postings

[philstudent1991]

I noticed in the results section that while some schools have almost 2 pages of 2013 philosophy results, some departments have barely half a page. I was tempted at first to conclude that the number of postings somehow correlated with the number of applicants...but based on seeing that both Harvard and ucla didn't have many postings last year of admits or rejections, I think I have to trash that theory. Any thoughts on if any information can be gleaned from browsing last year's postings to determine competitiveness/size of applicant pool?

[Cottagecheeseman]

 You can't. You have no idea who is posting them, and how many people who applied posted them. Even if the people posted stats, that isn't reliable because of things like writing sample/letters. It's more useful, I think, in seeing if acceptances have been sent out yet or not. 

[bar_scene_gambler]

zizeksucks is right. The postings are next to useless, as you can't tell where the applicant comes from, what their writing sample was like, whether they were good students etc. All you get is GRE scores (if you're lucky) and maybe some info on whether or not they were funded. 

[philstudent1991]

right. I don't mean to say that gpa and gre can tell you whether an applicant is good or not. I simply thought that perhaps the postings reflected a consistent fraction of the applicant pool, so perhaps a smaller number of postings meant there are fewer total applicants than a school that has a lot of postings. but I don't think theres anything to it now.

[bar_scene_gambler]

I simply thought that perhaps the postings reflected a consistent fraction of the applicant pool, so perhaps a smaller number of postings meant there are fewer total applicants than a school that has a lot of postings. but I don't think theres anything to it now.

Oh, I see what you mean. I think your reaction just now that there's nothing to it is probably correct. We have no idea how many applicants post results here, or what quality they are, which is to say that a larger portion of higher quality applicants visiting this site would skew the postings towards upper-tier departments and vice versa. 

[philstudent1991]

can it just be February already omg

[shelbyelisha]

It's torture watching all these applicants in the sciences hear back, and no one from the humanities

[MattDest]

can it just be February already omg

I already upvoted this, but I felt I needed to just share this. I want to enjoy these next few weeks... but...

[bar_scene_gambler]

I haven't even submitted all of my apps yet. I've been trying to space them out. They're completed, but I didn't want to drop all the money on them at once. I've just resigned myself to reading as much as I can over break and losing myself in coursework next semester.