2014 Applicants

[MattDest]

Hey everyone! Any others been browsing this forum hoping for more activity? It's too early to start fretting over all of this yet, but that hasn't stopped me from doing so. 

[bar_scene_gambler]

I've been browsing this forum since July or so. I've been fretting for a really long time but there's barely any activity around here. It's odd, but I think we'll see a rise in posters in the next few months. Glad to see you're wearing your application stats on your sleeves though. I'll update some of my info as well. It's relieving to see what other people are up to.

[MattDest]

I've always appreciated when others have been transparent about their stats, especially when reporting admission decisions. It makes it easier on future applicants, and provides people with a good idea about what places their application might be competitive. I completely agree that it's nice to see what others are up to. Cheers!

[objectivityofcontradiction]

Here goes: 

 

I graduated Magna cum Laude (3.53), Phi Betta Kappa from a big state school in 2011. I completed my masters this year at a large European University. MA GPA: 4.00, one conference presentation, a recent book review published in a so-so international journal. Writing sample will be a shrunken, contained portion of my MA thesis which received a high mark. I anticipate my letters to be quite strong. I did a fair amount of networking while in Europe, especially with American scholars that spoke at/visited my University, which is known for its vibrant visiting lecturer series. Taking the GRE in two weeks. 

 

Interested in Kant, German Idealism, and the Frankfurt School (esp. Adorno). Systematic areas of interest fall in moral philosophy, metaethics (esp. the metaphysics of freedom and agency), philosophy of action generally, and contemporary epistemology. 

 

I'm applying to around 10-12 programs. Two of which are in Leiter's top 10 (Columbia and Yale). The rest fall around 20-35 on his list (one is unranked). Lastly, I am still toying with the idea of applying to a couple British/Irish Universities.

Edited October 7, 2013 by STM17

[philstudent1991]

Alright, hopefully this will help us all get a sense of the competition (and hopefully more applicants will start sharing!)

 

Big state school, 3.92 GPA (4.0 major), double major (Philosophy and a foreign language)

169V/156Q/5 GRE

Should have very strong letters and a good writing sample

Applying to one top 10 school (North Carolina), and the rest mostly in the lower half of the top 25, a few unranked and a few MAs. 10-15 programs total.

 

Main interests: metaethics, epistemology, continental, phil of biology

[bar_scene_gambler]

Graduating Magna Cum Laude (GPA between 3.8 and 3.9). President and founding member of a chapter of Phi Sigma Tau (national honor society). I've presented at two conferences, am pending publication in the proceedings of one, and won an award for best comparative paper. My recommendations are going to be strong.

Well known private school, double major in Philosophy and Asian Studies
161V/153Q/4.5 GRE
I've been working on my writing sample for almost a year now. It's as well written as it's going to be.
I am applying to 5 top 25 progams, 2 top 50's, and one unranked program, in addition to a few MAs. I am also applying for a Fulbright scholarship to study in the UK, and I anticipate receiving it. My packet has been described as the best that my school committee has seen in years, and I have the support of two faculty members at the institution which I'm applying for.

Main interests: Nietzsche, Chinese Philosophy, Philosophy of Language.

This is just a repeat of what's in my signature though.

Edited October 8, 2013 by bar_scene_gambler

[wandajune]

Graduating from a small liberal arts school.

GPA: 3.96/4.00 in philosophy.

GRE scores: 169V/156Q/5W.

Strong letters of recommendation, and what I would consider to be an excellent writing sample. (Though obviously we all think our letters and writing samples are excellent, otherwise why apply to such a competitive field?)

 

Primary interests in ethics, metaethics, and political philosophy. Secondary interests in game theory, philosophy of action, free will, metaphysics, etc.

 

Applying to 5 top 20 programs, 5 in the 30-50 range, 1 unranked, and 2 terminal MA programs. 

