2013 Applicants (Philosophy)

[philosophia3]

Oregon has told me I'm being considered for the M.A. For those who haven't heard back yet, this probably the reason.

Same here. It was an encouraging e-mail. I love the program. If admitted to the MA, I would seriously consider going. I hope I'm accepted! 

[LawrencevonBuskirk]

Should I immediately reject an offer I know I'm going to reject?

 

Yes.

[anon530]

Should I immediately reject an offer I know I'm going to reject?

 

YES! 

Edited February 18, 2013 by anon530

[PhilosophyHopeful2013]

Should I immediately reject an offer I know I'm going to reject?

 

I would think it over for 24 hours and then reject it.  But if you're absolutely sure, I think you should reject it ASAP.

[hasbeen]

Should I immediately reject an offer I know I'm going to reject?

Yes. For that program's sake and for ours lol.

[philosophia3]

Yes. For that program's sake and for ours lol.

 

Lol. Amen to that. Please, reject it if you know you're going to reject. 

[MKEPhil]

Should I immediately reject an offer I know I'm going to reject?

Yes, with the caveat that you should be absolutely sure on the details of the offer you are taking over the rejected offer.  You should have financial information and an offer in writing before you deny anything.  I'm kind of in the same situation, but am waiting to hear details on funding before making any decisions.

[superhamdi]

Your inquiries gave me such hope, for some reason. Though I don't know why. Alas, Loyola is not interested in me, as is nowhere else apparently. Again though, my stats are so miserably low.

 

Do NOT fear! So far, the acceptance stats (for some very strong programs) on the survey page have included GPAs of 2.97, 3.1, 3.32, 3.4, 3.51, 3.53, while turning down perfect scores. 

 

Numbers aren't everything! There can be redeeming qualities to any application. I'm in your boat.

[introspectiveopacity]

Do NOT fear! So far, the acceptance stats (for some very strong programs) on the survey page have included GPAs of 2.97, 3.1, 3.32, 3.4, 3.51, 3.53, while turning down perfect scores.

 

How many of those are undergrad GPAs from people in MA programs?

[superhamdi]

How many of those are undergrad GPAs from people in MA programs?

 

 

Looking back cursorily, just 1---- 3.1 Most of them are from the few most recent survey pages. I wasn't intending on including scores of those with MAs.

Edited February 19, 2013 by superhamdi

[introspectiveopacity]

Looking back cursorily, just 1---- 3.1 Most of them are from the few most recent survey pages. I wasn't intending on including scores of those with MAs.

 

Hmm, of course, since the form does not include an MA gpa question, it's possible that people with MAs are listing their undergrad gpas without noting that they have MAs.

[iamtheother]

The self-reporting is obviously limited in these regards. I have also noted the lower than perfect GPA's and GRE's with some modicum of inspiration.

[PhilosophyHopeful2013]

Someone just posted an acceptance by email from Loyola Chicago.  Anyone want to claim?

[hasbeen]

Someone just posted an acceptance by email from Loyola Chicago.  Anyone want to claim?

 

I wish.  I just recently heard from the DGS that they were actually meeting late this afternoon (as opposed to mid-week, like the chair said), and they were hoping to finalize decisions.

[PhilosophyHopeful2013]

I wish.  I just recently heard from the DGS that they were actually meeting late this afternoon (as opposed to mid-week, like the chair said), and they were hoping to finalize decisions.

 

Well here's to hoping for some good luck for us.  Hopefully all the emails weren't sent out today/tonight.

[hasbeen]

Well here's to hoping for some good luck for us.  Hopefully all the emails weren't sent out today/tonight.

 

That's my hope, that the rest will be sent out tomorrow morning.

[insertphilosophypunhere]

Hi all,

 

I'll claim the Loyola admission. I've been a lurker here for a few weeks, and this is my first good news. I got the e-mail this afternoon from Victoria Wike. TAship with five years of funding.

[anon530]

Hi all,

 

I'll claim the Loyola admission. I've been a lurker here for a few weeks, and this is my first good news. I got the e-mail this afternoon from Victoria Wike. TAship with five years of funding.

 

congrats on the offer! you said this is your first good news, have you had any 'bad' news i.e. rejections, so far? 

[wideawake42]

For the record, I just heard back from the first of the four programs I applied to, and it was a hearty acceptance, and I had a 2.98 undergrad GPA. It's true that I had a MA GPA of 3.89, but my MA is in another discipline. Some programs care a LOT more about the writing sample and rec letters than they do about those numbers. So, fear not! 

