2021 Application Discussion Thread

[CeruleanEgg913]

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I had a similar issue with Pitt where my letters status were submitted on the application portal, but on the application status portal, it showed them as missing. An admin reached out to me and asked me to have my letter writers send their letters directly to them, and they would upload them for me (which worked).

[PhilCoffee]

7 minutes ago, CeruleanEgg913 said:

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I had a similar issue with Pitt where my letters status were submitted on the application portal, but on the application status portal, it showed them as missing. An admin reached out to me and asked me to have my letter writers send their letters directly to them, and they would upload them for me (which worked).

Same problem, but nobody reached out to me. In my case, the portal still shows that a letter is missing, but the overall status shows a "complete" (it showed incomplete days ago). Just contacted Diana, who responed quickly and said nothing is missing. Weird.

[Outer Heaven]

I hope it does work out 

[anti-theorem]

I see on the spreadsheet that University of Georgia's actual date for sending out results was January 22nd.  Has anyone heard from them . . . I haven't.

Edited February 1, 2021 by anti-theorem

[MtnDuck]

20 minutes ago, anti-theorem said:

I see on the spreadsheet that University of Georgia's actual date for sending out results was January 22nd.  Has anyone hear from them . . . I haven't.

I don't think OP is on the forum (or minimally didn't post it to the results page). It was a direct report from the FB page though I think only one person reported hearing back and there were no other reports of a waitlist.

I just followed up with them and it's an early fellowship offer fwiw so I've updated the spreadsheet and the color-code!

[Kapol-in]

For everyone who has applied to UPitt, was wondering if you had the same confusions, I went to check on some UPitt stuff recently and was confused by an announcment on the graduate application page that I don't think I saw before:

"Admissions to Dietrich School Graduate Programs in Academic Year 2020-21
In response to the disruptions caused by the global pandemic, the following Ph.D., MFA, and MA programs in the Humanities and Social Sciences in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh are pausing admissions for fall 2021. This one-year intermission will enable us to devote our resources and attention to our continuing students. Graduate training and research are central to the mission of the Dietrich School and its departments. While we do not pause admissions lightly, we believe that in these uncertain times our paramount responsibility is to optimally support our current students’ success and wellbeing as they prepare for impactful careers in a fast-changing world."

First off, why does it say paused admissions for Fall 2021 and then says Academic Year of 2020-2021? If Fall 2021 admissions were paused wouldn't that be the year of 2021-2022? I have been in contact with Diana and she has responded normally so, unless this is a recent message, then this announcement is defunct?

[wwfrd]

I think it’s the case that Pitt had previously announced paused admissions for several of their programs, but not philosophy. I would be very surprised if they retroactively announced a pause on philosophy admissions. 

Also, it reads to me like they are announcing that the admissions process will be paused for the academic year 2020-2021, and thus this pause impacts programs beginning fall 2021.

[PhilCoffee]

I second that interpretation. Probably they mean the admissions that would be decided in 2020-2021 are paused, which result in no students getting admitted for Fall 2021.

[PolPhil]

42 minutes ago, Kapol-in said:

For everyone who has applied to UPitt, was wondering if you had the same confusions, I went to check on some UPitt stuff recently and was confused by an announcment on the graduate application page that I don't think I saw before:

"Admissions to Dietrich School Graduate Programs in Academic Year 2020-21
In response to the disruptions caused by the global pandemic, the following Ph.D., MFA, and MA programs in the Humanities and Social Sciences in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh are pausing admissions for fall 2021. This one-year intermission will enable us to devote our resources and attention to our continuing students. Graduate training and research are central to the mission of the Dietrich School and its departments. While we do not pause admissions lightly, we believe that in these uncertain times our paramount responsibility is to optimally support our current students’ success and wellbeing as they prepare for impactful careers in a fast-changing world."

First off, why does it say paused admissions for Fall 2021 and then says Academic Year of 2020-2021? If Fall 2021 admissions were paused wouldn't that be the year of 2021-2022? I have been in contact with Diana and she has responded normally so, unless this is a recent message, then this announcement is defunct?

Admissions for fall 2021 is this application cycle. We are all applying for fall 2021 admissions. Also, it's only paused for the programs that they listed

Edited February 1, 2021 by PolPhil

[Kapol-in]

1 hour ago, PolPhil said:

Admissions for fall 2021 is this application cycle. We are all applying for fall 2021 admissions. Also, it's only paused for the programs that they listed

 

1 hour ago, wwfrd said:

I think it’s the case that Pitt had previously announced paused admissions for several of their programs, but not philosophy. I would be very surprised if they retroactively announced a pause on philosophy admissions. 

Also, it reads to me like they are announcing that the admissions process will be paused for the academic year 2020-2021, and thus this pause impacts programs beginning fall 2021.

 

1 hour ago, PolPhil said:

Admissions for fall 2021 is this application cycle. We are all applying for fall 2021 admissions. Also, it's only paused for the programs that they listed

Perhaps it's the application anxiety getting to me but I could swear I read something about philosophy applications also being paused. On second read everything seems to be fine then.

[wwfrd]

32 minutes ago, Kapol-in said:

 

 

Perhaps it's the application anxiety getting to me but I could swear I read something about philosophy applications also being paused. On second read everything seems to be fine then.

The anxiety certainly gets to me, too. 

