2013 Applicants (Philosophy)

[youdontknowme]

Has anyone heard anything from Baylor?  I was one of the people who visited, but I never heard anything from them afterwards (reject, waitlist, or acceptance).  Anyone other than the 2 who posted been accepted (since they usually accept 5 or 6 total)?  Can't tell if this is just a delay or an implied waitlist/reject......

[hasbeen]

Has anyone heard anything from Baylor?  I was one of the people who visited, but I never heard anything from them afterwards (reject, waitlist, or acceptance).  Anyone other than the 2 who posted been accepted (since they usually accept 5 or 6 total)?  Can't tell if this is just a delay or an implied waitlist/reject......

 

They actually interviewed you but haven't informed you of your status?  Ouch, that's pretty crappy.

[lovephil]

Harvard admits up. I'm absolutely crushed right now. 

[AquinasDuo]

Salutations all!

 

        I have read through most of the thread and thus felt it only fair to contribute, (not to mention, as has been said, that suffering together is better than suffering alone.

 

My Statistics:

 

  From University of Oklahoma:

 

     BA Political Science    (4.0 in Major, 3.8 overall)

     BA Philosophy             (4.0 in Major, 3.8 overall)

           - Minor in History

 

  From St. Andrews:

 

     MLitt in Philosophy with Coursework Distinction (16.6 in coursework, 14.5 on dissertation (my dad died during my writing leaving me orphaned which adversely affected my product, this is adressed in at least two of my letters))

 

    GRE (two years old now): 650 V, 710 M, 4.5 W

 

    Publications and Presentations:

 

    6 total publications, two undergraduate journal, two graduate journal, one professional journal, and one online journal. 

 

    10 total presentations: 3 invited guest teachings, one adress to a graduating class (not worth anything), 1 guest speaking, 1 undergraduate presentation (NUBC), 1 graduate presentations, 2 professional presentations, and a chairmanship at APA-Pacific. 

 

    Relevant work:

 

    Adjunct at a small private college, mentor with Pathways, and editor with Figure/Ground. 

 

    My foci are: Philosophy of Law, Political Philosophy, and (to a lesser extent) Ethics. I wish I could do ancient, and have had some amazing professors and a handful of classes in the subject, but don't know Greek. 

 

   My writing sample was a very highly graded paper on the line of respect. My letters were strong. And I tailor my statements of purpose. 

 

   Hold-backs:

 

   I had an expulsion on record which has since been cleared but was not cleared in time. 

 

   I applied to: Arizona, Chicago, Duke, Edinburgh, Florida State, Harvard, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Princeton, St. Andrews, Toronto, Yale, Virginia, Wisconsin

 

 

To date I have been rejected by Duke and Wisconsin, accepted by Missouri, and wait-listed by Virginia. 

     

 

This is my third application season. The first I went 1/11(Oklahoma, MA), the second I went 3/13 (Toronto (MA wait-list), and accepted by Oklahoma (MA) and St. Andrews (MLitt with option to MPhil)).

 

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Anyone have a response I missed on the thread from any of my outstanding schools?

 

Cheers all! And best of luck. 

Edited February 22, 2013 by AquinasDuo

[AquinasDuo]

Harvard admits up. I'm absolutely crushed right now. 

 

Hey Kelizabethphilosophy,

 

  Perhaps it is me being thick or tired, but how does one get back into one's application for Harvard to check results (now that the apply page is changed to closed)?

[lovephil]

I don't think you can check it online. I'm making assumptions about my rejection from the 2 admits on GradCafe search results... which is perhaps overly pessimistic. But well, it's Harvard. And I applied and haven't heard from MIT and Arizona too. Getting pretty awful.

[AquinasDuo]

Fair enough, other admission does likely entail (though not guarantee) rejections for us both; however, in my experience, it is definitely too early to rule out a wait-list spot. Chin up! 

[Triactry03]

Hey all, a bit late to the party, but thought I would throw up my information and suffer in the company of others. I went to a small liberal arts college (Beloit College in Wisconsin) and have been teaching high-school social studies for the last couple of years. One inscrutable thing, among many, in this process is whether the lack of name recognition of my letter writers is hurting me. My undergrad GPA was a 3.77 and my GRE scores were 167 Math, 156 Verbal, and 5.5 Writing. My interests are mostly in ethics; particularly in the areas of environmental ethics and the philosophy of race. My writing sample was a critique of some trends in contemporary race theory, which I feel has done me no favors in terms of aligning me with analytic or continental departments, but it was by far my strongest piece of writing.

 

I Applied to PhD programs at: Harvard, Toronto, Depaul, Georgetown, Maryland, Boulder, UC Riverside, Washington, and Oregon as well as masters programs at Tufts, North Texas and UW-Milwaukee.

 

So far: Accepted to UNT for a masters, but they don't have any funding. Rejected from DePaul and Oregon (although I am still being considered for their masters program like some others who've posted here). Haven't heard from any of the others yet, which leaves me pretty certain I have been rejected from at least Boulder and probably Georgetown and Harvard as well. Still holding out a tiny amount of hope for the others!