 

It seems so hard to predict where anyone stands a chance at getting in. Honestly, I feel like I'm buying 12 ridiculously expensive lottery tickets.

[objectivityofcontradiction]

Ridiculously expensive indeed. It really is insane that some schools have the nerve to charge in excess of $80 bucks for a graduate application. Then again, I suppose all of us that fail will inadvertently fund those who succeed. 

[YouOnlyYoloOnce]

Hi. I am applying to PhD programs this application season. I graduated with my BA in May. Here are what I deem to be the relevant facts about my application (I will make no claims about the quality of my writing sample or letters of recommendation.) I am glad to share this in the hopes that others will be encouraged to share as well. This process is a stress-inducing one, and reducing some of the mystery of the rest of the pool is, I think, a way to moderately reduce that stress.

 

Undergrad institution: Well-regarded, small private university in New England

Undergrad GPA: 3.83 overall, 3.91 in the major (philosophy was my only major.) Summa.

GRE: 164V, 160Q, 5W

Areas of interest: Broadly, Value Theory. (Metaethics, Ethics, Applied Ethics, Philosophy of Law, relevant issues in Philosophy of Action)

Writing Sample Topic: Experimental Moral Philosophy

Applying to (in roughly geographical order, West to East): UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, UC San Diego, UColorado-Boulder, UArizona, UTexas-Austin, UChicago, UMiami, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Georgetown, Penn, Brown, UMass Amherst, Cornell (This list is subject to change a bit, but I doubt much.)

[zuppo]

hey all, been lurking the forum awhile. figured i'd weigh in.

 

coming from prestigious (and fun) east coast SLAC

GPA: ~3.7 by the end of this academic year.

GRE: Taking it next month; practice exams have yielded: 168v/149q (lol)

My recommendations will be strong, hopefully my writing sample will be up to par. Paper topic is an analysis of an aspect of Heidegger's time in being and time and comment on recent criticism.

AOI: Kierkegaard, Heidegger, existentialism, phenomenology, Kant, history of philosophy, ethics, ancients

I'll be applying to the new school (ma, phd), baylor, boston, georgetown, st andrews (m.litt/m.phil), yale divinity school, georgia state (ma), possibly university of warwick (ma) (would I rly want to go there?), and u chicago (do I rly want to pay $75 for a generic rejection letter? OR if lucky win acceptance to an unfunded, one year "masters of humanities" program?)

 

trying to be vaguely realistic; but if completely shut out, fail again, fail better, as beckett writes

[maxhgns]

 (do I rly want to pay $75 for a generic rejection letter? OR if lucky win acceptance to an unfunded, one year "masters of humanities" program?)

 

 

 

 

How does that concern square with the NSSR?

[zuppo]

How does that concern square with the NSSR?

 

my impression is that the maph program doesn't offer funding, whereas the new school's programs seldom offer funding.

[bar_scene_gambler]

The MAPH doesn't offer funding. It's U Chicago's moneymaker basically. It might get you placement later down the line, but it's not worth it financially.

[maxhgns]

my impression is that the maph program doesn't offer funding, whereas the new school's programs seldom offer funding.

 

 

That still doesn't seem to square up. If you're worried about the fact that the MAPH program is unfunded... NSSR is, at best, only partially funded. Their best offers are, like, 30% of tuition. So you have to make up the difference and then pay New York cost-of-living prices. Besides, they have something like 110 grad students for about 10 full-time faculty. There are all kinds of funded options out there, even for your interests.

[zuppo]

That still doesn't seem to square up. If you're worried about the fact that the MAPH program is unfunded... NSSR is, at best, only partially funded. Their best offers are, like, 30% of tuition. So you have to make up the difference and then pay New York cost-of-living prices. Besides, they have something like 110 grad students for about 10 full-time faculty. There are all kinds of funded options out there, even for your interests.

