exaznable

It's very shocking, and I am afraid that other schools may do the same thing (which I hope that is not the case). Also, I am not sure how people's strategy with regard to accepting an offer should be changed given the possibility that the same thing might happen.

You might be already heard about this, but here is the shocking news that is from Daily nous. http://dailynous.com/2020/04/08/u-arizona-retracts-ph-d-funding-pandemic/ Yesterday evening, we were informed by Andrew Carnie, Dean of the Graduate College, in conjunction with the Provost, that all outstanding offers of funding to prospective graduate students be rescinded. This however did not apply to those who have already accepted offers. It also only applied to students whose funding would come from university sources; offers funded by e.g. external grants were exempt. It is our understanding that this is a university-wide decision and applies to all such outstanding offers in any department. Our understanding is also that the Graduate College bases the legality of this decision on a clause in offer letters which allows for defunding under exceptional circumstances. We were also informed by JP Jones, Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (the college in which Philosophy is housed) that he would grant no exceptions to this policy. We do not comply with this policy by choice, but by command. It is a policy that we both disagree with and have opposed, but are forced to enact. Unlike offers of funding, offers of acceptance have not been retracted. But we fully understand that an offer of acceptance without funding is hardly better than a rejection, and we do not expect any students to come to the University of Arizona unfunded. But to stress again, this decision has absolutely nothing to do with the merits of any individuals’ applications; we deem the applications of those whom we originally accepted, as well as those originally on our waitlist, to be of an exceptionally high quality. That we will not be able to welcome them into our program next year is a fact about which we are acutely disappointed. We would be absolutely delighted if we could admit those students who have been directly affected by this at a later date—provided they still want to come. We understand that they may have other offers and that, regardless of those offers, given the way this has played out they may not want to come to the University of Arizona—a judgment we would understand completely. We are deeply, deeply disappointed at this turn of events, and sincerely hope that those harmed by our University’s decisions will nonetheless be able to make arrangements that will lead them to a future of happiness and success.

I don't think that that's good idea. The fact that you are waitlisted shows that the admission committee has already read your WT so they know your work. It will be more likely to cause backfires if you do so.

To whom have you sent an email?

So you chose to go to a MA program instead of going to the top-10 program when you applied out of undergrad? I am just curious; you just didn't like the programs that you were accepted back then?

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I am second to Olórin. No one can know the likehood of getting into a PhD program in philosophy based on such an information you provided, because applicants are evaluated mostly by letters and writing sample. And as far as I know, no top program cuts off applicants just based on their GRE. Admission committee are not stupid and they are fully aware that GRE doesn't really show the intelligence of applicants. Letters of recommendation and writing sample are two most important factors in getting admission, and then GPA. Assuming that your writing sample is really good as you described, it may be that the topic you picked out is not very good for the writing sample. Even if programs like Columbia and NYU have philosophers working on those areas, it is very likely that your writing sample would be read by someone who doesn't know anything about Heidegger and Spinoza. And those are not so favored figures in the analytic tradition, even for the programs like Columbia.

Thank you for this long response! I think I would ask some departments to which I will not apply next year without any expectation to get a valuable feedback. It is actually very obvious what I should do (mostly, writing a better sample). I just wanted to have a sense of what will happen next year, because I am now anxious due to this year's result. I think you're right. The problem is that it is so difficult to predict my odds. Everyone told me that writing sample is the single most important factor. It's good, but it may also give the delusion that I can get accepted from the programs of my choice IF my writing sample is awesome. Maybe it's true, but maybe not. I wish it's true so that I can have hope to push me to work hard, but I don't want to have a false belief. I am in a very good terminal master's program (T-7). So fortunately, I have a fabulous advisor who has done this process with different students for many years. I've talked with him a lot, and with other professors here too, but the conclusion of our conversation almost always was "No one knows what will happen." Currently, I am worried mostly about my undergraduate degree and grades. I am from South Korea, and I didn't major in philosophy (I didn't even take a philosophy class, except an introductory one 13 years ago). My undergraduate institution is prestigious in Korea, but I doubt that philosophers here can notice this. My undergraduate grades are not good, but all professors here I've showed my transcripts said that my grades would not matter so much. I thought that because it may be hard for admission commitee to interpret my undergraduate transcripts, my letters and performance here would be much more important, which I wanted to be the case. But perhaps my undergraduate degree and grades are crucial, given the competition level of the process. Worrying this kind of things is so painful, because there is nothing I can do but worrying. I've looked up the survey from your blog. Thanks so much! It was really helpful. The survey seems to suggest that even for a student with a master's degree, his or her undergraduate degree, major and grades matter. Maybe it is just because someone who was good from the start tends to write a better sample or have better letters. In any case, I don't know how seriously I should take it into account.

This is a good information! Thanks. I may try to ask some programs that I am not going to apply again. I hope they will give some feedback to me. But at the same time, I can see that asking feedback might not be helpful for me in any case. Thanks for this answer too!

I am planning to reapply next year. I know that at this point there is nothing much I can do other than having a better writing sample. But it would be very helpful if I can get a sense of what the drawback of my application was and how far I mad in the admission process. So, is it acceptable to ask why I got rejected to the departments I applied to? I am bit worried, because I will apply to some of same programs. I think they won't remember in any case, but who knows..

I was a graduate student majoring in philosophy of education (in education). I am not sure if there are 'ideological commitments' in education programs, but my impression is that the field is shrinking. The reason is, i think, that graduate schools of education are becoming more and more a sort of professional school for raising education leaders (like law school). They are focusing more on subjects that can be applied directly to practice (such as administration, policy, counselling and etc.) than theory. There are many part-time graduate students who are working in relevant fields, and many of them don't even pursue PhD degree. So such subjects like philosophy of education which are hard to be applied to practice directly tend to be neglected.

