CU Boulder

[shelbyelisha]

I just got an email from CU Boulder:

"Due to a complex internal reorganization now in progress, the University of Colorado Boulder Philosophy Department will not be admitting any new graduate students for the 2014-15 year.  We apologize for the inconvenience and we will refund the application fees for those who have already paid.  Thanks so much for your interest in us. We expect to re-open enrollments for 2015-16."

 

Anyone know what this is about?  I'm really disappointed.  I also just spent money sending them my GRE scores, and now if I want to take their refund and apply to another school, I'll have to spend more money sending my GRE scores to the other school.  This is just so unprofessional...

[Ren]

I received the same email.  Very disappointing.  

[kant_get_in]

Wow indeed. Very disappointing. 

[MattDest]

I didn't apply there - but I really wonder what's going on. It's awfully late to be sending out this type of e-mail, especially for those who already sent GRE scores. 

[bar_scene_gambler]

I'm sorry you guys. I didn't apply, but that must be disheartening. 

[Hopephily]

Wow.  That's bad news for a lot of people. 

[Cottagecheeseman]

What Leiter said on the issue:

A number of applicants have sent me the following e-mail from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder:

"Due to a complex internal reorganization now in progress, the University of Colorado Boulder Philosophy Department will not be admitting any new graduate students for the 2014-15 year.  We apologize for the inconvenience and we will refund the application fees for those who have already paid.  Thanks so much for your interest in us. We expect to re-open enrollments for 2015-16."

One of the students who received this e-mail wrote me:

It is amazing and entirely unprofessional that they would decide not to accept applications so late in the application season. Many of us had already submitted GRE scores, which cost a fee, and had been working on the application and were excited to apply there. I can't believe they are doing this, and it is further complicating the arduous task of applying to graduate school, and now we have to scramble and either have one less school to apply to, or quickly add another school. It's not up on their website as of yet, so maybe you can post about this to help spread the word that they are not accepting applications this year.

Colorado clearly needs to refund not only applications fees, but other fees that students incurred in applying there, such as GRE fees.  I trust they will do the right thing, but would be glad to hear from students going forward.

[shelbyelisha]

Thanks for sharing that, zizeksucks.  My undergrad advisor has a friend at CU and told me he's going to inquire about it.

[objectivityofcontradiction]

For what it is worth, in October I sent an email to a member of the faculty at Boulder inquiring about the possibility of working with them if I were to apply. This person informed me that I should apply elsewhere for a few reasons that I don't suspect are related to the current issue there. However, I will say that I found it odd that a philosopher would not put up much of a fight in defense of their department. Maybe something is up. 

Edited December 11, 2013 by objectivityofcontradiction

[philstudent1991]

My main takeaway is that now ten or so great young philosophers that would have ended up there will now be ending up somewhere else. The pool just got even more competitive. FML.

[shelbyelisha]

Objectivity, that's really interesting.  I had brief correspondences with the grad secretary and a professor there, and I didn't get the impression anything was up.  Though, I doubt anyone was able to say anything until they made the final decision.  

 

Now, to scramble to find another place to apply!

[maxhgns]

All kinds of things could have happened. We nearly had to halt admissions ourselves a few years ago due to a strike by admin and support staff. Perhaps they lost a university-level source of funding at the last minute. Perhaps they had to make some last-minute budget cuts. It sucks, and I'm sorry to hear it, but these things do happen.

[wandajune]

That's very unfortunate to hear. CU Boulder used to be on my list of schools to apply to, and I took it off for various reasons. Now I'm very glad I did! Also, philstudent1991's point. Ugh.

[Cottagecheeseman]

My main takeaway is that now ten or so great young philosophers that would have ended up there will now be ending up somewhere else. The pool just got even more competitive. FML.

 

Same. FML....

[axiomness]

My main takeaway is that now ten or so great young philosophers that would have ended up there will now be ending up somewhere else. The pool just got even more competitive. FML.

 

EXACTLY. Received this e-mail and this was literally my first thought. Second thought: How mysterious, and unprofessional. I want my $25 GRE score money back, at least... we'll see if that happens.

