Am I qualified?

[somethingwitty]

Hi there,

First time poster. I wanted to get input from others as to whether or not I am (or if I could be) a competitive applicant for philosophy Ph.D. programs (specifically continental programs, though I do have a pluralist bent). I am not opposed to MA programs either, and I will be applying to a handful terminal MA programs—I love philosophy, and I will happily go wherever I am accepted (if that even happens), but receiving funding is ideal.

Okay, a little bit about me. Starting with the positives:
 
-Never graduated high school, so I went to community college and graduated with an associate’s degree (4.16 GPA)
-Transferred to a university that consistently ranks as one of the best continental programs in the country, (according to some) but, not elite in the grand scheme of things (and it didn’t make the Top 50 in the Leiter report). However, they do have a good track record of placing undergrads at places like Penn State, SUNY Stony Brook, and Emory.
-BA in Philosophy, summa cum laude, departmental honors (i.e., I wrote and defended an honors thesis), inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. 
-An essay of mine (on Spinoza’s theory of emotions) won the department’s award for best undergraduate essay (yay)
-Went back to the same university the following year as an undergrad post-baccalaureate and got a BA in political science and minored in German Studies. Social and political philosophy is one of my primary interests.
-With my first BA, I graduated with a 4.13 (4.09 in PHIL, lowest grade was an A- in my metaphysics course my first term)
-After my second BA, I had a 4.15 GPA (4.18 in PS) … however, I have heard that my GPA may not mean all that much. 
-Three years of German Language; I would say I can read at an advanced undergraduate level (I think this might be a weakness?)
-Was a tutor for two years (tutoring PHIL courses, among others)
-Worked for Stance (an international undergraduate philosophy journal) as an Assistant Editorial Board Member
-Presented a paper at one symposium, and had one paper accepted to another undergraduate philosophy conference, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic (I am unsure of whether presentations are relevant, though).
-Founder and editor-in-chief of an undergrad philosophy journal at my university. 

Now, the negatives:
-In my honors thesis, I discuss my struggles with addiction (really, the whole paper is an attempt to develop a philosophical understanding of drug use and addiction) , so I don’t know if it’s usable as a writing sample (I don’t want programs to think I’m a risky investment, and I know that some committees might be more conservative/traditional than others). The same goes for the previously mentioned Spinoza paper. Given that the writing sample is arguably the most important part of the application, this seems like a significant issue. Aside from these papers, I don’t really have anything that I personally think is worthy of being my writing sample (I have one paper on Freud’s drive theory, with a bit of Derrida and Deleuze sprinkled in for good measure, but this feels like it would only be applicable to programs that have professors working in psychoanalysis, e.g., Emory, New Mexico, New School, etc.). Should I risk it and send a portion of my honors thesis, or should I write something new? At this point, I'm leaning towards the latter. 
-My interests are definitely varied—perhaps too varied, which I think might be a problem when it comes to writing my statement of purpose. 
-Haven’t taken the GRE and don’t know how well I will do on it (though a fair amount of the programs I’m looking at don’t require it or its optional this cycle due to the pandemic). Nevertheless, I am going to schedule it for late October or early November. 
-My course work in philosophy. I did graduate with more PHIL credits than I needed, but just barely. I took two author seminars (one on Spinoza and one on Dewey), and one seminar on the philosophy of language. But other than that, the majority of my course work was at the 300-level. I think this might be one of my biggest weaknesses next to my writing sample problem. I did take a fair amount of political theory courses last year for my second major, but I’m unsure if that will be entirely clear just from looking at my transcripts. 
-My LoRs. Two of my letter writers know me incredibly well—one has known me since my days at community college (she also teaches at the university I attended), and the other is the director of undergraduate studies, whom I have worked with closely throughout my time in undergraduate. They were also my advisors for my honors thesis. However, neither of them are tenured or TT. One is a Pro-Tem Instructor and the other is a Senior Instructor. I have heard mixed things about how this plays out in the admissions process, but I have been told that having non-tenured professors can be problematic. My third letter writer, however, is a real bigwig in philosophy of language—I took two courses with him, and went to his office hours regularly, but I don’t think the quality of the letter will measure up to that of my other two letter writers. Still, it might be a strong, especially if I ask him to be my "advisor" for a new writing sample. 
-An extraneous negative: the pandemic (e.g., University of Chicago and Columbia University are not accepting applications this cycle, and, though I wasn’t planning to apply to these programs, I worry that other programs may soon follow suit).
-There are likely more negatives that I’m not thinking of, too.