[diarrhea]

The self-reporting is obviously limited in these regards. I have also noted the lower than perfect GPA's and GRE's with some modicum of inspiration.

 

That's interesting! As someone with a high GPA and decent scores, these have been a point of confusion and frustration for me. I have been sent into a tizzy of doubt about the more subjective elements of my application, especially having been rejected from an MA program that to which I was assured was a perfect fit and I had a high probability of acceptance. I am an ever-growing puddle of insecurity on the floor of my department.*

 

 

*It should be noted that this isn't far off from my base-line. 

Edited February 19, 2013 by diarrhea

[Quodlibet]

That's interesting! As someone with a high GPA and decent scores, these have been a point of confusion and frustration for me. I have been sent into a tizzy of doubt about the more subjective elements of my application, especially having been rejected from an MA program that to which I was assured was a perfect fit and I had a high probability of acceptance. I am an ever-growing puddle of insecurity on the floor of my department.*

 

 

*It should be noted that this isn't far off from my base-line. 

 

Yeah, they should really have an option to enter one's Master's GPA on the results page. It also doesn't help things that many of the GRE verbal and quantitative scores are reversed on the results page, because for some strange reason the entry form asks for the Q score first, and people are just used to entering their V score first.

[PhilosophyHopeful2013]

I saw that someone emailed Loyola and found out that they were rejected.  I emailed Dr. Wike, and I received this response:

 

"Mr. PhilosophyHopeful2013,

 

We are in the process of making first offers now....as well as recording refusals.  In some cases, it may be weeks before a decision is noted...as we wait to hear back from our first offers.  If they refuse, then we will extend offers to others."

 

I guess that's somewhat positive that I wasn't rejected immediately?  Who knows...

 

[CanadianStudent84]

Can anyone here claim the Pittsburgh waitlist? I saw you were international: could you say where you're from? What was your writing sample on?

[iamtheother]

That's interesting! As someone with a high GPA and decent scores, these have been a point of confusion and frustration for me. I have been sent into a tizzy of doubt about the more subjective elements of my application, especially having been rejected from an MA program that to which I was assured was a perfect fit and I had a high probability of acceptance. I am an ever-growing puddle of insecurity on the floor of my department.*

 

 

*It should be noted that this isn't far off from my base-line. 

 

Georgia State's MA program was one that I was told would be quite helpful to me, given my small undergraduate department and the self-advertised interests of GSU's program aligning to some of my interests. Thus far, it's the only rejection that really hit hard for me.

[superhamdi]

I would imagine those with MAs post that GPA under the "notes" section but of course, that's just me.

 

It's good news and bad news, but an undergraduate GPA isn't entirely representative of an applicant's ability (arguably). Does it really make a difference if they played too much beer pong when they were 18 and flunked Geology? IF you have an MA to boot, that can definitely show that a student has reformed and/or maintained commitment to academia, but many applicants don't.

 

Of course some weight must be given to GPA, which is why many schools put more emphasis on your last few semesters and major GPA. The problem I think adcoms have with overall GPAs is that, for the most part, anyone who tries hard enough can maintain a good one, thus it represents work ethic/strategy more than "natural ability". Would a student with a high overall who has taken many lower division and "easy" elective courses look better than one with a lower GPA, but more upper division and/or philosophy courses? While they are looking for motivated applicants, philosophers are elitists and want to be sure they're choosing students who they believe are somehow inherently a cut above the others. I imagine that 3/4 of all applicants have high scores, so they need to rely heavily on something else that can discern students better, something that they themselves can judge vs scores given by other parties and that is uniquely, concretely representative of the student, generally the SOP or writing sample.

 

Such is the double-edged sword of subjectivity in this crapshoot of a process! Generally, I have faith that the worrywarts who are stalking the forum are perhaps a bit more invested than others and have probably put more effort into the controllable parts of the app and will end up being admitted. 

 

edited to add: As an example of how totally arbitrary the whole thing is, a professor of mine actually told me that a LOR from an eminent philosopher, who does continental, would actually hurt my chances at the schools to which I'm applying (mostly analytic--have some of those letters too)! This guy is someone I became close with in my early undergrad career, when I was still exploring my AOIs. I never thought a laudatory letter from a philosopher could HURT my chances!

Edited February 19, 2013 by superhamdi