Dr. x,
Hello, my name is y. I am writing to inquire about the status of my application for the PhD program at z.
best,
y
I used this for a few schools and received cordial, helpful responses. I usually emailed the DGS.
https://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/philosophy-phd-admissions-and-enrollment-statistics
for 2015/2016:
7/35 female applications were successful - 20%
3/108 male applications were successful - 2.7%
the numbers seem to validate some discussion and venting. though as a qualifier, this kind of data is hard to find and numbers are easy to cherry pick