MattDest

Just got a CUNY waitlist.

The PhD students that I know manage to find time for these things.

True.

To clarify - must all our scores be below this threshold? I have an abysmal quant score, but my V/AW scores were quite good.

Congrats! I'm really interested in what happened to Logos... I hope s/he got in somewhere.

I like Dylan's idea, I'll probably grab a few books/papers that philosophers at Arizona have written and read them over the summer. I'm crossing my fingers for an adjunct position, as I'd like to have something else to do as well.

I know someone who got a Purdue acceptance, so I'm pretty sure they are legitimate.

If finances are a non-issue for you, I don't think that the other benefits of an assistantship would outweigh the better placement record of another MA program personally. Congrats on having all of those choices, by the way!

It will not distinguish you from applicants who have the same credentials as you (how could it?), but it will distinguish you from those who were not awarded those positions at the MA level, and from undergrads who have never had those positions at all. I suspect that it's false that 'nearly all' applicants from MA programs were awarded funding by their program in the form of an assistantship. Even if it were true, though, that doesn't mean that having one wouldn't be a positive. (Given that all philosophy students have good GRE scores, we don't therefore think that having good GRE scores is not beneficial.) I'm a bit confused by your statement "unless your writing sample is already excellent, even special additions...to be irrelevant". The writing sample is by far the most important part of the application, but that wasn't the question that was asked. The question was whether there were any non-financial reasons to prefer an assistantship to not having one. I think there are - teaching and research in addition to improving your letters. Having an assistantship is just another feather in your applicant cap, and when admissions are this competitive, anything that positively sets you apart from other candidates is a good thing.

I disagree with jjwaq, I think it very well could impact your application in a few different ways. The obvious way it impacts your application is it allows your letter writers to get to know you better, but I also think there are other reasons to think it might help. GAships usually involve one of three things: teaching your own course, grading a course for a professor, or researching with a professor. If a graduate school sees that you have taught several courses before, they might think that you would be able to handle teaching courses right away. It is another way that your application will stand out over someone who hasn't had the opportunity to teach at all. If you are grading for a professor, this will certainly give you the opportunity for your letter writers to say something more about you, and your ability to meet deadlines, to provide quality feedback, etc. It will also likely help them get to know you better than just taking their classes, going to their office hours, etc. The better your letter writers know you, the better they can speak to the quality of your work. The benefits of research positions are perhaps the best. If you are lucky enough to get a research position (I was!), you'll be able to work with a professor on their research. Not only could you get quality work out of it yourself, but this is just another way to differentiate you from other applicants. Having a top researcher say "X's help with my research..." is a definite way to improve your application. I don't know if any of these benefits should make you choose one program over the other, but I do think there are extra-financial positives to be had with GAships.

Oh, I don't think it really matters either way.

From what I know, most schools admit more than they hope to enroll, and then work down the waitlist when it becomes necessary.

I went and visited Arizona even though I was relatively certain I would be accepting their offer. I'm glad I did, too, as they offered me an additional fellowship for no teaching duties for a semester during the first year to "sweeten" the deal. Plus, you should totally come hang out with the WashU faculty. They are awesome.

Have you published before? You make it sound as if it is just something you do in your spare time, like pick up dry cleaning or buy cat food.

I was actually the instructor of several courses (designed the entire syllabi, lectures, etc.) but it was business ethics. I would love to do it with mind/epistemology/religion.

Vineyard's post is at -19... I don't know that I would quite call this being forbidden to make threads. You don't want to live in LA anyway. LA blows.

Wait, who in the world said that people were forbidden from making a thread about their options? I don't think any of the above posts could be considered "nagging". If so, I want more people to nag at me with offer of cookies and drinks.

I don't know if it's getting old, but I certainly understand why people are saying this. In this forum, it seems like some people sit on offers that they are sure they will turn down for quite awhile. It doesn't make sense to try and rush someone who is honestly deciding between a few schools (especially if they are visiting multiple programs), but I think that gently reminding others that lots of people are waiting on a decision isn't the worst thing.

Personally, I go through moods where I prefer one to the other. One of the best parts about academia is that we get the ability to do both. I've only taught one type of course (and graded for a few others), but I'd really like to design courses in my areas of interest.

Stand outside of their office with this playing on a boombox.

Congrats to Princeton/Rutgers admits!

I met Hallie Liberto when she came here, and she is the coolest (plus, going to Princeton for a year is awesome!). U Conn seems like an amazing department, I just wanted to say that. Nothing really else to add.

I don't really think this happens too often, if it ever happens at all. You might be able to get someone else to be a reader and/or on your thesis committee, but to be your advisor seems difficult.

Wow - that's quite an ambitious paper. How do you address all naturalistic conceptions of mind in one paper?! I'd be interested to see this.

I'll put my sample up too, although it's a bit intimidating after reading that Hume paper. Here's mine. Sorry about the the annoying exclamation points, I can't find the other version that somehow doesn't have those.