syn

Extremely few in philosophy. The only one I know of is University of Chicago, but there might be others. Which I've honestly always found a little weird. You'd think in a field where argumentation and defense of ideas are important, they might interview us on some views and press us just to see what the thought process is. Then again, if you're getting hundreds of applications few faculty members want to read anyway, finding time to interview, say, 20-30 people in the span of a month, in the middle of a semester, no less, is pretty difficult.

I echo what others have said. A few additional notes: - Some of the universities you mention are not analytic departments, or perhaps would be better termed as strong continental departments. So you might want to double-check your list and make sure you're applying for universities that you believe you have a solid chance of getting into and fit your interests. - Coming from a very low-tier institution and in a very non-traditional setting (online), you're going to need to differentiate yourself even further from your competition. I know your schedule isn't very conducive to attending many conferences, but you might try to write some works for undergraduate journals. Here's a list: https://unl.libguides.com/c.php?g=51642&p=333917. There are also undergraduate conferences, but I'm betting you wouldn't have travel support, and so that might be expensive. - Your writing sample is going to have to be extremely polished. Definitely take advantage of the folks we have here and in the Facebook group to have your writing sample peer reviewed. - I think a terminal MA program is your best choice by far. You're going to need to prove your philosophical ability. That's not a bad thing. Programs like Tufts, as was mentioned, are amazing at placement. If you do want to get into a prestigious program, a terminal MA at such a program would go a long way toward that. Good luck!

I mostly agree with max, though I do want to note one thing: if you're financially limited, it makes good sense to apply for programs that you think you have a reasonable chance of getting into. While optimally you'd apply to every program with strengths in your area of interest, I can't imagine many of us are in a position to do that, especially with the average application cost somewhere around $70ish USD. I can't see your post anymore, so I can't give any advice to what I think (not that I claim any expertise in the area; only what I'd do), but nonetheless I still think it's fair to consider your chances of realistically getting in if your means are limited.

This is quite honestly a terrible response, with the only thing being remotely accurate is #4. 1. Professors don't want you to fail. But they also want you to do quality work. Ultimately you received a B+ because that's what the quality of your work indicated. I don't know if you did this or not, but you might consider going to your professor's office hours and discussing it with them. I have a professor who tends to look very kindly on students who may struggle at times, but who put forth the effort by coming to office hours and discussing it. I recommend new students in my program go to his office hours at least four times a semester, even if you're doing well. It's good to have that face time with a potential future letter writer, especially if the professor is in your AOI. 2. No they won't. They may, however, wonder what led the professor not to give you an A-/A, where students are expected to place. This is a red flag, especially if it's in your AOI. 3. Wrong. It's more likely they'll think your professor is not confident in your ability to be a professional philosopher, you don't have the argumentative chops, and your writing is sloppy or bad. If you get another sub-par grade, I'd expect your chances of moving on would be very slim. 4. Might be right, depending on if the class is 1. logic, or 2. in your AOI. I've heard if it's logic, committees tend to overlook Bs. They know it's difficult. If it's in your AOI, however, this is a red flag. If you want to continue getting B+s, go with Olorin's response. If you want to ensure you don't get another B+, the above are some things I've kept in mind. Go to office hours. Ask questions. Get regular check-ins. Take very seriously classes in your AOI. Work on your writing. Apply to conferences, even if just grad ones, to validate your ideas and writing. Good luck!

Can we take the continental talk elsewhere? Perhaps to a more appropriate thread, for example?

Remember that April 15th is really only the date by which your acceptance is guaranteed, if you were given one. You can accept after the 15th, but there's no guarantee the spot will still be there. Likewise, some schools may allow you extra time or give you an offer after the 15th should a spot open.

Accepted University of Missouri.

Declined SLU PhD in Health Care Ethics. Should open up an assistantship for another wait lister. Good luck!

I can see why you were nervous! Congratulations!

In lieu of having heard back from my wait list school (which I had previously deemed my first choice), I've begun negotiating my package with another school. I'd rather not start it late and then make a rash decision.

Also not the Public Health forum.

This is the Philosophy forum, not CS.

Great point about grants! Hadn't thought about that. Thanks for the idea!

One professor of mine said that she did receive several offers after that day, as people were getting back to them late.

Thanks, Val! That does make a lot of sense, and I often get the "where do you find the time for all the things you do?" I just figure I put time where I want; the things you want to do most, you'll find time for. So while I was getting my Masters, I was able to present at six conferences, work on a couple publishable things, plus my coursework, plus assistantships (both teaching and research). It's a lot, but I truly enjoy my studies, so I put time towards it. Other things do suffer, of course, but they're sacrifices I'm willing to make. I've considered the loan route, but it'd be too much to take on. If a PhD takes 5-7 years, times my salary.. that's more than my mortgage. A couple times over. I think my only alternative at this point is to try to figure out a part time or consultative option. Something that allows me to work 20 hours/week at half my salary (still a very good income that supports my family), and use the stipend to make up a little bit of it and use the extra time for my studies. Not sure if that's feasible, but I'm willing to try to find such opportunities. Thanks for the suggestions!

