[Funding in Canadian Philosophy PhD Programs]

On 2/15/2021 at 11:33 AM, AJ9721 said:

I'm guessing you're going to have to ask admitted students about the funding offers they've received. Bearing in mind that it may be misleading (often offers are reflective of how badly a department wants particular a student and we can heuristically assume that most universities are exceptionally strained in their finances in this cycle), one way of getting a feel for how much a department is willing to offer its students is by looking at past admissions here on Gradcafe. Sometimes accepted students will share this information in the comment section. 

I just got admitted by Western. This is one of the top choices for me (academically).  I will have an annual funding of 25000CAD in total. The tuition and fees are to be deducted from this amount. And I also wrote to a few their PhD students. Per their replies, they really lived THRIFTY lives with the funding. 

What I also knew from their replies is it's not very likely to own a car in Western with the funding. Ontario's auto insurance rates are insanely high. I might need to pay 330CAD monthly premium for my old shabby nissan. But I really don't want to stand there, waiting for a bus in chilling lake effect snowstorms because I don't have a car.

I have also been admitted and waitlisted by a few PhD programs in the US. Though their funding are not able to make me rich, at least I can afford the premium.

[Funding in Canadian Philosophy PhD Programs]

Hi, guys. I am an applicant to philosophy PhD programs this cycle. I am applying to programs in both America (15) and Canada (3). However, it is not until last week did I know (at least some) Canadian programs have a different funding policy as American programs.

In America, the programs usually waive the tuition and health insurance, and grant you 4,5-year funding that's barely enough to support your living, as they decide to admit you. For at least some Canadian programs, however, it seems they do not waive the tuition (though the tuition and insurance are cheap compared with America's), and the guaranteed funding doesn't suffice to pay your tuition + health insurance + all living expenses. Calgary requires applicants to attend their scholarship competition to get enough funding. And Western's website says its minimum funding add up to only 20,000 CAD?  I don't think this is enough to live and pay tuition.

I'm confused, guys -- Do philosophy PhD students in Canadian schools still pay a considerable portion from heir own pockets for their own study? Is there somewhere I can see the actual funding level of these programs?

[Carnegie Mellon University Sees Applications Increase by Between 40% and 60%]

20 hours ago, Cloudsofrain said:

Meh, I wouldn't worry about the possibility of more applicants. It isn't like getting into philosophy programs is easy when there isn't a pandemic. It is always going to be hard. Just control what you can control. If you have a solid application and you applied to a decent amount of schools, you should be fine. Just because there are more applicants does not mean that the quantity of quality applications has also gone up.  Of course, applying to grad programs can be a crapshoot, but I think that if your writing sample adequately demonstrates your philosophical skills you should be alright.

I generally agree with you. The sharp increase of the number of applicants in each school may attribute to the possible fact that every one is applying to much more schools, for everyone has a lower expectation that she will be admitted. So the overall applicants in the pool might not increase too much. Also, it really takes a long time foe me to prepare the application materials. If one started to prepare the application simply after March due to the pandemic, Idk, it might be too hasty?

The biggest threat to me is that many programs suspend or reduce admission this academic year. This definitely influences a lot, making the admission much more competitive. Well, I'm an international student, only having my Master in the US in a non-elite program.  If I fail this time, I will have no way but to go back my country where the philosophy academia sucks.

[Carnegie Mellon University Sees Applications Increase by Between 40% and 60%]

3 minutes ago, HomoLudens said:

GRE are optional for CMU.

 

As far as I know, all of the schools are admitting this year (some just have reduced admissions). Which schools do you think are not admitting?

 

If you are unsure which schools are admitting this year, you can refer to this spreadsheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yb_yciijFGEp5roVKYJ40U4eiREo3ZQTeSQkEjGMSsg/edit#gid=1490070808 

Oh, you're right. I thought Yale and Princeton are not admitting.  Sorry about that.

[Carnegie Mellon University Sees Applications Increase by Between 40% and 60%]

If my memory serves me well, didn't CMU require GRE this year?

Btw, HomoLudens, are the following the schools you are applying to this year? I believe many of them are not admitting funded PhD.

UCSD, Princeton, Pitt, Toronto, UT Austin, NYU, Boston University, UCR, UCLA, Cornell, IUB, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Harvard, Vanderbilt, Yale, UNC, UVA, Wisconsin, USC, Boulder, Johns Hopkins, SUNY Stony Brook