Monk_Fudge

Congrats! I'm at Fordham and I'm more than happy to answer any questions you might have!

Was accepted off of Boston College's waitlist this morning. Will be declining the offer.

PMed you!

Can finally post here as well.. Just got word I was accepted off the waitlist at Fordham. Absolutely stoked.

I think as long as you have a strong writing sample that is in Y then you should be good. Don't underestimate how important "fit" is for applications. Trying to apply for a department that's mainly doing continental with a sample in analytic philosophy of mind might not be the best even if your SOP clarifies your new interests. With that said, my master's AOI is different than my stated AOI on PhD applications and I was asked about this during an interview for one program. Granted it was a general question about whether I see any connections between them but still, I imagine some departments keep that in mind..

I agree that comparison papers often do end up sounding like bad History or English papers, especially if the paper spends too much time on summary and not enough on evaluation. With that said, if @Syndicatte spends a decent amount of time reading current articles in academic journals, finds a current and lively debate between authors, does some research and takes a stand, all the while exercising scholarly caution and grounding themselves in the primary/secondary literature, a good paper could come from this. While a paper that essentially consists of "Summary of Author A, Summary of Author B, why I think Author A is right" can be a bit shallow, a paper that's more like "Author A has suggested X about traditionally held interpretation of text Z. Author B considers this flawed for reason Y. In this paper I will show that this disagreement is based on a fundamental disagreement over concept W. Furthermore I will offer some considerations why more attention ought to be paid to concept W in text Z in order to have a better understanding of what Philosopher means by Q in later works" could be a super solid paper.

I think @Nothingtown's advice is super solid. Adding onto his/her advice.. One thing you can do to turn a good comparison paper into an excellent philosophy paper is to always have in the back of your mind, "what's at stake?" That is to say, "why is this debate even important? What are the implications of Author's A opinion? What does this have to offer the philosophical discussion moving forward? What are further questions that need to be answered?" etc. I think adding these threads are important so as to not turn your philosophy paper into a pedantic textual argument.

Anyone have any good advice on how to inquire about waitlists?

I'm in the Fordham limbo as well. I solicited the DGS last week and he said he hoped to have decisions out by the end of the week or early this week. I haven't heard anything since.

So I write this after having done not so great on a skype interview recently. Here is the advice I wish I was given. First, be prepared to give clear and short answers to questions. With skype as a format its a lot harder to catch the non-verbal cues that you've answered a question sufficiently and its a little hard for your interviewer to interrupt you if you're droning on (which is easy to do when you're nervous). I would spend no more than 1-2 minutes answering a question. Better to give them the opportunity to ask follow up questions than to appear as if you're giving a lecture. Don't try to convince your interviewers you know enough or are smart enough. Resist quoting things or making as many references as possible. In short, don't ramble. Second, in regards to questions. Be prepared to explain your area of interest. Don't give a long background story on how you came to be interested in it (unless its relevant). Mention the topics/thinkers that are relevant, why they interest you, why you consider it important or exciting and some specific things you'd like to expand on. Don't simply reiterate your statement of purpose, but give it a bit of a personal touch. On that note, be prepared to answer questions about your statement of purpose or your CV. I had one interviewer quote a section of my statement verbatim and asked me to clarify something I hadn't thought about much since writing it 5 months ago. I would recommend reading through your statement point by point and jot down a few notes. Along with that I'd recommend outlining some general themes which link your various application materials. I had one interviewer ask how my thesis (which is not in my stated area of interest) was connected to my current interests. I'll admit I blanked on this question despite the fact there is a general thematic relation between them and I ended up sounding a bit scattered. Lastly, and this is the most obvious, be confident. If they asked for an interview it means they are serious about you as a candidate. Your statement and sample peaked their interest. Show that you're excited and be personable. This is their opportunity to see if they want to work with you. This means being friendly, polite, and good-humored. ( on the topic of humor I'd maybe stick to only making 1-2 jokes. I find skype really makes it hard for humor to come across and if you're not careful it could come across as arrogance or just fall flat thereby confusing the interviewers). Hope this helps..

I emailed the DGS at University of Oregon and asked whether a decision had been made on my application and all she said was that they "do not send notice to anyone not admitted at this time until the process is complete." So I wouldn't anticipate hearing any rejections from them until March or April.

Waitlisted at Boston College. Nice email from the DGS recognizing my application strengths and the "uncomfortable situation of suspense" this puts me in but said he won't be able to tell me much before April 15th.

I'm right there with you... I keep checking the portal but there's nothing. Based on the results page from previous years it looks like they sometimes do two waves of rejections, one earlier and another later. I hope that's not the case..

I'm in the same boat.. I also haven't received anything from Duquesne as well...

Thanks! Yes I did. They CCed one of the members of the faculty, so I assume they will be the one interviewing me..