I know I need to be brutally honest with myself vis-a-vis my chances, but it would help to have some outside input to help me more accurately gauge them. 

If you took the time to read all of this, and especially if you take the time to respond, thank you in advance! 

[Marcus_Aurelius]

Hi! There were so many positives that I was wondering how the negatives could compare ?

In all seriousness, you seem fine. Re: writing sample, philosophy of addiction is a rather hot topic right now from what I've seen, so that topic seems like it could be a strength, especially if you're able to engage with recent literature (it seems to often be raised re: weakness of will, as well as generally in ethics and legal and political philosophy). Although it's possible some committees would be turned off, I rather doubt the vast majority will be, as long as the work is of philosophical quality. I'd recommend including no autobiographical details in the writing sample; in your statement of purpose you can touch on your personal experience.

Certainly you seem well positioned for MAs. PhDs might be more difficult because of the general competitiveness and perhaps the letter writers. 

Finally, the obligatory warning that admissions are extremely competitive, you should really deeply consider whether you want to be doing this (especially this year when admissions are going to be extra-brutal), and admissions results are not necessarily a reflection on you. That being said, your strategy of applying to a variety of programs sounds wise, and, if you don't get into a PhD program you like but do get into an MA with good funding, you'll hopefully face a better admissions year if you do go for PhD admissions again down the road. 

EDIT: Not sure why you say German might be a weakness? Seems like it can only be a strength. Philosophy admissions don't generally require language skills, except in specific subfields like Ancient, so any language skills are usually a plus (albeit a very minor one).

Edited September 17, 2020 by Marcus_Aurelius

[somethingwitty]

Hi @Marcus_Aurelius, thank you for your response! 

Ah, I have a bad habit of being self-deprecating and focusing on the negatives rather than the positives, so in my mind the latter pale in comparison to the former. For example, my GPA could just mean that I'm one-dimensional--a good student, to be sure, but lacking pizzazz [insert jazz hands]. 

And, alas, removing the autobiographical information from my thesis might be difficult--I took an existential/phenomenological approach, so save for my summaries of the texts that I use, information about my personal struggles with addiction abounds, and most of it is critical to my broader argument. Nevertheless, the advice is sound, and I think it will be worthwhile to try to find a way to do it. 

Re: German as a weakness, I just worry that three years may be insufficient for some of the programs (though I guess some language experience is better than none). A few of the programs I will be applying to require doctoral students to take language exams in two different languages ?  But, if you think it can only be a strength (even a minor one), that does afford me some comfort.

I think (or hope) I will have better luck with MAs. As you mention/warn, PHDs are highly competitive, and I cannot honestly say that I am in the top 3-5% of applicants, and I imagine those acceptance rates will be even lower this cycle given the pandemic (but still, ?). That said, I know that this is what I want to pursue. I really can't imagine myself doing anything else. So if I don't get in anywhere this cycle, then hopefully I'll have better luck in the next (or the next)! 

Thank you again for taking the time to read this and respond!

 

[PolPhil]

On 9/16/2020 at 7:29 PM, somethingwitty said:

Hi there,

First time poster. I wanted to get input from others as to whether or not I am (or if I could be) a competitive applicant for philosophy Ph.D. programs (specifically continental programs, though I do have a pluralist bent). I am not opposed to MA programs either, and I will be applying to a handful terminal MA programs—I love philosophy, and I will happily go wherever I am accepted (if that even happens), but receiving funding is ideal.

