shifgrethor

Anyone else get an email that results are posted? I got one about 15 mins ago that my results are available on the extranet... with no instructions on how to log into the extranet!!! Ahhhhhhh.

Hey sure, of course. I thought it was clear that I wasn't trying to encourage anyone to spend less time on their sample, and that I think it's obvious that each individual should spend as much time on their sample as they are able to manage. I suppose I was unclear on these points. My concern was this: peoples' circumstances are different and their paths to grad school are many and varied and it's just the case that some people, depending on timing, circumstance, income, living situations, etc. (especially if they are non-US applicants and perhaps not on the same academic calendar) might not be able to spend anywhere near the amount of time on their sample that some people in this thread were able to. My point was only to say that those people ought not to feel discouraged, as I can imagine some might.

For context: I know a couple of people back home that almost shied away from applying for grad school in the US (and some that did) because of a perception that one needed to be able to dedicate hundreds of hours to one's sample in order to be even remotely competitive. Trusting that no one would, on my advice, put less work into their sample than they were able to, I simply thought it was helpful to point out to anyone having similar doubts that there are people in good programs that, for one reason or another, did not dedicate this amount of time to their sample.

As someone with a BA in political science (with a focus on IR theory in a continental vein) who is currently a PhD student at a top philosophy department, I’m probably a good person to address your question. (Although I should clarify that I now work mainly in history of philosophy and am no longer specializing in IR theory or continental philosophy.)
An MA is a great choice if you’re open minded and prepared to work hard to a) catch up on common knowledge you lack relative to your classmates, and b) learn the methodology of analytic philosophy (even if you’re goal is to stick to continental philosophizing, it is essential to be conversant in analytic philosophy imo). The first couple of months of my philosophy MA were stressful and busy, because I was doing as much ‘background reading’ as actual class readings. Most good profs will recommend background readings for graduate courses, which I strongly suggest you read if you’re really taking this seriously. 
I think it it can be a great idea to do this, and I wish you luck if it’s your plan. I never took (or audited) a single philosophy course before my MA, so it is not true that you need to do so. But you should be prepared to be a beginner at philosophy, and not assume you already know everything just because you’re fluent in the language of IR theory. Even the overlaps are often approached in radically different ways in the two fields. 

As someone with a BA in political science (with a focus on IR theory in a continental vein) who is currently a PhD student at a top philosophy department, I’m probably a good person to address your question. (Although I should clarify that I now work mainly in history of philosophy and am no longer specializing in IR theory or continental philosophy.)
An MA is a great choice if you’re open minded and prepared to work hard to a) catch up on common knowledge you lack relative to your classmates, and b) learn the methodology of analytic philosophy (even if you’re goal is to stick to continental philosophizing, it is essential to be conversant in analytic philosophy imo). The first couple of months of my philosophy MA were stressful and busy, because I was doing as much ‘background reading’ as actual class readings. Most good profs will recommend background readings for graduate courses, which I strongly suggest you read if you’re really taking this seriously. 
I think it it can be a great idea to do this, and I wish you luck if it’s your plan. I never took (or audited) a single philosophy course before my MA, so it is not true that you need to do so. But you should be prepared to be a beginner at philosophy, and not assume you already know everything just because you’re fluent in the language of IR theory. Even the overlaps are often approached in radically different ways in the two fields. 

Ask the faculty members if they will take you as a student. They will be honest with you, and if they say yes and then choose to retire, will continue working with you while they are emeritus. No use skirting around the issue, they know it is a concern for students. (just don't say it in a way that is insulting or judgmental)

Declined CUNY GC, will be going to UCSD. 

Regarding YouTube, perhaps you're familiar with them already, but Wireless Philosophy (or Wi-Phi) are consistently excellent and cover a lot of important topics, so would recommend them!
Apart from that, perhaps just take a look at some syllabi for Intro classes and see if you can find some of the papers?

I've always enjoyed the "very short introduction" series from Oxford Press. Depending on how much you already know, they've got 60 or so topics you could choose from. I'd go for Analytic Philosophy & Continental Philosophy to start - and of course check out the epistemology, ethics, metpaphysics. Good for getting a handle on terminology and contemporary problems if nothing else.
Also YOUTUBE

I think Philosophy Tube on Youtube has some useful videos for getting an introduction to some topics (I found their philosophy of time discussion to be helpful). Not for deep reading, but if you wanna get a lay of the land its useful.

-treatment of women, which professors are known to be dismissive/discriminatory towards women
-climate for LGBTQ students/faculty

More anecdotal data, but I went to a small unranked university in Canada (it doesn't even rank among Canadian universities in most fields, including philosophy), did my MA at Toronto, and was admitted to 4 top-20 programs including NYU. So while there are definitely statistical disadvantages, the high end of the bell curve doesn't stop short of the top programs.

I go to an Israeli school, and I was accepted to sixteen departments (including NYU, Rutgers, Oxford, Princeton...), waitlisted at three, rejected from one and withdrew one application before getting an answer (which would have been either reject or waitlist).

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

-treatment of women, which professors are known to be dismissive/discriminatory towards women
-climate for LGBTQ students/faculty

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

My inference was incorrect. Just got an email from Jessica Moss that I was admitted.

Same here. OMG!

Congrats! That's amazing. I'm going to assume NYU is not accepting two people with AOIs in Early Modern and Mind in the same year, so I'll happily move on to decision-making now. Finally onto the exciting part!!