eigenname

It's always worth a shot to try asking, in my opinion: at best you get some decent remarks, at worst you get ignored. When I was shut out last year I emailed a few professors asking for feedback, and the results ranged from a no-reply to a one-liner telling me to improve my writing sample. One gem was, however, a nicely thought-out reply from my POI who told me he actually looked at my file, liked it, and recommended me for final round of considerations but I didn't make the cut there because of my writing sample. I figured it meant my writing sample was not that great in general (despite doing really well as a dissertation piece), so I worked on a new paper for the next year. So, who knows what response you'd get? In this situation with a wild asymmetry of information, any information you can get is beneficial to you.

Yeah same, back to my essays...

Thank you! I'd thought I was rejected based on the initial wave of acceptances, but I suspect they went out to Canadian students first. I really like Psillos too, but I think he went back to Athens a few years ago, if I am not wrong. I am mainly hoping to work with the philosophers of physics and historians of philosophy/science there at Rotman. Ultimately it'll come down to funding though

Unexpectedly accepted at Western Ontario!

Someone on the FB group got accepted to ND via call, so keep your phones on, people!

Seems to me the first year they released rejections first. Past few years had been reliably: acceptances -> wait-lists -> rejections. So I am not sure what to expect, though I don't think it'll take them another week to give out acceptances/wait-lists if they had already decided on who to reject.

Not me (didn't apply), but claiming it for my friend who received the news today

I don't think their decisions are out yet.

Thanks! I'd have thought my weekends were free from anxiety, but I guess not...

Anyone else received an acceptance from Western Ontario? There's one reported on the listing but I was wondering if any others went out, since UWO traditionally releases all (or most of) their acceptances on the same day.

I have 3 out of 15 (2 if you discount wait-list), so thereabouts as well. I am expecting next week (and the week after) to be the decisive weeks.

Neither have I. I am hoping for the waitlist/acceptance, since it seems like their emails go out at the same time the last few years. But it's kind of weird that rejections all go out before the acceptances or the waitlists.

@Schwarzwald hoping for you that it's the former and not the latter!

Was there any other context involved? As a sentence on its own, it seems like a sort of encouragement to not give up (at best), but nothing more. This is especially true if it's a letter sent out en masse, which means everyone received the same letter (and hence, nothing special).

Sorry about the rejection, and congratulations on the wait-list! Can I ask if your ND rejection was via email? I applied as well, so I wanted to know if I need to look forward to anything today.

I was accepted at LPS, not philosophy, but I went for the campus visit and talked to a few students from the philosophy department, so here's my two cents' worth: the philosophy department works very closely with LPS, so the people at LPS are also available for students at the philosophy department (e.g. the reading groups I've attended were open to both LPS and Philosophy), which might make you question how distinct the two departments really are beyond bureaucratic structure. Furthermore there's some well-known people at the philosophy department itself, such as Duncan Pritchard (epistemology) who was recently hired, Margeret Gilbert (social ontology, group consciousness etc.), David Smith (phenomenology, Husserl), and Aaron James (political philosophy). Hence I think it is definitely not a weak department on its own, but, really, how 'strong' it 'really' is depends on your own interests and fit. I know people at top 10 universities who are not enjoying their time there because of fit, despite brand name professors and ranking, and, contrariwise, people at 'lower-ranking' universities who are doing really well, enjoying their time, and getting quality work published. Hope this helps, and sorry if it didn't!

I applied to UCSD and Notre Dame, so I would gladly take you up on your offer

A reliable source tells me that HPS has sent out at least one acceptance, but I am not sure whether it is specific to the same POI who rejected that guy who posted (apparently they are doing personalized letters this year). But I don't know much more, and am also waiting to hear back. :'(

The MA program I got into is a year long (more specifically it is an MPhil program), though I am planning to apply for another MA program which is 2 years long.

Me. Got massively destroyed in this year's application cycle, so will be planning to apply again this year while starting a MA either at my current university or somewhere else (depending on how funding turns out). I produced two 4000-word essays this year for my exams, and am hoping to expand one of them into a writing sample for my apps this year, depending on how public feedback at conferences turns out. One of my essays was accepted at the Aristotelian Society/Mind Association's upcoming joint session and a conference in Italy, while another made it to a graduate conference in Canada, so we'll see how they turn out. In the meantime I am still trying to get references from the more 'brand-name' profs at my university, especially since one of the references I have so far is from what one other faculty member, somewhat rudely, called 'probably someone no one in the USA would have heard of'.

@anonphdstudent do you know someone in the Bioethics MA program, or did you go through the program yourself? You seem pretty knowledgeable about the program, so I was wondering if I could ask you somequestions about the program.

They don't have a page specifically for 'placement' history, but they do have a list of past students and what they have gone on to do. I looked through them and found that most people took the MA as a terminal degree, going on to do other stuff. Some went into law or medicine. The closest to (and the only one really relevant to) academic philosophy is someone who is doing/did a PhD in Bioethics at Cambridge (UK). Still hoping for my Irvine waitlist to magically collapse into an offer - then I don't have to worry about all these other options!

Got accepted for the Bioethics MA at NYU 3 days after I requested to be considered for fun. Was given a $10,000 scholarship, but fees still amount to a whopping $40,000 or so. Doubt I'll be going (because $$), though I could, in theory, be a 'trojan' at the NYU philosophy department if I did the MA.

Yeah I am mostly submitting just for the lulz at this point (since it's free and doesn't require any further steps), and also just to see if I might get the scholarship they mentioned. The course itself looks more like a 'conversion' course for scientists who want to get into the applied ethics side of things.

Officially waitlisted at Irvine's LPS program - ~60 students applied, ~1/3 were offered admissions, exactly 21 students on an unordered waitlist. A 'small subset of applicants' from the waitlist might be offered admissions depending on how the offer holders turn out. May the quantum chances favor me...