Okay, a little bit about me. Starting with the positives:
 
-Never graduated high school, so I went to community college and graduated with an associate’s degree (4.16 GPA)
-Transferred to a university that consistently ranks as one of the best continental programs in the country, (according to some) but, not elite in the grand scheme of things (and it didn’t make the Top 50 in the Leiter report). However, they do have a good track record of placing undergrads at places like Penn State, SUNY Stony Brook, and Emory.
-BA in Philosophy, summa cum laude, departmental honors (i.e., I wrote and defended an honors thesis), inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. 
-An essay of mine (on Spinoza’s theory of emotions) won the department’s award for best undergraduate essay (yay)
-Went back to the same university the following year as an undergrad post-baccalaureate and got a BA in political science and minored in German Studies. Social and political philosophy is one of my primary interests.
-With my first BA, I graduated with a 4.13 (4.09 in PHIL, lowest grade was an A- in my metaphysics course my first term)
-After my second BA, I had a 4.15 GPA (4.18 in PS) … however, I have heard that my GPA may not mean all that much. 
-Three years of German Language; I would say I can read at an advanced undergraduate level (I think this might be a weakness?)
-Was a tutor for two years (tutoring PHIL courses, among others)
-Worked for Stance (an international undergraduate philosophy journal) as an Assistant Editorial Board Member
-Presented a paper at one symposium, and had one paper accepted to another undergraduate philosophy conference, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic (I am unsure of whether presentations are relevant, though).
-Founder and editor-in-chief of an undergrad philosophy journal at my university. 

Now, the negatives:
-In my honors thesis, I discuss my struggles with addiction (really, the whole paper is an attempt to develop a philosophical understanding of drug use and addiction) , so I don’t know if it’s usable as a writing sample (I don’t want programs to think I’m a risky investment, and I know that some committees might be more conservative/traditional than others). The same goes for the previously mentioned Spinoza paper. Given that the writing sample is arguably the most important part of the application, this seems like a significant issue. Aside from these papers, I don’t really have anything that I personally think is worthy of being my writing sample (I have one paper on Freud’s drive theory, with a bit of Derrida and Deleuze sprinkled in for good measure, but this feels like it would only be applicable to programs that have professors working in psychoanalysis, e.g., Emory, New Mexico, New School, etc.). Should I risk it and send a portion of my honors thesis, or should I write something new? At this point, I'm leaning towards the latter. 
-My interests are definitely varied—perhaps too varied, which I think might be a problem when it comes to writing my statement of purpose. 
-Haven’t taken the GRE and don’t know how well I will do on it (though a fair amount of the programs I’m looking at don’t require it or its optional this cycle due to the pandemic). Nevertheless, I am going to schedule it for late October or early November. 
-My course work in philosophy. I did graduate with more PHIL credits than I needed, but just barely. I took two author seminars (one on Spinoza and one on Dewey), and one seminar on the philosophy of language. But other than that, the majority of my course work was at the 300-level. I think this might be one of my biggest weaknesses next to my writing sample problem. I did take a fair amount of political theory courses last year for my second major, but I’m unsure if that will be entirely clear just from looking at my transcripts. 
-My LoRs. Two of my letter writers know me incredibly well—one has known me since my days at community college (she also teaches at the university I attended), and the other is the director of undergraduate studies, whom I have worked with closely throughout my time in undergraduate. They were also my advisors for my honors thesis. However, neither of them are tenured or TT. One is a Pro-Tem Instructor and the other is a Senior Instructor. I have heard mixed things about how this plays out in the admissions process, but I have been told that having non-tenured professors can be problematic. My third letter writer, however, is a real bigwig in philosophy of language—I took two courses with him, and went to his office hours regularly, but I don’t think the quality of the letter will measure up to that of my other two letter writers. Still, it might be a strong, especially if I ask him to be my "advisor" for a new writing sample. 
-An extraneous negative: the pandemic (e.g., University of Chicago and Columbia University are not accepting applications this cycle, and, though I wasn’t planning to apply to these programs, I worry that other programs may soon follow suit).
-There are likely more negatives that I’m not thinking of, too.

I know I need to be brutally honest with myself vis-a-vis my chances, but it would help to have some outside input to help me more accurately gauge them. 

If you took the time to read all of this, and especially if you take the time to respond, thank you in advance! 

