Another Sisyphus

For anyone left in housing limbo: if it helps you to know, after waiting since April or May, I got a housing offer today. It's pricey but looks relatively nice, about 1 mile north of campus, and I have to accept the offer by August 3rd (trying to plan emergency visit before then). The lease would not begin until September 4th, though. I think I applied for a September 1st move-in date.

Hello. I am potentially interested. I'm a male from the US and I will be moving to Chicago for the MAPH program. It starts September 15 and is one year long. I've applied to University Housing and, even though I didn't apply as soon as I could have, they've never given me the impression that I should have to worry about availability. I have been told that apartment hunting in Chicago is extremely stressful, but the sooner I know I have a place the better. I don't know how far you've looked into what's available, but I am interested in seeing what's out there. CIR is political science?

Thanks, Goodmayhem, and congratulations to you too! Swag bag? Hell, I'm sporting my temporary tattoos and my button RIGHT NOW.

There's no reason to feel hopeless. First, I'm wondering how bad your grades could really be. With two years of undergrad remaining, that's a lot of potential to work with. I had only a decent gpa when I graduated, and when I told my closest adviser what programs I was applying to he suggested more top-tier programs because there's no point in the risk of selling oneself short. However, those applications will have higher fees. To get a feel for how much pedigree matters, just check out current grad students of whatever departments interest you. Many of them list where they got their BAs. You could probably find students that graduated from schools similar to the size of yours. I've seen grad students with BAs from nowhere. And as far as pedigree after the PhD, there are professors who PhD'd in programs lower than the top 50 that now profess in top 20 and top 10 schools. Also, I can understand if you don't "care about getting the best degrees and the best jobs," but this is a highly competitive field, so any advantage might make a difference. Teaching at a community college may be something for you to consider. Some people do that with only an MA, or so I hear.

I applied to Columbia. They told me I had been rejected from PhD and was being considered for MA on March 1. April 1 I asked if they knew anything, and they didn't. Still haven't heard but not waiting on it anymore.

I'll end up at UChicago's MAPH. While gradcafe's impressions of this program are largely negative, the impressions I get from academics at various stages in their lives and from various schools is largely positive. My Campus Days visit seemed to dispel a lot of gradcafe's concerns, at least as much as a two-day visit can do. It bothers me a little bit that this is technically a humanities degree with a concentration in philosophy. However, I can take 9 philosophy courses and write a ~30 page thesis under the supervision of highly renowned faculty, especially in my AOI. I consider that a Master's in philosophy. Plus, they have rather reassuring placement information for previous graduates getting into PhD's programs. I'm happy with this outcome, but I think there are things I would do differently if I had to do it again. First, I should have taken undergrad more seriously and constructed a good writing sample, probably should have done some type of thesis, while I was there. If I had to construct a writing sample after undergrad again, I would read more secondary sources. And I would have applied to more Master's programs. There's still a chance that having done all of these I would reach the same outcome. I'll be much better prepared for the next round. Oh, is anyone else still waiting to hear back from Columbia's MA program? I solicitied a response about three days ago, and they were still not decided. I'm not holding my breath though. Already accepted UChicago's MAPH offer.

First, In order for sciences to have a productive existence, a community has to have certain values, goals, social organization, philosophical outlooks (the scientific method itself is a matter of epistemology), an understanding of the histories of these things, etc. Secondly, sciences are tools that will only do good when wielded by good, intelligent, life-loving human beings. Do you know who is involved in debating and understanding these matters that allow science to thrive and thrive in healthy way? You’re welcome.

I've also been accepted into the Humanities department. There's a 97% chance I will be attending the MAPH program with a concentration in philosophy. I will be attending Campus Days as well.

Here is a really helpful blog written by a current MAPH student following the philosophy route. He describes the MAPH experience in good detail and answers questions emailed to him. Many of these questions are very relevant to us. maphmaticallyyours.wordpress.com/

About the strictly philosophy PhDs, thanks for the advice. I will take that into account. However, MAPH does offer a concentration in philosophy (it's like 7 of the 9 courses are electives, right?), and I've seen PhD students at Syracuse and UIC that have MA's from UChicago, which I'm assuming is the MAPH as Chicago offers no other Masters program and leaving Chicago's PhD program for another would be insane. And this is only out of the departments that I've researched that in-depth. One of my letter-writers lives and professes philosophy in the Chicago area now (not UChicago, though). His impression of the program is that it is what a student makes of it. If one takes advantage of opportunities and approaches faculty, he or she is likely to do very well. Also, sorry if I'm taking us off topic. I didn't realize I was in the Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition forum until it was too late.

