eleatics

Well it seems incredibly likely that there will be more spots total next year versus this year, simply because I think a lot of those schools that closed their PhD applications will open up again, and so even if schools continue to have reduced admissions that would open up at least a few more spots. 
 
It also depends on whether GRE requirements are reinstituted since it looks like many more international students applied to US programs than normal because of this (though I got amazing GRE scores, there did not seem to be a correlation with the places I got into this year and the places that allowed me to submit my GRE scores, so my guess is most admissions committees are not taking them as seriously at all and probably will not again). Of course whether or not this makes it easier for YOU depends on all sorts of factors like your country of origin, test taking aptitude, etc. Overall it would be better in terms of accessibility to do away with GRE requirements all together, so even if it means more applicants overall I am strongly in favor of this route. 
 
There definitely will be people who got shut out this year applying, and anecdotally I get the sense that this number is higher than in most previous years, but not like 100s of people. I imagine a lot of people who got shut out of PhDs got into MAs so won’t be applying for two years, and then a lot of people who got shut out because they decided to apply on a whim probably won’t apply again. 
 
Applications also almost always go up in a recession (and even though getting a Philosophy PhD might be somewhat of a strange choice to make in a recession, it does seem like that played at least part of a role), so if the economy continues to improve and the US is doing well economically by the fall, then I imagine that would predict a decrease in applicants relative to this year. However, if other countries are still in a recession due to lagging vaccine rollout, etc., then there may still be an increase in applicants from international countries. 
So I guess if I was forced to take a guess, I would say it will ALMOST CERTAINLY not be AS bad as it was this year, MOST LIKELY will just be marginally better or around the same (slightly more spots, slightly fewer or around the same # of applicants overall), and COULD BE BUT PROBABLY WON’T be significantly easier (I think the only way this would happen is if all programs open up and returned to 2019 level of admissions combined with a thriving economy leading to 100s of fewer people applying).
So yeah overall I’d say brace yourself for about the same level of anxiety, maybe slightly less, as we collectively went through this year ?

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

Hi all!
I know this is cutting it close to the deadline, but I'm really torn between two schools and I was wondering if anyone here could weigh in. I've been accepted to both Simon Fraser and Georgia State. The funding which I've been offered is nearly the exact same between the two schools (though I know that Vancouver has a higher cost of living than Atlanta). My areas of interest are moral and ethical philosophy, philosophy of law, and feminist philosophy.
Anyone have any input about which would be a better fit for me?
Thanks!

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

YES! More positivity, please!! 

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

This thread seems pretty dead, but I didn't want to make another thread for this complaint. I really wish people would behave better on the survey page. It has been overrun by (a) people begging others to decline offers, which is not really cool, and (b) people being very nasty to those who do (a), which is even less cool. Beyond the fact that neither of those things contribute to the obvious purpose of the results page, it has just made me, uh, embarrassed I guess? Maybe it was dumb of me to expect that prospective PhD students in philosophy would be any different from any given group of anonymous twenty-somethings on the internet, but Jesus guys, the way people are acting on that page is beyond immature. 

Accepted to the University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill off the waitlist. Got a lovely call from Thomas Hofweber at work. 

Greetings folks,

It is time for Part 2 of the Philosophy Admissions Survey--feel free to share with other folks not on TGC!

Link to the Google Form Survey

Folks that applied in past/recent cycles are invited to participate in addition to current applicants. Knowing the information for past cycles may allow us to notice shifts in the current application cycle so all are welcome to participate.

For Part 2, we are looking at outcomes (A/W/R), the elements folks considered when applying, how much money folks spent on application fees (some folks here flagged putting together a fund of some sort and that requires empirics), waitlist movement/hidden waitlists (optional questions), how folks picked which program to attend, etc. 

No identifactory information is required/collected (email, name, program, etc.) and while quantitative data will be shared explicitly no qualitative answers will be shared verbatim (I'll summarize those elements/note trends as with Part 1 but want to maintain anonymity). 

The summary will also be publicly available and shareable once we get to that point and folks will always be welcome to circulate it around to whomever/wherever. 

-L

Hey! I applied to Brandeis and got in but declined almost right away primarily because I was accepted into a handful of PhD programs and had applied to Brandeis as a back-up, but also because the financial aid that was offered to me was simply not enough for me to justify the costs of attending a graduate program in philosophy for two years (even if I didn't get into any PhD programs this cycle). Judging from the responses I've seen in the applicants fb group, I suspect either of these (or both) is largely the case for those who were accepted and then had to decline.