My thought is that it depends on how much you can be selfish. I don't think that your idealistic reason is convincing, but it doesn't matter if you really like to do philosophy and ready to sacrifice others for it. Here is why I think your idealist reason is not convincing. You can be autonomous worker without PhD degree, as you mentioned. You can develop the expertise to contribute one's field and knowledge without PhD degree in philosophy. You can choose PhD in education, for example, where you can be a part-time graduate student. But as I said, it doesn't matter whether or not the idealistic concern is convincing. But your practical concerns seem really tough. I am sorry that I can't say anything about that.

For now, I think that it is not a good idea to go to PhD program with a plan to transfer next year. But obviously it is more reasonable choice than not to accept the offer.

That's right. Well... good question. I am not ready to answer it, but I must think of it.

Thanks for this answer. Yeah, it's hard! But I don't think that going to a PhD program with a plan to transfer soon or later is a good idea. If I accept the offer, that will mean that I will give up to apply for next application season for now and try to be satisfied with the program. Maybe my mind will be changed and fail to be satisfied with the program, but then I can think of that at that time. Your case is different, because it seems to me you have an actual reason to transfer. But it is really good information for me! Thanks for letting me know your case. Good point! This is good time to think of myself, actually. I am aware that maybe in this year I was lucky to get an acceptance from a ranked program. I will discuss with my professors and friends and you guys about my realistic prospect too. The problem is that the process is really obscure, so no one can exactly measure one's prospect. But I believe that the process is not that really obscure, although luck really matters too.

Thanks for this response! As I mentioned, I didn't yet decide whether or not I try one more time. If I will try once more, I will consider all possibilities including declining the offer. I will choose what seems to me the best way to get a better placement, and it seems that everyone thus far thinks that going to a PhD program is a better choice not only for safety but for getting a better chance. My current worry is just whether or not I can make a better placement. Well, who knows.. But I have to consider seriously, because I will have to give up many things (time and money..) for preparing PhD applications again. As to whether why I did apply to somewhere I am not interested in, I don't want to defend myself. I thought that I have to put some lower-ranked schools, schools that nevertheless are decent with respect to my interests. But sometimes, I can know myself only after things happen..

I think the truth is just that different commitee members have different views toward GRE. I don't think my GRE score was a BIG problem, but it is enough to give an alarming signal.

Thanks for all these responses! Well, I think I have to edit my original post, because I didn't decide yet whether or not I should prepare application one more time (my first question). I don't need to decline the offer if I decide not to try one more time. But because preparing GRE and writing sample is a time-consuming process, I would like to prepare as soon as possible if it is possible that I will make a better placement. Thank you guys though.

Thanks for this response! Yes, I think I would go the funded offer in any case. I've not visited yet, but I plan to do so. Currently, I mostly concern about my first question as to whether I can make a better result, and if so, what I should do since now. As I said, you may be right on this. I will have to consider more seriously. Thanks anyway!

Well, it seems to me that most of schools have released their results. so it's time to think of next plan, especially for someone who is not satisfied with current placement like myself (only a few applicants may be satisfied with their results though, I guess). I applied to 15 schools from one of top MA programs, and got an admission from 30s ranked program with funding (it was my last choice). It's obviously a good program, but I am inclined to try one more time. I may go there and seek to transfer, or decline their offer and spend one year just preparing applications. 1) But should I? There is something I can't change. I can improve my GRE and write a better writing sample, but I can't change my grades. And my undergraduate grades are pretty bad (3.73 in 4.5 scale, with a D in English class! I am an international student). I thought that it wouldn't be a problem, because my undergraduate major was not philosophy and I didn't take any philosophy class, I got another master's degree in education three years ago with very good grades (over 3.9/4.0) and grades here are also pretty good (over 3.9/4.0). Is there any idea as to how much my undergraduate grades had a negative effect on my application? I looked up Ian's philosophy admission survey and found that only three persons who have grades below 3.80 (between 3.60-79) got into top 10 programs in 2013. My undergraduate grades would be 3.4ish depending on how you calculate, so it may be that I will never get into top programs or so whatsoever. (But it was not the only problem, i guess. my GRE writing score is also very bad (167/166/3.0). I just thought that no philosophers would take GRE writing section seriously, but combined with my weak grades, it could be a matter. But at least I can improve my GRE or writing sample if I will take one more shot!) 2) Is it crazy if I turn down the offer? I know that many people seek to transfer after getting into a program, and many of them are successful. My worry is that since I will have to try to get accustomed to a new environment, I may not have enough time to prepare my application. I think first year is usually the most difficult time to follow. I also don't want to spend my important first year in PhD program focusing other than the program itself. If you have any thought on these matters, I will appreciate it!

Well, if you are intersted in German idealism and Phil of language, and especially in the intersection between two, I think Pitts is second to none, as you may already realize. Edit: I just wanted to reply to your post, but I accidently voted the post down.. Sorry about that.

Thanks for this useful information, ianfaircloud! But I am still wondering the importance of AW section in GRE, which seems to me less important than other sections. I got GRE score 3 years ago, and my verbal and quant score are pretty high (above 1500, I took old GRE). But my AW score is terrible (3.0). I think that this is because I am not a native speaker, and I took the test before I came to the U.S. (My typing speed was so slow at that time). I will apply to PhD program for next academic year, and I am considering retaking GRE during summer break. But I am not sure this is a wise move.

I'm a international student. So I don't know exactly about reputation of TC among people who do not major in education and whether TC is just one of colleges which affiliate with to columbia. If I enter the institution, can I tell people i'm a columbia university student?

I'm a international student. So I don't know exactly about reputation of TC among people who do not major in education and whether TC is just one of colleges which affiliate with to columbia. If I enter the institution, can I tell people i'm a columbia university student?