PhilCoffee

The schools where I've done it so far were both schools where I was told there is a pretty good chance of admit, and they told me I was welcome to reach out! Some other programs have acted like it is a bit premature, but everyone has said it's appropriate, so if there is someone you really want to chat with/network with at a school then now is a great time to do so! For me, I basically just emailed them letting them know I am currently waitlisted and am very interested in their work, and would love to chat with them sometime over the next month or so. In other cases, grad students that I've spoken to have offered to connect me to professors, which is always nice since it eliminates any awkwardness or potential of "why is this waitlisted student emailing me?!" But so far I have only had positive responses from the people that I've reached out to! 

I received and declined a non-fellowship funded offer (5 years of Graduate Assistantship) from Saint Louis University today. My AOIs are ethics of belief (ethics/epistemology), metaethics, and philosophy of religion.

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.

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.

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! 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Rejected from Boston College's PhD program, but accepted into the MA program. I'll post here just for the good vibes. Still waiting to hear from ten programs, but this is a good start I'd say! I'll have them in consideration. Hopefully more to come soon. 

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.

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.

That sounds right, thanks. But I contacted their DGA a couple of months ago about their GRE requirement and got no response - that's why I used "has been". I won't be upset about this, though.

That would be news to me, but if correct it's likely a funding issue. Also, be patient with responses, we've been dealing with a disaster for the last week and a lot of people are still recovering from burst water pipes, etc. 

Accepted to Arizona PhD program w/ funding and UCSD PhD program w/ funding.

Just saw the UCSD acceptance. I think I might cry. UCSD was my absolute top choice. Pitt was a close second.

Just notified that I am accepted with full funding at Arizona. Nice email from Michael Mckenna with the news. I am waitlisted at several other programs, so this was a big relief. Woohoo!

I got shut out of PhD programs two years ago. I did a funded MA and now I have 4 offers, 0 rejections, and 8 still pending. It's very doable.

Accepted to Oxford BPhil in philosophy (also waitlisted to Oxford MSt in philosophy of physics). No words about funding.

I've taken some time off of Gradcafe for the past two days to clear my mind and think about my situation rationally. I would like to first apologize to @PolPhil for making unsubstantiated, emotional, and irrational claims and charges against them. I am not sure why I was so antagonistic and belligerent a couple of days ago. I think it was just a mixture of my own inferiority complex and resent towards those who were accepted to the programs that I was rejected from, which I now understand is irrational and immature. I have nothing against those who were accepted to many top programs and I genuinely would like to congratulate them on their success this cycle. 
Further, I do want to agree with @PolPhil that rejections from these top schools do indicate that my application is weak, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. Maybe I can try again next cycle with an improved dossier and perhaps that would yield a better result. Further, so far I've only gotten rejections from 4 schools out of 16 I applied to so I shouldn't necessarily despair yet. If I do get rejected from all of them then so be it, but I guess I shouldn't necessarily be too depressed or anxious prematurely before all the decisions are released, although that is definitely easier said than done. Nonetheless I shall try my best.
Now for the vent: In the case that I get shut out this cycle, it is just somewhat disheartening to see that my philosophical aptitude is not as high as I thought it was. I've been receiving many compliments and encouragements from my professors in my institution and I've always thought that I had a good chance in the admissions but perhaps I was too arrogant and self-centered. Of course everyone applying to philosophy graduate schools would have been "the number one student" of their schools. Also, it just sucks that many people are getting some kind of positive responses such as acceptance or waitlist and I've been only getting rejections. I can't do anything about it but this just makes me sad and depressed. And yes, I know the cycle isn't over yet but my anxiety and depression regarding the results are killing me. 
Let's all keep our hopes up, even though I know very well that it is hard to do so (especially this cycle with the increased competitiveness). Again, my sincerest apologies to @PolPhil. 

Many MA programs set a deadline for full cosideration of funding, and have another "final" deadline. I'm inclined to think the MA programs that do not give the former one do indeed consider applicants on an equal footing for funding, since that's implied by listing only a final deadline. But, asking the department's coordinator/DGA directly is the best way you can get info like these, so just contact them and it's their job to respond.

I think as long as you have at least 50% of your applications outstanding, there is still time and opportunity available to you. It is a difficult cycle and I know this won't help mentally, but run a Bayesian analysis on your chances. They are higher than it feels like. I hope you all get into top choices!
 
I did an MA as well, but feel a mixture of imposter syndrome and like I've put every bit of my life into this. Feeling like you've worked hard and on something novel is ok and not indicative of narcissism. Your frustration is warranted. Adcomms cannot know every applicant so well and might not put their time into seeing the great parts of most dossiers. They burn through them so fast that they might miss out on excellence you and your referees have highlighted.  

A gentle reminder that this is the rejection thread.

Admissions are, and always have been, a chaotic shot in the dark for everyone applying with a ton of variables including arbitrary ones like who read the sample, who remembered to show up to the faculty meeting, who is on the admissions committee, etc. in addition to the application itself.

Folks are invited and encouraged to take a look at the conversations from years past on this matter and to take the conversation either to DMs or the venting thread. This isn't the place for it.

L

Everyone's frustrations are valid -- I think tensions are running high right now for many people, and this is an overall very crappy season to be applying. At the same time, any anger directed specifically towards the people being accepted into these programs is probably misplaced lol.
On a different note, I saw someone post a CUNY rejection -- has anyone else heard back from them?