Hypatience

Agreed! But it's also true that because of stereotype threat and related reasons, it's typically a little harder to thrive in contexts where you're the only visible minority of some kind or other. Even in a basically healthy department, being the only woman in many of your seminars is going to take some kind of toll. There is some research to show that being the only woman in a mixed group is correlated with a decrease in performance when it comes to tasks for which stereotype threat usually applies (like math, engineering, ... and I'd count a lot of philosophy in this category for sure) (Sekaquaptewa & Thompson 2003; Inzlicht and Ben-Zeev 2000). But yeah, these considerations might be small potatoes compared with the really vicious stuff you're most concerned to avoid.

Seconding the advice above about having those conversations at the over Skype or the phone (if you can't have them in person), rather than through e-mail. This is important! Just ask to set up a time to chat about their experiences and about the climate. They will more than understand why you are asking, and they'll say a lot more 'off the record' than they will in writing.

Only 2/20 graduate students is an unencouraging sign. I think Brown has similar issues with representation. Talk to both of those students, philosophe. It's reasonable to talk to former students as well, especially ones who were supervised by the person you're most interested in working with, if there is a such a person. It's also totally reasonable to ask anyone at the school why there are so few women in their program and what they are doing about it or plan to do about it. Be a little bit wary of explanations that attribute no blame whatsoever to the department ("We make offers to lots of women, but they all end up snubbing us for higher ranked schools!"). If you're visiting, ask if you can stay with one of those two students. One of my friends went to an official visit that included a hotel stay, but requested to room with a woman graduate instead for one night, and that request was accommodated and it was very valuable. This will give you a lot of time to get to know each other, and for a frank conversation about the climate to occur naturally, in a relatively stress-free context (in pajamas and over a beer, say). If you are currently at a university where there are well-connected woman philosophers, meet with them and show them your list of acceptances. They'll often tell you where is and isn't safe. (I had a professor do this for me when I was choosing my MA school; she literally glanced at a list, pointed at a couple and said 'not here'.) Meeting other women graduate students, in any program, especially if they are far along, can be good, too. There is seriously something like a network of whispers we use to keep ourselves safe, and you'll find that a lot of different women in the field can pass on relevant information about a lot of different places. It is exhausting, and it isn't fair that we have to do this sort of fact-checking, but those are the breaks. And in fact it can actually be a net positive experience, since the feelings of solidarity you get when you talk to other women who have had to navigate the same issues can be pretty strong. Good luck!

Excepting the poster above, I'm really pleased to see that these forums are full of people who care about climate and take testimony seriously. Frankly, it's a lot more heartening than some of the discussion elsewhere (The Philosophy Smoker, the UCB Newapps thread, etc), and makes me feel optimistic about the future of the profession.

Ranking isn't the only consideration, y'all, especially for women applicants. There are top schools that are totally inhospitable for gender, racial, or sexual minorities, and sometimes you're only in a position to discover that by visiting them. I am not trying to say that these are carolinebk's considerations. What I am saying is that the way in which this doesn't even occur to some of you is pretty telling, and indicative of your privilege. For transparency's sake, I'm a woman and a sexual minority who has offers from both a top-15 and a lower-ranked school, and both are live options for me as I carefully assess climate and fit.

They gave me two days. Given the short notice, I imagine they wanted to see something unpolished, so I sent them something I submitted for a recent class. We'll see, I guess! I would be shaken if I didn't already have an acceptance elsewhere; I am interested in U of T, but that takes the edge off a little.

University of Toronto has e-mailed me to express some interest and to ask for an additional writing sample of my choosing to help them assess my strengths.

I received one of the Berkeley acceptances by e-mail today. First school I've heard back from, still stunned, unspeakably excited.

I've heard very negative things about Austin. UC Boulder, however, was news to me.

I'm not sure if what you're saying about Canadian MAs is accurate. I applied to nine Canadian MA programs this year, all of which unequivocally offer all their incoming students enough funding to both cover tuition and live on. The unfunded philosophy MA seems to be a mostly American animal.

Last week. Thanks!

To whoever wanted to know for the sake of their timeline, McMaster sayeth that my deadline to accept their offer is Thursday, March 22, 2012.

Anyone know how the McMaster program is? I honestly didn't expect an acceptance from them (hurray!), so I feel pretty uninformed about how stoked I ought to be about their MA.

Dalhousie sent me an e-mail about it.

I'm not sure yet! I've just received the e-mail with the funding details, and the official offer has yet to come in the mail. I'll post when I know!

Yup, Dust, I heard back from the McMaster Philosophy MA already.

McMaster philosophy MA accepted me this morning or yesterday night, so looks like they might be sending stuff out. Yay funding!

Yeah, I thought so too! They e-mailed me just last week requesting a more recent transcript -- since the one I sent with the application wasn't able to have the Fall session grades on it. I just wish they gave me an indication of my ranking, or even what size the pool is... but we'll see. Meanwhile Carleton apparently wants two writing samples instead of one, so I've got that to throw together before their March deadline. How did I miss that?

Well, heard back from my first school today. Dalhousie has me waitlisted for their philosophy MA. I have a few other schools I'm waiting to hear back from, so I guess at least making a waitlist bodes... kind of sorta well? :/