LORDBACON
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Posts posted by LORDBACON
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3 hours ago, elviejo said:
I am beginning to accept that a "secret waitlist" is really a thing for some program. It seems to be the only reason I have not received outright rejections at this point. Either that or they did not bother to send anything.
Those are both live possibilities. It depends on the program, and you should be able to get a clue how they operate by looking at their history on the survey: https://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=philosophy
for example UCR tends to never send out rejections, and SIU Carbondale has not sent any decisions yet. Also, a Stanford acceptance just came out of nowhere yesterday.
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DePaul and UNM said nah, and UC Riverside's non-response likely means a nah, as does Vanderbilt's, which leaves just SIU Carbondale to hear from this season.
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UNM said an admissions decision was sent out 12 days ago by mail and I haven't received anything. It's fascinating that they sent sealed letters on separate occasions to say "one of your transcripts is missing" and "we received your GRE scores" but then managed to fail heroically in the task of informing me of an admissions decision. Legends. I'm strongly tempted to decline any offer from them, provided they made me one and this information is ever made known to me.
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4 hours ago, Rose-Colored Dasein said:
I may just be way behind the times, but @Neither Here Nor There just told me that Boston College acceptances have been out for quite a while now. @LORDBACON, @Needle In The Hay, I feel like you guys were waiting to hear back from them too? I take it we're all more or less rejected at this point.
Boston C. got back to me with the solicited rejection news and said the letter was in the mail.
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Finally got the rejection from Fordham.
There are 4 depts I've solicited news from who are not responding at all: UCR, UCSD, Depaul, Vanderbilt
Should be hearing from SIU Carbondale soon. UNM letter's on the way.
I was also rejected from the U.Chicago Nef Committee on Social Thought a few days ago.
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On 3/10/2018 at 11:08 AM, Rose-Colored Dasein said:
Man, I wish Fordham were giving you more time. I wonder why they have to decide next week (unless "waitlist" is a possibility for that decision). I can't accept or reject my Fordham offer until I hear back from BC, SLU, and 2 more MA's.
Congratulations on your acceptance and I hope you'll get your pick. I'm not fretting about it as the department which is likely the best fit for me made me an offer.
Solicited rejection from TAMU (Texas A&M) via email: " The graduate admissions committee has had its meeting and made our decisions about initial acceptances and the waitlist. Unfortunately, we did not put you in either group. I hope things are going well for you otherwise."
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8 hours ago, tbphilstudent said:
Thanks for this. Any word on whether UNM is sending out both rejections and acceptances, or just one of the two?
"The decision letters for the department were mailed out on Tuesday and should arrive soon." Sounds like all decisions have been sent out.
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For any applicants this may concern:
I am planning to accept USF's offer unless UCR, UCSD, Baylor, Fordham, or UNM make me an offer. In the latter case it'll probably come down to doing some visits.
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10 hours ago, LORDBACON said:
Just solicited responses from:
UCR (2nd attempt), UCSD (2nd attempt), Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Boston C., Texas A&M, Fordham, SIU Carbondale, Depaul, UNM
Replies from Syracuse (R), Boston C. (R), Fordham (decision next week), and UNM (decision was snail-mailed out on Tuesday).
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Just solicited responses from:
UCR (2nd attempt), UCSD (2nd attempt), Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Boston C., Texas A&M, Fordham, SIU Carbondale, Depaul, UNM
With the exception of the last 3 (who seem not to have released any decisions yet), I am doubtful that this silence bodes well for my plans of attending these programs.
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On 3/6/2018 at 11:51 AM, iunoionnis said:
Accepted University of South Florida after sending an email asking about my application status.
Edit: Also heard back from UC Riverside that I'm on the waitlist.I missed this but it came up in the search I just did- congratulations! USF is loaded with philosophers that do my AOI's. It's about as perfect a fit as I could ever hope for, really.
