Olórin

Uhh, piping up to say that what a PhD guarantees is years of financial instability and hardship. Even good stipends stop during the summer, and having to come up with new ways to make ends meet every summer is one of worst parts of a PhD. It’s kind of wild to me that this is the standard.

Honestly, they're all competitive. I've heard Texas A&M is sometimes suggested as a back up for continental leaning applicants, but I don't know to what extent that's true. All I know about Texas A&M is that they're hosting SPEP 2022.

You know, I have found the task of longer papers doesn’t get easier the more you do it. You just get used to the level of difficulty. My usual strategy is to follow my instinct and pay attention to what happens to stick out to me, and trust that’s the reasons will become clear as I write my way through things. Sometimes it produces great papers, sometimes it produces duds. That’s just how it is, sigh. After I have a draft, then I make an outline based on what is written to see how things fit together. I’ve never managed to write an outline before having a full length draft.

Applying to grad school is uhhhhhhhhhh the worst.

The Pluralist's Guide has been a good source for finding programs in continental philosophy: https://sites.psu.edu/pluralistsguide/program-recommendations/continental-philosophy/ You could also check out the SPEP (Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) website, I think they have a spot somewhere with recommendations for programs: http://www.spep.org/

Yes, it would be perfectly acceptable. If you happen to get accepted and need to send your scores by the end of the first semester, the department probably won't even see them. Some admin in the graduate studies will just check-off that you submitted official scores by the required deadline.

I suspect you'll know better than most of the people on here tbh, since most haven't gone through the process yet. It's hard for me to think I'd have insights that you don't already have yourself. To me, undergraduate grades are only important if there are no other reliable indicators of your ability to succeed academically in graduate school. But given the sustained evidence that you have of success in graduate school, I think even a 4.0 undergrad GPA would be irrelevant to many admissions committee's decisions. Anyway, I hope things work out

Uhh, how did you get in the first time? Just do that again.

For an MA program, I would probably suggest prioritizing placement since MAs usually aim at giving students general competency in philosophy. When I did an MA, it was basically impossible to pursue your own interests because the courses demanded so much in so many different arenas. Also, you'd hate to have regrets if you go with the "fit" choice and then don't get in anywhere afterward... For assessment, look at the courses they've offered in the last two to four years, that will give one of the best indicators of what life will be like there.

Well, I think there's a difference between philosophy MAs and fully funded MAs, which tend to be on the competitive side. If an MA program only has 3 funded spots, and 60 applications, that's a 5% acceptance rate. They might admit double though, or move through a waitlist, so the final acceptance rate is higher. My experience with funded MAs is that they have between 3 and 5 spots a year, and they probably receive more than 60 applications. As for your record, it might be hard to convince them that you are better suited to an MA than someone who is transitioning into the field, since MAs

100% double spaced for grad applications.

Miami University of Ohio is fully funded, they lean continental but are pluralist. Their placement record is strong among continental leaning schools.

It sounds like this was a 1-year MA--which adcoms will ideally be understanding about. Here's what I would see: a student who decided to pursue philosophy late in the game, who did extra coursework and a 1-year MA to demonstrated being up to the task, and who is in fact up to the task. I promise you I would have failed a dissertation if I had to write and defend it in less than one year. Basically, you're doing okay and you're still in the running.

I submitted a 25 page paper to a program that asked for 10-15 pages. They admitted me. I wouldn’t sweat it too much, the adcom probably didn’t even know what the application website stipulated.

Sounds like this letter writer doesn’t have your best interests in mind here. It’s unusual to have people approach you to write a letter, and it puts you in a compromised position. My suggestion is to ask your other letter writers if they think it’s a good idea to have this person write you a letter, and if they have suggestions for how to navigate the situation.