hector549

If, by "safety schools," we mean schools that are lower-ranked (and less competitive) but still offer a decent fit, then sure, I think that such schools exist. Of course, "less competitive" is a relative term. I've looked at some admissions data (most schools don't post it, but a handful do). If you're comparing the selectivity of, say, Mizzou, which receives about 40 apps, and makes roughly 9 offers, then this is undoubtedly a "safer" school than a school like Notre Dame which receives about 250 apps, and makes 10 or so offers (assuming the fit of the candidate is roughly equivalent at both institutions). Many schools are between these extremes, though. U. of Illinois-Chicago in 2017 received 68 apps and made 4 offers. That's still pretty selective, and is a school near-ish the bottom of the rankings, so "safety" is not synonymous with "sure thing." Of course, matters are further complicated by the composition of the applicant pool, which as an applicant, is largely unknown.

NIU has a terminal MA only, no PhD.

Niiiice!! Congrats!

It's that time in the application season--time to create a thread for declining offers/withdrawing applications. If you're declining an offer/withdrawing an app, post about it here.

I suspect that the reason Rice is ranked as low as it is overall is simply because it's quite a small program right now. Due to several deaths in the department, there are only eight TT faculty, though Kriegel would make that nine. The addition of another strong faculty member would undoubtedly put it back on the top 50 as well. I think you're right that the faculty who are there are quite strong. And, of course, even though it's just off the top-50 right now, it's still on the specialty rankings for phil mind and 20th century continental. I know there are also some strong faculty in moral philosophy. The only drawback is that if you decide that you want to work on something other than mind, 20th century continental, or certain areas of moral philosophy, then you'd have a hard time doing so at Rice. Also keep in mind that there can be a difference between contractual TA duties and what students actually end up doing. Just because the contract says students work 20 hours doesn't mean that that is always the case (it's not in my current program). Also, I agree that funding can make a huge difference in quality of life, especially when it's between U Texas which has notoriously inadequate funding and a fat stipend like the one at Rice. In any case though, it's worth visiting and talking to current students, I think, before you make a final decision between, say, UCSD/U Texas and Rice.

I've known some heavily tattooed and pierced philosophers, so you wouldn't be entirely without company. Academic philosophy in general is pretty casual. That being said, I think what's probably most important for making a good/professional impression is that a person dresses neatly and is otherwise well-kempt.

In at UCR! I'm over the moon.

Nixed by Northwestern, shunned by Chicago, rebuffed by Rice, banished by Berkeley, forsaken by Fordham.

I recommend reading through Eric Schwitzgebel's series of posts on applying to graduate school in philosophy. It'll give you something of a crash course in this process: http://schwitzsplintersunderblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/applying-to-phd-programs-in-philosophy.html

Nice! Solid waitlists!

I agree with the general point, but do keep in mind that GPA's are lower in the sciences than they are in the humanities. A 3.2 in the sciences might not be so bad. In philosophy that would be quite low. A 3.7 in philosophy though? Not perfect perhaps, but not so low as to shut one out of admissions.

I agree that yes, a lower GPA will hurt your chances of admission, especially at the most competitive programs. (Although I doubt that a 3.7 is that low). However, a lower GPA won't necessarily sink one's chances of admission unless it's egregiously low. Even if it is, some students still manage to have success. Here's a relevant old thread with some examples: I agree with the advice in the linked thread I posted; a low undergrad GPA can be effectively offset by going to a good MA and establishing a new (high) GPA.

I'm a current MA student drawing on continental and analytic traditions in my work.There are funded MA programs out there that are friendly to continental philosophy, depending on what sort of continental philosophy you're looking for. Georgia State has multiple faculty working on German philosophy (particularly Nietzsche and Hegel), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has some faculty with interests in German Idealism and Nietzsche, and CSULA has a faculty member who works on 20th century continental. These are still programs that are rooted methodologically primarily in the analytic tradition, but a person could certainly still do work in continental philosophy at any of these programs, while also getting exposure to analytic tradition and methodology. There are also funded MA programs that are more narrowly geared to the continental tradition. Miami-Ohio and Loyola Marymount come to mind. My advice: demonstration of fit is not so important for MA admission as are letters and general philosophical acumen as demonstrated in the writing sample. However, a sample that's coming from a tradition not at all represented at the program in question might not go down as well when it comes to admissions decisions. Further, if the plan is to go on to a continental-oriented PhD program after the MA, it might be hard to put together a strong sample if there isn't at least one faculty member at the MA program familiar enough with the tradition to advise on the writing of the sample. I would recommend looking into the programs I mentioned. Georgia State in particular might be a good choice depending on interest. Also, don't just look at faculty interests; take a look at the titles of student theses and PhD placements to get an idea of the what students work on and where they go after the MA. Look for programs that send at least some students to continental-oriented PhD programs if that's the intended destination (but keep in mind that interests are likely to change during the course of an MA as well!).

Waitlisted at A&M.

A high GRE score is neither necessary nor sufficient for admittance. However, how much scores matter depends greatly on who is on an admissions committee. Some faculty give scores little credence, others take scores more seriously. I suspect that only an unusually high or low score makes any real difference for an applicant. Obviously, the verbal score is most important. However, I think it's worth putting in some time to get the other scores to a respectable level. Just to be clear, a 145 quant is quite low. That's the 20th percentile. I know that someone else on these boards a while ago scored similarly on quant and got into some programs, so it won't preclude any possibility of getting in somewhere. Would, however, such a low score hurt a person's chances of admission? Very possibly. What I'd say is this: if you do end up reapplying, OP, I'd put in the time and try to get the quant score up to something closer to the 50th percentile. If you can't, you can't, but I do think it's worth trying since your quant score is so low. I think I'd disagree a bit; 310 isn't an abysmal score. It's not exceptional either, but it is respectable. A 150 or 151 quant score is low, but it's still in the 38th and 42st percentiles respectively. That's 20 percentile points above the OP's score.