Metanoia

Great - welcome!

It's a Sunday, so it's likely that people won't be around at the office. So try everywhere you can, and see where you can get through.

How well is the UK program funding you? If they aren't funding you at all, then I wouldn't suggest going there. 3 years (and quite likely more) of tuition + living can be very exorbitant if unsupported and not worth going into debt for. I was accepted at Oxford at one point with zero funding and turned it down for just that reason. You'll always have a chance to apply again (and possibly do even better) after your masters.

Definitely call them ASAP. It's pretty normal to do that on the 15th. You don't want to miss out something important for courtesy's sake.

Accepted Stanford (for Ancient philosophy). Declined Harvard, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cornell. Off the waitlists at NYU, UT Austin and Toronto.

Declined Harvard, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Cornell. And took myself off the waitlists at UT Austin, Toronto and NYU.

Same. I guess quite a few people are “rather high” on the waitlist then.

Just got the good news from Stanford!

Thanks, that confirms it. I hope they'd hurry up.

I'll try to find out, tomorrow. But in the past, decisions have sometimes been sent out over a couple of days.

I've heard from a few people that Stanford hasn't released any offers yet. The acceptances on the results page are likely to be fake.

No. I don't care about prestige. As I said, I've been reading Malink's work very closely over the years, and he'd be an ideal supervisor for my interests in ancient logic.

Yes, it was. Marko malink is my hero. But I simply don't see anyone turning down NYU.

I just got waitlisted at NYU. That’s about as useless a waitlist as there was any. SO CLOSE. Ugh.

Yes, he retired in 2016. I'm not sure John McDowell retired!? I know that he is teaching a course this semester.

I think most of the relevant parts have already been published piece-meal on Leiter's blog, though perhaps not all the specialty rankings are out yet. For my own purposes, the new rankings won't play much of a role since I'm largely ignoring general rankings in favor of strengths in my AOIs. I did find the ancient phil specialty rankings to be useful though.

This is gold. I remember reading this last year!

Oh phew! Jessica Moss to the rescue.

Yes, I'd pause about considering Harvard for your interests now that Scanlon has retired. And the most productive dissertations on metaphysics at Harvard would be within the metaphysics of science (if that's the kind of metaphysics that you want to do). It's still a great department though, and there's something to be said about working with really smart people even if their areas are not 100% aligned with your AOIs. I'll PM you my reasons for being hesitant.

□ (I will not be accepted to programs to which I never applied)

Congratulations! Those are all great schools - good luck with decisions!

Lol, no, I quite like it here in MA. The reasons have more to do with fit. I'm not sure if Harvard would be the best place for doing ancient philosophy. Hopefully the visits will help.

Unless you are very excited about those PhD programs (for eg. if one of your philosophical idols teaches there, or the program has a niche strength in your AOIs), I'd recommend the MA route. Your PhD institution will be among the major determinants of your future academic trajectory, and given what is at stake here, you'd much rather take more time and enter a stronger PhD program.

I'm interested broadly in Aristotle's theoretical philosophy (metaphysics, logic, physics, teleology and psychology), and have a particular interest in his remarks on modality across his metaphysical and logical works.

Thanks. At the moment, I'm split between Chicago and Pittsburgh.