 

I see what you're getting at now. Not sure of the stats (though we can imagine both how atrociously low they are), but I know that students from my college were accept to the new school with a full ride within the past few years. Full funded is possible, though not probable. The student to faculty ratio is disconcerting, and it's something to keep in mind, if I even won admission. With that said, it's not my first choice, but a better fit than the maph program, which is not a choice.The new school's course selection better serve my interests than a seminar in 1970s utopian science fiction, for example (course offered after glancing at their site).

[bar_scene_gambler]

Has anyone else here considered U Chicago's Committee on Social Thought? I visited the university last week and spoke with some grad students, and several said that I might also think of applying to the Committee as well. It looks interesting, but I know nothing of its reputation.

[Cottagecheeseman]

So, I'll add myself to this list.

Graduated 2013 from a not that well known public research University, but with a good philosophy (undergrad only) program with people who, while not well-known, are active in philosophical research/conferences (analytic) and all got degrees from top programs from their era. Only Majored in philosophy, GPA 3.83, in major just slightly higher. Won outstanding student of the year for 2012/13 out of like 70 majors. President of the philosophy club. Did two independent studies my last year, which is as close to a 'honors thesis' as I could get. Supposedly my writing sample (epistemology) is pretty good, but I don't think all that much to it.

Gre scores (1st try, trying again in November) 164v, 152q, and 5w. 

Area of interests, Epistemology - Ethics - Philosophy of science/empirical studies and philosophy

 

Applications should go into - Yale, MIT, Arizona, Indiana Bloomington, U-Mass, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, UVA, Rochester, Va-Tech (MA) and Brandeis (MA) and probably one or two more MA programs. Possibly might add Miami to the phd list.

 

Feel free to message me to talk about writing samples/swap more info. This is a stress inducing/hard process and we all need the help we can get.

Also plug to join us at reddit.com/r/badphilosophy

Edited October 27, 2013 by zizeksucks

[Philhopeful]

I'll give it a try.

 

Graduating this year from a top 3 US university with one year abroad in the UK. Home university gpa is around 3.65 with major gpa around 3.75. Abroad gpa is 3.8-9 range. The difficulty of my course load is unusually high, with a significant number of graduate seminars. Writing an honors thesis. No awards or presentations.

 

GRE: high 160's verbal and quant, but 4 writing

 

Areas of interest: Mind, Epistemology, Language, Analytic/Continental Connections

 

Places I'll apply: Berkeley, Stanford, NYU, Pittsburgh, Cornell, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, CUNY, UNC, others probably

[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! 

[bar_scene_gambler]

 

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! 

 

Maybe you've said this on another thread, but where are you applying? What are your interests? I'm assuming that because you're applying to a bunch of top 10 schools, your interests are thoroughly analytic, but I could be wrong.

[kant_get_in]

Is this the Official 2014 Application thread? 

 

[bar_scene_gambler]

Is this the Official 2014 Application thread? 

 

Lol I don't think there is an "official" 2014 thread. Sorry. There are several about, but you're more than welcome to post here. Most of the regulars look through these threads regularly.

[Cottagecheeseman]

Let's just call it THE official thread, so we haveo ne...

[bar_scene_gambler]

Let's just call it THE official thread, so we haveo ne...

Fair enough. It's now the official thread. So kant, what's up?

[kant_get_in]

Besides trying to get away with the same pun twice,

 

This is my second time going through the application process. I was rejected from all of the PhD programs I applied to last time, but got into a decent MA program.

My GPA's are pretty low compared to other phil-majors. 3.4 undergrad (3.9 major though) and 3.8 through my MA program. I have fairly average GRE scores (V162, Q154, A4.0). 4 strong letters, two are from philosophers well respected in their areas (mind and ancient).

 

I'm applying to 8 top 50 programs and 6 unranked programs (though, two are still very strong) and two specialty MA's.

 

I'm interested in the analytic tradition of political philosophy and ethics (which means I'm also interested in Kant). 

 

I wish the best of luck to all of you.