PolPhil

From what I know, you have virtually no chance of being accepted into a PhD program in philosophy with your current qualifications unless you have a writing sample on a topic in philosophy that really knocks the socks of the adcom. In other words, your writing sample would need to be at or near professional quality. That being said, you stand a strong chance if you do well in a decent 2-year MA program in philosophy. Think NIU, UW-Milwaukee, Georgia State, or a similar program, of the funded programs. If funding is not an issue, then Tufts would be a great option, though its extremely competitive even for high-achieving philosophy majors. Keep in mind that a number of Canadian universities also have great funded MA programs (Simon Fraser, University of Toronto, etc.). In philosophy admissions, the two most important factors are the writing sample and letters of recommendation. Transcripts are important, GPA plays a minimal role, GRE rarely plays any role these days. An MA program will give you the opportunity to work closely with potential letter-writers, develop a substantial piece of philosophical writing, and get a grip on philosophical methodology. Meaning no offense, if you haven't seriously engaged with philosophy before, it's unlikely that you can, at this point, do philosophy all that well. (But you can certainly learn, practice, and get better!). I must echo Thursday's comment above: "exploring some ideas and books and finding them interesting is very different from studying philosophy, or doing philosophy professionally!" You should also know, right off the bat, that the admission rate at top programs ranges from 2-4%. At the high-to-mid level programs, that number's closer to 6-12%. At programs lower-ranked than that, you might have a tough time finding a job after your graduate studies (though there are local options in some cases. That's a complex topic that I can't discuss fully here.) Philosophy might be the most competitive field for graduate studies. Some invaluable resources: https://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/ and https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/ http://schwitzsplintersunderblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/applying-to-phd-programs-in-philosophy.html https://www.brown.edu/academics/philosophy/application-advice https://philosophy.olemiss.edu/a-guide-for-philosophy-graduate-students/ https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/bernhardnickel/files/grad-apps-ws.pdf Good luck!

The MA route sounds like a much better option, but better to do it in the US or Canada where you can get funded

I second this. They won't care about which way your MA program leans if your sample is properly analytic. In general, I am told by my professors that they don't really care where you get your MA. One prof told me that he suspects that most of the advantage of an MA comes in developing a great writing sample and getting recommendations from profs, rather than the reputation of the program itself. He mentioned that it may even be a plus to have a great sample coming from a less reputable MA program, since that demonstrates true ability, as opposed to many MA students from top programs who have their hands held to some extent.

Agreed. I'd guess it's money or family considerations.

Patchen Markell hasn't taught at UChicago for a while

I know very little about Div programs in general (I'm a Phil student who happened to wander into this thread), but I do know a bit about UChicago's Div program, since I'm a student at UChicago with some classmates in Div. The Div program there is very "loose" in that there are basically no requirements, not even a thesis requirement. It's basically two years of getting to take whatever courses you want across all of UChicago's departments. You come out with an attractive Div degree that will definitely be helpful for getting into PhD programs, if that's your goal. Like you say, it's non-confessional, but that makes sense given the open structure of the program. It's a very expensive program though. I'm not sure whether they give out substantial scholarship money for it either.

Just finished an MA and am currently applying to both PhD programs and law schools, with the hopes of doing both at the same time.

Congrats on getting in!

I'll be applying this upcoming cycle, but it's worth mentioning that my letter-writers have been extremely supportive of my plan to apply to 18 programs. They all understand the basic logic: more applications = higher chance of admission. I will be using Interfolio to cut down on their work (after all, they're doing me a big favor with the letters themselves, as well as looking over all my app materials). If you can afford to use Interfolio (it's not that expensive anyway), maybe that's something you should consider. Not all programs accept Interfolio recommendations, but it will probably cut your letter-writers' work in half

That seems to depend. There are certain fields, like medical ethics, where there is likely to be more work in the near and far future. Yeah I certainly cannot bring myself to study fad fields, unless of course the fad happens to align with my primary interests. Probably a good shout.

Honestly, you seem fine for those schools, as long as your writing sample is top notch and your letters of recommendation are strong.

I definitely second the above comment. A publication in a top journal is a huge plus, but having no publications will not count against you. I doubt that even 10% of admitted applicants to top-3 PhD programs in philosophy have a publication in a top journal. Can't say that I've studied this issue scientifically, but I have looked at a lot of CVs.

So long as you can pay for it... (coming from a MAPSS alum)

1. I wouldn't worry too much about your grades. 1) There's nothing you can do about them. 2) Your MA grades are fine. 3) Grades aren't huge factor in philosophy admissions (compared to other fields) 2. GRE is a negligible component of your application, so long as you're not way below the median. If you're near or over the 80th percentile in all categories, it probably won't count against you 3. If you write a great paper, you have a chance at a top program. In philosophy admissions, two things matter: letters of recommendation, and the writing sample. Forget about your grades, and don't fret over your GRE. Focus on the letters and the sample. Only get letters from profs who gave you straight As, and make sure that your writing sample is looked over by your advisor/letter writers. Source: a number of philosophers in the department of philosophy at the University of Chicago; plus, many sources online

I would always choose the taught masters, so my vote is LSE. Philosophy PhD programs know that basically no one is able to write publishable papers before their PhD training, so they want to see that you have mastered the major broad discussions within your subfield (which coursework accomplishes)

Yes, but 1) MAPSS admin have been less than helpful and 2) as a MAPSS student, you'll have to deal with the university administration, so it still counts against the program

They were planning to shorten the quarter next year, but shortening this quarter was unexpected (and not what we paid for!)

If I were you and if I could afford it, I'd go to Tufts. Otherwise, I'd go to UW-Milwaukee. But that's just my two-cents...

I don't know for sure, but I've never heard of this practice within philosophy. Sounds like the kind of thing upon which philosophers would frown...

At this stage, I have to recommend to anyone considering going to MAPSS at UChicago next year to decline your offer. The administration really fucked us with their response to the pandemic. On top of moving everything online, which is obviously necessary, they reduced the number of weeks of instruction--all of this without reducing tuition at all.

As far as I know, no notable school accepts the LSAT in place of the GRE. I haven't looked at the requirements for all programs, obviously, but I've never seen this.

This is unlikely. Most philosophy programs have no cutoff for GPA, and will seriously consider any application so long as the GPA isn't anomalous (below ~3.50). The application mostly comes down to the writing sample and the letters of recommendation. GPA doesn't add or detract much from your application, at least for US programs. *My sources are various professors, some of whom take part in the Leiter rankings, as well as department websites, online blogs, etc. There's some ambiguity over many parts of the application process, but that the writing sample and letters of recommendation are the most important factors is uncontroversial.

I understand that you're nervous about admissions, but posting this in all the threads is not the way to go. It distracts from the ongoing conversations.

Even if a school has people in your concentration, it might not consider you a good fit. Columbia has a large enough continental contingent, but NYU is very analytical (in addition to being a top-3 program). Unless you demonstrate a solid training in analytical philosophy, you are unlikely to get in (this may even be true for Columbia). I'd imagine you get in somewhere with those grades, solid recommendations and a stellar writing sample, but your lack of analytical background (assuming that your sample is a good gauge of your background) and low GRE scores might shut you out of top programs. The low GRE scores are especially going to be a problem at public universities, where they are often unable to secure funding for applicants below a certain GRE cutoff. Have hope though! None of us here know enough about your application to be able to say anything definitively. At worst, you may have to do an MA to prove that your grades are not a fluke (which is what the GRE is supposed to do) and that you have an adequate analytical background.

I believe LSE has a similar program, but I forget what it's called.