GradStudent987

I would recommend getting an MA in philosophy first. Philosophy PhD admissions are absurdly competitive, much more so than other fields (and other fields are already competitive). Even if you could get into a program with just your bachelors, you'll likely get better offers if you apply in a couple years after doing some graduate work first. The admin you spoke to definitely confused the SoP with the WS. The SoP is almost always under two pages.

Haha, I mean they haven't sent any updates, despite solicitation. (It's possible I'm on a hidden waitlist at those schools, but more likely they just skipped over me when sending out rejections.)

Whelp, I guess it's time for the final tally: Accepted: Purdue, Ohio State Waitlisted: UVa, UW Madison, UofA, UMass, WashU STL, Notre Dame Rejected: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UPitt, CU Boulder, UT Austin, MIT, Michigan, CUNY, NYU Ghosted: Rutgers, FSU, SLU I'm gunning for Notre Dame so. freaking. hard. They sent me a SIGNED REJECTION LETTER two weeks ago but then RESURRECTED ME to the waitlist. They said someone "made a mistake when entering offers." The waitlist is long so my odds are slim, but I'm clinging to hope. Notre Dame has been my first choice since the cycle began. Although Purdue is ranked the lowest of any of these schools, I've spoken to some professors and students there, and I'm really impressed with what I've heard. Their faculty has also apparently doubled in size in the last two years, and they're bringing in some fantastic new talent this year. So I expect they'll rank higher in the next PGR. Hope that's helpful if anyone else is considering an offer from them!

Someone with a 3.2 got into Yale this year, according to the results page. So anything's possible. Just give the writing sample everything you've got.

I hope so too! Keep us posted. (My undergrad advisor got all rejections and one wailist when he applied to programs and made it in at the last second.)

One of the most important factors is a B.A. from an elite program, and you've already got that covered! So as long as your writing sample is good, you'll likely be very successful. On that note, I would start developing a writing sample sooner rather than later. Maybe wait until your junior year of undergrad, so you can get some grounding in phil courses first. But once you find something you're really interested in, write a paper about it and start getting feedback from professors ASAP. I would also recommend trying to publish while you're in undergrad. It's really difficult, and it almost never happens, but it's not as difficult as most people think it is, and one of the reasons it almost never happens is because almost no one ever tries. This will also require lots of feedback from your profs. Actually, I would start by sitting down with some of your profs and asking them how they prepare papers for publication, and then follow the same steps. If you finish with a B.A. from an elite institution, an excellent writing sample, a 3.9 GPA, and a publication or two, you'll have a very good chance of getting in almost anywhere.

Hello, everyone! I've heard allegations that several philosophy PhD departments keep "hidden" waitlists. I'm highly skeptical of this, since most departments admit or waitlist far more than enough candidates to fill their incoming cohorts. But I'm willing to be persuaded. What evidence is there for the existence of hidden waitlists?

I'm doing better now than I was a couple weeks ago; at least now I'm only uncertain about 5 programs, rather than 22. But I'm not looking forward to the next month. I was really hoping my options would be settled by now. On the bright side, I now find myself animated by rage at all the elite departments that rejected me, and I am hyper-motivated to prove to every one of them that they made the wrong decision. (Of course, even if they did make the wrong decision, they'll never realize this, since they won't remember rejecting me. But I'm going to suppress this belief in service of the aforementioned rage-fueled publishing spree for as long as I possibly can.) So writing philosophy is becoming easy again.

WOW, two in a day! Congratulations. I was just waitlisted by UMass last night, so maybe we'll end up being classmates. On that subject: I'm now on five waitlists. I went ahead and took April 15 off work. 😂 2a/5w/9r/5p

I've been officially rejected by CUNY and CU Boulder, waitlisted by UofA, and accepted by Purdue since I last posted. That's 2a/4w/5r/10p counting only official results, 2a/4w/9r/6p counting presumed rejections (i.e. schools from whom I haven't heard but who have already accepted and waitlisted several applicants). Looks like I won't get an offer from Notre Dame at this point. I'm really holding out hope that I'll end up on the waitlist. Notre Dame is my first choice by, like, a thousand miles.

Two days ago.

Officially rejected by MIT today, "high" on the waitlist for UVA. 1a/3w/3r/14p Haven't heard from CU Boulder at all, if that's helpful information for anyone waiting on an answer from them.

Officially rejected by Yale and Michigan, presumably rejected by Florida State, UT Austin, and MIT. 1a/2w/5r/13p Haven't gotten any updates from CUNY, unlike most, so I suppose I wasn't rejected first round.

Well, I haven't heard from Florida State or Michigan, so I am presuming those are rejections. Congrats to those who got in! 1a/2w/2r/16p This process is pretty nerve-racking; does anyone have suggestions for how not to think about admissions decisions constantly? I'm having trouble focusing on most things. (I'm even having trouble reading philosophy.)

I was waitlisted by UW Madison yesterday -- that's two near-misses in a row. Next up is probably Yale. Not feeling terribly confident about that one, but hey, third time's the charm, right? 1a/2w/0r/18p