[Outer Heaven]

I wonder why would they even wade through 2x-4x the applications for two spots year after year?. All the meanwhile it is more often the case that the number of phd dropouts is increasing  at the same rate. I would rather have them pausing the applications just to open up spots to create a steady cohort. 

[salminbel28]

It looks like Jake Quilty-Dunn recently left the University of Oxford and is now an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis. (WashU? WUSTL?)

[eleatics]

Has anyone here not yet heard back from CUNY? Anyone know what's up with that? There's been some discussion about it in the FB group but no clear consensus which is why I'm posting here!

[A_bad_philosopher]

7 hours ago, eleatics said:

Has anyone here not yet heard back from CUNY? Anyone know what's up with that? There's been some discussion about it in the FB group but no clear consensus which is why I'm posting here!

I am in the same position. People solicited and apparently the only response they sent back to the soliciting applicant was "we are still deliberating and we don't know yet sorry" so CUNY is really, really taking their sweet time. I guess I'm not giving you a determined answer but just kinda venting about the same situation I am in ?

[Hfdvkihgfcjkkvf]

Has anyone else still not heard anything from Berkeley? I am assuming a rejection, but still have not received any news from them 

[StringOfSymbols]

4 hours ago, Hfdvkihgfcjkkvf said:

Has anyone else still not heard anything from Berkeley? I am assuming a rejection, but still have not received any news from them 

I got my rejection 3/22

[pinkgradient]

This thread seems pretty dead, but I didn't want to make another thread for this complaint. I really wish people would behave better on the survey page. It has been overrun by (a) people begging others to decline offers, which is not really cool, and (b) people being very nasty to those who do (a), which is even less cool. Beyond the fact that neither of those things contribute to the obvious purpose of the results page, it has just made me, uh, embarrassed I guess? Maybe it was dumb of me to expect that prospective PhD students in philosophy would be any different from any given group of anonymous twenty-somethings on the internet, but Jesus guys, the way people are acting on that page is beyond immature. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by pinkgradient

[PHILOKEV]

3 hours ago, pinkgradient said:

This thread seems pretty dead, but I didn't want to make another thread for this complaint. I really wish people would behave better on the survey page. It has been overrun by (a) people begging others to decline offers, which is not really cool, and (b) people being very nasty to those who do (a), which is even less cool. Beyond the fact that neither of those things contribute to the obvious purpose of the results page, it has just made me, uh, embarrassed I guess? Maybe it was dumb of me to expect that prospective PhD students in philosophy would be any different from any given group of anonymous twenty-somethings on the internet, but Jesus guys, the way people are acting on that page is beyond immature. 

Right?  It is almost as if these scorned applicants are stepping all over each other to demonstrate that they are, in fact, NOT PhD material.  Way to go!  In our cognitive discomfort, let us go ahead and validate the suspicions of the institutions that have shut us out. Nice!

[eleatics]

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

[Potato Cactus]

28 minutes ago, eleatics said:

Wishing luck to everyone making decisions and/or waiting to hear back from waitlists this week -- it's almost over! ? 

YES! More positivity, please!! 

[Potato Cactus]

Hey Peeps, 

Is there an etiquette on contacting departments you are waitlisted at to inquire about chances of admission? Do you only do this on April 15th? Do you do this at all? Should you do this if you have already contacted them in early April to let them know you'd like to keep close contact? 

Thank you all for your guidance! 

(\_/)

( *_*) 

/>❤️

[Olórin]

1 hour ago, Potato Cactus said:

Hey Peeps, 

Is there an etiquette on contacting departments you are waitlisted at to inquire about chances of admission? Do you only do this on April 15th? Do you do this at all? Should you do this if you have already contacted them in early April to let them know you'd like to keep close contact? 

Thank you all for your guidance! 

(\_/)

( *_*) 

/>❤️

I’d say go for it. They might be able to tell you if x number of admits have accepted their initial offers, or they might give you an anticipated time that you might receive an update. More likely they’ll just tell you that they can’t tell you anything, but it’s worth a try. 

[HomoLudens]

On 4/11/2021 at 8:16 PM, pinkgradient said:

This thread seems pretty dead, but I didn't want to make another thread for this complaint. I really wish people would behave better on the survey page. It has been overrun by (a) people begging others to decline offers, which is not really cool, and (b) people being very nasty to those who do (a), which is even less cool. Beyond the fact that neither of those things contribute to the obvious purpose of the results page, it has just made me, uh, embarrassed I guess? Maybe it was dumb of me to expect that prospective PhD students in philosophy would be any different from any given group of anonymous twenty-somethings on the internet, but Jesus guys, the way people are acting on that page is beyond immature. 

I generally don't advocate for increased moderator activity since it typically violates the principles of free speech that online forums are founded upon. However, I do wish there was a way for some active members of the forum to delete those survey postings without having to go through GradCafe's process. Anonymity is a good thing IMO, but when it is in service of breaking the explicit rules and disrupting the function of the site, then something needs to be done.

[HomoLudens]

Just now, HomoLudens said:

I generally don't advocate for increased moderator activity since it typically violates the principles of free speech that online forums are founded upon. However, I do wish there was a way for some active members of the forum to delete those survey postings without having to go through GradCafe's process. Anonymity is a good thing IMO, but when it is in service of breaking the explicit rules and disrupting the function of the site, then something needs to be done.

As an asshole myself, I think one should be able to freely post on the forum whatever BS self-pitying they want. People just need to keep it off of the survey.