Thanks. I was hoping to rely on transit, but driving is also an option. Is driving between Bridgeport/UChicago/UIC any more painful than to be expected for city driving?

I apologize if my signature was misleading, but the "waiting" category was for schools I hadn't heard back from yet and not schools I was waitlisted for. It's now fixed. My acceptances to SUNY Binghamton and Buffalo are for PhDs. They're not quite stellar departments for philosophy, and they have no word on funding yet. U Chicago offered me a half-tuition scholarship, so I may be more excited about it than others. I really don't know how I qualified for that, especially given the responses I've received from less competitive schools, but my personal statement and writing sample turned out to perfectly fit the theme of the the MAPH Core course of the 2011-2012 year.

I'm still waiting to hear back from schools and about funding offers for the schools that have offered admission, but I am very seriously considering the MAPH. I have read that MAPH does not encouraging applying to PhD programs during that winter. It's certainly possible though. If I had a gap year, I would consider resume-building opportunities, especially teaching at a community college (MAPH has a course for that) or applying to work for MAPH for that year (each year they hire like 3 graduates to advise/direct the new students).

Would anyone recommend a neighborhood between UChicago and UIC?

For user_name, It sounds like you want to avoid Shadyside and Squirrel Hill which happen to border CMU on the North and West. If you’re looking for a cheap place to get your bike stolen, drink 40’s on the sidewalk, and mix with non-student, low-income locals with names like “T,” South Oakland is a lovely area, especially south of the Blvd of the Allies. The rest of Oakland is less sketchy, predominantly students, a little more pricey, but not yet gentrified. North Oakland is the only part closer to CMU than it is to Pitt, but it all depends on what your transportation options are. Bloomfield and Lawrenceville are also options. Getting to CMU will require wheels of some sort though. These places are a little more adult-like, nowhere near the ruckus that Oakland is, but also less exciting and some complain about the overabundance of hipsters. Pittsburgh’s public transit is known for sucking (when it does exist) and I would not describe it as bike friendly, but there are many who do make these options work. Food options are plenty. Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Craig Street, and Oakland have great places to eat. There are too many to name, but Primanti’s is clearly the most important. I don’t know how to accurately judge a music scene, but there is much merriment to be had. If you’re into it, there are many buskers to join on nice days: drummers on porches, travelling banjo players, guitarists, bassists, and trombone players in the park. Several bars with open mic night/jam nights. There are jam-packed house shows with rather friendly people. Touring acts usually come to Mr. Small’s in Millvale (a suburb across the river), a few different venues in the South Side, Heinz Field/Stage AE (big name acts) on the North Side, or in the Strip District there’s Altar Bar and 31st Street Pub. Congratulations on your acceptances. I hope that helps.

I'm having trouble finding information that can compare Binghamton's philosophy grad department to others or about the quality of the department in general. Internet research gives me the impression that Binghamton is not a bad idea, but really only compares it to other SUNYs. If anyone has information or experience with this, input would be greatly appreciated. If it helps, I was looking to study the history of 19th century, mostly German, philosophy.

Finished Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It got my hopes up but ultimately disappointed me. Started MacIntyre's After Virtue. Very enjoyable so far.

I learned a lot about the application process as well and even a good deal about the subject I hope to study. However, since submitting all of my applications, and having spent most every spare moment of the last several months preparing for them in one way or another, I may have forgotten how to enjoy free time. When I'm not working I'm usually thinking of the most productive ways to invest my time, and then I consider writing essays that I could submit as writing samples to various schools and departments for next application season. It appears I'm stuck in productivity mode.

"No, not tonight. I have grad apps to work on." Friend: "Are you building a grad school?" Friend: "No, really, what are you actually doing with all of that time?"

Muffin bottom - HAHA!

I get introduced to a lot of new people where I work, so I get some good reactions just stating that I studied Sociology and Philosophy as an undergraduate. "..sosa....sos....sosacology? I know what Philosophy is... I think." "Oh... I have a friend who's a psychiatrist. Is that something you can go to med school for?" "I knew a guy who had a master's in Psychology. He worked for FedEx after he graduated. Actually, he still works for FedEx come to think of it." "...since you studied psych-... er, whatever..." "Are those the people that do social experiments?" "What do you do with that?" - The classic. It gets one of two answers: 1. Reach Enlightenment 2. Develop as a perceptive and articulate human being. Each gets a response of cautious, confused laughter.