UK Philosophy Programs

[dasein69]

Hi There, 

I am currently an undergrad at NYU studying philosophy. I will likely end with a 3.6 overall / 3.5 philosophy (NYU phil classes are damn hard...)

I'd like to eventually get my Ph.D. but I feel it is wise to apply to some MAs first. Have people had positive experiences at UCL, Kings, LSE? I seem to meet their requirements with my grades, so I am inclined to apply.

[musicdegree4me]

I did a masters at Edinburgh (distinction in the programme and on my thesis) and am now accepted to the Oxford DPhil. 

 

I would rank the top UK masters programs as follows:

     1) Oxford BPhil

     2) Cambridge MPhil

     3) LSE

     4) Edinburgh/KCL/St. Andrews

     7) UCL

 

Interspersing these with US programs I would have a top 5 that looks something like this:
 

     1) Oxford BPhil

     2) Tufts 

     3) Cambridge MPhil

     4) Brandeis

     5) LSE

 

Tufts and Brandeis have the advantage of offering significant funding. You can certainly get funding at the others, but it is unlikely for American students, especially with your profile (e.g. lower than a 3.9X GPA). 

Edited March 10, 2021 by musicdegree4me

[A_bad_philosopher]

12 minutes ago, musicdegree4me said:

Tufts and Brandeis have the advantage of offering significant funding

This is interesting because even the 'significant' funding in the eyes of a person who did a masters in the UK is actually deemed to be insufficient by many masters applicants in the States. That is, they do not offer full funding and one has to still pay around thousands of dollars to pursue the degree; this means that they do not necessarily have 'advantage' over other programs such as UWisconsin Milwaukee, Northern Illinois University, and Georgia State University, which are the three best masters programs that offer full funding + tuition remission. They also all have excellent placement records (even though they might not be as good as Tufts -- they really are at another level). 

(Perhaps this is not the place to discuss this because the topic is 'UK Philosophy programs' so I apologize if this is an irrelevant post that the OP would find unhelpful) 

[musicdegree4me]

18 minutes ago, A_bad_philosopher said:

This is interesting because even the 'significant' funding in the eyes of a person who did a masters in the UK is actually deemed to be insufficient by many masters applicants in the States. That is, they do not offer full funding and one has to still pay around thousands of dollars to pursue the degree; this means that they do not necessarily have 'advantage' over other programs such as UWisconsin Milwaukee, Northern Illinois University, and Georgia State University, which are the three best masters programs that offer full funding + tuition remission. They also all have excellent placement records (even though they might not be as good as Tufts -- they really are at another level). 

(Perhaps this is not the place to discuss this because the topic is 'UK Philosophy programs' so I apologize if this is an irrelevant post that the OP would find unhelpful) 

I am just ranking them based on my observation of how well they tend to place in the USA / desirability assuming all things are equal. This also doesn't take into account departmental strengths such that LSE is going to rank higher if one wishes to do political philosophy  and Edinburgh will rank higher if someone wants to do philosophy of mind and so on. And, like all rankings, they are subject to my limited knowledge and biases etc and should be taken with a huge grain of salt, though I think an informed starting point. Certainly the programs you mentioned are also very strong (add Texas Tech, Talbot for phil of religion, SFU, etc) and each student will have to take their unique interests, personal / financial circumstances, and risk tolerance in making decisions. The Philosophical Gourmet has a ranking of MA programs that I would encourage folks to look at. 

Since the OP is an american I thought it helpful to try to place the UK programmes in the context of american programs. 

[dasein69]

27 minutes ago, A_bad_philosopher said:

This is interesting because even the 'significant' funding in the eyes of a person who did a masters in the UK is actually deemed to be insufficient by many masters applicants in the States. That is, they do not offer full funding and one has to still pay around thousands of dollars to pursue the degree; this means that they do not necessarily have 'advantage' over other programs such as UWisconsin Milwaukee, Northern Illinois University, and Georgia State University, which are the three best masters programs that offer full funding + tuition remission. They also all have excellent placement records (even though they might not be as good as Tufts -- they really are at another level). 

(Perhaps this is not the place to discuss this because the topic is 'UK Philosophy programs' so I apologize if this is an irrelevant post that the OP would find unhelpful) 

 

3 minutes ago, musicdegree4me said:

I am just ranking them based on my observation of how well they tend to place in the USA / desirability assuming all things are equal. This also doesn't take into account departmental strengths such that LSE is going to rank higher if one wishes to do political philosophy  and Edinburgh will rank higher if someone wants to do philosophy of mind and so on. And, like all rankings, they are subject to my limited knowledge and biases etc and should be taken with a huge grain of salt, though I think an informed starting point. Certainly the programs you mentioned are also very strong (add Texas Tech, Talbot for phil of religion, SFU, etc) and each student will have to take their unique interests, personal / financial circumstances, and risk tolerance in making decisions. The Philosophical Gourmet has a ranking of MA programs that I would encourage folks to look at. 

Since the OP is an american I thought it helpful to try to place the UK programmes in the context of american programs. 

Thank you for the feedback. I'm not as concerned with funding, as I have an external scholarship lined up. I am purely interested in getting into the best school for my credentials. All these programs mark 2:1 as their entry requirement, which I am (supposedly) good for (2:1 is like a 3.5, correct?). 

[musicdegree4me]

1 hour ago, dasein69 said:

 

Thank you for the feedback. I'm not as concerned with funding, as I have an external scholarship lined up. I am purely interested in getting into the best school for my credentials. All these programs mark 2:1 as their entry requirement, which I am (supposedly) good for (2:1 is like a 3.5, correct?). 

I think a 3.6 from NYU gives you a shot at any of the listed programmes and it's worth applying to see where things shake out. 

[A_bad_philosopher]

45 minutes ago, dasein69 said:

 

Thank you for the feedback. I'm not as concerned with funding, as I have an external scholarship lined up. I am purely interested in getting into the best school for my credentials. All these programs mark 2:1 as their entry requirement, which I am (supposedly) good for (2:1 is like a 3.5, correct?). 

I think the definition of 2:1 might differ based on institutions so you should double check with the individual institutions you are planning on applying. 

[musicdegree4me]

USA/UK designations don't quite play perfectly well together. For instance, a UK student can earn a first class degree (roughly equivalent to a 4.0) without earning an A equivalent (a mark of 70) in all of their courses. So, a UK student might earn marks of 65,65,65,75,75,75 and average a 70 and therefore earn a first class degree. This is because the UK system goes to 100 but a 70 is an A, so in effect you get credit for A+'s in a way that you don't in the US college system. Because of this, sometimes a program considers a 3.8 equivalent to a first class degree and sometimes they want to see a 4.0. 

A 2.1 is roughly equivalent to a 3.3 - 3.79, but there is variance from program to program. As a general rule, for the better programs a 3.6 is the threshold and 3.7 starts to be pretty competitive, but I wouldn't take any of this as hard and fast (e.g. someone with a 3.3 or 3.4 might still be admitted, though of course the odds are much lower), as is always the case with competitive admissions.