So I'm in a bit of a conundrum. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but here's the gist: I'm a "later in life graduate student" (mid-30s). I work full time, have a side business just for some professional projects, and do some other side projects, too. I have a wife, 5 kids, and another on the way. I've been admitted to two PhD programs and am wait listed at two other players. The two acceptances came with offers for assistantships, so full tuition waivers plus stipends under $20k. In a conversation with one program director I mentioned the full time job, and she said, "Oh, we have a policy where you can't receive a package and have a full time job at the same time." Yeah, it'd be a lot to work full time + assisting + school, but I've already been doing that the last two years without too much fuss. My current job agreed to accommodate the schedule. I asked the second PhD program if they also had such a policy, and they said we should discuss it in person, but that time will be overwhelming and that "I don’t think you will find a PhD program that isn’t this way." So I'm in a conundrum. If I accept any of the programs, I likely wouldn't be able to accept a package and would therefore have to pay for my degree and wouldn't have the opportunities that others get (like teaching). I can't quit my job, though; too many mouths to feed. Anyone else ever ran into this?

Well, it's unethical for the one university to pressure you to accept by 4/1. At the end of the day, you have to do what's right for you.

100% agree with this. You should do the Skype calls, in my opinion. That is, if you're truly interested in the program. Doesn't hurt to feel out the faculty and department so you'll be ready should the waitlist come through.

I want to start by being very explicit: you're asking a bunch of [mostly] prospective grad students whether the worries of your advisor are merited. Not to fall into the logical fallacy of arguing from authority, but I'm not sure we're the most qualified bunch to be questioning your advisor. That said, what I can do is relay some things that my own advisor said. I will also say that I had tow advisors who, at times, gave me conflicting information, but it was information I could parse and, in some ways, put them together to create a far stronger writing sample. So I'll base my comments on what my advisors said and then what I did. 1 and 2. I've definitely seen how a writing sample can shape one's application. In fact, I think we've seen that in some people's comments here, especially in one case where a person wrote on aesthetics even though that isn't their main AOI. I think if you're going to submit a sample that isn't your AOI, you should explain that in your SOI/SOP just so there isn't too much confusion. But, still, if what should be your best writing sample isn't in your AOI, and you are devoid of other accomplishments in your AOI, that might raise a flag to the admissions committee: you might have an interest in an area, but are you actually good at it? Do you have a sufficient background to show that you're adept at learning and succeeding within your AOI? Those questions have to be answered. 3. I think 3 is related in a lot of ways to 1, and for the reasons I explained above. Remember, too: if you write on a historical figure and there's no faculty in the program interested in the figure, then it's difficult for that faculty member to judge whether or not you said anything new or interesting. They might very well get a sense of your writing style, ability to argue soundly, and structure a paper cohesively, but they will know less whether you said anything that hasn't been said before. I think that might be why your advisor said to make it more general: it would then be more accessible across philosophical fields. One other note about using a thesis as a writing sample: in most applications I saw that the writing sample should be somewhere between 15-20 pages-ish. Meanwhile, a thesis is often 30+ pages. Even if you spend a lot of some paring it down, it's a risk that your argument won't be as strong as it was before; after all, you wrote it that specific way for a specific reason. Submitting it as the original risks faculty only reading a portion of the thesis, and they won't get to the "good part" where you tie everything together. You might, then, consider, when doing a thesis, writing it as an article first, thesis second. The former being concise and palatable to an admissions committee; the latter being an exegesis fitting for a thesis committee. And, preferably, it would be within your AOI. Hope that helps!

Considering we're at the midway point of the semester, maybe it's a better time to have a 1:1 with your professor and plan out how you can still achieve an A or A- instead of planning on how you'll explain away a B+ in a year. That said, unless the class is in your AOI, I don't think it will hurt that much. Heck, I had a C+ in an undergraduate philosophy course, and I still got into MA and PhD programs. (In my defense, it was my first philosophy class, at the time I was a bio major, and I have a problem remembering/differentiating some names, especially foreign ones -- it was Islamic Philosophy. I was very active in the class and department, and the same Prof later wrote one of my letters.) One Prof I spoke to said getting straight As can throw up a red flag, that it wasn't challenging enough. I tend to agree, and I think that may be one reason we see so many candidates drop out after the coursework is complete: these are good students, but perhaps not as good researchers, and to earn your PhD you truly need to excel at both.

Same. Looks like you and I might be the only two "new waitlisters." Wonder if that's good or bad.

Ohhh, well that's very interesting. Thanks for the note!

Oddly, I've actually found it encouraging. A paper I had rejected by APA-Central was accepted -- in the exact same form (just with a slightly longer abstract, per the guidelines) --- for APA-Pacific. Just blanket submit, see what comes back, and accept/decline from there. Much like the application process, lol.

Surprised to hear you might decline the SLU waitlist, with Dan Haybron there (who is in your AOI and has experience getting a gigantic grant). He's also INCREDIBLY nice.

I had a paper rejected for a Notre Dame graduate conference but accepted to 6 "real" conferences. I've found quite a bit of randomness around the field, not even just with applications.