PhilCoffee

Well, I wonder if among these programs there are some that he/she wants to re-apply to, will asking make some difference? If it will, is it positive or negative?

I wonder the possible impactc of COVID-19 on 2020 application season. There are already hiring freezings. Will the schools admit less grad students or cut the funding for each one admitted? Or both?

Congrats! And wish you good luck with Michigan.

Thank you. Yes, I think the moral is to be clear and specific in the text and also to mention the big picture where the topic fits in. The big picture and related topics can be discussed and referred to in the footnotes in order to keep the main text simple. This seems common in published articles and I'm learning from them.

I am a non-native speaker applying next year. My question is rather about the topic selection: I think having a main target (either for it or against it) and presenting a clear argument is good for a writing sample. Is that right? And is it good to also refer to many related articles to show that I have a good command of the big picture and the specific topic? Specifically, I'm interested in justification-excuse, KK and norms of assertion in epistemology. So the question is rather this: should I show both a broad and a specific picture of these topics?

I'm a non-native English speaker hoping to apply next year and my interests lie in somewhere similar like yours. I've started my preparation now. Hope that we can have some useful discussions!