2013 Applicants (Philosophy)

[superhamdi]

This is for incontradiction and any others waiting on UCSB. I saw this on their dept website after emailing their grad secretary (so I feel like an idiot):

 

 

"We our pleased to welcome five new graduate students this year: 

Michael Augustin, Alexander Dunn, Jeonggyu Lee, Juliana Lima, and Zachary Rentz."

 

So, I think it's safe to assume the rest of us are out of the picture. Congrats to those ^ folks!!

[incontradiction]

I think, since those people already have profiles up on the site, that they may be the admitted students last year.

But I'm probably just being optimistic.

[xaelyn]

I've accepted at Brandeis, and am about to email GSU to decline their offer.

GL to whoever gets bumped up at GSU, and may the Force be with us all.

[wishfulthinker85]

2014 Applicant

 

I applied to M.A. philosophy programs last year to 4 schools and they were all rejects. I am looking to reapply for fall 2014. i'm going to retake the gre but only to get a better verbal score; my math was fine and i heard you can take your highest scores from different tests now if you took it within the last five years. i'm revising my writing sample and sop in addition to getting a third philosophy professor to recommend me (i only had 2 philosophy recommendations and 1 english recommendation last time). i might also consider having my new boss write something for me as i now work at a law firm. but what i really need help with is picking schools with good ethics and moral philosophy programs (esp. ones that are safety schools that take more than 1-2 people).

 

last time i applied to western michigan, mi state, colorado state, and bowling green. that was a mistake because that's far too few schools. this time i'm going to apply to 10-20 schools and pray one of them takes me.

 

i think i might reapply to michigan state and western since they are located in-state and also bowling green. i added wayne state even though it's not my first choice, miami uni in ohio, and university of minnesota. i would've added uni of michigan to the list of places to apply if their M.A. program offered funding since i studied as an undergrad there. i'd like to apply to princeton and brown as well but even though i have relatives who were alumni of the schools, i'm not sure my chances are that great. my gpa in my major which was philosophy was 3.2, but my overall was below a 3.0 due to pursuing another major prior to philosophy that i hated and wasn't very good at apparently. this is also the reason i chose to apply to M.A. programs v. PhD programs. i figured my switching majors during my last year and the gpa would go against me getting into any quality PhD programs. 

 

any advice as to how to pick good schools specializing in ethics and moral philosophy for M.A. programs would be appreciated. thank you.

Thanks very much. I will take your advice.

[MKEPhil]

Those are last year's applicants. 

This is for incontradiction and any others waiting on UCSB. I saw this on their dept website after emailing their grad secretary (so I feel like an idiot):

 

 

"We our pleased to welcome five new graduate students this year: 

Michael Augustin, Alexander Dunn, Jeonggyu Lee, Juliana Lima, and Zachary Rentz."

 

So, I think it's safe to assume the rest of us are out of the picture. Congrats to those ^ folks!!

Edited March 27, 2013 by MKEPhil

[lovephil]

Any other Canadians here waiting to hear from SSHRC? If I win one, it could change my decision. I'm getting super antsy.

[superhamdi]

MKEPhil -- contradiction: you're right, I remember reading a similar announcement when I was putting in my application. But I just thought that there's no way that would still be the same one. Right before I posted that I had emailed the grad secretary anyway and still haven't heard anything back from her.

[Phil2013]

Just re-sent my inquiries to CUNY and Texas, and Sally Jackman of UT promptly replied with a rejection. Finally.

[Phil2013]

Just re-sent my inquiries to CUNY and Texas, and Sally Jackman of UT promptly replied with a rejection. Finally.

And Stephen Neale just told me I was waitlisted. Hmm...

[superhamdi]

Congrats Phil2013!! Fan of that program. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

[lovephil]

And Stephen Neale just told me I was waitlisted. Hmm...

 

Interesting- I'm waitlisted at UT Austin and rejected from CUNY. Fit matters so much. Lesson.. learned.

[Phil2013]

Okay, so I've been coy about my admissions, but now that all my results are in, I'll go ahead and post my stats:

 

Accepted: Indiana (Bloomington), U of Illinois Chicago, U of Iowa, U of British Columbia

Wait-listed: CUNY Graduate Center, UC Riverside, Boston U

Rejected: Harvard, Pittsburgh, UC Berkeley, Chicago, Texas (Austin), WashU, Colorado Boulder, Northwestern

 

I visited Indiana last weekend, and was pretty set to commit there, but I just found out about this waitlist at CUNY and it's throwing me for a loop. It's hard to turn down a Top 15 program in NYC, but I don't know a whole lot about the program, whereas I know a lot about Indiana now and I know and really like the work some of the professors do. There are a lot of confusing factors - CUNY has 45 listed faculty, 100 listed grad students, and its PhD funding seems a bit inadequate for living in NYC. Also, they don't seem to have as much an emphasis on history of early analytic as Indiana does. While I have other interests and do want to branch out to contemporary work, and CUNY would be a great place to do so as phil of lang is one of those interests, I'm a bit in the dark about the program and how I can relate what I'm interested in to them.

