Metanoia

There are two NYU acceptances out now. Guess that's a wrap for me this year. Time to start thinking about decisions.

Does anyone know whether Stanford sent out waitlists?

If you're getting decent or even semi-decent funding for the MA, then that seems to be the way to go.

I can confirm that this simply isn't true for UT Austin, through an alumnus of my current institution who is a grad student at UT Austin. This person, as well as other members of the cohort were guaranteed a minimum of ~20k fellowship for 5 years (in which the last 3 involved TAing) plus grad tuition assistance. Some others who taught as associate instructors were paid more. Also, philosophy grad students are paid by the department as a whole, not by their supervisor's funds. And 15k does sound way below par for philosophy programs, so the OP is justified in being surprised.

Nope. 5 year funding is guaranteed to everyone who is admitted. Usually, even sixth year fellowships are made available though not always guaranteed. The amount of fellowship ranges from being in the ballpark of 18k all the way up to 33k (for eg. at most Ivys).

This is the philosophy forum, and the question was raised in the context of funding in philosophy PhDs (which appears to differ from Psych PhDs). I'm pretty sure Berkeley, UCLA, UT Austin guarantee long term funding to admitted students.

I don't know because I was never formally waitlisted. I'm guessing they had some sort of a hidden waitlist.

Yes, this is clearly a better offer. It's very hard to get funding at Oxford anyway. I take it that you're interested in ancient philosophy (me too!), and Cornell's ancient philosophy program is top notch. I don't think I'll be visiting either because the visit clashes with Harvard's.

Really heartbroken about not hearing back from Stanford since it was my top choice. Still holding out hope for a waitlist. Do any of the admitted folk know if they're done?

Congratulations! Is this your first PhD acceptance in this cycle? And are you going for the visit?

Accepted at Cornell via email today.

Me. I'm guessing the rejections are taking their time to be sent out.

Got waitlisted at UT Austin (apparently "very high" on the WL). Will probably decline soon.

What! The ND metaphysics gang is the coolest metaphysics gang there is (esp. Van Inwagen)!

Me too.

You will find exceptional support for ancient philosophy and metaphysics at Tufts, but none at all for Kant and philosophy of religion.

As far as I know (and this information is three years old), the MSt in Ancient Philosophy is an excellent and a very rigorous program. If you don't already have reading competence in Greek, the program will also require you to train in classical languages along with the rest of the coursework. If I remember correctly - and I think this is listed on the website somewhere - if you pass the MSt with distinction, you're auto-considered for the D.Phil (though you're likely to have to reapply for funding).

Did you have a sample in Ancient phil?

I think so. I'm on the waitlist for Toronto, and was invited to visit.

In general, it's highly unlikely that you'll receive direct feedback on your application - irrespective of who you write to. There may be exceptions to this if you were waitlisted or if you or your letter writers know someone in that department or if you were interviewed. Many programs state on their FAQs page that they won't be able to provide individual feedback on applications. This is implicitly assumed even at places that don't say so directly.

Harvard does indeed seem like an excellent fit for your interests - though more for political phil. than metaphysics.

Thanks. I should be able to make it then. I live in the Boston area, so it's much easier haha. I'm glad the visit dates don't clash with Pitt and Chicago. I don't think I can visit Toronto since I won't be able to get a visa made in time. @philosobro Yes, I’m still awaiting decisions from Princeton, NYU, Columbia, Stanford and UT Austin. What about you?

Oh, I don't even know what the visit dates are. When is the Harvard visit? Also, no word on funding yet. I was told that the official letter should arrive in this week, with funding details, etc.

Waitlisted at Toronto.

I'm applying out of Tufts, and doing fairly well in this cycle. My answer to your question is no; it is not worth incurring a significant debt. Tufts is one among many excellent masters programs, and working well within any of them should get you within striking distance of strong programs. Having said that, it is worth noting that Tufts' funding has been getting better over the years. Particularly, if you have a rival offer that is well-funded, you can appeal to the department at Tufts to match that (this has worked in the past for some students, including me). If you have any specific questions about the Tufts MA, feel free to PM me.