Applying to phil PhD from zoom MA?

[hogsfrombeyond]

So, I'm doing a masters in philosophy right now and it his obviously all been online. This means that when I apply to PhD programs this fall, I will only have "known" the professors I am getting recs from for a couple of months. Of the 3 profs, 1 will not be teaching in fall 2021 and another is moving across the country. I have as good of a zoom rapport with these profs as one can via zoom, but the whole situation is awkward, and I've been told that the department is a bit standoffish in normal times too. How do you think people reviewing grad apps will deal with this kind of situation? Will it look bad/weird?

(I'll have my MA in May 2022, which is why I will be applying in the fall)

[PHILOKEV]

6 hours ago, hogsfrombeyond said:

So, I'm doing a masters in philosophy right now and it his obviously all been online. This means that when I apply to PhD programs this fall, I will only have "known" the professors I am getting recs from for a couple of months. Of the 3 profs, 1 will not be teaching in fall 2021 and another is moving across the country. I have as good of a zoom rapport with these profs as one can via zoom, but the whole situation is awkward, and I've been told that the department is a bit standoffish in normal times too. How do you think people reviewing grad apps will deal with this kind of situation? Will it look bad/weird?

(I'll have my MA in May 2022, which is why I will be applying in the fall)

In my case, I learned much later that the weight of one of my recommenders was the difference in my acceptance into the department.  The submission of your best writing sample, along with the reputation of your recommender is going to be an important detail.  I do not believe that the move to online distance platform is going to impact you, particularly given the fact of the pandemic and how most, if not all, of the class of 2022 are going to be in the same boat.  I wouldn't worry about that.  It is probably baked into the application considerations for that year.

However, I would get a jump on contacting your anticipated recommenders.  If they are rather shifty, you may want to make sure that you have them in the bag, so to speak.  Also, when you do apply, do not make the mistake of applying to every T30 school that you can.  Makes sure that you have safety schools, those schools that are ranked lower. We all appraise ourselves very high.  But that limit situation is lurking.  Unless, of course, you will only accept offers from a T30 university, or if you do have the known pedigree, gpa, and GRE scores to get you in.  In that case, I say do what you know you can do.

But I digress.  Perhaps you can share your interests with your prospective recommenders and get their feedback.  It may be helpful to find out if your recommenders have good relations with certain faculty or departments at other institutions.  Find out about these institutions and go from there.  I just got lucky last year and applied to a university where one of my recommenders is worshipped.  Of course, I did have an awesome writing sample by that time as well.  I believe - again, in my case - that it was a confluence of those two things.  Good luck to you!  ?