HomoLudens

I think these people are being very imprecise with the term. If elitism is anything that benefits other people than me viz. circumstances outside of our individual control, then maybe they are right. I personally don't play this game of calling people I don't know "elite", "privileged", etc. It makes things too toxic. 
I opt for depression and self-immolation approach rather than resentment of others' success. 

0a/0w/8r/1?/13pending
This is awful. This is truly an awful feeling. 

0a/0w/8r/1?/13pending
This is awful. This is truly an awful feeling. 

Rejected: UCLA, the same fucking people keep on getting accepted school after school. 

It was the same way last year too, presumably every year. There is significant overlap on who admission committees consider to be candidates for elite programs. 

I have not heard from them either.  Since someone got in last Friday, maybe we will be on the waitlist...would seem silly to not do all rejections on one day, but also possible. 
 

I think Stony Brook has been known to keep "hidden" waitlists in the past, but honestly I have no idea. Tbh not getting my hopes up w/o some form of express confirmation from them

I haven't received a rejection from Stony Brook yet, so I hope that is a good sign.

Title says it all. It clutters the page, and that's what the forum is for! 
But to the person asking about the University of Toronto: they don't do interviews 

Also accepted to Toronto Philosophy PhD w/ funding via email!

Hey Christoper! Im a current U Toronto student and I was born and raised here in Toronto (though I did my undergrad and masters degrees elsewhere). Feel free to pm me if you have any questions!

Accepted to the University of Toronto PhD Philosophy via email ?

What does this have to do with this thread?

deleted [wrong thread]

Also assuming rejection from Wisc. 
Their cheese is fantastic. 

Also assuming a UW Madison rejection. 

also assuming a Madison rejection 

Same boat as the others with Madison. This one is tough.

You're right. I should be positive. Past performance, future results, and all that.

You're right. I should be positive. Past performance, future results, and all that.

You're right. I should be positive. Past performance, future results, and all that.

Someone on FB claimed one

Admissions committee member here. I agree that there is no point to these sorts of posts or responses to them. Every admin committee makes decisions differently. In my dept there is no "threshold" you have to pass, though, and I doubt there is in most departments. We read every application. (Really.) We don't read all of every application, but we would definitely read your transcripts, cv, personal statement, letters, and at least skim the first five pages or so of your writing sample before putting anyone in a "no" pile. We don't do a "first pass" where we toss a bunch of people out on the basis of grades or anything like that. I personally don't care about grades at all unless they are bad in philosophy courses or there is some unexplained downwards trajectory. (Though fwiw I hate to say this, but a 3.87 is not a great GPA for an MA, and places that do care about grades will not be super impressed by it. It's not bad, but it is not particularly impressive since the grading scale in grad programs is much different than in undergrad courses. It is far less impressive than a 3.87 undergrad GPA is, imo.) Skimming your writing sample could lead me to examine it more closely even if your grades are terrible and your letters aren't great. If you're a terrible fit for my department, I'm less likely to spend tons of time on your app. If you are a great fit for my department, I'm more likely to spend more time on your app. If you have an unusual background (e.g. community college, long breaks in your education, etc.) I'll likely completely ignore grades regardless of how bad they are from early on in your education.
Some people care about grades a lot. Even within admin committees there will be disagreement about this. It could be, for example, that the "first pass" works by the committee dividing the apps among them and each coming back to the first meeting with a list of 10-15-20 names they want to consider more closely. In those kinds of cases probably each member of the committee is using a totally different set of criteria to make that list. It will just be luck how they divided up the alphabet, or whatever.
I do think that the only real close-to-universal thing there is to say here is that your writing sample matters above all else. I think that is true in nearly every department. Perhaps some departments will throw you in a "no" pile without taking even a glance at it, but my guess is they only do that if at least a couple of the following conditions are met: you don' thave a really strong background in philosophy, your letters are lukewarm, your grades are bad, your personal statement is weird or bad, etc. (The applications I spend the least amount of time on are people who just obviously have no philosophical background or very little. Apply to MA programs if you are in that position.)

As I mentioned above, the problem lies in the very idea behind threads like these. We see them crop up constantly on here. The best advice is to stop worrying about chances viz. statistics and markers like GPA, and instead ask whether your sample/statement are up to snuff. I honestly think we should ban threads like this (no offense to OP) because they are literally useless speculation. 

As the Germans say, "jein". This is anecdotal, but the admissions director at my program reads statements first. Obviously it isn't make or break if you have a mediocre sample, but if you aren't able to effectively state why you want to do a PhD at "school" beyond the typical platitudes, then you don't have a chance. Having an interesting statement might make the committee member look closer at your application. 
The moral I take away from applying is that the kind of questions being asked on this forum are typically the wrong ones. People shouldn't be ask whether they can get in based on stats x, y, and z and vague statements like "my sample is super good". The real question is, "how can I make my application better.