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Solicited UCSD and UCR to no avail a day and a half ago. Looks like we're headin' down into a good old-fashioned standoff, folks!
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19 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Dasein said:
Anyone heard back from Boston College yet? Still no??
still nah
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1 hour ago, Vivec said:
Congratulations on getting accepted to USF! I've had the pleasure of taking some of their cross-listed courses as an undergrad and found them to be very rewarding. If you do decide to go with USF, feel free to ask me if you have any general questions about the city/area.
Thanks Vivec! Was looking like a shutout but I'm glad I decided to dig extra deep to fund the process. It sounds like a neat city, and the department is a great fit for me. I love how much Heidegger and Nietzsche (and a lot else) they have going on. What was your sense about metaphysics and epistemology from your experience in the department? They seem fairly inclusive across the a/c divide from what I see so far.
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gods be praised, I have received a generous funded offer with TA stipend from University of South Florida.
On 3/2/2018 at 4:01 PM, iunoionnis said:Do they not have anyone working on the mystical tradition at UCSD? I remember their faculty being pretty big.
I do not know, but I've solicited a response from them. USF is pretty strong in medieval so maybe they liked my mystical rant in the SOP. Thanks for making that connection for me; substantial interest in medieval is common to the depts who've responded positively to me so far.
- Needle in the Hay, kretschmar, Vivec and 1 other
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1 hour ago, Prose said:
Write up a brilliant sample and put in the extra hours to explain in your SoP why you're a good fit for the program (and do try to make your sample subject be your AOI).
What I'm beginning to wonder is how and who to try to convince to review my next sample over and over again once I have graduated in May. Should I just cut to the chase and hit up my POI's from the depts where I got rejected and ask them for comments? If I have one good idea in my life please let this be it.
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12 minutes ago, CogSciRob said:
I'm also in psych. It's possible that the open slot may go to another lab, but you have a better shot with the other person declining. Not every PI has a guaranteed grad student. It all depends on funding availability and department organization.
4 minutes ago, Hopeful22 said:And do you think I should contact admissions or is there really nothing I can do but wait
Welcome. You've found the Philosophy forum! You should be able to find the information you're looking for here:
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17 minutes ago, ThePeon said:
Now I'm confused, I'm seeing acceptances, waitlists, and rejections for Boston University, but I have heard nothing and in the portal it still just says my application was submitted, no decision posted.
Same story here. Awaiting fate. Floating in the indeterminate ether.
17 minutes ago, iunoionnis said:I mean, if you're applying to programs that don't have people who work on Theresa Avalia, Meister Eckhart, or Neoplatonism, they might wonder why you're applying there to work on mysticism. But I think that, if you want to work on mysticism, you should try to find somewhere strong in medieval philosophy. There's a ton of great work being done on mysticism right now... It's definitely worth doing, you just have to target the right programs.
This is a sensible point. I was going for non-Abrahamic mysticism, which UNM seems quite fond of. Paradoxically in eschewing the medieval mysticism path I've essentially committed myself to a unicorn hunt. Hmm. This is greatly helpful- thanks!
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45 minutes ago, be. said:
Did you mention mysticism in your personal statement? That AOI strikes me as one that analytic-ish departments (e.g., UCSD and Baylor) might frown upon.
I did, and there are reasons I'm inclined to agree with that analysis. Now that you mention it, it seems like a great AOI to keep quiet about, with rare exceptions. Thanks for that insight. Maybe I'll get lucky and UCSD (and UCR) will follow Baylor and at least waitlist me.
1 hour ago, syn said:One, and I'm in the same boat, is that you're a non-traditional student. I've intentionally not brought up that fact about myself in my SOP/SOI.
Secondly, your sample is in aesthetics... Since much of the prestige in a program is based on graduate placement, it would make sense that few programs take on students with AOIs with few placement opportunities.
Regardless, good luck and I hope something comes through!
