2013-2014 philosophy application season

[philstudent1991]

I thought I'd start a thread for us to share our thoughts, advice, concerns, etc. My big problem right now is finding a good list of schools to apply to. There are no sure things of course, but knowing where I'd actually be a competitive applicant would be nice. It's tough to know what my range should be. Any thoughts? Interests are ethics and continental, GPA 3.92 (4.0 phil), double major, probs around a 320 GRE mid 160s V low mid 150s Q, great letters and probably an exceptional writing sample, and coming from a state school. Should I even mess with a top 20? top 40? Ranked? Any justifiable opinions would be nice and I hope others will post their questions on here too. I'm looking into:

 

Vanderbilt

Houston

Georgia State

Emory

Wisconsin

Texas Austin

others

[philoSophia12]

philstudent, I pretty much am in the same boat as you are. I'm not sure if the top 20 admit students regularly from state schools...guess there will only be one way to find out.

[Jarrod]

philstudent, I pretty much am in the same boat as you are. I'm not sure if the top 20 admit students regularly from state schools...guess there will only be one way to find out.

 

I recommend that you talk with someone who knows where previous students in your program have gone to do their PHD's in the last couple of years. With that in hand, you will probably get a better idea of where you can shoot for in terms of selective schools.

 

Honestly, I can't imagine why anyone would want an undergraduate's opinion on what schools they should be shooting for. Ask a few of your professors! Not only do they have knowledge of your specific circumstances, they can also give you an assessment of your writing sample that is, ehm, more accurate than your own (or: [Nietzsche feels are] but a vain conceit of one's own wisdom, which almost all men think they have in a greater degree, than the vulgar...For such is the nature of men...they will hardly believe that there be many so wise as themselves; for they see their own wit at hand, and other men's at a distance )

[Megalopsuchia]

It has much less to do with state versus private and more to do with "Do I know anyone who teaches there?" "Do they have publications?" and most importantly "Are their scores up to standards?"

For some perspective, I went to a top 40 liberal arts undergraduate, a very well known continental grad program for my MA, and already had done a conference and had 4.0's in philosophy (3.2 undergraduate because I studied biochemistry first). My letter writers are well known in their fields and the schools I applied to often knew them personally. And yet, I did not get accepted into nearly 30 doctoral programs over the three years I applied. Even my brutally honest graduate advisor was shocked.

 

I retook the GRE and changed my percentile rank from 61 in verbal to 81 and 61 in writing to 93, got an article published in a student journal, attended another conference, and finally got accepted.

As far as where to look, you'll find everyone everywhere is very small in their admit pools and it really matters to find faculty who are "the perfect marriage" to your interests.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Megalopsuchia

[maxhgns]

I replied with some school suggestions in your other thread, but want to say this here so everyone can see it:

 

 

Don't worry about where you "have a chance". Worry about where you'd fit in well (in terms of research interests, interdisciplinary opportunities, etc.) instead. All kind of people with all kinds of stats get in all kinds of places, and very few people are well placed to tell you that you are or aren't good enough for school x (and even if you are or aren't, you might still succeed or fail there). There are just way too many people applying everywhere. So apply to as many schools as you can afford to, taking into account your fit with those departments. Your interests should be the only factor that precludes your application somewhere, not your (or someone else's) wild guess about your odds (your odds are slim everywhere anyway--everyone's are!).

[Narziss]

If you have a 320 gre, 4.0 in philosophy, 3.9 overall (even from a state school), great letters of recommendation, and you think you have an exceptional writing sample, then you should be applying to several top-40 schools including as many top-20 schools as you think you have a good fit with.

 

On paper this sounds potentially very strong, and I know pedigree is frequently put aside, but what is really going to matter is the content of those letters, how good your writing sample really is, and whether the faculty reading your sample is impressed.  Sample is so important.  Your achilles heel is just not having letters from big name philosophers, but that's what your writing sample is for.

 

Top schools are used to people with exceptional letters and then being disappointed and surprised those letters were that good once they actually look at the sample.

[PHILSTUDENT22]

Hi Everyone, just thought I'd share my stats.

GPA: 4.0 major, 3.98 cum, from well-known philosophy department
GRE: 319
32 Philosophy courses, including over 10 seminars
T.A for 2 years for Logic courses
Several awards (4 philosophy scholarships, phi kappa phi, cash-prize award from undergrad journal)
3 conference presentations. 2 comments.
Editorial Assistant on two books
Organizer of student conferences and assistant organizer of professional conferences. 

Letters will be great, from 3 well-known people in their field. 

Writing sample is polished and publishable.  

I'm applying to about 10 schools, all top 25 and above. 

Here's to 4 months of brutal thumb-twiddling to come! 

[philstudent1991]

philstudent22:

 

firstly, nice name. secondly, I think you should apply to at least one MA or lesser ranked program than the top 25. your stats are great but even for the best it can come down to luck.

[PHILSTUDENT22]

philstudent22:

 

firstly, nice name. secondly, I think you should apply to at least one MA or lesser ranked program than the top 25. your stats are great but even for the best it can come down to luck.

My original list included some lower ranked schools, but my professors advised that I not bother, for (i) they were extremely confident I'll get into at least one of my three lower ranked choices (for various reasons), and (ii) it wouldn't be worth going to a school that wasn't a good fit for my interests (and very few schools below the 25 mark had the desired faculty). For each school on my list I asked myself "would i really want to go here if this is the only place I got accepted" and if the answer was "no" I decided to cross it off. So I guess I'll be taking a bit of a risk, but so be it! 

I was also advised not to apply to any (terminal) MA programs, for the amount of advanced courses I've taken is on a par with that of most MA applicants already. 

Edited December 2, 2013 by PHILSTUDENT22

[MattDest]

My original list included some lower ranked schools, but my professors advised that I not bother, for (i) they were extremely confident I'll get into at least one of my three lower ranked choices (for various reasons)

 

Well, your application does sound pretty fantastic. Being assured you will get into a top 25 program is pretty spectacular - I'll be interested to hear where you end up!