What Should I Do?

[Akratiarensis]

Hi everyone, I am in the process of applying to the graduate programs in philosophy that start in Fall 2020. I'm in my senior year at the best philosophy department in my country. But it's definitely not very well known compared to the prestigious universities in the U.S. and the Western Europe. So, I reckon I am going to be a slightly disadvantaged international applicant. I am interested in the philosophy of action. My writing sample is on the weakness of will and revolves around the paradox Davidson presents in "How Is Weakness of Will Possible?". I think I have some quite serious problems about my applications because of the following:

- My GPA is 3.8 and philosophy GPA is 4. Both are the highest in the department. But the problem is my school does not have a worldwide prestige. Additionally, my letter writers do not have a worldwide reputation, although they received their PhDs from the top 20 schools worldwide, and know me very well as we are a small department.

- My writing sample is not completely finished yet. What I am going to write is pretty clear, but still I am going to have 1.5 month at most to make it as polished as possible after finishing it. I am planning to apply to schools that have deadlines in January and February.

- I am going to take GRE at the end of this month. I have been preparing for it since the last summer, but I am pretty sure that my verbal section is not going to be great. Tests show that I am pretty good at the quantitative section (165+) but usually score less than 160 (usually 156-7) in the verbal section. Because of my taking GRE a bit late, I am not going to be able to apply to schools that have deadlines in December.

- I have a budget limit that cannot allow me to apply to more than 10-15 schools. I am going to have to pay all of the application fees the schools request because I am an international applicant.

So, given my condition, I think I should not apply to the most of the top schools. But I may apply to FSU, Cornell, and USC because they seem to be strong in my AOI, though no one seems to recommend Florida State. Should I even consider applying to other top 20 or so schools? I tried to find some "safety" schools to apply, but everywhere seems equally competitive to me. It would be great to hear if you have any suggestions about where would be a "safety" school in my condition. My professors suggested that I might increase my chances of getting an acceptance by also applying to some MA programs like Brandeis, Simon Fraser, and Tufts. I don't really know much about these MA programs, and I am not sure how "easier" it would be to get into them for me. I would be grateful to hear your opinions about applying to these MA programs. I also have an option to do MA in my school to prepare better for the PhD programs. I am not sure whether this is a good idea because previous best students graduated in our department were usually be able to get accepted into universities like Indiana, Simon Fraser, Syracuse, and Illinois at Chicago. I am also generally open to any other advice you could give. Thank you!

[Duns Eith]

5 hours ago, Akratiarensis said:

Hi everyone, I am in the process of applying to the graduate programs in philosophy that start in Fall 2020. I'm in my senior year at the best philosophy department in my country. But it's definitely not very well known compared to the prestigious universities in the U.S. and the Western Europe. So, I reckon I am going to be a slightly disadvantaged international applicant. I am interested in the philosophy of action. My writing sample is on the weakness of will and revolves around the paradox Davidson presents in "How Is Weakness of Will Possible?".

I think since you're engaging with a topic that is at the intersection of ethics and phil action, you are in good shape for being accessible to a wide audience for the admissions committee.

5 hours ago, Akratiarensis said:

- My GPA is 3.8 and philosophy GPA is 4. Both are the highest in the department. But the problem is my school does not have a worldwide prestige. Additionally, my letter writers do not have a worldwide reputation, although they received their PhDs from the top 20 schools worldwide, and know me very well as we are a small department.

- My writing sample is not completely finished yet. What I am going to write is pretty clear, but still I am going to have 1.5 month at most to make it as polished as possible after finishing it. I am planning to apply to schools that have deadlines in January and February.

- I am going to take GRE at the end of this month. I have been preparing for it since the last summer, but I am pretty sure that my verbal section is not going to be great. Tests show that I am pretty good at the quantitative section (165+) but usually score less than 160 (usually 156-7) in the verbal section. Because of my taking GRE a bit late, I am not going to be able to apply to schools that have deadlines in December.

If you get that writing sample done, this sounds like you've got a competitive app.

Don't worry about the GRE. It matters the least. It matters, but your writing sample matters far, far, far more. If you are devoting more time to your GRE prep than you are your writing sample, I might say to just accept your verbal trajectory right now and put all the effort into the WS.

5 hours ago, Akratiarensis said:

- I have a budget limit that cannot allow me to apply to more than 10-15 schools. I am going to have to pay all of the application fees the schools request because I am an international applicant.

So, given my condition, I think I should not apply to the most of the top schools. But I may apply to FSU, Cornell, and USC because they seem to be strong in my AOI, though no one seems to recommend Florida State. Should I even consider applying to other top 20 or so schools? I tried to find some "safety" schools to apply, but everywhere seems equally competitive to me. It would be great to hear if you have any suggestions about where would be a "safety" school in my condition.

It is November, you should have a pretty specific list around now. Choose only ones that you know a) that there are enough people who could be on your committee, and b) that there is at least one person of interest that you would be joyful (not just OK) to work with, and lastly c) a wide range of prestige. You want to go somewhere you can say "I am going to [university x] to study under [professor y], since topic z is their specialty..." So, I would encourage you to avoid applying to a school for its prestige if there is not someone you'd be excited about working it.