I would focus your attention on MA programs and more purely continental programs. Remember, the writing sample and letters are by far the most important part of your application. Your writing sample likely won't get you very far at an analytic program, given your chosen method. Your letters won't get you very far at most programs in general, because they're not from T or TT professors. I'm sure that they're great letters, but you'll be going up against students with 3+ strong letters from T faculty. That being said, they might pass at a continental department, because those are generally less competitive. Your grades and other qualifications should make you a great candidate at an MA program, but I don't see it happening at, e.g., top-50 Leiter PhD programs

[somethingwitty]

10 hours ago, PolPhil said:

I would focus your attention on MA programs and more purely continental programs. Remember, the writing sample and letters are by far the most important part of your application. Your writing sample likely won't get you very far at an analytic program, given your chosen method. Your letters won't get you very far at most programs in general, because they're not from T or TT professors. I'm sure that they're great letters, but you'll be going up against students with 3+ strong letters from T faculty. That being said, they might pass at a continental department, because those are generally less competitive. Your grades and other qualifications should make you a great candidate at an MA program, but I don't see it happening at, e.g., top-50 Leiter PhD programs

Fair assessment. I wasn't going to apply to strictly analytic programs, and, for the most part, I don't have a lot of interest in top-50 Leiter PhD programs either (exceptions: Georgetown and CUNY, which I consider to be my reach schools). I've just asked another tenured professor for a letter, and she knows and seems to be fond of my work--the term paper I wrote in her seminar is the essay that won the award for best undergraduate essay. Haven't heard a response back yet, but I'm hoping she'll agree. I'm definitely not opposed to completing an MA (esp. if it's funded), as it'll help me narrow down my interests and give me a taste of what graduate school is all about. And if I can get into a good MA program, my chances of placing into a good PhD program will hopefully be higher. Thank you for your input!

[_deat]

I teach as an adjunct in a few departments where more courses are taught by contingent faculty than by T or TT.  This is sadly the trend in higher education that adjuncts make up the bulk of the teaching load.  With that said I wouldn't worry too much that your letter writers aren't T/TT.  I've written letters for past students who now attend law and graduate programs.  

[_deat]

Also re pandemic concerns regarding budget cuts in admissions:

If you haven't seen this spreadsheet already this gives you an overview of what programs are suspending admissions.  Based on emails I've been sending to DGS/chairs most programs will be accepting a cohort next fall (at least in continental programs).  The one exception I've found is Brown who still isn't sure what they'll be doing.  

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1yb_yciijFGEp5roVKYJ40U4eiREo3ZQTeSQkEjGMSsg/htmlview?usp=gmail#

[somethingwitty]

On 9/30/2020 at 10:41 PM, _deat said:

I teach as an adjunct in a few departments where more courses are taught by contingent faculty than by T or TT.  This is sadly the trend in higher education that adjuncts make up the bulk of the teaching load.  With that said I wouldn't worry too much that your letter writers aren't T/TT.  I've written letters for past students who now attend law and graduate programs.  

I'm happy to hear that--especially if you've written letters for past students who've had success in getting into graduate programs. I definitely see that as being a trend, but some of the best instructors I've had have been contingent faculty, so it's obviously not a reflection of their quality as a teacher/scholar (indeed, some of the worst of my instructors were tenured!). Luckily, my two letter writers who are contingent faculty know some of the faculty at the programs I'm applying to, so their names will not be entirely unknown. 

On 9/30/2020 at 10:48 PM, _deat said:

Also re pandemic concerns regarding budget cuts in admissions:

If you haven't seen this spreadsheet already this gives you an overview of what programs are suspending admissions.  Based on emails I've been sending to DGS/chairs most programs will be accepting a cohort next fall (at least in continental programs).  The one exception I've found is Brown who still isn't sure what they'll be doing.  

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1yb_yciijFGEp5roVKYJ40U4eiREo3ZQTeSQkEjGMSsg/htmlview?usp=gmail#

I have seen the spreadsheet! It's honestly been such a great resource; I feel like it should be pinned on the forum, with proper credit and many thanks given to Lindsay Whittaker (along with Fredrick Choo's updates about GRE requirements https://frederick-choo.weebly.com/gre-philosophy-2021-admission.html). And I'm definitely stoked to hear that most of the programs you've contacted will be accepting a cohort, though I imagine it will be smaller than previous years. I still have a chance! 

Thank you for your response! 