Agreed- NTS status is another good thing to keep quiet about. I disowned aesthetics in the SOI but there's no guarantee they are catching that every time; and if they don't, then your insight shows how they'd have a good reason to fast-track my app to the trashpile. Thanks for the counsel- it makes a difference in my hypothetical future approach to getting in with one of my dream departments. NTS unite, and good luck!
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9 minutes ago, SophiaIsBae said:
It really is all about your writing sample and letters of rec. Fit matters, too, but less than I initially thought.
7 minutes ago, iunoionnis said:I would agree, and add that the fit of a department isn't always easy to figure out.
Thanks, y'all. It's puzzling as two of my letter writers read the sample and both thought it was a good piece of scholarship. Perhaps I wasn't a good fit; or perhaps it was the mismatch between sample (aesthetics) and AOI (Kant, mysticism, ethics, and Nietzsche). Or maybe being a non-traditional student has a part in it. Well, it's not over til it's over. May you all find a happy match.
- SirPyros and PhiloStorian
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5 hours ago, dogs said:
...it really is your writing sample, letters, and personal statement which matters to the admissions committee, even at very preliminary stages of the process. I think if it wouldn't harm your application for you to work on re-taking the GRE, you should certainly go for it. But if your scores don't improve substantially this time, I wouldn't feel disheartened about that. Moreover, I think that if it is time that could be spent working to improve your writing sample, maybe it's not worth it.
Helpful, relevant, and succinct advice, dogs. And I agree that evidence of serious scholarship potential is more crucial than scores. You made me realize I have been deceiving myself (just a little) about how much improving the scores can help me. But in light of your perspective I still feel encouraged to re-take, but with more realistic expectations. Thank you and big congratulations on your remarkable acceptance rate into top departments.
- dogs and MishaPanda
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5 minutes ago, incredulous_stare said:
Is it possible that they're just waiting to hear if anyone who was accepted declines their offer?
Sure, it's possible. It makes sense from their perspective. Some departments don't use a waitlist because they're averse to making students feel like they were their 2nd choice. So for the same reason it would make sense for ND (for example) to accept a few, wait and see how many of those decline, and then send out more acceptances, and so on.
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11 minutes ago, prtrbd said:
I have a very good GRE and haven't had the sense that it mattered very much.
Fair. And also fair as noted above that they're not typically high priority for depts. But my sense is it's screwing me over, or at least contributing largely to the complete explanation of what is. The only thing I'm confident of is that perfect scores cannot hurt us, and if I can accomplish that the next round, that peace of mind will be worthwhile.
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59 minutes ago, Plslol said:
My gre was 163V/158Q/4.5AW and Uchicago referred me to their maph. That means i was in a close to final cut, and gre based cuts would be earlier in the cutting process no?
There's no general conclusion about GRE scores worthy of wide agreement except that most depts require them. But I'm dubious of the meaning you suggest. From what little anectodal evidence I have seen, depts are not, at least in any sense that offers further information about how well you fared in their application process, selective about which rejected PhD applications they recommend for the MA or MAPH (usually unfunded, I should add). In fact, for several departments that seems to be more or less the rule.
I was not suggesting that decent scores (which yours are) will get you automatically cut. I don't think that's the case at all. But I do think that it will not give them a reason to separate your application into a smaller set for a closer look. I am suggesting that having near perfect or perfect scores will probably give them such a reason.
What my experience with Georgetown does mean is that sometimes departments will make assumptions about your qualifications as a candidate based solely on GRE scores.
2018 Acceptance/Rejection Thread
in Philosophy
Posted
I wish this was true. I've solicited UCR twice and gotten no response. They did give someone a solicited rejection 2 days ago though. So either that's my fate and they're just ignoring me, or they've got me on a waitlist and might make me an offer but don't want me to know I was on a waitlist. As asking these departments for decisions hasn't gone well for me this season, I plan on keeping quiet and hoping for the latter on this one.