 

(... not)

[axiomness]

Just inquired and received this:

 

"The Graduate School is considering what to do about ETS score costs. I will let you know when they have reached a decision."

[AquinasDuo]

This ruined at least one day for me; I was so very bummed! Boulder was the place I wanted to go most, with the faculty I wanted to work with most, in a place I want to live most. But, c'est la via I suppose.

 

I surely hope they refund the ETS fee, or take the applications and just make the offers for a 2015 start. It would be quite rude to just write off all the applicants like that.

 

I look forward to any news that can be found about what is going on up there in those mountains.

[kant_get_in]

I wonder if this is related to funding issues or the flood that Denver and Boulder suffered last semester. Was the campus damaged at all?

[shelbyelisha]

Glad to hear they responded to your GRE inquiry, Axiomness.  They have yet to respond to my email about it.  Just one more strike against them, I suppose.

 

AquinasDuo, I feel the same way.  Even though I probably wasn't going to get in, it was nice to know I had a chance to move to Colorado and work with some amazing people.  Oh well.  

 

Kant, as far as I know, the university suffered minimal damage from the flooding.  I remember checking their website while it was happening, and because the campus is a bit higher in elevation, it was way less damaged than the surrounding area.

[Cottagecheeseman]

I'm pretty sure Boulder closed their doors so that they wouldn't have do deal with all the people applying purely because of the marijuana legalization in Colorado. You know, because smoking weed is pretty much doing philosophy anyway.

Right?

Right?

Yeah I know it's stupid but I deal with people who think drugs = philosophy all the time so I can't help but make fun of it.

[kant_get_in]

I'm pretty sure Boulder closed their doors so that they wouldn't have do deal with all the people applying purely because of the marijuana legalization in Colorado. You know, because smoking weed is pretty much doing philosophy anyway.

Right?

Right?

Yeah I know it's stupid but I deal with people who think drugs = philosophy all the time so I can't help but make fun of it.

 

I'm constantly involved in this conversation with my hair stylist, dentist, doctor, etc. :

 

"What do you study?"

 

"Philosophy."

 

"Oh, so, what's like, your philosophy?"

 

"…"

[bar_scene_gambler]

I'm constantly involved in this conversation with my hair stylist, dentist, doctor, etc. :

 

"What do you study?"

 

"Philosophy."

 

"Oh, so, what's like, your philosophy?"

 

"…"

I hate that question so much. I know they're being polite, but when I respond with "oh I'm most doing research. Mostly responses to Kant. Nietzsche, and such" either they totally ignore me because they don't know what I'm talking about or they ask for more details, at which point they pretend I didn't say anything anyways. I think they expect something like "I believe that our purpose in life is blahblahblah".

Edited January 2, 2014 by bar_scene_gambler

[shelbyelisha]

I'm constantly involved in this conversation with my hair stylist, dentist, doctor, etc. :

 

"What do you study?"

 

"Philosophy."

 

"Oh, so, what's like, your philosophy?"

 

"…"

 

This.  All the time.  I told my old boss that I was a philosophy major and she went, "ooh! I can show you my philosophy!" She rolled up her sleeve to show tattoos of different Chinese characters..."this one is love, peace, harmony, acceptance..."

 

That's lovely and all, but that's so far away from what I'm doing by studying philosophy...

[MattDest]

I'm constantly involved in this conversation with my hair stylist, dentist, doctor, etc. :

 

"What do you study?"

 

"Philosophy."

 

"Oh, so, what's like, your philosophy?"

 

"…"

 

I much prefer this conversation (which I do have a lot) to this one (which I seem to have more of):

 

"What do you study?"

 

"Philosophy."

 

"Oh, what are you going to do with that?"

 

"Wait tables." 

[bar_scene_gambler]

This.  All the time.  I told my old boss that I was a philosophy major and she went, "ooh! I can show you my philosophy!" She rolled up her sleeve to show tattoos of different Chinese characters..."this one is love, peace, harmony, acceptance..."

 

That's lovely and all, but that's so far away from what I'm doing by studying philosophy...

Holy shit. I think I would have just vomited all over the desk.