Flossifer

I can confirm that Columbia has suspended PHD admissions, but not MA admissions.

I'm guessing that while different schools have their own specialties, there are probably general trends regarding the competitiveness of the various AOIs. For example, if there are plenty more applicants for philosophy of mind than philosophy of aesthetics, it should be harder to get a spot in a top program for the former than the latter (provided, of course, that there are a comparable amount of spots available for each AOI). Does anybody know whether this is the case? And if so, which AOIs are more competitive than others? I would imagine that mind/ethics/epistemology/metaphysics are rougher than, say, logic/math/ancient/science?

Still no word?

No, I'm not. Just a family friend who is a professor.

I was just speaking to a UT Austin professor, and i'm not sure if it's official but he said that all their summer courses will be online, and he's almost entirely sure that it will be the same for the fall...what a bummer. I'm not going to be attending there, but it doesn't bode well for anywhere else.

I find this particularly distressing as a future MA student, as those are the professors one hopes to work with for letters of rec.

I find it hard to imagine, just because so many faculty are so old. I wonder if a significant amount of classes, at the very least, will be online until there is vaccination.

Same. I will probably decline GSU. Then depends largely on funding.

Thanks. On the results page some people said full tuition remission, so I was curious. How are you weighing this versus some of your other offers? I think I prefer this to GSU, especially provided there is tuition remission and an assistantship. Does this compare to Milwaukee for you? It seems that they have a strong placement record...and I like that you can take courses at Tufts/Harvard/MIT. Anybody else have thoughts on the program?

For those of you who got into Brandeis, did the letter say full tuition remission explicitly? This was what mine said: " Your offer should include need and merit-based scholarships, along with the opportunity to serve as a course assistant during your time at Brandeis. GSAS will be in touch with you in the next few days with an official offer, but I wanted to get in touch personally to share the news!"

I'm in a similar quandary with regard to my MA applications. While I was initially of the mindset that I would rather pay for a more prestigious MA program (you can see my prior posts querying about Stanford, etc), from trawling these forums for information it's become more and more apparent that the best students from essentially any MA program will get into pHD programs of their choice. While that in itself doesn't obviate the appeal of prestige, the implications of coronavirus are now impacting my decision-making process. As we enter what could be an extended period of economic uncertainty, it seems more prudent than ever to take offers of funding very seriously, especially in this instance, where it is more the prestige of the pHD-granting institution that affects job prospects. Thoughts on how this environment has altered anyone else's evaluation of offers?

This still seems like no excuse for schools not sending rejection letters to students they've already made decisions on. It's so inconsiderate that people have to solicit at this point...

Congratulations! That's great news!

What are the stipends for the programs you're referring to?

Dear lord, after reading that I don't think anyone on this forum is ever going to UT again.

I wonder why more people don't provide their stats and a note...it seems like it would make the data so much more valuable for everyone.

Does anybody else have the feeling we are being trolled with all these acceptances from Stanford/Harvard/Mit/Princeton especially when someone just told us that MIT hasn't even looked at applications yet?

Which school is that?

I’m not trolling. Just trying to get a handle on the masters situation. The vast majority of the discussion in this forum is about PhD programs, understandably, and most of the information about Masters programs is guesswork.

Oh wow! That’s great to know!

Sheesh that MAPH is rough. I’m not sure the lack of placement data indicates a bad record. It could also suggest that very few people matriculate and graduate. While UC isn’t a top 10 program, Stanford, Columbia, and CUNY are up there, and it seems highly unlikely that their placement could be subpar.

Was the experience with the MAPH programs negative across the board?

I’m not wholly convinced it CAN’T be worth it. Maybe not for most people, though I can see where it would be flawed thinking to expect that I would be the one person who it worked out for. I’d still like to here from people who actually went through those programs if they’re out there.

They may not be funded, but neither are the top terminal programs (Tufts and Brandeis). If Stanford, Chicago, etc have extremely strong placement (though the absence of data may suggest otherwise), taking out loans to go there seems worth considering. That masters students don’t get attention is an idea I see thrown around a lot, but I haven’t seen many firsthand accounts of that experience.

In my “research” I rarely find any information regarding terminal MAs at schools that have full phd programs. Stanford also happens to be the school with the least information at all. Does anyone know much about the program? How competitive it is to apply? If they have good placement? If masters students get any attention relative to phd students? Any insight would be awesome, especially if it comes from current students!! Thanks