Department info from one another? Do any of you go to schools that some of us are applying to?

[TheVineyard]

Hey guys.

 

I couldn't help but notice that many are you are applying to my undergraduate institution. If any of you end up being accepted there (my school has not given out acceptances yet) and you are seriously considering accepting, I would love to answer any of your questions. I know (almost) all of our faculty very well, both as people and as professors.

Because I'm doing my best to remain anonymous on these forums, I won't say any more about what school it is. However, when I have heard back from all of my schools (hopefully by the end of March) I will privately message any of you who got accepted and see if you have any questions.

So, are any of you doing your undergrad at a school that many of us are applying to? Would you be willing to help out in the same way?
 

Edited February 1, 2014 by TheVineyard

[MattDest]

I'm at UMSL (I know that I should be more concerned with anonymity, but I still haven't found a good argument for why it's important in this case), and would be happy to answer any questions about the MA program here. 

[Table]

I'm at a school at least some people are applying to, will be happy to answer questions if I see anyone's accepted.

[ianfaircloud]

I'd be glad to answer questions about MA programs.  I won't say here exactly which of these I attend(ed), but I'll say that it's a top-six (by Leiter's standards).  And I was admitted to most of the top six.  So I'd be very happy to help as I can.

Edited February 1, 2014 by ianfaircloud

[Monadology]

I can answer questions about UW Milwaukee's MA program. I graduated from it last year.

[Edit_Undo]

I can answer questions about UW Milwaukee's MA program. I graduated from it last year.

How was the program? Do you feel like you have improved a lot since your getting out of undergrad? How were the professors? Eager to help, or don't care much?

[Monadology]

How was the program? Do you feel like you have improved a lot since your getting out of undergrad? How were the professors? Eager to help, or don't care much?

 

I thought the program was excellent. I have improved a lot and feel that I received a great philosophical education there. Just looking back at the writing sample I used to apply the year I was admitted to UWM, there is a substantial difference. Setting aside philosophical writing, my ability to read difficult philosophy has definitely improved a lot as well. 

 

The program also seems to function quite well with respect to its aim: helping its students get into PhD programs. My class did pretty well. They had a 75% success rate placing students into programs (9/12). 5 of the 9 who were accepted got into top-20 programs. Second-years have a writing workshop during the Fall semester which is geared around improving your philosophical writing, primarily by subjecting your intended writing sample to scrutiny by peers. The feedback can be very valuable, though it will depend in part on your peer-group. With that remark I should say that my class was full of wonderful people and so my experience at the program may have been more positive than students who have a less friendly/helpful peer group.

 

 If you're looking for a program that's going to also help guide you in professionalizing to give you a competitive edge in the job-market down the line, there isn't really much attention paid to that. They do have funds to help students present at conferences when there is opportunity, but they don't integrate coaching on presenting/publishing into the program. The focus is definitely on getting you into a PhD program. I mention this because I know a small number of students currently in the program feel a little anxious that they haven't gotten much advice about professional issues. I'm not sure if those anxieties are warranted since, presumably, the PhD program you end up in is supposed to help you with that. I also don't know if other MA programs include that sort of coaching.

 

As far as the faculty, I found them eager to help. I can't speak for all of them, but all of the ones I can speak for are helpful people who are very open and happy to meet with you. On the flipside, levels of togetherness (i.e. organization and speed of communication) vary. Most of them are reliable in my experience. I'm happy to answer questions about individual faculty (inasmuch as I can) via PM.

 

EDIT: For anyone who wants to know how the department fares as far as the climate for women/LGBT, I may be able to put you in touch with (or relay an answer from) a female graduate student currently in attendance who would have better observations than I. Just PM me and I'll see if she is willing.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Monadology

[Edit_Undo]

I thought the program was excellent. I have improved a lot and feel that I received a great philosophical education there. Just looking back at the writing sample I used to apply the year I was admitted to UWM, there is a substantial difference. Setting aside philosophical writing, my ability to read difficult philosophy has definitely improved a lot as well. 

 

The program also seems to function quite well with respect to its aim: helping its students get into PhD programs. My class did pretty well. They had a 75% success rate placing students into programs (9/12). 5 of the 9 who were accepted got into top-20 programs. Second-years have a writing workshop during the Fall semester which is geared around improving your philosophical writing, primarily by subjecting your intended writing sample to scrutiny by peers. The feedback can be very valuable, though it will depend in part on your peer-group. With that remark I should say that my class was full of wonderful people and so my experience at the program may have been more positive than students who have a less friendly/helpful peer group.

