skaikru

One of the best three MA programs in the country. Sorry! I'm a very private person by nature and would prefer to preserve my anonymity.

Yeah! It was a painful decision to make! But I should be fine by tomorrow (I hope)!

Hi Dialectica! I have just made my final decision.

I'll most likely choose the MA option.

Thank you all for your advice!

Congrats! But what...

Yes. No. Yes, I have a spotty undergraduate record although my final two years' grades in philosophy were good.

I think that they think I could do better with an MA. A few months on the writing sample, some last minute studying for the GREs. I've considered that option before but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable enough to enter a PhD program with a mindset of transferring out.

Honestly, no. But I'm not sure if this is just imposter syndrome kicking in early. Yes, I agree with you that going through an MA program first might better enable me to perform well in, and not merely survive, the PhD program.

Perhaps I should have emphasized that my concern is largely with its placement record, rather than its ranking.

Anyone here who have turned down, or will be turning down, all their PhD offers? I've been lucky enough to receive a fully-funded offer from a program whose Leiter ranking is between #20 and #25 (and a couple of fully-funded MA offers from strong MA programs). However, I can't help but to think that if I were to be a little bit more patient and apply again to PhD programs in two years' time, I would have another shot at programs whose placement records are much stronger. One thing to note, though, is that the program in question is one of the top 3 programs in the area of my intended specialization. This last fact is what makes my turning down their offer especially difficult. Any advice? Edit: FWIW, the MA program that I'm considering almost always places its applying students into the T25 programs (and their equivalent).