FroggyFriend

I would definitely try speaking with them in person. Two other tidbits: in my experience upper Gs are a lot more forthcoming because they're more jaded and DGAF anymore, and sometimes asking students about programs other than the one that they are attending can be helpful. (Like: "I'm also choosing between X, Y, and Z, but I"m worried about climate" and see if they say anything. I would only try this in person.) Sometimes grad students don't want to bad mouth their own department out of fear or a sense of obligation, but they often have no problem letting you know what's being said in the whisper network about their competitor schools.

Hey. I'm a lady, and know the feeling. There is literally too much bullshit to bear sometimes. I did want to mention that what might be happening here is that some or all of these folks do have things to say to you about the climate but are being skittish about putting it in writing that can be easily forwarded or copy/pasted. See if you can get any of these students to talk on the phone / over skype / in person and see if they're any more forthcoming. But yeah, any program that will not at least talk about the well-known sexism in philosophy is one that you should probably side-eye.

Sure! I'm not super great about it either. I literally time (with an online timer) how long I spend working on a single day; the timer has a feature that lets me track which projects I'm working on. I roughly estimate how long I want each task to take (so like "I want to spend 40 hours on this research paper over the next month") and try to spend exactly that amount of time on it. I've found that works the best for me, because "working" in philosophy often feels like you're not making any progress, even though you are, since so much of philosophical work is banging your head against a chalk board. Tracking hours let's you know that you're actually making progress, even if it doesn't feel like it. Also find an advisor that you admire / like enough that you would feel embarrassed going to an advising meeting with no work to show her. Then schedule periodic meetings with that person. That's definitely worked wonders for my productivity. (Having at least one moderately scary advisor is a good thing, folks!!)

GREs sooooo do not matter that it's not even worth fretting about. I assume pedigree matters, but I think it matters less than what some people are claiming. I do know of people admitted to top-5 schools from no name undergrads, and I know of undergrads from Ivys who can't get into places. Honestly, if you (generic you) had a bad season, the most likely culprit was your writing sample. See if you can take a look at writing samples from students in top departments to get a sense of what you're up against.

Unless you are applying to certain fellowships and/or looking to transfer into a different PhD program, no one is going to care about your undergraduate grades once you're accepted into a PhD program. That said, I strongly encourage you to stay disciplined. Graduate school and the rest of your academic career will be filled with distractions and reasons not to feel motivated to work--things like job market anxiety, anxiety about tests, falling out with advisors, etc., that are far more psychologically taxing than "senioritis"--and literally the only way you're going to succeed is forming a strong work habits that allow you to remain productive no matter what. Sorry to sound bleak. I'm in a grad program and learned about self-discipline the hard way. Start building the habits now.

Hi folks. I know it's really frustrating, but please understand that part of the problem here is with programs' visiting days and not with the individual students with offers. I have several offers, and I do not feel I can make a decision until after visiting the schools, and schools strongly encourage visiting on the official days. But many programs have intentionally scheduled their visiting days pretty close to the deadline.