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Last cycle, when I got shut out, I got the feeling that my writing sample was widely unpopular (despite doing really well as a dissertation thesis) - I defended an old, unpopular view in philosophy of science that one philosopher has called 'widely proven false since the 60's'. So I took another one of my essays about a more recent discussion about logical choice in philosophy of logic and extended it instead for this cycle. Otherwise, I didn't really change anything (e.g. grades, letters, personal statements) in my application. For what it's worth, I think it's worthwhile writing something that's not conventionally deemed a dead topic. I imagine a writing sample on an extremely lively topic, of broad appeal to everyone, would be even more profitable. A 'mainstream' topic (Kant, Hume, epistemology, ethics or something) would probably be helpful for getting into more schools, and would be good if you haven't yet decided on your main interest areas; my topic was a bit more specialized, but I did get into the top PGR schools for my AOIs this cycle (phil physics, phil logic). Hope this helps, and all the best next year!

Declined CUNY.

Declined CUNY GC, will be going to UCSD.

No change on portal - from experience last year it takes a few days to be processed.

Rejection from UNC as well - exact same email used by Marc Lange as last year. At this point I am too tired to care anyway. Final result is 4a/1w/10r, so that's a lot better than last year; now to make the final decision.

Just declined UC Irvine LPS. The final showdown will be between UCSD and CUNY. edit: Chapel Hill wanted out I guess.

Just got into CUNY GC from a wait-list I didn't know I was on until 2 days ago. I was all ready to accept UCSD...

Let us know what they tell you!

I tried a few weeks ago, and I think someone tried a few days ago, and the response was the same one (I posted it in the acceptance/rejection thread a few weeks back). I doubt L.A. Paul will change her tune until they finally decide who to reject/wait-list and that'll likely depend on people holding UNC offers rejecting them.

Wait-listed at CUNY (finally officially) but 'few spots have opened'.

Same, for me it's CUNY and UNC Chapel Hill. At least UNC explained their hidden wait-list policy, but CUNY just ignored my solicitations (twice, 1 month apart), which I find incredibly rude.

Just declined my offer from Western Ontario, and will most likely take myself off OSU's waitlist soon. Still deciding between Irvine LPS and UCSD, but will almost certainly accept UCSD due to better fit and more attention from my POIs.

Waiting for UNC as well, in addition to CUNY (I happen to be around CUNY during their prospective students visit, which is bound to make things awkward :p)

I don't think they'll do any of that until enough offer holders who don't intend to go start rejecting their offers (like Big Modality has helpfully done!), and that won't happen until much later I imagine. Still holding out hope though.

For what it's worth, I came from the top school in the UK for my undergrad, applied to 15 schools, but only got into 3 (and that's probably it). However, they all rank really highly for the fields I'm interested in (general philosophy of science, physics), so I'm not too worried, especially since I know I was competing with lots of people with a science/physics/math background (none of which I formally had as an undergrad). Also, if it helps, one of my supervisors at my undergrad university came from the other top school in the UK but only got into one PhD program, and he's in one of the most prestigious junior positions in my university now. I like to think about it this way: if people who are leading in your subfield thought you'd make a great addition to their department, it means that you are philosophically 'good enough'. What the other rejections could mean, though, is that you were not a great fit as a *PhD student* for other departments *based on your writing sample* and some other fairly arbitrary considerations, but I'm not sure these are reliable predictors for future success. In any case, I just want to say that you are not alone, and it's going to be OK (telling this to you as much as to myself)

Seems like a popular strategy nowadays. I guess it's to keep yield consistent or something? Seems like UNC and CUNY are also doing this.

There's been a sub-field dedicated to reviving Carnap though, via the so-called neo-Carnapians (Amie Thomasson, Matti Eklund, Eli Hirsch, to some extent Tim Button and Huw Price as well). Of course, Friedman has also been working on this since the 80s or 90s.

Anyone else got a sneaky change on their Toronto app from 'under review' to 'decision made'? Someone else posted something about it on the results listing. I completely forgot I still haven't heard back from them officially, but I imagine it's probably a rejection, though.

Solicited, but no reply from CUNY; I bet they are doing the same as UNC, waiting for offer-holders and wait-listed people to make up their minds. Fair, I guess.

Thanks I hope so too! (but I've done so much hoping this past month I am running low on it!)

Yeah, hence, "probably" rejected. L. A. Paul did say something like that as well (she quoted the post from Leiter I quoted a few pages back so I didn't want to repost it), so I am holding out hope. Though I probably should have dropped the mention about wait-listed people (since no wait-lists to my knowledge has been sent out) and instead focus on calling for offer holders to drop out in the right proportion so that my AOI will come into relevance.

From UNC: I am sorry that we can’t give you any more information at this time. At this point, we have made offers and constructed a waitlist, but we have not sent out rejections because we have not made final determinations about the applicant pool. As soon as our entering class is filled we will process rejections. I am sorry I can’t tell you anything more about your personal situation. I know this is a stressful period and UNC will be in touch as soon as it is possible to give you more information. In other words, probably rejected (but she can't formally say), but if, somehow, everyone on the waitlist and all offer holders rejected their offers perhaps we'll have a chance. So, hey, non-zero probability! Edit: Offer Holders/Waitlisted People: you know what to do!

I did one semester of the LPS MA at LMU's MCMP, but will be withdrawing to take a break before my PhD. I think it's a great place to do phil maths and phil logic, but I am not sure you can do much Wittgenstein or continental stuff at the MCMP itself. If you speak German you can access those topics at the main faculty though. What 'other problems' are you having with the LPS MA at MCMP?

If she replies I'll let you know! For personal reasons I also hope to go somewhere on the east coast, so fingers crossed for both of us!

I completely understand - I just want this torment to end! I contacted Martin Lin at Rutgers today, though, and solicited a rejection. Perhaps you could try too - he was pretty friendly, if understandably curt. I also contacted Prinz at CUNY, and Paul at UNC Chapel Hill today, but haven't heard anything yet. Will let you know if I hear anything from CUNY