elger

NIU, GSU, and VT. I also turned down Tufts but only had a partial scholarship.

I turned down 3 funded MA offers in favor of an "outside the top 50" Ph.D program. I may have jumped the gun on accepting as my MA offers were not initially funded and I got off the waitlist for funding after I already accepted the Ph.D. I'm second guessing my decision, but I am happy to be paid to do philosophy for 5 years, not having to go through the stress of reapplying, and to be at a school where it seems like I am a good fit. I ended the season with MA: 4a/0w/0r and PhD: 1a/2w/3r (going into it I assumed I'd be 0a/0w/10r so even if I screwed up my decision I'm just happy that I wasn't shut out)

Congrats to those who have been accepted to Tufts. Do you all plan to go there? If so, what's the deal with their funding? It looks like with the scholarship we'd still owe about $20,000 in tuition and only have the possibility of earning about $4,000 per semester, not including the first semester. How do people make that work?

@maxhgnsThis is good advice. Thanks. How do you know whether professors are top flight in a given AOS? I came from an undergrad with no graduate program and did not intend on applying to grad school during undergrad so I am rather oblivious to such matters.

@hector549 thank you for sharing your perspective and linking the thread. It is good to think about.

Understood. Any thoughts on choosing between MA programs?

First, let me apologize if there is already a thread for this. I looked through existing threads and did not see one for this application season at least. Does anyone have thoughts on choosing whether to do an MA first or go straight for a PhD? I didn't do enough research in choosing schools and ended up applying and being accepted to 2 PGR unranked/low ranked PhD programs (with funding) that have less than stellar job placement rates (around 20% on Aero Data Lab). I've also been accepted to MA programs at NIU and GSU (GSU is funded, waiting to hear about NIU funding). My gut tells me to do an MA first to solidify my AOI and shoot for PhD programs with better job placement. As I look, however, I notice that a few people from these MA programs actually attend the PhD programs that have offered me admission. This makes me uneasy about whether doing the MA would truly make my application more competitive or whether I would be better off just attending a less prestigious PhD program and worrying about job placement when the time comes. I believe I would be a good fit at the PhD programs, it is just the future job prospects that worry me. What has your experience been with this, or is anyone else in the same position?