 

 If you're looking for a program that's going to also help guide you in professionalizing to give you a competitive edge in the job-market down the line, there isn't really much attention paid to that. They do have funds to help students present at conferences when there is opportunity, but they don't integrate coaching on presenting/publishing into the program. The focus is definitely on getting you into a PhD program. I mention this because I know a small number of students currently in the program feel a little anxious that they haven't gotten much advice about professional issues. I'm not sure if those anxieties are warranted since, presumably, the PhD program you end up in is supposed to help you with that. I also don't know if other MA programs include that sort of coaching.

 

As far as the faculty, I found them eager to help. I can't speak for all of them, but all of the ones I can speak for are helpful people who are very open and happy to meet with you. On the flipside, levels of togetherness (i.e. organization and speed of communication) vary. Most of them are reliable in my experience. I'm happy to answer questions about individual faculty (inasmuch as I can) via PM.

 

EDIT: For anyone who wants to know how the department fares as far as the climate for women/LGBT, I may be able to put you in touch with (or relay an answer from) a female graduate student currently in attendance who would have better observations than I. Just PM me and I'll see if she is willing.

Thank you very much for the reply! I really appreciate it!

How about the city, how's living there?

[Monadology]

I'm probably not the best person to ask, since this is the first real city I've lived in. I'm also a bit of a homebody and I don't drink. I get the impression from my peers that there are fun bars and the like. There's also an art museum that's free on Thursdays. 

 

The public transport seems decent to me. If you can find a place near one of the bus lines, which isn't too hard, it's a snap getting to and from campus since buses run pretty regularly (and you get a free bus pass from the university). I've lived on the eastern edge of Riverwest which is a fairly hip and happening place with cheap housing and a young punk/artist/hipster sorta crowd. Very homey in some ways, with a local co-op, independent bookstore and coffee-shop hangout. 

 

Crime has been iffy lately, but it's not Baltimore or Detroit or anything. East of the river is usually fine (though muggings around Campus seem to happen every so often). Once you start going west it can get pretty rough.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Monadology

[PRising]

Many are applying to my undergraduate institution. When the coast is clear, so to speak, I'm more than willing to answer questions.

[Silly_Socrates]

Thank you very much for the reply! I really appreciate it!

How about the city, how's living there?

I can answer this. Like Monadology, I am also living in Milwaukee. I've grown up near, and have done my undergrad and masters in MKE. I love it. Our city is perfect sized, not too big and not too small. Drinking is definitely a big part of our culture. We have lots of breweries (and even distillery) around the city, and brewery tours are a great thing to do. They are usually pretty cheap, and you get to drink tons of beer.  

 

We also have many bars. You can find any atmosphere you want- quiet, rowdy, fun, craft drinks, tiki drinks, craft beer bars, etc. Playing bar trivia is a pretty popular, and  great way to win free beer and bar tabs!

 

Like Monadology said, we have an awesome art museum. It is free the first thursday of the month (as is our public museum), but a student memebership only costs $25. There are tons of great exhibits there. Also once a month, the art museum as "after dark events" which is essentially just a party at the art museum. You can buy drinks, there are free appetizers, live music, crafts, and a free photo booth. Each one is a different theme and they are ton of fun to dress up and have a good time at! You get in a free if you have a membership. I definitely recommend going to these.

 

Given the size of our city, biking is a great option to get around. Buses will get you where you need to go, but I find it is often times just quicker to walk than wait for a bus. 

 

Safety is so-so. It depends what area of town you live in. Luckily, the worst that happened to me was that I had my car get broken in to once. I was living in a not so safe part of town though (south side). I have always felt very safe walking around the eastside or riverwest at any hours. The area around Marquette University is a different story. We have quite a bit of crime over there, and the university gives you recommended boundaries to stay within on campus. Also that area is classified as a 'food desert' meaning there are no grocery stores within a decent walking distance. There are like 4 sub places around that area and a qdoba. It gets old quick. Other areas of the city have great food. Even though we are the dairy state, we have a lot of great vegan options. 

