PHILOSOPHY M.A. ACCEPTANCE/REJECTION 2018

[downwardabsolute]

Just got into VT, with a TAship, which I'll be declining shortly. Just need to hear from Brandeis now. 

[JeshZhavvorsa]

58 minutes ago, downwardabsolute said:

Just got into VT, with a TAship, which I'll be declining shortly. Just need to hear from Brandeis now. 

Congrats, will Brandeis play a role in your decision or have you made up your mind to go somewhere else? Seems like you’re having a strong cycle on MA apps.

[downwardabsolute]

19 minutes ago, JeshZhavvorsa said:

Congrats, will Brandeis play a role in your decision or have you made up your mind to go somewhere else? Seems like you’re having a strong cycle on MA apps.

I don't know where I'm going yet but I'm pretty sure I'm just choosing between NIU, Tufts, and the BPhil, so Brandeis will most likely not play a role. 

[GuanilosIsland]

Got off Georgia State's waitlist! 

[Descartes blanche]

Just curious. I saw that downwardabsolute received an acceptance from Virginia tech. Has anyone else on here received an acceptance or waitlist notification from Virginia Tech? 

[jukeboxhero]

1 hour ago, Descartes blanche said:

Just curious. I saw that downwardabsolute received an acceptance from Virginia tech. Has anyone else on here received an acceptance or waitlist notification from Virginia Tech? 

For what it's worth, I haven't heard anything. 

[Cloudsofrain]

15 hours ago, Descartes blanche said:

Just curious. I saw that downwardabsolute received an acceptance from Virginia tech. Has anyone else on here received an acceptance or waitlist notification from Virginia Tech? 

I have not heard from them, but it should be this week  hopefully.

[Descartes blanche]

Just got an acceptance from Virginia Tech. I'm excited, but I'm also "high on a waitlist" for funding. I keep getting so close (the same happened with UMSL). Does anyone know if this is something to really stress about? No funding is about as useful as a rejection for me, but maybe it's like NIU, where it seems that everyone who got accepted was put on a waitlist for funding. Was anyone offered funding with their initial acceptance from NIU? 

 

[Halcyon23]

1 hour ago, Descartes blanche said:

 Does anyone know if this is something to really stress about? No funding is about as useful as a rejection for me, but maybe it's like NIU, where it seems that everyone who got accepted was put on a waitlist for funding. Was anyone offered funding with their initial acceptance from NIU? 

 

I'm a current NIU grad student so maybe I can shed some light there. When I was accepted (for fall 2016) I was not given a TA-ship, but I was able to apply (at the behest of the grad advisor) to apply for a tuition waiver from the graduate school. I got it and it covered ~85% of my tuition (which was also out of state tuition). Many students that weren't given a TA-ship with the philosophy department would apply for TA-ships in other departments. Some also worked in the university's writing center. All options have the same funding as far as I know. Even though I wasn't a TA in the department my first year, I applied to be one this year and got it. I wouldn't worry too much unless you have no funding offer at all AND you have no money saved up at all. You can probably ask the grad advisor what your options are right now (assuming you already haven't).

[Cloudsofrain]

2 hours ago, Descartes blanche said:

Just got an acceptance from Virginia Tech. I'm excited, but I'm also "high on a waitlist" for funding. I keep getting so close (the same happened with UMSL). Does anyone know if this is something to really stress about? No funding is about as useful as a rejection for me, but maybe it's like NIU, where it seems that everyone who got accepted was put on a waitlist for funding. Was anyone offered funding with their initial acceptance from NIU? 

 

Congratulations on getting accepted! I agree with you, no funding is basically a rejection for me too. As long as you are high on the waitlist for three schools, I would expect that you would get an offer. I am hoping it picks up within a week of  April 15...

[MtnDuck]

15 hours ago, Descartes blanche said:

Just got an acceptance from Virginia Tech. I'm excited, but I'm also "high on a waitlist" for funding. I keep getting so close (the same happened with UMSL). Does anyone know if this is something to really stress about? No funding is about as useful as a rejection for me, but maybe it's like NIU, where it seems that everyone who got accepted was put on a waitlist for funding. Was anyone offered funding with their initial acceptance from NIU? 

 

Congrats! Just so you know, a number of people who are initially waitlisted for funding end up receiving it. I think that for my year over half of the people originally had no funding and I know that a few of the first years were originally on the waitlist (we tend to shuffle through a few people on the waitlist every year).

If you're really interested in VT (or anyone else who was waitlisted for funding) I can send along other funding options that I know about. The DGS also sometimes tries to help people find things.

[Descartes blanche]

48 minutes ago, MtnDuck said:

Congrats! Just so you know, a number of people who are initially waitlisted for funding end up receiving it. I think that for my year over half of the people originally had no funding and I know that a few of the first years were originally on the waitlist (we tend to shuffle through a few people on the waitlist every year).

If you're really interested in VT (or anyone else who was waitlisted for funding) I can send along other funding options that I know about. The DGS also sometimes tries to help people find things.

