Very Hungry Caterpillar

we Pitt kids now!!! in 2020. now to fidget at work until I can put in my one month notice.

Sorry to be the kid that says this, but Philosophy departments don't have research labs. We do definitely end up spending time with our cohort and other grad students, and a good grad student body will contribute a lot to a sense of belonging/climate, but it's easier to lone wolf than it is in a more sciencey environment. (Not that it's recommended). This is important, but be patient with yourself! Some professors are still anxious as hell. I think it's just finding a way to work with it. Some academics, especially in philosophy, are the most awkward people I have ever seen, so chances are, the person you're interacting with is also anxious!

FWIW I applied with a writing sample (evo debunking and math) that was somewhat tangential to, but not really in, my claimed AOIs (I stated Epist, Phil Lang, and Early Modern). I was told that, if I had higher confidence in this paper than others, to go with it. I didn't really have much of a choice - I think I would have been pulled towards doing a sample that was more securely in my AOIs if I had a paper I was more excited about/wasn't less than 7 pages long. I have 2A/2W/4R in an application set of 7 top-10 schools and 1 top MA, if that gives you any signal on how that went for me. I get that this doesn't really help with your AOI decision, but perhaps I thought I'd offer a little counterexample with my very unorthodox application

For those who haven't gotten a response from Stanford even after shaking your spam folder upside down - congrats, you're on a 'second, unofficial, waitlist'!

Declined Tufts. Hope this helps someone!

Also in at Tufts, and will likely decline soon.

Hi! I've done decently so far given that I only applied to 8 top-10 schools (Pitt Acceptance/Rutgers Waitlist/Yale and MIT Rejection) so far. Granted I came from a leiterific UG, but I wish I'd applied more carefully, so please don't follow my example and apply on impulse. I don't have much to add in terms of improving the chances of admission, but in terms of reducing the anguish of the process, here's some things I think I did well/wish I'd done: 1. Take your GREs early. It's an archaic and expensive test etc., but it still can take up time and unneeded stress. You are already going to doubt just about every bit of your application. Don't add any extra variables to fret over if you can help it. 2. (along the same line) PACE YOUR APPLICATIONS/APPLY EARLY. I edited most of my sample surreptiously at work/on the floor of a hotel room at 2am on vacation. Don't do that. Deadlines get missed, and typos happen, and important details get treated with a lack of care. It's also unnecessarily stressful. 3a. Spend some time away, if you can. This isn't just for apps, but also for academia in general. Most of my professors recommend this, just because it gives you perspective, and helps keep you a little bit more sane in grad school. Also, if you realize you still really like philosophy, then you'll know it's not because you didn't know anything better! 3b. Keep in contact with your professors / grad student friends if you take time off. Make sure they remember you, that they're constantly engaged, and that they're still invested in you. This also helps you stay invested in philosophy! I heard a professor say 'this person wants my rec but I don't remember them anymore'. Umm, don't be that poor kid. 4. Find something to throw yourself into after you apply. Waiting and lack of control are the worst. It might help to distract yourself with working out, a new group of friends, a new pursuit, etc. Refreshing tgc won't make the results come faster, as much as it feels like some semblance of movement. Keep forcing your body to produce those tasty endorphins!! 5. Know that philosophy admissions are not necessarily a reflection of your ability and worth as a philosopher. Do the best schools pick amazing philosophers? Yes. Do all the amazing philosophers get into the best schools? Not necessarily. The process, as outlined in previous posts, is multifaceted, and sometimes involves things that are a function of privilege. Control the things you can (sample sample sample), and acknowledge that getting through the admissions process alone is something to be proud of.

1) cart before horse as is already with asking this here. 2) good thing I have family in the US I can cry to if I don't end up going anywhere! Ah I'm sorry if I sounded like I was actually banking on visit budgets! I was just asking out of curiosity to fuel the daydreams I've been trying not to entertain.

Thanks friend! Now to plan my very expensive and environmentally painful trip... Does anyone know if visit budgets also cover accommodation?

Putting the cart about 70 kilometres before the horse here... but I'll be flying internationally, and I'd like to plan a 2 week trip to the US to visit family/schools if possible. When is a good time for that? I was thinking late March-early April ish.

One of my letter writers was really prompt about his recs, except for one, which he must have missed. Let me just check that I got the email right! ?

WHOA REALLY WHERE IN NYC? CURIOUS MINDS NEED TO KNOW Where Fordham is (West Bronxish) isn't in a particularly expensive area, rent wise - the prices that are stereotypical NYC are like in Greenwich Village and Chelsea, near NYU. And no one really drives in NYC anyway! Expenses can be high if you get a little irresponsible in nyc, but if you split rent, cook, take the subway/bike etc, it's not awful.

This reminded me of a bunch of research done on attrition of underrepresented philosophy students from intro classes to philo majors, and then from undergrad to grad. I think there's a bunch of annoyingly subtle stuff going on here. I've perceived being talked over by male classmates several times. However, whenever I also perceive myself talking over them, I tell my professors/instructors not to call on me/ask if I should maybe shut up a little. (I am *quite* obnoxious in the classroom.) Perhaps it's that self-consciousness that has been more ingrained in me, which is also a function of my minority status? There's also stuff like impostor syndrome, which has been said to hit underrepresented groups far more than the majority.

6/9 done, all close to the deadline because I am biding my time with the Statement of Purpose (read: getting distracted reading papers of faculty in an *effort* to figure out where my fit is).

My sample is really short - 14 pages. My professor who was so graciously helping on this took loads of fluff out, since lots of it was me struggling to make a single point. It, however, has been marinating for more than a year. It was first conceived in Fall 2017, and I've been paying varying amounts of attention to it as my commitment to grad school wavered. However, ain't no pressure like having people you respect look at your paper and give you feedback last minute to get you back up and running again! tl;dr probably 100h. 40 of which were in the last month, and the other 60 carelessly dispersed across more than a year.