Potato Cactus

Hi UndergradDad, I can't fulfill your hope here since I am currently in an MA program and applying out, however, I can tell you my experience which might help. When I first applied out after undergrad I got rejected across the board to Phd programs, but thankfully, I was accepted into a funded MA program. The general advise from my MA program is that, if you plan to apply out for Phd's, you should develop your MA thesis idea into a writing sample first and then build that document into your full thesis for the rest of the year. I do not know of anyone in my cohort that is using their vanilla writing sample for their Phd applications this time around. I think this might be because people in MA programs are already doing a lot of work and trek-ing back to old earth doesn't seem like a fruitful idea.

Thanks, Olórin, I really appreciate your feedback!

Hi All, I have a question about University of Southern California's GRE deferral. I am a master's student and already have GRE scores, but they are not good and I was planning on retaking the GRE to (hopefully) raise those scores, but because of the pandemic I decided not to retake the GRE. USC made it optional to submit scores, but requires scores to be submitted by the end of the first semester if an applicant is admitted. I would like to apply to USC, but I don't want to throw away money if they will throw out my application because I already have GRE scores and did not submit them. So here's my question, Would it be acceptable to apply to USC and not submit GRE scores even though they will require those scores to be submitted by the end of the first semester if admitted? It kind of feels like I'm trying to weasel a bad part of my application out and I think I'll get caught red handed.

Hi Kirad, I'm probably not the best person to give advice here, but if you really want to study philosophy and feel like you might not have the application to get into a Ph.D. program, you should definitely apply to M.A. programs. Getting into a terminal M.A. program is easier than a Ph.D. program, and it can be a great place to kick start your studies. Look into funded M.A. programs and you might find a place that has your interests.

Thanks for the link, @somethingwitty. I did some digging and found that the English department at UPenn has a similar notice on their webpage; they are not accepting applications due to the School of Arts and Sciences' decision to postpone Ph.D admissions this cycle. https://www.english.upenn.edu/graduate/admissions Seems like the philosophy department hasn't got around to updating their webpage. I'll go put on my sad face now. But thank you for the link to the google doc, super helpful!

Is UPenn not accepting applications? I don't see any information on their philosophy website that indicates they are not accepting applications this cycle. But if I'm wrong please reply with a link so I can verify and I'll make sure to put on my sad face (It's one of the schools I want to apply to).

Thanks everybody for the help, I'll be sure to check for unnecessary argumentative burdens and get a few professors' help!

Hi all, I have noticed that programs vary in their maximum page length for the writing sample. Some programs recommend a length between 10-15 pages, while others 15-20 pages, or 20-25 pages, and still yet others with no maximum length but recommend around 20 pages. I understand that as a general rule of thumb the writing sample should be around 15-20 pages, and generally no more than 20 pages. Admissions committees just simply don't have the time to read samples much longer, and a tighter writing sample is more impressive (15-20 pages). https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/bernhardnickel/files/grad-apps-ws.pdf Now suppose a committee gets a writing sample that is 21 pages long, or perhaps 22 pages long, and let's assume that the writing sample has been edited to be as concise as possible (not much can be edited without loosing content to the arguments). Will programs that require writing samples to be around 10-15 pages or 15-20 pages consider the length of this writing sample to be a negative factor? Will the application get a ding because the length exceeds the programs maximum page length? (We can measure length in word count, but the same concern can be made by exceeding the maximum word count by 250-500 words)