2018 Acceptance/Rejection Thread

[prtrbd]

You mean the coolest set of philosophers arranged gang-wise.

[eigenname]

3 minutes ago, prtrbd said:

You mean the coolest set of philosophers arranged gang-wise.

I want to like that but I ran out of likes, so here's a 

[prtrbd]

3 minutes ago, eigenname said:

Probably why I am (likely) wait-listed instead of accepted  I am more into pragmatism / neo-Carnapian metaphysics heh

Hey, we should talk! I hope you get in (and attend) - I want to engage the neo-Carnapian stuff going forward.

[eigenname]

10 minutes ago, prtrbd said:

Hey, we should talk! I hope you get in (and attend) - I want to engage the neo-Carnapian stuff going forward.

I hope so too. Definitely, always fun to spread the word  Drop me a PM or something!

[incredulous_stare]

@prtrbd Do you know when is ND's weekend for prospective students?

[GuanilosIsland]

Waitlisted at Georgia State. That hurts. I thought I was a super strong candidate for their program. 

[lyellgeo]

In at GSU!! I finally have my first legitimately funded offer...

[incredulous_stare]

18 minutes ago, GuanilosIsland said:

Waitlisted at Georgia State. That hurts. I thought I was a super strong candidate for their program. 

Fwiw, it's likely that I will decline their offer.

[prtrbd]

1 hour ago, incredulous_stare said:

@prtrbd Do you know when is ND's weekend for prospective students?

March 19th-21st.

[Philodoxia]

Did UCSD send out waitlists, or perhaps they're not doing that this year? They seem to usually do it the day after they announce admissions.

[soproperlybasic]

56 minutes ago, Philodoxia said:

Did UCSD send out waitlists, or perhaps they're not doing that this year? They seem to usually do it the day after they announce admissions.

I saw one person report a waitlist at UCSD on the FB group!

[gvg]

2 hours ago, GuanilosIsland said:

Waitlisted at Georgia State. That hurts. I thought I was a super strong candidate for their program. 

 

2 hours ago, incredulous_stare said:

Fwiw, it's likely that I will decline their offer.

I'm also declining, so there is hope! Also, if you are on the wait list, I think that means you are a good fit and a strong candidate I think there is a good chance you'll get in! Good luck!

[samsara2]

3 hours ago, GuanilosIsland said:

Waitlisted at Georgia State. That hurts. I thought I was a super strong candidate for their program. 

I also just declined!

[Zimmy64]

4 hours ago, GuanilosIsland said:

Waitlisted at Georgia State. That hurts. I thought I was a super strong candidate for their program. 

In the exact same boat as you. Although I'm hopeful I'll get in eventually. What is your AOI and what faculty at GSU appeal to you? I'm interested in Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Economics, and Philosophy of Law so both Andrew Cohens and Andrew Altman do work I'm very much interested in. 

Edited March 2, 2018 by Zimmy64

[CogSciRob]

3 hours ago, Philodoxia said:

Did UCSD send out waitlists, or perhaps they're not doing that this year? They seem to usually do it the day after they announce admissions.

I got wait listed.   They said 10 people are on the unranked list 

[dogs]

14 hours ago, LORDBACON said:

Takeaway: some depts, including high-rated departments, will 1) interpret high scores positively as your ability to outsmart the test; and/or 2) be more inclined to see a high scorer as a potentially successful applicant. 

If my expected shutout obtains then that will be the first thing that gets fixed.  IME this round, 316/4.5 doesn't help and probably hurts you.  340/6.0 can only and probably will help.

 

14 hours ago, prtrbd said:

I have a very good GRE and haven't had the sense that it mattered very much.

 

14 hours ago, LORDBACON said:

I was not suggesting that decent scores (which yours are) will get you automatically cut.  I don't think that's the case at all.  But I do think that it will not give them a reason to separate your application into a smaller set for a closer look.  I am suggesting that having near perfect or perfect scores will probably give them such a reason.

What my experience with Georgetown does mean is that sometimes departments will make assumptions about your qualifications as a candidate based solely on GRE scores.

To revisit this conversation from yesterday (I know the discussion has likely been exhausted, I'd just like to add some anecdotal evidence in case it helps anyone):

I did very poorly in my GREs - I got into the 43rd percentile in the math section (and I'm looking to go into more formal areas) and I got a 4.5 in analytic writing. Though even with those scores, I've been offered admission at 5/6 of the programs I applied to, each of which are in the PGR top 10 (I was rejected by Berkeley). If I'd applied to more schools, I might have a better idea of whether they typically use GREs for any kind of initial screening. But I am thoroughly skeptical, after this process, that GREs bear much weight at all, if any. I actually can't think of any reason why the admissions committees might have initially separated my application into a smaller set based on any superficial data - my GPA, for example, is strong but it's from an international school, and isn't easily translated in terms of the US grading system. Similarly, my undergrad is at a relatively good university but not the best or most well-known by any means.

