AkraticAgent

I'll be starting a terminal MA program in Canada this Fall. However, the funding package I've been offered is barely enough to get by (apparently there were hidden tuition costs that I wasn't aware of which brought the actual money I get substantially lower than the amount on paper). I could possibly defer this year and reapply to other MA programs but I'd much rather not waste the whole year. So I'm thinking of reapplying to other MA and PhD programs during the first semester of my current MA and then transferring programs if I have any luck. My question is whether this is even possible. If it is, would other programs look negatively at my decision to switch programs?

I know you probably don't need more advice from another random stranger on the internet but I also only got my first acceptance a couple weeks ago so I know exactly how you feel (minus the antidepressants). I'm not going to sugarcoat it, this process is hard and it sucks to see you dreams getting crushed. One thing that I did which helped with the struggle before I heard back was to imagine the worst case scenario if nothing worked out this cycle (in my case, losing my US student visa status and being forced to go back to my home country where there are no resources/career prospects for someone with a philosophy degree and either reapplying next year or looking for alternative career options), and try to make peace with it. That way, even if you do end up in the worse case situation (which you probably won't), you'll at least be in a better state of mind. But regardless of whatever you do or wherever you end up, please remember that at the end of the day, nothing is worth more than your mental health.

That's strange, I submitted my application to Houston a few weeks ago and I had no problems (I don't have US citizenship or a green card). Also their DGA has been ridiculously unresponsive.

sorry to hear that was it through email or portal? or is it an implied rejection?

Just out of curiosity, did anyone here apply to Oxford's MSt. in Ancient Philosophy? It's been over a month since I submitted my application and the portal still says "Ready for Assessment in January Deadline." Does it say the same thing for everyone else?

Do you guys think using a universal pass/fail option on all of my courses this semester would negatively impact my grad school applications? To give you some context, I am a junior and an international student studying at an American liberal arts school and I came back to my home country after my university decided to shut down all in-person classes. Now, the internet where I live is really poor and this is causing me problems in attending online classes and maintaining the level of academic work I'd normally strive for. I figure that using a pass fail would be better for two reasons: 1) My current philosophy GPA is reasonably good and if I get even a single B or a B-, it will go down significantly. 2) I take it that it'll probably look worse if I did poorly on an upper level philosophy seminar than if I simply received a generic "pass" for it. Am I totally misguided here? What are your thoughts?

So, first of all, I realize this must be a very busy time for most of you; to that end, I apologize for bothering you all. I am going to be applying next cycle but had a question about the GPA requirements. So, I go a top 25 liberal arts school. I anticipate that by the time I submit my application next time, I would have a cumulative GPA of 3.8+ and philosophy GPA of somewhere between 3.85-3.90. I've never had a grade lower than A- on my transcript except one C in an Econ class freshmen year (which totally tanked my cumulative). I've also been taking (somewhat thoughtlessly) upper-division seminars since the first semester of my sophomore year so that's one of the reasons why I don't have a 4.0 so far. But in any case, would that GPA be good enough for most programs? I take it that there is no shortage of 4.0 applicants at the very top places so that's kind of worrying me. All in all, is a difference between, say, a 3.88 and a 4.0 in philosophy really that significant, everything else being equal? I'm mostly looking at places with strengths in ethics and moral philosophy, such as Michigan, Princeton, UCLA, UNC etc. I know places like Chicago and UVA post their GPA/GRE averages online but I am not sure if other programs do. Again, I realize this might not be the best time to ask a question like this but I've been watching my friends apply to grad schools over the past few days and just observing the process (polishing writing samples, essays, studying for the GRE's etc.) has been kind of nerve-wracking. And even though I am applying next cycle, I have already started to fret over parts of my application. Hence, forgive the nervous blathering.

Same for me - I'd be happy to trade samples with all of you and give feedback. Mine's on virtue ethics. (Disclaimer: I am applying next cycle, not this one, but I guess it doesn't hurt to start ahead)

Did you end up getting funding?

And again, I might have the opportunity to take some courses for credit - Greek 102 and Intermediate Greek (perhaps). The class I'm currently auditing - Greek 101 - will not appear on my transcript as it is too late for me to register officially for it at this point in the semester. But is it really that important to have taken those classes for credit in the first place? Would taking additional advanced philosophy electives in their place not be more helpful?

@Marcus_Aurelius thanks for the reply! Would you mind elaborating why undocumented language skills would not suffice? If I have my language tutor write me a recommendation confirming that I am proficient in Greek, why does it matter whether or not I have actually taken the courses for credit? I'm just trying to get some sense of why having it on my transcript would make that big a difference. Thanks again!

I am a junior and a philosophy major at a liberal arts college, planning on applying to grad schools starting next fall. I am particularly looking at some of the master's programs abroad that have strengths in ancient philosophy (LMU, Oxford, Edinburgh, etc.). I reached out to some of these schools about their programs and they said that prior knowledge of Greek would be an asset in the application process. In light of this, I have started to audit courses in Greek at my current institution and by the time I apply, I would have reached intermediate proficiency. These courses, however, will be audited i.e. they will not appear on my transcript (or some of them might be, if I have space in the coming semesters to take them for credit, but not all). I can probably ask my language instructor to write me a recommendation attesting to my abilities. I can even take a placement test - although I am not familiar with any - to substantiate my case. In this case, would not having taken the language for credit count against me or set me back in any manner? *Note again that prior knowledge of Greek is not required but is recommended for a competitive application* If it is of any help, I am already proficient in four languages, one of which is Sanskrit (the others are mostly South Asian languages).

Hey everyone, I'm a junior at a top 25 liberal arts school. I'm really interested in going to grad school in philosophy and am planning to write my honors thesis on the nature of virtue in Aristotle. I wanted some guidance on future course options that would best suit my career plans. As of now, I have taken 14 classes in philosophy (mostly in moral philosophy and ethics, Kant, science, and logic). In grad school I hope to expand my study of ethics and potentially explore new areas within moral philosophy (moral psychology, meta-ethics, etc.). Now, I have the option of taking an upper-level seminar in Advanced Logic at a top 25 PGR school, where I am studying abroad next semester. At my current school, I have taken elementary and intermediate symbolic logic. However, given my plans of study for grad school, would it make sense to continue studying logic? Don't get me wrong - logic is fun and I enjoy it but I don't think that I will really specialize in it. If I don't take logic, the alternative option is either an upper-division seminar in philosophy of language or perception (which I haven't studied before at all). All things considered, then, would having taken advanced logic be of any particular advantage to me in terms of grad school applications?