[711fanatic]

On 9/16/2020 at 7:29 PM, somethingwitty said:

Hi there,

First time poster. I wanted to get input from others as to whether or not I am (or if I could be) a competitive applicant for philosophy Ph.D. programs (specifically continental programs, though I do have a pluralist bent). I am not opposed to MA programs either, and I will be applying to a handful terminal MA programs—I love philosophy, and I will happily go wherever I am accepted (if that even happens), but receiving funding is ideal.

Okay, a little bit about me. Starting with the positives:
 
-Never graduated high school, so I went to community college and graduated with an associate’s degree (4.16 GPA)
-Transferred to a university that consistently ranks as one of the best continental programs in the country, (according to some) but, not elite in the grand scheme of things (and it didn’t make the Top 50 in the Leiter report). However, they do have a good track record of placing undergrads at places like Penn State, SUNY Stony Brook, and Emory.
-BA in Philosophy, summa cum laude, departmental honors (i.e., I wrote and defended an honors thesis), inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. 
-An essay of mine (on Spinoza’s theory of emotions) won the department’s award for best undergraduate essay (yay)
-Went back to the same university the following year as an undergrad post-baccalaureate and got a BA in political science and minored in German Studies. Social and political philosophy is one of my primary interests.
-With my first BA, I graduated with a 4.13 (4.09 in PHIL, lowest grade was an A- in my metaphysics course my first term)
-After my second BA, I had a 4.15 GPA (4.18 in PS) … however, I have heard that my GPA may not mean all that much. 
-Three years of German Language; I would say I can read at an advanced undergraduate level (I think this might be a weakness?)
-Was a tutor for two years (tutoring PHIL courses, among others)
-Worked for Stance (an international undergraduate philosophy journal) as an Assistant Editorial Board Member
-Presented a paper at one symposium, and had one paper accepted to another undergraduate philosophy conference, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic (I am unsure of whether presentations are relevant, though).
-Founder and editor-in-chief of an undergrad philosophy journal at my university. 

Now, the negatives:
-In my honors thesis, I discuss my struggles with addiction (really, the whole paper is an attempt to develop a philosophical understanding of drug use and addiction) , so I don’t know if it’s usable as a writing sample (I don’t want programs to think I’m a risky investment, and I know that some committees might be more conservative/traditional than others). The same goes for the previously mentioned Spinoza paper. Given that the writing sample is arguably the most important part of the application, this seems like a significant issue. Aside from these papers, I don’t really have anything that I personally think is worthy of being my writing sample (I have one paper on Freud’s drive theory, with a bit of Derrida and Deleuze sprinkled in for good measure, but this feels like it would only be applicable to programs that have professors working in psychoanalysis, e.g., Emory, New Mexico, New School, etc.). Should I risk it and send a portion of my honors thesis, or should I write something new? At this point, I'm leaning towards the latter. 
-My interests are definitely varied—perhaps too varied, which I think might be a problem when it comes to writing my statement of purpose. 
-Haven’t taken the GRE and don’t know how well I will do on it (though a fair amount of the programs I’m looking at don’t require it or its optional this cycle due to the pandemic). Nevertheless, I am going to schedule it for late October or early November. 
-My course work in philosophy. I did graduate with more PHIL credits than I needed, but just barely. I took two author seminars (one on Spinoza and one on Dewey), and one seminar on the philosophy of language. But other than that, the majority of my course work was at the 300-level. I think this might be one of my biggest weaknesses next to my writing sample problem. I did take a fair amount of political theory courses last year for my second major, but I’m unsure if that will be entirely clear just from looking at my transcripts. 
-My LoRs. Two of my letter writers know me incredibly well—one has known me since my days at community college (she also teaches at the university I attended), and the other is the director of undergraduate studies, whom I have worked with closely throughout my time in undergraduate. They were also my advisors for my honors thesis. However, neither of them are tenured or TT. One is a Pro-Tem Instructor and the other is a Senior Instructor. I have heard mixed things about how this plays out in the admissions process, but I have been told that having non-tenured professors can be problematic. My third letter writer, however, is a real bigwig in philosophy of language—I took two courses with him, and went to his office hours regularly, but I don’t think the quality of the letter will measure up to that of my other two letter writers. Still, it might be a strong, especially if I ask him to be my "advisor" for a new writing sample. 
-An extraneous negative: the pandemic (e.g., University of Chicago and Columbia University are not accepting applications this cycle, and, though I wasn’t planning to apply to these programs, I worry that other programs may soon follow suit).
-There are likely more negatives that I’m not thinking of, too.