The only conclusion I can draw from all of that is that it really is your writing sample, letters, and personal statement which matters to the admissions committee, even at very preliminary stages of the process. I think if it wouldn't harm your application for you to work on re-taking the GRE, you should certainly go for it. But if your scores don't improve substantially this time, I wouldn't feel disheartened about that. Moreover, I think that if it is time that could be spent working to improve your writing sample, maybe it's not worth it. This is all only speculative and of course it's up to your judgement, but I thought I'd add my experience to the discussion since I do think it might indicate something about GREs.

(One qualification on all of this: I wonder if they might focus less on GRE scores if the applicant is international? Also, I do recognise that your experience with Georgetown might be at odds with everything I've just speculated here. You're right that there seems to be very little consensus.)

[ArendtYouKidding]

Can anyone claim the UConn acceptance? 

[Stencil]

9 hours ago, samsara2 said:

I also just declined!

Same here!

[yhkim]

On 2/28/2018 at 10:38 PM, quinessloopypun said:

A lot of us share your feelings, I am sure. I am an international applicant (third-world, too) who is currently only waitlisted at Princeton and offered to visit. The flight prices are around the same here and with a downside, too. The flight price (say, $750 on the average) amounts to twice of the monthly minimum wage in my country due to exchange rates. Insane, right?

I don't know whether I will be visiting (depends on what I will hear from other programs), but know at least that I share your feelings.

Great to meet another third-world international applicant! haha If you are offered to visit, you must be really at the top of the WL, likely to be accepted. I know how it is hard for third-world students to get into top North American phd programs, especially philosophy programs. (I have grad students friends in other disciplines, and they seem to have less difficulty...) It might be because of language or the small number of phd positions in philosophy... but either case, congratulations that you and I made it to here! Best of luck with your remaining schools and visits!

[yhkim]

On 2/28/2018 at 4:11 PM, episode413 said:

 We actually have the same AOI haha. I wasn't admitted at Harvard, but I got an email from Gina Schouten today. She's a former PhD student of my undergrad mentor. She's really nice! And a brilliant mind! So jealous of you haha. Good luck! 

Wow I didn't expect that! Like practical especially my AOI seem far less popular compared to core areas or metaethics... On a slightly different note, that's so nice of Gina Schouten! I've heard that she's such a nice person too. 

I'm weighing between Harvard and UCLA as I really love the political philosophers in both programs, but I'll try to make the decision in late March at the latest. Thanks for wishing me good luck and best of luck to you too!!!

[SlumberingTrout]

Accepted with funding & teaching assistant position at FSU's MA program.

[anonnn123]

NYU and Stanford should definitely send out acceptances today right? They usually do by the end of the first week of March

[mynameismyname]

So I'm one of those who haven't heard anything back from ND. I sent the DGS there a short email asking about the status of my application and he responded confirming that I was on the waitlist. He also mentioned that he would be sending out information later today about the details of the waitlist and that he would be in constant communication with all the waitlisted applicants as the dynamics of admission unfold over the coming weeks. 

 

[SlumberingTrout]

4 minutes ago, mynameismyname said:

So I'm one of those who haven't heard anything back from ND. I sent the DGS there a short email asking about the status of my application and he responded confirming that I was on the waitlist. He also mentioned that he would be sending out information later today about the details of the waitlist and that he would be in constant communication with all the waitlisted applicants as the dynamics of admission unfold over the coming weeks. 

 

Bless you, mynameismyname.

[quinessloopypun]

32 minutes ago, yhkim said:

Great to meet another third-world international applicant! haha If you are offered to visit, you must be really at the top of the WL, likely to be accepted. I know how it is hard for third-world students to get into top North American phd programs, especially philosophy programs. (I have grad students friends in other disciplines, and they seem to have less difficulty...) It might be because of language or the small number of phd positions in philosophy... but either case, congratulations that you and I made it to here! Best of luck with your remaining schools and visits!

Thank you so much. It's great to meet you, a fellow international philosophy-fighther, too!

I hope that I am at somewhere at the top of the list, though I haven't heard anything.

Ain't that the truth? Not only is philosophy such a language-dependent discipline, but also dwindling in job market and so on. The odds are stacked against us in the process. A few of my professors mentioned that it was much easier to get into the top programs back in their days as international applicants, since most of the process was to find an eager letter writer. So though sad, it is not incomprehensible that it's getting tougher and tougher for internationals to make it to the top programs in North America.

Congratulations to you, too--you seem to have made it to beautiful programs as well.

Edited March 2, 2018 by quinessloopypun