Thanks MtnDuck! I'll take whatever info you have.

[buffystrong]

I got notified by VT yesterday--accepted and wait-listed for funding. Will probably decline the offer soon!

[Philodoxia]

I should mention something about NIU. Even if you don't get in with a graduate assistantship, your expenses will be far lower than  if you got into Tufts, the BPhil, and it will be comparable to getting minimal funding in the form of an assistantship from GSU or VTech.

People who go to NIU shouldn't be paying more than $6000 a year in rent and utilities. It's more likely to be $4500. I pay around $3900, though I'm guesstimating. Fees are about $2400 a year after the tuition waiver. So if you get the tuition waiver, your expenses will probably be less than 12k a year. And that's part time job + small school loan money. But if you get an assistantship, you'll actually be making more money than you spend as a full time student!

But let's say you get an assistantship, half or full time, at another MA program where CoL is much higher. You might not be able to cover most of the expenses unless you have a tuition waiver and the funding definitely exceeds CoL. So if you think not getting an assistantship at NIU is a deal-breaker, though you got a tuition waiver, do think again!

Edited March 27, 2018 by Philodoxia

[downwardabsolute]

In at Brandeis, the last school I needed to hear from. 

[jukeboxhero]

Just heard back from Brandeis, which was the last place I was waiting to hear from.

For those who care/those on waitlists for funding, I am currently considering funded offers from:

Georgia State (fellowship)

Northern Illinois (assistantship)

Simon Fraser (assistantship) 

Houston (assistantship) 

Brandeis ($10k merit scholarship + assistantship TBD) 

I am unsure when I’ll decide, but obviously I can only go to one place, so I thought some people on waitlists might want to know! 

Edited March 28, 2018 by jukeboxhero
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[Kantattheairport]

22 minutes ago, jukeboxhero said:

Just heard back from Brandeis, which was the last place I was waiting to hear from.

For those who care/those on waitlists for funding, I am currently considering funded offers from:

Georgia State (fellowship)

Northern Illinois (assistantship)

Simon Fraser (assistantship) 

Houston (assistantship) 

Brandeis ($10k merit scholarship + assistantship TBD) 

I am unsure when I’ll decide, but obviously I can only go to one place, so I thought some people on waitlists might want to know! 

Leaning any particular way at the moment?

[jukeboxhero]

6 minutes ago, Kantattheairport said:

Leaning any particular way at the moment?

Brandeis is unrealistic for me financially, but the others are all still in the game. Sorry I can’t be more helpful/definitive! 

[Kantattheairport]

4 minutes ago, jukeboxhero said:

Brandeis is unrealistic for me financially, but the others are all still in the game. Sorry I can’t be more helpful/definitive! 

No, that's perfectly fair.

[JeshZhavvorsa]

19 hours ago, jukeboxhero said:

Brandeis is unrealistic for me financially, but the others are all still in the game. Sorry I can’t be more helpful/definitive! 

Do you have a “I want to have it narrowed down by X” date or are you thinking you’ll keep them all in play until April 15?

[jukeboxhero]

3 hours ago, JeshZhavvorsa said:

Do you have a “I want to have it narrowed down by X” date or are you thinking you’ll keep them all in play until April 15?

I don’t have a specific date in mind, but I would very much like to have the list narrowed down - and perhaps even make a decision - prior to the 15th. I want to give myself time to carefully consider each program, but once I do that, I don’t intend to keep people waiting unnecessarily! 

[jukeboxhero]

My background isn’t primarily in philosophy, so I’m finding that my general lack of knowledge about philosophy is making it that extra bit more difficult to know which program fits me the best 

(anyone have any thoughts/advice on choosing a program for someone without much of a background in philosophy?) 

[Kantattheairport]

1 hour ago, jukeboxhero said:

My background isn’t primarily in philosophy, so I’m finding that my general lack of knowledge about philosophy is making it that extra bit more difficult to know which program fits me the best 

(anyone have any thoughts/advice on choosing a program for someone without much of a background in philosophy?) 

I imagine the best thing to do is probably to talk to your recommenders/the recommender you're closest with - probably face-to-face, either in person or over Skype or something - and ask them what they think. Apart from that, the thing to do is probably just comb through the faculty profiles and see  who looks most exciting to work with. If possible, you could ask to contact current students and see what they think about the program. (All this assuming you won't be visiting the campuses - if you are, you can probably get a good sense of fit from visits, I imagine!)

[PhiloStorian]

I just declined an offer of funding from VA Tech. Hopefully someone who wants it gets in off the waitlist.

[Descartes blanche]

On 3/29/2018 at 11:36 AM, jukeboxhero said:

My background isn’t primarily in philosophy, so I’m finding that my general lack of knowledge about philosophy is making it that extra bit more difficult to know which program fits me the best 

(anyone have any thoughts/advice on choosing a program for someone without much of a background in philosophy?) 

Out of curiosity, what is your background? Also, what subjects in philosophy are you currently interested in?