[youdontknowme]

They actually interviewed you but haven't informed you of your status?  Ouch, that's pretty crappy.

Its driving me crazy.  I can only assume it means reject, BUT, only 2 people have posted acceptances, so I have no idea.

[CanadianStudent84]

Salutations all!

 

        I have read through most of the thread and thus felt it only fair to contribute, (not to mention, as has been said, that suffering together is better than suffering alone.

 

My Statistics:

 

  From University of Oklahoma:

 

     BA Political Science    (4.0 in Major, 3.8 overall)

     BA Philosophy             (4.0 in Major, 3.8 overall)

           - Minor in History

 

  From St. Andrews:

 

     MLitt in Philosophy with Coursework Distinction (16.6 in coursework, 14.5 on dissertation (my dad died during my writing leaving me orphaned which adversely affected my product, this is adressed in at least two of my letters))

 

    GRE (two years old now): 650 V, 710 M, 4.5 W

 

    Publications and Presentations:

 

    6 total publications, two undergraduate journal, two graduate journal, one professional journal, and one online journal. 

 

    10 total presentations: 3 invited guest teachings, one adress to a graduating class (not worth anything), 1 guest speaking, 1 undergraduate presentation (NUBC), 1 graduate presentations, 2 professional presentations, and a chairmanship at APA-Pacific. 

 

    Relevant work:

 

    Adjunct at a small private college, mentor with Pathways, and editor with Figure/Ground. 

 

    My foci are: Philosophy of Law, Political Philosophy, and (to a lesser extent) Ethics. I wish I could do ancient, and have had some amazing professors and a handful of classes in the subject, but don't know Greek. 

 

   My writing sample was a very highly graded paper on the line of respect. My letters were strong. And I tailor my statements of purpose. 

 

   Hold-backs:

 

   I had an expulsion on record which has since been cleared but was not cleared in time. 

 

   I applied to: Arizona, Chicago, Duke, Edinburgh, Florida State, Harvard, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Princeton, St. Andrews, Toronto, Yale, Virginia, Wisconsin

 

 

To date I have been rejected by Duke and Wisconsin, accepted by Missouri, and wait-listed by Virginia. 

     

 

This is my third application season. The first I went 1/11(Oklahoma, MA), the second I went 3/13 (Toronto (MA wait-list), and accepted by Oklahoma (MA) and St. Andrews (MLitt with option to MPhil)).

 

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Anyone have a response I missed on the thread from any of my outstanding schools?

 

Cheers all! And best of luck. 

By your name, I imagine you are also interested in medieval philosophy, and Aquinas. Someone (who would know) told me Phillipa Foot, perhaps my favourite ethicist, used to read some Aquinas and some Montague before writing--it focused her on the things that really matter. Toronto would be an excellent place to pursue your interests, and your application looks strong enough to get in. Right now, my options are Yale (acceptance) and Pittsburgh (waitlist). I would be interested to know where you end up--keep me up and I wish you the best of luck. If you are accepted to Yale, I look forward to meeting you.

Edited February 22, 2013 by CanadianStudent84

[ἀκρατής]

By your name, I imagine you are also interested in medieval philosophy, and Aquinas. Someone (who would know) told me Phillipa Foot, perhaps my favourite ethicist, used to read some Aquinas and some Montague before writing--it focused her on the things that really matter. Toronto would be an excellent place to pursue your interests, and your application looks strong enough to get in. Right now, my options are Yale (acceptance) and Pittsburgh (waitlist). I would be interested to know where you end up--keep me up and I wish you the best of luck. If you are accepted to Yale, I look forward to meeting you.

 

Philippa Foot didn't just read 'some' Aquinas. Her most important teacher, Anscombe, is a Thomist (well, THE Thomist in some sense). I would go as far as saying that almost every thought they expressed originated in Aquinas. *smartass mode off now* (sorry)

If Philippa Foot is your favorite ethicist, then Pittsburgh is probably by far the best university in the world for you to go to. But you probably already know that :-).

[CanadianStudent84]

Philippa Foot didn't just read 'some' Aquinas. Her most important teacher, Anscombe, is a Thomist (well, THE Thomist in some sense). I would go as far as saying that almost every thought they expressed originated in Aquinas. *smartass mode off now* (sorry)

If Philippa Foot is your favorite ethicist, then Pittsburgh is probably by far the best university in the world for you to go to. But you probably already know that :-).

Thanks Isaka, but I think you misunderstood: the clause "PF read some Aq. and some Mont." should of course be read with what follows and modifies the clause, namely, "before writing ...". This leaves it quite open whether she read Aq. at other points, or whether she was taught by a Thomist or not, just as saying that I drink some coffee before breakfast is compatible with my drinking 7 cups a day, or with my being a coffee connossieur. 

Interesting fact about Anscombe and her relation to Aq's writings (from an interview by J. Haldane (http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/aquinas-amongst-the-analytics/)): "When I was a student I corresponded with her about a position she maintained with regard to the idea of the ‘moral’ and I noted that Aquinas took a very similar line. She acknowledged this but also described a policy of reading Thomas after one had a thought about an issue to see if he had anything to say that might help, rather than going first to him as if he were a source of ideas." 

