PhilCoffee

There is actually someone going to Pitt HPS from CSULB this year, according to the placement info available on their web page.

What to do if the DGS and other professors are unresponsive, while the program itself is still pretty attractive? To OP, I do think SFU has a better placement overall. But as the data are incomplete, it might be hard to know who did ethics and got placed to which program. GSU has very complete data so that you can go deep into that.

Feel that CSULA would be a better place for networking. But I'm actually wondering how much difference networking can make for an MA student.

20k is not that bad. Thanks for the info as I'm on Texas's waitlist.

It's largely a function of what kind of person you'd be excited to become. Unfortunately, only a small portion of graduates from top 10 programs get TT jobs at top research universities. So, if you are ambitious to get that kind of job, maybe Irvine LPS will do, but maybe not. Just look at the placement records of Irvine LPS and WUSTL PNP, and ask whether you'd be content with that. If yes, done. If not, check some top 10 department's records and compare. And be aware that only a few from these T10 programs really get prestigious jobs from the start.

Cool. Wasn't on the FB group. I am taking myself off the waitlist (was not high from the fitst place), as I will probably decide between SFU and Texas Tech. Good luck!

I've seen some being on the waitlist at UW-Milwaukee (including myself) and many being high on the waitlist. I also know some get rejected there. But I haven't seen anyone reports that she gets accepted, which seems weird.

There is something with this. But also, note that there may be cases where ones intended supervisor leaves, or one is no longer passionate about what she used to. So, there are some good things about going to a top department: 1) There are more top-notch philosophers at top departments (I wonder whether you'll reject the notion of top department, though) 2) There are more top-notch philosophers in different areas at one top department. This may itself make one change ones interests, and it also allows that one can actually change the direction without loss at many levels.

That's a nice piece of suggestion. I can give some general advice here specifically to those are, like me, from outside the English-speaking world: force your self to get used to reading in English, develop relationships with professors who have studies/worked in the English-speaking world, and start a bit early with your writing sample. I am fortunate enough that my department has some people who has a real preference for the analytic tradition, which also result in their making hirings of a couple of people who received doctoral degrees from the US and the UK. But the bad parts are that (i) most course are, of course, not in English, (ii) the general arrangements of courses are such that we take a lot of courses with little flexibility, by which I mean we don't generally have alternatives with which course we can choose to take. So, as I found my interests in doing graduate studies in philosophy, I forced my self to read only in English. This was tough, but it worked out. My suggestion is to try to give a summary of the argument. Also, find a paper that rephrases the original one, and compare this summary with yours. Sometimes you'll find that the obscure article gets explained within one or two sentences, and you should learn from that as well. I didn't approach to any professor specifically in my first two years, but I suggest that one should if one decides to do graduate studies in philosophy. My experience was that I did some guided readings in my third year with a professor, and then I chose a topic that is relevant to write on. If one started earlier, it could work out better. If you have a rough topic in mind, just write it down. There are two aspects to improve: how you write and what you write. For a non-native speaker, there will always be grammatical issues. But write it down once you have an idea, read it on your own and then let your professors look at it. I learned a lot after revising on wording and grammar. More importantly, I improved my main argument a lot through discussions and readings, where I tried hard to see how one should attack a position and how to situation the conflicts in a bigger picture. Also, never think this way: since I'll have a quite different argument in the end, it's a waste of time if I write my current thoughts down. You'll need to improve writing before you get the ideas settled, and the improving process also helps with getting your ideas settled.

How should I approach to the professors as a waitlisted student?

Wow you are on many waitlists. I think that certainly suggest that you're a very strong candidate, and I'm sure you'll get into one of those places—those who get in everywhere will have to decline. Good luck!

Hi. Sorry, we're referring to the same page but I misremembered the info listed there. I thought they listed the total number of acceptance, but they actually listed the number of those who enrolled. But it may make sense to make a (bold, though) guess based on the result page. The posts of acceptance for this year and last year were both 5. I'd say the initial offers will not exceed 15 (as suggested also by the number of waitlists), maybe half of them turn down, and eventually 7-10 students enrolled. Say there were 15 initial offers, and 8 turned down, and 3 got accepted off waitlist. That would mean 18 acceptance out of around 140, since the acceptance rate was around 12%. But say there were only 10 intial offers, and 5 turned down, then 5 would got off the waitlist. That would mean 15 acceptances out of around 120. So, if half of the initial offers get turned down, the chance to get off the waitlist is around 20%-30%, or better. Whether you make it depends on some contingent matters like whether someone with similar AOI turns down.

In the case of UCSD, they have a list of acceptance numbers on their department websites. Presumably, the number is the total of the first-round acceptance and the acceptance off the waitlist. So, maybe you can make a guess of the initial acceptances based on the result page, and do some math.

Update: it's said that the problem is on the application system, and is being corrected.

Waitlisted at UT Austin! I'm an international student and applying out of undergrad - with no pedigree and bad GPA. My main target was MA programs but would be really really grateful if I got in. If someone got accepted by UT Austin and is not interested, please let me know! Please.