Grad Work Prior to Grad Application

[wondering2]

Did anyone complete grad work at their undergrad institution before applying to PhD programs? I'm in what I feel like has become a weird position, where I am likely going to graduate from my undergrad with only a little more than a semester's worth of classes short of the MA course requirements in philosophy from that institution, that is, 24 or so credits, depending on what I do this spring. (Long story short, I have been registered as a non degree seeking grad student since my second year through a different department's accelerated bachelor's/master's program, but stopped taking grad classes in that department after my sophomore year when I realized I could be doing all philosophy instead.) 

I realize that I won't be able to transfer more than 12 of these credits to most programs, some even less, but I didn't take the classes for that purpose -- I just enjoy the work, and wanted to be able to demonstrate an ability to do graduate-level coursework. I'm just wondering now whether it will look bad that I didn't finish the MA, even though that wasn't my goal in the first place. I was wondering if any of you have been in this situation, or applied with a MA from your undergrad institution, or anything else similar. 

For what it's worth, I'm in the US, coming from a continental-leaning department, applying to mostly continental schools with secondary interests/some faculty who work in the analytic tradition.

Edited May 23, 2018 by wondering2

[hector549]

8 hours ago, wondering2 said:

Did anyone complete grad work at their undergrad institution before applying to PhD programs? I'm in what I feel like has become a weird position, where I am likely going to graduate from my undergrad with only a little more than a semester's worth of classes short of the MA course requirements in philosophy from that institution, that is, 24 or so credits, depending on what I do this spring. (Long story short, I have been registered as a non degree seeking grad student since my second year through a different department's accelerated bachelor's/master's program, but stopped taking grad classes in that department after my sophomore year when I realized I could be doing all philosophy instead.) 

I realize that I won't be able to transfer more than 12 of these credits to most programs, some even less, but I didn't take the classes for that purpose -- I just enjoy the work, and wanted to be able to demonstrate an ability to do graduate-level coursework. I'm just wondering now whether it will look bad that I didn't finish the MA, even though that wasn't my goal in the first place. I was wondering if any of you have been in this situation, or applied with a MA from your undergrad institution, or anything else similar. 

For what it's worth, I'm in the US, coming from a continental-leaning department, applying to mostly continental schools with secondary interests/some faculty who work in the analytic tradition.

I didn't take grad courses in undergrad, but I know some people at my institution who did--though I think for most of them it was just a few courses. I seriously doubt that having done more extensive graduate work would count against you. If anything it should work in your favor, since you've further demonstrated your ability to handle graduate level work (assuming that you've done well in the graduate courses you've taken). If you're concerned about it, you could always have your letter-writers explain why you've done extensive graduate coursework at your undergrad institution, but without actually pursuing an MA.

Edited May 24, 2018 by hector549

[TakeruK]

This is quite normal for undergrad students at my PhD school. We would almost always have undergrads in our grad classes, so I'd imagine many of them racked up a ton of grad level credits. For these students, they took these grad classes as part of their electives so it counts towards their BA/BS degrees. 

As long as you weren't enrolled in a MA program, no one will think that you pursued an MA and then quit. 

[wondering2]

On 5/24/2018 at 12:21 AM, hector549 said:

I didn't take grad courses in undergrad, but I know some people at my institution who did--though I think for most of them it was just a few courses. I seriously doubt that having done more extensive graduate work would count against you. If anything it should work in your favor, since you've further demonstrated your ability to handle graduate level work (assuming that you've done well in the graduate courses you've taken). If you're concerned about it, you could always have your letter-writers explain why you've done extensive graduate coursework at your undergrad institution, but without actually pursuing an MA.

Thanks, that's a good point about the letter writers. I'll mention my concerns to them and see what they say. 

[HomoLudens]

I am currently doing a year abroad in Germany. The graduate and undergraduate distinction between courses here is very blurred. It is more about the types of courses you take in a Module as opposed to the individual course level itself. In all three of my philosophy classes, I am considered a master student in order to receive enough credits to transfer back home, but the only difference between the masters and bachelors work in my classes is the number of pages I write for the final essay. I am still gonna play it up that I took "graduate level" work in Germany on my application, even though it really is not that special.