 

Any of you have thoughts about this?

[incontradiction]

I looked over CUNY's recent graduates and placement pages awhile ago, and I was struck by a few things. One, they don't have a spectacular placement record. Two, a lot of their faculty doesn't seem to advise dissertations. In fact, I don't remember seeing a lot of the bigger names listed as advisors.

[incontradiction]

However, those facts mean little without comparison to your other options. That's definitely relevant.

[Phil2013]

I looked over CUNY's recent graduates and placement pages awhile ago, and I was struck by a few things. One, they don't have a spectacular placement record. Two, a lot of their faculty doesn't seem to advise dissertations. In fact, I don't remember seeing a lot of the bigger names listed as advisors.

Right, I noticed that too. My worry is that the program is too big to substantiate a good placement record, and that it is deceiving the extent to which all the professors listed actually do teaching there.

[whateverquine]

Hey all--

 

Anyone know anything about Purdue? I'm waitlisted there, and I'm surprised to see no movement on the results page yet. I'm not overly worried as I have funded offers elsewhere, but Purdue is a school I'd certainly consider. Almost all of the other schools where I'm waitlisted, even the ones where I didn't expect to see much movement because of their high ranking, have gotten around to me already.  Not that I expect to get a funded offer--I feel lucky (and that's really what it is--luck!) I've been offered anything at all. Still, given that Purdue is not top-50, I thought I'd see some movement on the results page by now.

[MKEPhil]

Full disclosure: I'm on the waitlist for Indiana, though with different AOI.  Funnily, our lists look rather similar.

 

I didn't apply to CUNY, partially because I cannot bring myself to live in NYC.  That said, they have a remarkably diverse faculty, but only a moderate placement record.  Also, if the difference in your AOI is significant, it may be much better to go with Indiana to suit your interests.  I would worry about how much the faculty teaches or interacts with grad students with such a large program as CUNY.

 

I'm in a similar boat myself.  I was accepted at UCSB with a really nice package.  However, I'm waiting on Indiana.  Both suit my interests really well (Epistemology/Language/Metaphysics) but Indiana's funding would require 5 years of teaching.  Both have similar placement records and I'm just having a hard time leaning toward UCSB mostly because of the rankings. I've heard really good things about UCSB's faculty and atmosphere that haven't been matched by Indiana or other places.  If anyone has any insights to my particular dilemma, I'd appreciate it too.

[superhamdi]

Hey all--

 

Anyone know anything about Purdue? I'm waitlisted there, and I'm surprised to see no movement on the results page yet. I'm not overly worried as I have funded offers elsewhere, but Purdue is a school I'd certainly consider. Almost all of the other schools where I'm waitlisted, even the ones where I didn't expect to see much movement because of their high ranking, have gotten around to me already.  Not that I expect to get a funded offer--I feel lucky (and that's really what it is--luck!) I've been offered anything at all. Still, given that Purdue is not top-50, I thought I'd see some movement on the results page by now.

 

I can't tell you much about their department. But I can tell you a lot about the town/living there. PM if you want info.

[superhamdi]

MKEPhil- Congrats on the UCSB admit, that's one of my top choices. Ultimately, the point of rankings is more or less to correlate with job prospects, unless you care about quantifying prestige. If the placement record is similar go with the program that you like better. Obviously, faculty relationships and AOI are of utmost importance in grad school, as it decides the trajectory of your career with little room for deviation. Teaching load is an important factor too. That's a considerable amount of time taken away from your own studies every week, sort of like a part-time job. I turned down an offer bc I knew the teaching load would be too much (current students admitted to it).

 

My sister goes to IUB and I have a lot of friends down there so I've spent a considerable amount of time there.  It's an artsy, counterculture community- smart people, great food, amazing music, things to do. The land/campus is beautiful, weather's nice (esp in summer), and the cost of living is extremely palatable. I also spent some time at the department meeting with faculty and grad students a few years ago. The faculty is an accomplished, encouraging group on the whole and they hold a summer logic colloquium. If I remember correctly, professors from 5 or so relevant fields make themselves available as well (I.e. Math, linguistics). I can't remember if they are officially part of the phil. faculty or not, nonetheless they are a part of the program. My impression was that they invest a lot in their relationships and interactions with students. Most students reciprocated this appreciation. Both faculty and students were extremely kind and willing to offer time and advice when I went to visit as a clueless undergrad. Ask the DGS to put you in touch with current students, they're often helpful. The only reason I didn't apply (not that I would have gotten in) is because my sister goes there and would hate me if I did.

