John2

The NYU scholarship can be anything from very little to full tuition remission.

If that's what it means to be funded, then fine (though I will note that the word "funded" never appears in Glasperlenspieler's post in the first place). And of course all things equal a program that gives you more money is preferable to one that gives you less. My only goal is to alert OP to the fact that there is the potential for some partial funding at an NYU-type program, so that OP has all the information available when they make their application decisions.

There are certainly drawbacks to attending an NYU/Columbia-type MA program. There may also be advantages, depending on the background of the student. I suggest that OP reach out to current MA students at both departments to learn more about each program. The previous commenters referred to NYU as an unfunded program. I know from experience that for some people it can be a funded program. This funding may or may not be enough to justify going to NYU, but it is funding nonetheless. OP: If you talk to the students in the program and you like what you hear, go ahead and apply. If you get in and you don't like their funding offer, then you can go a different route. In general, be wary of this forum, as it is filled with false assumptions and misinformation. The best source of information will usually be students in the department.

The previous commenters have no idea what they are talking about. In my experience, NYU's MA program offered a very generous scholarship package while Columbia did not offer anything at all. As for competitiveness to apply, neither school publishes those numbers, so I doubt that hector and you'll_never... have a clue. I would recommend contacting the schools directly for that information.

NYU usually gives at least partial funding for their MA in Philosophy. In some cases they even give a full tuition remission.