Kantattheairport

My guess is that this is the first/earlier round of culling before they make their final decisions. Maybe?

Ftr I don't think it's a presumtuous thing to plan ahead, especially if you have family to visit anyway! :) On budgets, my understanding is that there's usually an x amount of funding that can be used for travel or lodging, such that if you've already flown in, they can subsidize travel to a city or your stay. But probably best to assume that it's a subsidy that doesn't cover everything Welcome, and good luck! :)

Also rejected by Brown. That was quicker than I expected! But here we go, tides incoming I guess!

Hi psm, thanks for the warning! Would it be all right to ask where you ended up/what experiences made you issue this warning? Happy to take it to PM if you prefer - I'm just very curious as an international applicant!

That's probably a good time to be in the US in case you get in, yeah!

I'm having similar issues with the final couple of my applications, but based on last year I'm not super worried... at least not yet.

Based on last year, most programmes will email you either the decision itself or a notification to check your status page. I think Rutgers was the only place I applied to where people discovered their outcome on the status page before/without receiving an email. Best thing for the next several weeks at least is to try and get some well-earned rest!

Yeah, I don't think it's worth worrying too much about that, there are too many factors that go into these unintended consequences (how people on the committee are feeling that day, whether or not they've had their morning coffee, etc) and they're all outside of our control!

Hm, well, my feeling is that having multiple threads would actually be more confusing and bloated for the forum as a whole; when I was applying last year, it seemed useful to have updates all in one place, and it didn't feel like the thread was moving too quickly to follow. But I'm happy enough to follow along if other people think otherwise. Congratulations!!

I'm curious as to what the reasons are here. There was a single thread for acceptances and rejections last year (with separate threads for final decisions and for MA programmes), and that seemed to work fine.

My impression is that it depends. There are certain departments that encourage earlier applications, or for applicants to apply as early as possible - though I doubt the preference makes a huge difference to the outcome. Or, perhaps, I doubt there's a consciously applied difference: it may well make an unintended difference if committees start reviewing early applications earlier (it possible that their energy and attention begins to diminish over time)… Then on the other hand, there are other places like NYU that make it explicit that they'll only begin reviewing after the deadline and that applying early has no effect.

Ah, I've been meaning to get myself more acquainted with Nishida and the Kyoto School for a while now! I only know very very broadly what the shape of their approach was, and it seems super interesting - perhaps I'll find some time in the next couple months to read some introductory articles. (Though of course there's a whole backlog of things that I wanted to read and put off while doing these applications!)

That's very cool! I'm just about to start reading a bit of Buddhist philosophy of mind.

All applications sent. ?

Mainly South Asian and Chinese for me so far, though I'm quite interested in continuing to expand! How about you?

To clarify, is this within hours of the deadline for you to submit your application? If so, don't worry. My recommenders have been... significantly later than that, the application still goes through. Good to see someone else with an interest in the non-Western end of things!

Ugh!

Yes please!! Thanks for this! So, would I understanding the LW ratio correctly if I said that anything under a 1 would very likely be inadequate for someone to get by on...?

Sent off applications to a couple of top choices; that's 11/18 down. Hope everyone had a good New Year's Day!

Hello! I'm a fellow international applicant, who also applied to MA programmes last year. One quick word of advice I'd offer is to really research the costs of living at your targeted institutions and compare this with the typical funding packages that successful applicants receive, and make sure well in advance what kind of funds you'd be expected to contribute yourself. When doing this, keep in mind that full funding at MA programmes tends to be a rarity, and when schools say something like 'successful applicants receive on average scholarships covering X% of tuition', that can often mean that that's the maximum possible funding available (rather than what's averaged out when considering big and small scholarships). Most US students who go to MA programmes, as far as I know, either (i) have some savings set aside, (ii) take out federal loans, or (iii) work part-time on weekends. As you're aware, most international students on a student visa don't have (ii) or (iii) as an option, so make sure to compare expected contributions with your savings well in advance. Anecdotally: I got into Tufts last year and was on the waitlist at GSU, only to discover that MA funding is more limited than I had realized, and had to withdraw my application from both places. So plan in advance so that you don't end up like me! That said, from what you've said it doesn't sound like getting into MA programmes is unrealistic. On what you can do next semester + in the summer: in addition to what Prose said, try and get together to have some substantial conversation with your philosophy professors - especially your probable letter writers - to realistically assess whether you'd enjoy grad school, and what sort of places would be good for you to look at. They'll know better than us (and probably you) what your standing is. Your writing sample and letters are often the most important parts of your application, and can sometimes offset weaknesses in other areas. Good luck! :)

Woo! Now you need to sit back and do your best not to check your email every five minutes. ?

Excellent, that's great to know - thank you!

I've now sent off half of my applications, and have sent in all the ones I had hoped to finish before the New Year. I hope the rest of you are all finding enough time to relax at this stage!

I've been doing mine single-spaced, except when explicitly instructed otherwise. Just the usual - briefly describing what I'm interested in and what I've done as an undergraduate! Mine may also be longer because I took my statement from last year and tacked some more things on it - and tbh, it's slightly longer than I'd ideally want it to be, but I'm not thinking too much about it now. From the successful statements I've seen online - on Professor Schwitzgebel's site, for example - they seem to be of pretty varying lengths and styles!

~1000 words, except in cases where there is a specific limit. The usual recommended length seems to be 1-2 pages - certainly no longer than 2 pages.