Hey! I applied to Brandeis and got in but declined almost right away primarily because I was accepted into a handful of PhD programs and had applied to Brandeis as a back-up, but also because the financial aid that was offered to me was simply not enough for me to justify the costs of attending a graduate program in philosophy for two years (even if I didn't get into any PhD programs this cycle). Judging from the responses I've seen in the applicants fb group, I suspect either of these (or both) is largely the case for those who were accepted and then had to decline.

Thanks for sharing! I wonder why these application systems ask for our SSNs at all as it seems pretty unnecessary and poses a clear risk to applicants in the event of a security breach like this one ? Even if it is necessary for some reason, why not just wait until after the applicant has been accepted?

Just here to say I'm crossing my fingers for everyone who got waitlisted to get off the list and accepted since I'm seeing a few of those come out now!!! ?

Thanks for sharing! I wonder why these application systems ask for our SSNs at all as it seems pretty unnecessary and poses a clear risk to applicants in the event of a security breach like this one ? Even if it is necessary for some reason, why not just wait until after the applicant has been accepted?

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/04/05/universities-affected-it-security-company-data-breach
 
This might be of interest to anyone who applied to these schools this cycle. It looks like the hackers have stolen sensitive information (including SSNs) from applicants and prospective students.
 
Edit: another link:
https://www.stanforddaily.com/2021/04/01/hackers-leak-social-security-numbers-student-data-in-massive-data-breach/
Looks like UC Boulder, Syracuse, Stanford, and the University of Miami were all targets.

My two cents about applying to or accepting offers from Columbia:
I am a current 2nd year PhD student at Columbia. The majority of grad students are currently on strike for a living wage, better healthcare, and protection from harassment and discrimination. I have been watching the process of our new graduate union try to bargain for our first contract for over two years. In these sessions, I have seen admin (and their sleazy lawyer, who charges $1,500/hr) do everything possible to stall negotiations, belittle us, and play down heartfelt testimonials that make clear why our demands are reasonable and necessary. Every time we've gotten a raise in the past, our Columbia rent magically goes up by a higher percentage. Our wages are not enough to live in NYC. There is no dental or vision coverage, and they recently removed the better health insurance plan option. The school has a terrible history with harassment and discrimination cases brought by both undergrads and grads (Google it), and at the moment they are doing everything possible to avoid meeting our contract demand about changing the investigation process to give more rights to the complainant (see link below).
We're entering the 3rd week of the strike, and Columbia has made very clear that they plan to not only doc our bi-weekly pay (which we receive for TA/RA work), but our academic stipends--yep, they are going to debit our student accounts, thereby jeopardizing course registration, degree progress, visas, and health insurance. We have a legal right to strike, but this later action constitutes illegal academic retaliation.
Long story short: I'm sure a lot of schools are as corrupt as Columbia, but I've just seen first hand how rotten this place is to the core. They only care about profit (their endowment grew $300 million during the pandemic alone), squeezing as much our of grad workers and adjuncts for as little pay as possible, sweeping bad press under the rug, and gentrifying Harlem with multi-million dollar campus expansions.
I encourage folks thinking about attending/applying to Columbia to express concerns to department chairs and administrators, and ask them why they insist on denying grad workers a fair contract: 
President Lee Bollinger officeofthepresident@columbia.edu, Phone: (212) 854-9970 Provost Ira Katznelson provost@columbia.edu,  +1 212 854 2404 GSAS Grad Admissions: gsas-admissions@columbia.edu  
https://gothamist.com/news/columbia-grad-students-strike-over-wages-and-harassment-policies-nyu-counterparts-vote-similar-actions

I will be attending BU in the Fall! Has anyone else accepted a BU offer?

Just to expand on eleatics' point briefly, my impression is that folks accepted at top programs tend not to make decisions until pretty close to the deadline. Part of it is that visit events for top programs don't tend to happen until last week of March / first week of April. Part of it is that folks at top programs very often have good options to choose between. And top programs are (again, in my anecdotal experience) not at all interested in rushing decisions. 

Hey @Larry David I totally get the frustration! I'm also on a number of waitlists at schools that I'm have yet hear back from, so I'm right there with you. My understanding is that most movement on the waitlist occurs in the weeks between Princeton/NYU's visiting days (i.e., later this week) and April 15th, so just continue to hang tight for now. You should start seeing movement in approx. 1-1.5 weeks. Wishing you the best of luck! 

Hey @Larry David I totally get the frustration! I'm also on a number of waitlists at schools that I'm have yet hear back from, so I'm right there with you. My understanding is that most movement on the waitlist occurs in the weeks between Princeton/NYU's visiting days (i.e., later this week) and April 15th, so just continue to hang tight for now. You should start seeing movement in approx. 1-1.5 weeks. Wishing you the best of luck!