UndergradDad

The GRE can be helpful for students from lesser known schools to compete for a phd student spot. Although it is not always a main factor, it can play a part. Unfortunately an online perusal of the background of grad students at the better programs shows a very strong tilt towards undergrads from ivy league or top public unis. MA's can help if you want to add 2 years to your grad education (with a few programs allowing some transfer credits), but any additional leg up can help for the aforementioned undergrads. As to the merits of the GRE, that is a separate topic, but we use such tools as we are given.

Hello, Is the latest version of the Manhattan 5 lb GRE book the one from 2015? Anyone know how often they update those? Thanks for your help.

Regarding your parents expecting you to go to law school-they might want to do some research on that. I think they might be surprised at what they find in terms of cost and outcomes.

Good to hear that - thanks

Basically, what I am asking is this: If a program had, say, 3 professors with an AOS in a particular field you are interested in, and 2 of them were already in their sixties, would that play a part in your considerations for choosing grad programs? Not in terms of age discrimination, just in terms of when they might retire.

I read your post. Great info-thanks.

Thanks for your thoughts. Just the nature of the beast these days I guess. As you say, being a visiting lecturer is not the worst possible outcome, and better than adjuncting.

Is anyone familiar with Ohio State's program? They have a mention for ethics in the new pgr, but looking at their placement record on their website it doesn't look strong. I realize that jobs in philosophy are very hard to come by, but most of their placements seem to be at osu itself rather than at other colleges and univesities. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something here.

Thanks for the input everyone-good to hear there is hope. I'm guessing that for these "non-elite" students, the writing sample and GRE scores make a big difference since the GPA might not be trusted as much by the adcoms since they may not have had students from these schools before.

So looking at the websites of some of the top programs that show where the grad students went for their Bachelors, almost no colleges show up that aren't top ranked colleges. Are there any good stories out there this application season of anyone getting into a highly regarded program who didn't go to a highly ranked college? I know that can happen sometimes via the MA route, but even then, aren't the top ranked MA programs doing the same thing?

Great posts I appreciate your responses. I have already read the rhetoric thread which was helpful. My best to you in your academic endeavors.

Does admission to rhetoric and composition ma programs require an English ba degree? Would a philosophy ba be accepted by any ma programs for admission for a late changer in areas of interest? If so, any ideas of programs which are more open to other ba majors? Thanks!

Thanks for the replies. It's unfortunate that the situation makes it difficult for students who don't want to take out extra loans to obtain a Religion phd.

After doing some research I am finding that Religion phd programs all seem to require a masters prior to admission, rather than earning the masters on the way to the phd. Is that correct? By comparison it is possible to get into phd programs in philosophy with a BA only. Do the religion depts have less money to reward than other depts? MA'S without funding bring on quite a bit of debt, and the only funded masters I could find was Western Michigan. Thanks for your help!

Thanks for your comments Marxian. Your reply was very helpful. I understand your concern about being involved in my son's decision to go to graduate school. To answer that point, I'm not deciding anything for my son. I have told him if he wants to pursue a Phd that I support him 100%. For my part, my desire that he have a plan B will not result in my interfering with his studies. I am looking into this on my own as his father, not telling him he won't become an academic so he'd better look for something else. Thank you for the suggestions of possible options outside of the academic field. Those are avenues I will keep in mind should the need arise (hopefully not). Regarding your final comment, I like the idea of talking with current Phd students to find out what it's like- I will bring that up to him. My best to you in your academic career.

Hello, My son is majoring in philosophy but has a special interest in Kierkegaard. My understanding is that many if not most Kierkegaard scholars reside in the Religion not Philosophy depts of universities. If he ends up with a Religion Phd, are there any alt-ac careers available other than as a pastor or priest etc? I have read about philosophy Phds who have ended up in government or publishing or nonprofit positions but didn't know if the same applied to religion Phds, should they not be able to land an academic position. Thanks for your help!

Thank you- those replies were very helpful. He actually enjoys his Chinese class and has an A so far. He liked taking Latin in high school. The only thing he dreads is if he had to take German. Glad to know he doesn't have to worry about languages in undergrad.

Hi- First time poster here. Question for you- does taking a language other than German, French, Greek or Latin in undergrad hurt your chances of getting into a Philosophy Phd program? My son is minoring in Chinese with a major in Philosophy.. He is a freshman and just changed to Philosophy from politics this semester and has not had a chance to see his Philosophy advisor yet so I wanted to get some opinions from this forum since he has already signed up for classes for the Fall and does not have any of the languages listed above on his schedule. He has already expressed interest in going on to graduate school. Thanks for your help.