Top choice

[philstudent1991]

What is your top choice/dream school, and why?

[dfindley]

nyu or hong kong.

but id be happy just to go. anywhere.

[Happydays2]

I'm trying very hard not to have a dream school, since "the one that takes me" is my favorite school    . But, if I am lucky enough to be given a choice, I would love to go to University of Oregan. At present, reseach interest wise, I feel as though it a great fit for me.

 

philstudent1991, what's yours?

[bar_scene_gambler]

University of Chicago is my dream school, though I can't decide which program I'd rather be in. I'm aiming for the dual degree in Philosophy and Social Thought, so I suppose it doesn't matter which one I am accepted to right of the bat (assuming I am accepted to one). I think the why is pretty apparent. They're both great programs with great faculty that work in areas of personal interest and fund well. Plus, they have stellar placement records. I also really liked some of the graduate students that I met when I visited. The graduate student environment there seems really warm and friendly. What about you philstudent?

[MattDest]

I'm with Happydays2 - the dream school will be the one that accepts me! But, aside from that, people that know I have applied keep asking me where I want to go (or my "top five") and I have to admit finding it a bit hard to answer! Once the decisions come down, I think it will become easier to decide but there are so many factors to think about. Aside from placement records, fit, and quality of the program there is location, atmosphere, and social aspects of the program to think about. 

 

For now - Rutgers, Arizona, and WUSTL are probably my top 3 in no particular order.

[dfindley]

eww arizona theyre all ethicists its disgusting

did you look at the faculty page? i almost threw up

[jamc8383]

University of Chicago is my dream school...I also really liked some of the graduate students that I met when I visited. The graduate student environment there seems really warm and friendly. 

 

Interesting.  Within my discipline, UChicago is kind of notorious for its cutthroat graduate dynamics and is frequently referred to as "the place where fun goes to die."  Though, I met a grad student from their Asian Studies program at a UCLA conference and she had feedback similar to yours.  Hopefully the uncongeniality of the graduate environment is being exaggerated; UChicago is definitely in my top three as well.  UMich is probably my #1 though.

[philstudent1991]

Probably Berkeley for me...but I'd be thrilled to be accepted literally anywhere I've applied...everywhere I've applied I applied for a reason

[bar_scene_gambler]

Interesting.  Within my discipline, UChicago is kind of notorious for its cutthroat graduate dynamics and is frequently referred to as "the place where fun goes to die."  Though, I met a grad student from their Asian Studies program at a UCLA conference and she had feedback similar to yours.  Hopefully the uncongeniality of the graduate environment is being exaggerated; UChicago is definitely in my top three as well.  UMich is probably my #1 though.

Yeah, I don't know much about the History dept and how they get along with the other departments. I spoke to graduate students in Philosophy and in Social Thought, and those two departments, at least, seem to form a pretty tight-knit group, though of course every department has its dramas. Leiter and Pippin (who I would kill to have as my committee chair) refuse to sit on the same committee and so on. UMich is really awesome. I also visited their department, and the facilities (especially the Asian Studies dept.) are pretty great. The Philosophy department was just too analytic for me though, so I had to drop it from my list. 

[shelbyelisha]

Well it was CU Boulder...sigh...

 

But, barring that, University of Washington.  Studying Philosophy for Children with Sara Goering and Jana Mohr Lone is my dream.

[bar_scene_gambler]

Well it was CU Boulder...sigh...

 

But, barring that, University of Washington.  Studying Philosophy for Children with Sara Goering and Jana Mohr Lone is my dream.

I'm sorry about Boulder. That's tough luck. Are they going to be refunding the cost of submitting GRE scores?

[Cottagecheeseman]

USC for me, now with John Hawthorne there. I'm interested in ethical noncognitivism, and Mark Schroeder is probably one of the coolest people working in that area currently, since Blackburn is nearly retired and Gibbard mostly just says the same thing in different words no a days. Arizona and Yale are close seconds.

 

Honestly though, I'll be thrilled to get in anywhere and get funded, and realistically I hope to be at UVA/Amherst/Miami next fall.

Best of luck to ya all! I hope everyone, except for the obvious trolls here, get into their top choices!!!

 

[philstudent1991]

I've noticed people have added the accepted/rejected sections to their profiles.....omg its almost time

[MattDest]

USC for me, now with John Hawthorne there. I'm interested in ethical noncognitivism, and Mark Schroeder is probably one of the coolest people working in that area currently, since Blackburn is nearly retired and Gibbard mostly just says the same thing in different words no a days. Arizona and Yale are close seconds.

 

Honestly though, I'll be thrilled to get in anywhere and get funded, and realistically I hope to be at UVA/Amherst/Miami next fall.

Best of luck to ya all! I hope everyone, except for the obvious trolls here, get into their top choices!!!

 

 

I met Hawthorne at the Pacific APA and he is an incredibly nice guy. He has a reputation for being ruthless during commenting, but he's really approachable. 

[Cottagecheeseman]

I met Hawthorne at the Pacific APA and he is an incredibly nice guy. He has a reputation for being ruthless during commenting, but he's really approachable. 

One of my profs/letter writers studied under Schroeder for a bit (spent a year at USC while part of his grad program) and he says Schroeder is a fantastic person to work under. I hope that my interests line up very well with USC and my prof knowing people there will help me get in.

Also I quote Lackey a bit in my writing sample, so I almost applied to Northwestern, but besides the few people working in epistemology it didn't seem interesting to me.

[axiomness]

I'm sorry about Boulder. That's tough luck. Are they going to be refunding the cost of submitting GRE scores?

I haven't heard back about GRE scores, I doubt they have discussed it much--hopefully will hear about that by the end of January...

 

"dream dream" is Oxford with a Clarendon Scholarship, Oriel College, "dream" is Notre Dame. Oxford has obvious perks, and is extremely good for what I want to get into; Notre Dame has the Center for Philosophy of Religion, which brings in the disparate group of philosophers of religion from all around the world to Indiana (very nice). Mike Rea, Mike Loux, Peter van Inwagen, Tom Flint... I could go on and on. Both of these schools have flourishing philosophy and theology departments. Notre Dame's theology is usually ranked top 2 in the world. 

Edited December 30, 2013 by axiomness

[objectivityofcontradiction]

Columbia or Georgetown for me. 

[SelfHatingPhilosopher]

Perhaps the top two picks for me are WashU and UC Berkeley. They're prestigious programs as far as placement rankings go, which have strengths in mathematical logic and have accommodations for those with such interests.

 

Thankfully, or not, I'm not wedded to studying under any particular professor, so I'm not exactly looking to go anywhere in particular based on that narrow of a consideration as I was when I first applied. So that affords me some relative freedom.

[shelbyelisha]

I'm sorry about Boulder. That's tough luck. Are they going to be refunding the cost of submitting GRE scores?

 

I haven't heard anything from them yet.

[pzp11]

UChicago for me as well. Actually, I think I'd be happy at any of the schools that I'm applying (I'm applying to 6).

[purpleperson]

I think...Loyola University Chicago.  

 

Northwestern.

 

Rutgers.

[bar_scene_gambler]

Hey! I'm applying to Loyola too! Damn, I was hoping I wouldn't be competing against any of you.

[purpleperson]

Hey! I'm applying to Loyola too! Damn, I was hoping I wouldn't be competing against any of you.

 

Yeah, but I'm not in Philosophy, so you won't be competing against me.  

[bar_scene_gambler]

Right, fair enough. That's a bit of a relief to be honest.

[MattDest]

Right, fair enough. That's a bit of a relief to be honest.

There are probably other applicants to the universities you applied to.