Fun (maybe) topics to get our mind off of applications

[Cottagecheeseman]

Is your other (not hume) writing sample a LOT better? If so, send that. If they are semi-comparable in how good and polished they are, I say submit the hume/descartes one... Don't worry about blandness, Arizona is a mostly analytic department so they practically breathe blandness there! Also I'm applying to Arizona, so we'll compete there, but our interests are so different I don't think it'll matter.

[bar_scene_gambler]

It's really difficult to tell. I spent more time on the comparative ethics paper, but the content is unorthodox, while the Hume paper is safe and well suited to the department's interests (being that there are a few Hume people there). And yeah, our interests are definitely on opposite ends of the spectrum, though one of the reasons why I'm applying to Arizona is so that I can spend some time in an analytic environment.

[philstudent1991]

I agree, if the hume paper is on par submit it. But the point is to put your best foot forward so if the other one is better (kant and laozi I think you said?) then submit that one.

 

Ok fellas so I've started submitting apps, and like all of them say everything is complete except GRE scores. However, I submitted my GRE scores months ago. How long did it take for you guys scores to show up as confirmed on the apps you've already submitted?

 

Ugh this is annoying. Like on every app there's been some question that turned up weird or wouldn't work in the pdf format they show me at the end, or wouldn't let me add a fourth recommender without extraordinary effort, etc. All I want is to put my best foot forward in the app but I feel like they make it overly complicated. And expensive I've spent $345 today.

[dfindley]

I planted a dating ad on okcupId so that if you Google my email you can find it on the bottom of the results page under my 'spacetime dialectics'.

It shows me without a shirt. Do you think that will be bonus points <3

[dfindley]

I'm wondering, if I don't get in, about taking my stipend and moving to China, Thailand, the Philippines -- 1300/month will go a long ways there and I can concentrate full-time on my research.

Maybe I should do it anyways...?

[bar_scene_gambler]

I agree, if the hume paper is on par submit it. But the point is to put your best foot forward so if the other one is better (kant and laozi I think you said?) then submit that one.

 

Ok fellas so I've started submitting apps, and like all of them say everything is complete except GRE scores. However, I submitted my GRE scores months ago. How long did it take for you guys scores to show up as confirmed on the apps you've already submitted?

 

Ugh this is annoying. Like on every app there's been some question that turned up weird or wouldn't work in the pdf format they show me at the end, or wouldn't let me add a fourth recommender without extraordinary effort, etc. All I want is to put my best foot forward in the app but I feel like they make it overly complicated. And expensive I've spent $345 today.

It should only take 10-15 days for the GRE scores to be sent, so I don't know why the schools don't have them if they were sent months ago. And yeah, the process is a mess. On two of the apps I submitted, the website converted my .docx into a .pdf, and somehow the formatting in some of my quotes got messed up, so now I have to contact them and figure out how to fix the issue. 

[philstudent1991]

I figure they have the scores they just haven't matched them to my app yet, so I was just wondering if someone else had already been through it

[bar_scene_gambler]

So far (I haven't sent my scores in yet, just the 4 free ones you get when you finish the test) the few schools I have sent scores to confirmed having them almost immediately. I'd wait a week or so before emailing someone about it, but not any more than that.

[MattDest]

I figure they have the scores they just haven't matched them to my app yet, so I was just wondering if someone else had already been through it

Many schools take a while to update the app. I wouldn't worry about it until its been a week or two. 

[philstudent1991]

Alright, thanks for makin me feel better

[Hopephily]

Hey bar_scene_gambler, when you say that 2/3 recommenders made you sound like the greatest scholar on earth, what are the sorts of things they said?  I.e., did they speak at length about your particular abilities?  Work you have done?  How you compare to other students that have done well? 

[bar_scene_gambler]

The good ones spoke at length about the type of work I did, mentioning that most of my courses were upper-level courses. They spoke about my qualities as a potential philosopher, and as an educator (I co-taught a course with one of my recommendation writers). Beyond that, they both spoke about personal qualities of mine (apparently I'm unfailingly polite  and enthusiastic) and one even went so far as to say that more people of my qualities are needed in academia, which I think is really putting her reputation on the line and putting something of a burden on myself to live up to her high praise. But no, they didn't compare me to other students. I think it's because they don't want to trash their reputation as a department more than anything else.

[Hopephily]

Sounds like you've got some great letters! 

[greencoloredpencil]

 

1) How is the Tractatus? For some reason, my Wittgenstein class skipped right over it and we started with the Blue Book and went to Philosophical Investigations afterward. 

3) The Investigations are awesome, I hope you enjoy it.

6) Really interesting. I don't know anything about ethnomusicology. Could you elaborate a little on what it is that interests you?

 

 

I absolutely love the tractatus, it's my favorite philosophical work I've ever read actually! I'm very interested in representation in general, but especially when it comes to language. I quite enjoy his picture theory.

As far as ethnomusicology, I'm interested in non-western tradition musical systems. I grew up playing a few instruments but didn't stick with them seriously. Now I'm basically just an avid listener of classical music but don't seriously play anything currently. But, I am interested in music history and theory.