bridgephil

Oh so you meant that you don't like stuff that comes out of the Derrida/Lacan tradition specifically? Normally I've heard the term 'continental' apply to Foucault, various marxists, phenomenology, existentialism, as well as postmodernism/posthumanism (whatever they're calling it these days) and all that stuff in the general Derrida/Lacan tradition. I mean, I'm not going to lie, I'm not a huge fan of some of it, either. One of the things I love about analytic philosophy is how clear they are, and one of the things I hate most about continental stuff is how unclear and hand-wavy they can be. But I do think it's a bit unfair to just say that it's all uninteresting or that it's not really philosophy. Also, I thought that posthumanists were interested in *kind of* rejecting at least Derrida. But I could be wrong. It's not really my AOI.

Me too! Lol I was on the waitlist at MIT too, which was also my top choice xD

You would have to be exceedingly knowledgeable about 'continental' philosophy if this claim of yours is going to carry any authority. I'm going to be a good Bayesian and say that my prior that never in your life have you read and actively tried to understand and engage with more than two or three continental papers is...88%. Also, super weird considering your AOI? Maybe I didn't understand you.

Yeah, I know that funding varies a lot by field. I have already emailed the admissions director and asked her to put me in touch with grad students who have the same/similar funding package as me. Regardless of whether or not the average stipend for philosophy (not psychology) phd programs is $18,000 or $23,000, what I'm really trying to figure out is whether below $15,000 (actually, to be honest, below $14,000 prior to fees, and closer to $10,000 than $15,000 after fees) is normal. It's sounding kind of like it's not, which makes me wonder if the department basically just admitted me with partial funding and decided not to be explicit about it.

One of the phd programs I've been accepted to is offering me a TA stipend that's well below $15,000 a year, and that's before fees (which sound like they will be in the neighborhood of $1500 or so). The TAship would be normal, involving like 20 hrs a week. The letter didn't mention anything about additional opportunities for financial aid. Federal minimum wage (assuming full time work) is about $15,000 a year, and the school is in a high cost of living area. There's no way anybody could live on this stipend alone - they would have to get a part time job, take out loans, or apply for a heck of a lot of scholarships or grants (and hope that you manage to get them every year!). A part time job might not be so bad if you didn't have to spend 20 hrs a week on teaching assistant stuff in addition to classes, but I feel like there's no way anyone could put in the research, work, and sheer energy required to essentially work a full time job (I feel like a TAship + a part time job on the side would amount to that much), take classes, and churn out a dissertation all at the same time. Normally, I think of funding offers as being, on average, somewhere around $23,000 (plus or minus like a couple thousand). But I've heard of funding offers getting as low as like, 15-16,000 for cash-strapped departments (I think typically these schools are lower ranked, too), and as high as the lower to mid thirty thousands. The weirdest thing is, this school is a top 20 PGR program, so you'd think they'd be able to pay their students enough to live on, or at least pay them at or above annual federal minimum wage. Does anyone else think this is weird, or gotten offers like this themselves?

Just out of curiosity, what's the appeal of UCLA, Oxford, and MIT if you've got offers from Rutgers and USC? Given your AOI, it seems like eliminating those others would be a no-brainer.

Just declined an offer from Syracuse.

Has anyone else been accepted to UT Austin without a fellowship? If so, what does your stipend look like? (You can pm me if you don't want to post it)

I've heard back from Amherst now. But I was also offered a Puryear fellowship, and the email was pretty unofficial. So chances are they still haven't sent out the rest of their acceptances.

I just declined an offer of admission to Maryland. Hope that helps someone out!

There might be? I think the big worry is sort of like that it's intellectually incestuous or something. Presumably if someone did their undergrad in like, physics or something, then got an MA somewhere else, that worry probably wouldn't be founded. And I have the same thing! I thought it was weird, too.

I've actually asked a couple professors at this (I'm not at UW, but I am currently finishing undergrad at a PGR ranked school), and they said that even if they like you, they'll often reject you for your own good. Apparently it looks really bad in academia (esp. philosophy) to get your phd from the same school you did your undergrad in and it can hurt your chances significantly in the job market. I think it might also make the school look bad? I totally get where you're coming from though - I really like the school I'm at now, so I wanted to apply here, but my professors said they wouldn't accept someone who did their undergrad here.

At least we have each other.

Has anyone who applied to UW Madison not heard back at all?

Just got waitlisted at Brown. For those of you cool kids who've been accepted to Brown (congratulations by the way), I and I'm sure everyone else on the waitlist would of course really appreciate if you could let them know as soon as you know if you get a better offer somewhere. ESPECIALLY if your interests are lemm-y. *sigh* Also, best of luck to those above me still hoping to hear from Brown. It looks like they sent out their rejections, so if you still haven't heard back there is definitely still hope for wait listing.