TorreAttack

Im at Pitt HPS. There is some variety, usually a mix of small lectures and grad student presentations liberally sprinkled with discussion. There are classes with no undergrads in them. I personally have only seen in Pitt HPS grad classes taking maybe one grad seminar per semester. The history courses I've taken so far are almost entirely discussion based centered around weekly readings.

I think it would be helpful to tell us what topic your sample is on and what programs you are sending it to before anyone commits to reviewing it. If it is philosophy of math or science I'm down to give it a read. I haven't found much trouble finding people to read samples even without payment so I'm not sure it's necessary.

@TheCarbWhisperer Yes, I am extremely happy here, although I'm just in my first year so it might just be new grad student vibes.

I have successfully transferred, and am very happy with my own results. I also made the blunder of having an incredibly general/aimless statement of purpose. In my second round of applications I made certain to tailor my SOP to particular institutions well beyond the paragraph swap I think most people do. I also sent different writing samples to different institutions depending on what I thought they would enjoy. This last move is dubious, most would say to polish one and only one sample, but I had two papers out of my graduate courses that I was very proud of, and for each paper, I was applying to a school that had a professor I was responding directly to. I spoke to several trusted professors about my transfer attempt, and when recounting successful transfer attempts, the common thread seemed to be the transfer was successful because the student had particular people they wanted to work with in the receiving department, and the application made very clear that they were targeting the department in particular for those people. I do think transferring in general is harder. My evidence is that every school that waitlisted me in the first round rejected me outright in the second, even with, in my evaluation, better samples, letters, and SOPs. I think that the targeting strategy works, because my successful transfer was in a department well out of my expected range (an extreme reach) that had a professor that I supported directly in my writing sample and made clear in my SOP that I wanted to work with. I am willing to share my SOP's and samples if they would help anyone here.

I would suggest looking at Pitt HPS. They have a fantastic relationship with CMU, which you show interest in, and you can take advantage of Pitt's outstanding Phil faculty while in their HPS department. In particular you might like Sandra Mitchell, working on values in science.

If they plan on having a visit day in early April they should be getting back to us by the end of the week.

They told me today that they do not expect to release decisions by this friday, so it looks like we'll be waiting for at least until next week, possibly until after spring break.

I sent in a mostly math paper as my writing sample this time so I guess I'm not surprised that only an hps wanted me.

Last season I spent half a year on it, this time I just submitted one of my seminar papers near unchanged. My results profile has changed dramatically, though that might be because my current writing sample is extremely specific to the mathematics of causation. I am willing to dm either of my samples if anyone is interested.

Rejected from MIT

I was accepted to Penn last admissions cycle. I made the mistake last year of not tailoring my SOP to schools I applied to, so my application was fairly generic. I sent 4 letters of recommendation, 3 from undergraduate philosophy professors and 1 from an undergraduate math professor. I sent the extra math recommendation because I am interested in rational choice and game theory. I came from a small liberal arts school. You can see my stats from the last admissions cycle in my signature. If you would like, I can DM you the writing sample I sent to Penn.

HPS

Accepted to U Pitt. First acceptance of second round of applications. Applying out from UT Austin. Notified by phone. Official letter coming. Will likely accept.

I'm actually at UT Austin right now on their undergrad stipend offer and I'm doing well in a two bedroom apartment with one roommate. I was extremely worried about the low funding offer but it turns out it's not too bad at all, Austin is not a terribly expensive place to live.

I am also thinking about reapplying. My question is when people apply after they get their masters, do they typically apply year 2, so they can go somewhere else year 3, or do they apply year 3 so they already have their masters under their belt?