What are my chances? PHD and MA

[AnxiousPhilosopher]

First of all I will be applying to schools both in Canada and the US. My applications will mainly be to PhD programs and a few MA's.  For some perspective I am applying to Chicago, Cincinnati, Western and Toronto along with 2 other lower tier schools. I will how my overall application looks as of now below. I just want to know whether this is a competitive application or if I should lower my expectations of being accepted? Moreover, any feedback about my situation would be much appreciated. 

1.  My cumulative GPA is poor, with an overall, without including this year of course, is a 2.7 (in a 4.0 scale). It will likely go no higher than 3 after adding this year. Nonetheless, my last       two year GPA is pretty good at 3.9, this is including my prediction if I include this year of course. One of these courses is actually a graduate course I had permission to take in               which I got a 85 on. but I got a very low, but passing mark, in logic a few years ago. Some of these schools look at your overall GPA and some just the last 2 years.

2.  I have research experience with 2 funded research assistance positions on my CV and am a part of a lab (theoretical STEM research).

3. I just submitted my first, and only, paper that I co-wrote with a postdoc to a top tier journal in psychology. I am first author on the paper. My CV in my grad app will show that the          paper is submitted but, obviously, not say that it is accepted.

4. I have a posted accepted to The 27th Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, presented at 3 undergraduate conferences (the I organized), and have been awarded a $1500 leadership award by my university. 

5. I have extensive extracurricular experience. From student council to presidential positions in philosophy clubs. I have also organized 3 undergraduate philosophy conference, and         presented at all three of them. I have also directed and organized a 'real' conference with international speakers. I also conducted a dialogue style interview with a visiting scholar at      my university (who I brought). 

6. I will not be taking the GRE because it is not mandatory for these programs. 

7. I am not sure if this matters but I will be adding in my application that I have organized and lead 2 reading groups with graduate students. 

[somethingwitty]

Can't really speak to your qualifications because I'm applying right now, too, but you should know--assuming you're applying this cycle--that University of Chicago has suspended admissions due to the pandemic and won't bring new students in until Fall 2022 ?

[somethingwitty]

And it might help to look through some of the other "am I competitive/what are my chances/am I good enough/etc" threads on this forum to see what some people (i.e., those who are more qualified than me) have said in response to others, as I think their advice is pretty generalizable. This cycle is going to be decidedly shitty, so I wish you the best of luck in advance!

[PolPhil]

There's very little information on here that's actually indicative of your chances. GPA does not really matter very much, but your GPA in phil courses will be more important than your overall GPA. Your STEM research, publications, conferences, etc. are irrelevant, though it will probably work in your favor that you excelled in a STEM field (but this is a very minor advantage). Your extracurriculars and reading groups don't matter at all.

What does matter: do you have a polished writing sample in philosophy? It doesn't need to be publication-ready, but it does need to demonstrate that you can handle the literature and craft an argument beyond what was expected of you in undergrad. In the vast majority of cases, you shouldn't even consider a paper as a potential writing sample unless you got an A/A+ on it (depending on which is the highest grade on your scale). Next, do you have 2 or 3 letters of recommendation from faculty IN PHILOSOPHY that are going to speak to your abilities as a philosopher. Generally, you only want to ask professors that you know well (at least one seminar, a research assistantship, etc.) and who gave you an A/A+ (if you took a course with them). Everything else is peripheral.

Also, I don't know your life circumstances, but it might be worth looking into applying to more schools. It's normal for people with much better stats than you to apply to 10-20 programs. Like @somethingwitty said, Chicago isn't accepting applicants this year anyway. Toronto's acceptance rate is 4-5%. If I'm being honest, you seem like a much better MA applicant than a PhD applicant, so it may make more sense to focus your resources there. If you want to stay in Canada, I suggest you look at more 2-year MA programs that are funded and have great placement into PhD programs (e.g., SFU). In the states, there are also a number of funded MAs with great placement (NIU, UWM, etc.)

[CinciGrad]

Hi, I'm a 3rd year PhD student at the University of Cincinnati. I cannot tell you if you are competitive, but I can tell you that we admit a pretty wide range of people with different backgrounds. At least one student in the program joined with no philosophy background and one person was admitted last year who already holds a PhD in a different field. To echo some other sentiments, the non-GPA portions of your application will carry a lot more weight. When I visited UC, the professors I met referenced stuff from my writing sample, personal statement, and CV. Cincinnati does not get the huge influx of applicants that bigger schools like Chicago get, but it is still quite competitive. It's also hard to know what the applicant pool will look like this year because of the pandemic. On one hand, many people will put off applying this year meaning a less competitive pool. On the other hand, many schools are not taking applicants this year which may cause crowded effects at other schools (relative to student interest and such). Anyway, good luck in your application process!