MattDest

Agreed with TheVineyard. This is really unsubstantiated nonsense. It's also wrong that he "trades" being a speaker at a department for moving people up in the rankings - because as Vineyard has already pointed out - he doesn't control the rankings. He doesn't rank them individually, and it's not just "his friends" that take part in the rankings. The rankings aren't meant to be a catch-all (which is why there is a breakdown of rankings by specialty), but it is a good starting point for those trying to think about what programs are held in high esteem broadly.

Congratulations!

Most of the people in my program who have applied have done it the Fall semester of their second year. A few have done a gap year for a variety of reasons (wanting to use their polished thesis as a WS, wanting to take a break, etc.) My writing sample is not my thesis, but it was a seminar paper I developed during a summer course. We don't have a formal workshop like UWM (which sounds like a cool idea), but we had 'Works in Progress' series that gave people the opportunity to get feedback if they wanted to.

When I visited Arizona, this is basically what I did. I sat down and asked what classes they had taught recently, what projects they were currently working on, what classes they thought they might be teaching in the future... etc. I asked the grad students what they were interested in, what they enjoyed about the program, how accessible they found the faculty. I wouldn't be too nervous about this. Grad programs, especially the faculty, are used to this sort of thing and likely have a plan on how to give prospectives a good idea about how the department is over the course of a visit.

Congrats on that and your other acceptances!

I'm guessing that if you have a publication in a top-tier journal, that if you use it as your WS, it will likely be better than the vast majority of other applicants' writing samples.

You e-mailed them two days after initial acceptances were being sent out? That seems a bit premature.

Oh, just another paper for publication? Sure.

Do they really? Wow I had no idea. That seems like a good practice.

Do it. Everybody can add me.

Is this a gif thread? Is that what we're doing here? Because I am down.

Congrats!!! I was pulling for you. Congrats! My undergrad advisor went to school with Ted Sider and said he is hands down the smartest person he has ever met.

Perhaps I'm not understanding. What is "the worst" in this regard? This sounds like a good thing, right?

Congrats!

This is a big move for those interested in philosophy of cognitive science - one of the big reasons I applied to Rice! Good news for WashU, although I'm sure Rice will hire well.

Do it. <3 (This is an open invitation, by the way.)

I'm just jealous of connecting with people on Facebook who are going through this process!

Congrats!

I didn't even apply to Yale and I got rejected.

It's funny, because I was thinking the exact opposite. Not because I don't think Warwick has great scholars (frankly I'm a bit stunned that you think they are a "much stronger" department, as that is not at all the impression that I have), but because I think that GSU and Houston are particularly good departments for a terminal MA. If the ultimate goal is to go on for a PhD at an American program, I would imagine that they would place better than Warwick (although I couldn't find a placement record for Warwick). Their placement records (GSU) (Houston) speak for themselves. ETA: Of course, I can't even begin to pretend that I should be in a place to advise you, BSG, but I thought I'd offer an alternative position.

I mean, it would be pretty cruel of them to ask if you wanted to be admitted without aid and then turn you down.

The e-mail doesn't really make this clear. I suppose it depends upon the usual size of Rice's incoming classes, but I think both interpretations sound reasonable.

This is why we can't have nice things.

I turned it down, it said I was "one of four.. out of 75" that stood out, so I imagine the initial acceptances are pretty few. Given our similar AOIs... hopefully you get something!

We should hang out. This sounds awesome.