Now, you will get advice that you will possibly change your mind what you want to study while in your program. This pushes against my advice to narrow your search to schools only to ones with people in your area that you would delight in working with - the concern is that it is forcing you to be too narrow. This is a good concern, so it is worth it to apply only to programs where they have wide enough competence that you could switch to something else if you really shift dramatically in research interest.

Either way, you will want to look at the individual departments and see their faculty, and connect in your mind whether any faculty at that school are in literature you've read or specializing in a topic you are confident you want to study

 

5 hours ago, Akratiarensis said:

5 hours ago, Akratiarensis said:

My professors suggested that I might increase my chances of getting an acceptance by also applying to some MA programs like Brandeis, Simon Fraser, and Tufts. I don't really know much about these MA programs, and I am not sure how "easier" it would be to get into them for me. I would be grateful to hear your opinions about applying to these MA programs. I also have an option to do MA in my school to prepare better for the PhD programs. I am not sure whether this is a good idea because previous best students graduated in our department were usually be able to get accepted into universities like Indiana, Simon Fraser, Syracuse, and Illinois at Chicago. I am also generally open to any other advice you could give. Thank you!

I think you should prioritize PhDs over MAs.

An MA is a great thing. I encourage it to everyone. But if you are short on funds, you might find it a better use of your money to just go straight for the PhD. Your "condition" is pretty good.

Edited November 13, 2019 by Duns Eith

[hector549]

22 hours ago, Akratiarensis said:

Hi everyone, I am in the process of applying to the graduate programs in philosophy that start in Fall 2020. I'm in my senior year at the best philosophy department in my country. But it's definitely not very well known compared to the prestigious universities in the U.S. and the Western Europe. So, I reckon I am going to be a slightly disadvantaged international applicant. I am interested in the philosophy of action. My writing sample is on the weakness of will and revolves around the paradox Davidson presents in "How Is Weakness of Will Possible?". I think I have some quite serious problems about my applications because of the following:

- My GPA is 3.8 and philosophy GPA is 4. Both are the highest in the department. But the problem is my school does not have a worldwide prestige. Additionally, my letter writers do not have a worldwide reputation, although they received their PhDs from the top 20 schools worldwide, and know me very well as we are a small department.

- My writing sample is not completely finished yet. What I am going to write is pretty clear, but still I am going to have 1.5 month at most to make it as polished as possible after finishing it. I am planning to apply to schools that have deadlines in January and February.

- I am going to take GRE at the end of this month. I have been preparing for it since the last summer, but I am pretty sure that my verbal section is not going to be great. Tests show that I am pretty good at the quantitative section (165+) but usually score less than 160 (usually 156-7) in the verbal section. Because of my taking GRE a bit late, I am not going to be able to apply to schools that have deadlines in December.

- I have a budget limit that cannot allow me to apply to more than 10-15 schools. I am going to have to pay all of the application fees the schools request because I am an international applicant.

So, given my condition, I think I should not apply to the most of the top schools. But I may apply to FSU, Cornell, and USC because they seem to be strong in my AOI, though no one seems to recommend Florida State. Should I even consider applying to other top 20 or so schools? I tried to find some "safety" schools to apply, but everywhere seems equally competitive to me. It would be great to hear if you have any suggestions about where would be a "safety" school in my condition. My professors suggested that I might increase my chances of getting an acceptance by also applying to some MA programs like Brandeis, Simon Fraser, and Tufts. I don't really know much about these MA programs, and I am not sure how "easier" it would be to get into them for me. I would be grateful to hear your opinions about applying to these MA programs. I also have an option to do MA in my school to prepare better for the PhD programs. I am not sure whether this is a good idea because previous best students graduated in our department were usually be able to get accepted into universities like Indiana, Simon Fraser, Syracuse, and Illinois at Chicago. I am also generally open to any other advice you could give. Thank you!

Duns Eith has good advice. To add a few thoughts:

I think it can be hard sometimes for North American departments to evaluate universities that aren't in the world of Anglophone philosophy. That being said, don't be afraid to apply to a spread of programs. I knew folks from my MA department and at my current PhD program who didn't get their undergrad degree from Anglophone programs. If you're interested in phil of action, apply to FSU, Riverside, Cornell, etc., as well as some  places in your sub-field ranked higher on the overall rankings. There are great people at lots of different places, and just because a place doesn't have a high rank doesn't mean that you can't do good work in your sub-field there, as long as there's someone good you can work with there. FSU, for example, outranks, say, Stanford for phil of action, even though the latter is in the top-ten and the former is in the 40s in the overall rankings.

As far as MA programs are concerned, I think that fit matters much less than for PhD programs. Tufts and Brandeis are great programs, but notoriously expensive and underfunded. Simon Fraser is a good option, but don't be afraid to apply to some other MA programs that also have better funding than Tufts and Brandeis, even if they don't seem like the perfect fit for your AOI (e.g., GSU, NIU, UWM, Houston, West. Mich., etc.). I had the choice during my first app season between an MA and a PhD, and I opted to do the MA first. In the end, I think that was the right choice for me. I'm not saying that's what everyone should do, but an MA can do a lot for you in terms of professional development, putting together a better sample, etc.

Edited November 14, 2019 by hector549