Olórin

1. Transcripts typically play a stronger role at the beginning of evaluating an application, not in the later stage of evaluation. 2. Your application would look better without the rough semesters. There is no denying that. However, you are in a stronger position than you realize, because you have attended a master's program and have demonstrated your capacity to succeed in philosophy. That fact will reduce an admission committee's concerns. 3. If you are sure that you want to say something about it, ask one of your letter writers to address it in their recommendation. "DisplayName_1 informed me about two rough semesters from a time before deciding to pursue philosophy. I assure you these semesters are not representative of current academic ability and performance. blah blah."

Maybe look at Berkeley's rhetoric program, I think you could make a strong fit for them, especially depending upon the sub-field of your communications research. Philosophy programs to look at (alphabetical): DePaul, Emory, Northwestern, University of Oregon, Penn State, Stony Brook, Vanderbilt, Villanova There's other programs to apply to as well, but I think these are broadly a good match for you. Also, since you're coming to philosophy a bit later than some, apply to funded terminal MA programs as well, eg. Georgia State and Miami (Ohio). I think Duquesne, University of Mexico, University of Oregon, and Stony Brook also have good MA programs, but they are not typically funded and you'll be in the mix with PhD students too. You're right: philosophers like to see lots of philosophy classes from applicants. Take as many philosophy (especially history of philosophy) courses as you can muster before you graduate. Continental philosophy programs often have history of philosophy requirements. Language requirements are less important than they used to be, but it will also help your application if you demonstrate some facility with a philosophical language relevant to your interests (ie. French, in your case). In your statement of purpose, clarify some of your non-philosophy coursework and demonstrate that these courses were philosophically oriented. Note: make sure only philosophers write your recommendation letters for your applications to philosophy programs. (Philosophers have a tendency to think they're special and that philosophy is special, so they sometimes tend to discount evaluations from people in other fields. Sigh.) Another note: have a look at current student graduate profiles at different programs. Practice writing your interests in terms similar to the ones they use. You will probably fair better if you can describe your interests in terms of philosophy's sub-fields. I don't like that this is the case, but I do think it's the case.

I might suggest having a look at the grad student profiles of programs that interest you. That could help you figure out where else to apply. (Also, I second all the suggestions above.) The MA at stony brook is probably worth looking at, although I’m fairly certain they don’t have funding.

You should totally apply to the other school Re: letters of recommendation, go with those who know you and your work best. If you make a supportive connection with a faculty member in your current department, ask for their take on what to do. Some of my faculty members have spoken openly about how they switched programs in grad school. I think, as people, they’ll want you to be in the situation that works best for you. Also, if you stick around your current program, you’ll probably be okay. At a certain point in the program you’ll be allowed (encouraged…required…) to become the driver of your projects. I suspect you’ll find someone there to support you in those pursuits, even if they don’t specialize in the area.

It could depend on whether your program has a reputation for giving harsh grades, but in all honestly no it probably will not matter. I remember being nervous about this, and made sure to generate my official transcripts before grades were entered during the semester when I was applying. So that's an option to cut down on how many grades an adcomm will see.

I had only taken 6 philosophy classes when I applied and got into three funded MAs. Don’t sweat it, having fewer philosophy courses could even make you a better candidate for MA programs.

I’d say go for it. They might be able to tell you if x number of admits have accepted their initial offers, or they might give you an anticipated time that you might receive an update. More likely they’ll just tell you that they can’t tell you anything, but it’s worth a try.

The unresponsive grad director is one of my least favorite archetypes. I think all this tells you is that this particular person is unresponsive over email. I wish people realized how hard and confusing this is for applicants.

If it were me, I would go to the place with the lowest assistantship demands, highest pay, and best late-stage program benefits (like extra fellowship years). So, I think that’s most likely Emory.

FWIW, there's different versions of this scenario in every department. In my department, one intended advisor left, and a second intended advisor retired. We have new hires, but they're too green to direct a dissertation and having non-tenured faculty on a dissertation committee is risky. Departments usually look different at dissertation stage than they did at admissions stage, and you'll probably be different by then too.

Echoing this, my situation and results were very similar to PhilgoreTrout. Where I did my MA, it is very rare for a student not to get accepted into a PhD.

Grad school admissions is organized sadism (in the words of an old friend). Everything about it is horrible, I hate what it does to people.

I’m also here for this advice, which has helped me keep a better mindset in the grad school marathon.

I’m here for this. I actually think you should only do a PhD in philosophy if you plan to work outside academia afterward, because otherwise you’re just getting a degree in financial instability on the adjunct circuit. If an academic job happens to pan out and you want it, great. If not, you didn’t plan on it anyway, so nothing lost.

Eh, historically they send out rejections quite late, and I probably wouldn't count on them since they sent out interviews on 1/29 (according to the results page). I would say "never say never," but since you already have an acceptance and a waitlist, maybe never is the right attitude for them haha.

Hmm I think their interviews and acceptances went out a while ago.

Email their office of graduate studies too. They can also confirm whether your app was counted as complete or not.

I once knew someone who first got rejected from a program, then got accepted to that program two months later. My hunch is that if an adcom that interviews needed more people later in the season, they would still schedule an interview before sending an acceptance or wait list notification. So, it’s possible. But since it’s usually their goal to interview all potential candidates in the same week, it’s unlikely to happen unless they really messed up.

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