 

BUT, if location is important to you, there's really no contest for a sweeping campus on the coast of SoCal. 

 

Good luck, and congrats!

Edited March 31, 2013 by superhamdi

[dunkeaters]

MKEPhil-I'm a philosophy undergraduate at UCSB. I can't speak for graduate life here, but I can a bit on the staff/atmosphere. 

 

On the particular professors in your areas: Prof. Brueckner is very well respected in his field (gets paid the highest salary on staff), and is one of the most laid back professors I've ever seen. He gave lectures in sweatpants and a t-shirt, and never seemed stressed or bothered in the slightest. Prof. Anderson doesn't take his lower division classes seriously, but I have no experience in his advanced classes/graduate seminars. Prof. Rescorla has a reputation for being very difficult and demanding on his students. Professors Salmon and Robertson (a couple, I believe) are decently engaging considering the topics they teach.

, 

The staff is under-sized, but it's primarily undergraduates who've taken the brunt of it (the faculty prioritizes their graduate students). The atmosphere on campus is great (it helps being on a beach with a lagoon), but the town directly adjacent to campus (Isla Vista) is loud, and there are parties almost every Thursday/Friday/Saturday.

 

Given all that, I do highly recommend UCSB. I love the campus, the professors are generally very nice and engaging, and the grad students generally seem happy to be here (though I'd recommend contacting some). If it's relevant, one plus side for UCSB is some, though not all, of the more experienced graduate students get to teach their own courses (particularly introductory ethics, critical thinking, and summer classes). 

[Phil2013]

My sister goes to IUB and I have a lot of friends down there so I've spent a considerable amount of time there.  It's an artsy, counterculture community- smart people, great food, amazing music, things to do. The land/campus is beautiful, weather's nice (esp in summer), and the cost of living is extremely palatable. I also spent some time at the department meeting with faculty and grad students a few years ago. The faculty is an accomplished, encouraging group on the whole and they hold a summer logic colloquium. If I remember correctly, professors from 5 or so relevant fields make themselves available as well (I.e. Math, linguistics). I can't remember if they are officially part of the phil. faculty or not, nonetheless they are a part of the program. My impression was that they invest a lot in their relationships and interactions with students. Most students reciprocated this appreciation. Both faculty and students were extremely kind and willing to offer time and advice when I went to visit as a clueless undergrad. Ask the DGS to put you in touch with current students, they're often helpful. The only reason I didn't apply (not that I would have gotten in) is because my sister goes there and would hate me if I did.

 

These are the reasons I'm excited about Indiana - I definitely picked up on all of this during my visit. The only reason Indiana wasn't a shoo-in for me was because Bloomington is very similar to where I'm coming from, and I was looking forward to grad school as an opportunity to live somewhere different, perhaps in a bigger, more exciting place. New York City would definitely fit that criteria, but as I've mentioned, I have worries about the nature of the department, and the money offered. $25,000 a year to live in NYC is chump change - it's not very exciting to live in a big city if you can't afford to do the occasional big city things...

 

I think I'm going to try to contact a grad student there and try to contact Stephen Neale again, because otherwise I'm tempted to take myself off of the list if I'm worried and unsure about what I'm getting into. It's just that going to a top 15 program in a great city seems a bit irrational to pass up without that info. I feel like I'm in a bind here.

[superhamdi]

If it's relevant, one plus side for UCSB is some, though not all, of the more experienced graduate students get to teach their own courses (particularly introductory ethics, critical thinking, and summer classes). 

 

This is the case at most programs for students in their third year and beyond.

[superhamdi]

Phil, I'm from NY and there are homeless people that make more than 25k lol, sorry, but it's true. That said, if locale is a factor then there's nothing in the world that compares to NYC if you don't mind living in a paper bag. Spending your mid 20s there is a dream come true for a lot of folks. It IS expensive to do the fun stuff, depending on what you consider "fun". Lots of tourist places like museums offer free admission to students but 2 nights out on the town could cost you almost a week salary fairly easily. But it's not just the benefit of the city itself. You've got the Hamptons/eastern LI, Atlantic City, CT and beautiful New England more or less at your fingertips. FWIW, that also means lots of networking within the philosophy world, since you're close to Rutgers, Columbia, NYU, plus the innumerable schools in New England. Keep in mind, though, that living in NYC can be *overwhelming* coming from a small town.

 

Risk/cost/benefit analysis my friend. Man I wish I was in your shoes!! Best of luck and congrats!

[philosophia3]

Just got accepted off the of the wait-list to Michigan State's PhD program. I'm the very top on the list for a five-year fully funded package. If you were admitted and plan on declining the offer, I beg you to please do so asap. I don't know who you are/where you live, but I send you virtual hugs and love. Would mean the world to me. I would likely commit to this offer if posed...

[iamtheother]

Enjoyed my classes there.

Edited April 3, 2013 by iamtheother