I know I need to be brutally honest with myself vis-a-vis my chances, but it would help to have some outside input to help me more accurately gauge them. 

If you took the time to read all of this, and especially if you take the time to respond, thank you in advance! 

You are more qualified than me, and I got into most of the MAs I applied to and almost got a PhD slot. It might even look better for you that you did not graduate HS/follow the conventional path and then went on to do all this! I had not done any presentations or published any papers before applying (and my GPA was worse). You're in great shape, but probably take the GRE (a formality, but dunno if they are waving it do to covid) ?

edit: Also, so long as your writing sample is well-written and insightful, you should be fine. And, except for as a worse case scenario, you do not want to be in a department that would have such a reactionary and reductive view of addiction. Those are not good academics in the ways that matter.

Edited October 2, 2020 by 711fanatic

[Sigaba]

46 minutes ago, 711fanatic said:

Those are not good academics in the ways that matter.

This conclusion may be a bit of a stretch.

A department can be so overwhelmed from helping a member of the faculty who is struggling with addiction/dependency issues that it decides it needs a break from such complicated commitments for the time being.

A department could be under pressure to get graduate students to finish and it may understand, based upon experience, that complicated life stories impede upon its ability to meet performance goals.

[711fanatic]

12 minutes ago, Sigaba said:

This conclusion may be a bit of a stretch.

A department can be so overwhelmed from helping a member of the faculty who is struggling with addiction/dependency issues that it decides it needs a break from such complicated commitments for the time being.

A department could be under pressure to get graduate students to finish and it may understand, based upon experience, that complicated life stories impede upon its ability to meet performance goals.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

avoid this person's dep for sure

Edited October 2, 2020 by 711fanatic

[somethingwitty]

23 hours ago, 711fanatic said:

You are more qualified than me, and I got into most of the MAs I applied to and almost got a PhD slot. It might even look better for you that you did not graduate HS/follow the conventional path and then went on to do all this! I had not done any presentations or published any papers before applying (and my GPA was worse). You're in great shape, but probably take the GRE (a formality, but dunno if they are waving it do to covid) ?

edit: Also, so long as your writing sample is well-written and insightful, you should be fine. And, except for as a worse case scenario, you do not want to be in a department that would have such a reactionary and reductive view of addiction. Those are not good academics in the ways that matter.

Well, it's nice to know I have a shot! I'll definitely take the GRE, though most programs have already waived it. Miami University (OH) and Vanderbilt, both of which I'll be applying to, still require it, and you need to take it for uni-wide fellowships at Penn State, so it's a good idea to take the test. 

I think with some more time put into polishing it up, my writing sample will be solid. I talked to my letter writers about whether I should use a paper where I discuss my addiction, and they essentially told me that I should just be genuine and submit something that expresses who I am and the type of philosophy I want to do because my philosophical approach/orientation has been so informed by my past. I agree that I probably wouldn't want to be in a department where faculty had a myopic view of addiction, but I also recognize that a lot of times people can be influenced, often unconsciously, by intuitive prejudices, and I don't think I can fault anyone for that. And, as @Sigabanoted, there can be legitimate extenuating circumstances. 

22 hours ago, Sigaba said:

This conclusion may be a bit of a stretch.

A department can be so overwhelmed from helping a member of the faculty who is struggling with addiction/dependency issues that it decides it needs a break from such complicated commitments for the time being.

A department could be under pressure to get graduate students to finish and it may understand, based upon experience, that complicated life stories impede upon its ability to meet performance goals.

I hadn't considered you first example, but, in my opinion, this would be a valid reason, and one that wouldn't reflect poorly on a department (indeed, it would seem to me that if this were the case, they would be invested in helping someone who needs it, and that's admirable on all fronts). I've heard from some of my professors that an alarming number of people in academia have struggled or are struggling with addiction, and helping someone who is currently in the throes of it can exhaust a lot of resources (monetary and emotional), so I can understand the desire to avoid extra (potential) complications. 

All in all, I recognize that addiction is complicated and a sensitive issue, but I'm going to be authentically me (without oversharing) and hope for the best. Thank you both for your input!