Finally, I agree with you that Pitt is probably the best place to study "Footian" ethics (though UCLA, where she taught, and where Gavin Lawrence still teaches, might give it a run). I'm not sure though that I see as close a connection between this and its being the best place to study--to be short, if I make it off the wait-list, it will be a very hard decision with many things to consider.

p.s. Might I assume you are also interested in Foot's and Anscombe's thought? 

[ἀκρατής]

Thanks Isaka, but I think you misunderstood: the clause "PF read some Aq. and some Mont." should of course be read with what follows and modifies the clause, namely, "before writing ...". This leaves it quite open whether she read Aq. at other points, or whether she was taught by a Thomist or not, just as saying that I drink some coffee before breakfast is compatible with my drinking 7 cups a day, or with my being a coffee connossieur. 

Interesting fact about Anscombe and her relation to Aq's writings (from an interview by J. Haldane (http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/aquinas-amongst-the-analytics/)): "When I was a student I corresponded with her about a position she maintained with regard to the idea of the ‘moral’ and I noted that Aquinas took a very similar line. She acknowledged this but also described a policy of reading Thomas after one had a thought about an issue to see if he had anything to say that might help, rather than going first to him as if he were a source of ideas." 

Finally, I agree with you that Pitt is probably the best place to study "Footian" ethics (though UCLA, where she taught, and where Gavin Lawrence still teaches, might give it a run). I'm not sure though that I see as close a connection between this and its being the best place to study--to be short, if I make it off the wait-list, it will be a very hard decision with many things to consider.

p.s. Might I assume you are also interested in Foot's and Anscombe's thought? 

I see now what you mean. Then the context was confusing to me: You were writing this to someone who is interested in Aquinas. I would assume that someone's interest is in reading him as a source of philosophical ideas, rather than just using him before writing in order to get into the right focus. But I see now that this was exactly the point you wanted to make: some people ALSO read Aquinas this way. I guess Anscombe/Foot did both...

Yes, right, UCLA seems to be great for that, too (but in Pittsburgh almost the whole philosophy faculty studied Aquinas/Anscombe/Foot at some point, right?)

And yes, I am very interested in the three of them. Plus Aristotle (and a little bit of Plato, Hegel, Wittgenstein).

But I didn't really know what I got myself into by applying to American PhD programs (I'm from Europe) and I think I prepared my application the wrong way. I don't expect any acceptances this year but take it as a learning experience to try next year again.

 

[lovephil]

Two Maryland rejections. Anyone have info?

[incontradiction]

Now the University of Maryland, College Park is rejecting people, but no word yet for me. It may be the case that it's a similar situation to what I believe is going on with Santa Barbara, though this process has taught me that even cautious optimism isn't warranted.

[incontradiction]

Two Maryland rejections. Anyone have info?

I checked my status on the website. It still says 'submitted.' In addition to the stress of applications, these kinds of situations just serve to confuse me. 

[kennysoshy]

MIT doled out rejections alphabetically so maybe that's the cause for the delay.

[lovephil]

Ouch, reminder.

[zombie4life]

Sorry for being a downer--that wasn't my intention. But I thought I'd share because, from my own experience, a rejection feels twice as worse when you're secretly holding onto hope for an acceptance in the back of your mind. 

[incontradiction]

Sorry for being a downer--that wasn't my intention. But I thought I'd share because, from my own experience, a rejection feels twice as worse when you're secretly holding onto hope for an acceptance in the back of your mind. 

Hold on, I'm confused: what did you share that makes you a downer?

[humean_skeptic]

Hold on, I'm confused: what did you share that makes you a downer?

 I'm pretty sure the same person uses two accounts, kennysoshy and zombie4life. That is why he/she apologized for saying: "MIT doled out rejections alphabetically so maybe that's the cause for the delay" from a different account than the one used to say that comment.

 

In other news, my results so far: 1a/1w/8r -- yes, that's right, 8 rejections! The rejections are all from pretty top tier schools, and I have an offer from a great school (top 20) but even so, it is ridiculously competitive out there.

[lovephil]

That acceptance must feel good! 

I have two rejections (MIT, UNC) and haven't heard back from anywhere else. I have no hope for Yale, Harvard, or Arizona though. I'm holding on to tiny shreds of hope but my hope is likely unwarranted. 

[humean_skeptic]

That acceptance must feel good! 

I have two rejections (MIT, UNC) and haven't heard back from anywhere else. I have no hope for Yale, Harvard, or Arizona though. I'm holding on to tiny shreds of hope but my hope is likely unwarranted. 

 

MIT and UNC rejections are fairly par for the course, apparently. How many schools did you apply to? Yale, Harvard, Arizona, MIT and UNC are all extremely (!) competitive programs.

[lovephil]

Texas Austin, Columbia, CUNY, Michigan Ann Arbor, Toronto, Boston, Maryland... But I'm already in a Canadian PhD program, so "safety" schools not necessary. 

[kennysoshy]

Ah, yes, you're right Hume. My bad. That's what I get for using two computers and two accounts.