplinary program in the humanities such as the Chicago MAPH. Even if that were true, I also think the MAPH is a great preparation for a philosophy PhD.

As nice as it is to get (even partial) good news in these times of great angst, I wouldn't make too much of it. The MAPH is notoriously ill-funded (i.e. no funding at all) and in any case isn't as good a preparation to a PhD in philosophy as other, less prestigious terminal MA programs.

Unfortunately, I am certain Chicago has already extended all their admittances. I talked with a faculty today who made it clear all students admitted had already been contacted. I'm sure some admitted students are Americans (they just didn't post it here), but Chicago is reputed to have a very international grad community. So the disproportion is still not all that surprising. I was referred to the MAPH two years ago. As much as wanted to attend Chicago back then, there just isn't any funding at all! (By contrast, if you get referred to the MA in social science by the Committee on Social Thought, you stand a chance of getting at least 50% tuition remission). Either way, though, MAs at Chicago aren't really a viable option for most grad hopefuls like us! Smaller, less prestigious terminal MA programs would probably make you a more competitive application in philosophy PhD anyways...

Hi Jac, Thanks for filling our vacuous expectations with well-studied predictions! Any estimate of your confidence on Brown releasing acceptances this week?

Given the national deadline for decisions is April 15th, it makes sense that campus visits would be scheduled no later than early April. Chicago, for instance, has campus visits March 28th through April 1st. (OSU, on the other hand, invite me to come by whenever I'd like). I would have assumed, though, that weekends are not particularly ideal for campus visits. It can be helpful to audit seminars with profs you'd like to work with while you visit, and more generally I think you'd be able to meet more graduate students and faculty if you visit during the week.