 

 

In summer, we have  a festival pretty much every weekend. We have summerfest, an 11 day music festival on the lake. We have weekend festivals like german fest, polish fest, mexican fiesta, etc. We also have movies on the lake in summer. They put up a huge projection screen and show free movies. It's pretty cool. Also a must is jazz in the park. Great jazz bands, food trucks, and wine, Bottles of wine are around $10. Unfortunately a few years ago they stopped letting people bring in carry-in alcohol to jazz in the park (but you can be sneaky and do it anyway). 

 

Finding good housing can be difficult. There are a lot of lake front apartments that are out of everyone's price range. If you look hard enough though, you can find a good place in a safe area. I found somewhere for less than $300 a month in a great part of the city. However, it gets cold here and heating bills can get pricey in winter. Summers can get pretty hot, and I would advise you not to ever swim in lake michigan. There are some smaller lakes you could swim in. If you want to do activities on lake michigan, the UW-milwaukee urban ecology center rents out kayaks and canoes in summer for very cheap.

[Griswald]

What's wrong with swimming in Lake Michigan?

[philosophe]

I graduated from Brandeis, so I can answer general questions regarding their (MA) program. (Though I was an undergrad).

 

I'm not currently in school, so I don't really have a stake in remaining completely anonymous. While I understand the desire for total anonymity, I confess that I don't believe it is very helpful to say that you are willing to answer questions without providing the school you can answer questions about. Just my thought.

Edited February 1, 2014 by philosophe

[TheVineyard]

I graduated from Brandeis, so I can answer general questions regarding their (MA) program. (Though I was an undergrad).

 

I'm not currently in school, so I don't really have a stake in remaining completely anonymous. While I understand the desire for total anonymity, I confess that I don't believe it is very helpful to say that you are willing to answer questions without providing the school you can answer questions about. Just my thought.

I didn't say I would answer questions without providing the school. I said I wouldn't answer questions or tell the school until I have heard back from my schools.

[Monadology]

What's wrong with swimming in Lake Michigan?

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-07-01/opinion/ct-edit-bp-20130701_1_indiana-regulators-mercury-refinery

 

http://www.wisn.com/news/south-east-wisconsin/milwaukee/low-lake-levels-pollution-plague-lake-michigan/-/10148890/21856260/-/65oab7z/-/index.html

 

I imagine the above and the giant man-eating squid.

[ianfaircloud]

I graduated from Brandeis, so I can answer general questions regarding their (MA) program. (Though I was an undergrad).

 

I'm not currently in school, so I don't really have a stake in remaining completely anonymous. While I understand the desire for total anonymity, I confess that I don't believe it is very helpful to say that you are willing to answer questions without providing the school you can answer questions about. Just my thought.

 

I think you're right about this, Philosophe.  So some people may want to look to someone else for this kind of help.

 

For me, I don't want to release that information here.  But *if* anyone wants to hear from someone who went to a top-six MA program, I'd be glad to tell you what I know about each of them.  As someone who attended one of these, and as someone who has since heard about these and experienced two of them fairly directly, I may be more helpful than some people.  I also may be able to give advice related to what I think are the most important and least important features of an MA program.  But yeah, I won't say which of these I attended (at least not before I've accepted an offer of admission).

[Table]

I'm not currently in school, so I don't really have a stake in remaining completely anonymous. While I understand the desire for total anonymity, I confess that I don't believe it is very helpful to say that you are willing to answer questions without providing the school you can answer questions about. Just my thought.

 

I agree that it would be more helpful if people would say the name of the school. I think for many of us, though, sharing where we were for undergrad would pretty much conclusively identify us. I'd rather remain a little anonymous. Like TheVineyard suggested, though, I'll message anyone I see is accepted to my school. 

[Monadology]

I'm a little confused. I'm having trouble picturing what negative consequences a failure of anonymity would produce. There doesn't seem to be much material in these forums which an adcom, even if they saw it, could use to infer much about the candidate. 

 

Is it just the fact that with anonymity nothing could possibly go wrong? Or am I missing some scenario here that would influence admissions.

[MattDest]

I'm a little confused. I'm having trouble picturing what negative consequences a failure of anonymity would produce. There doesn't seem to be much material in these forums which an adcom, even if they saw it, could use to infer much about the candidate. 

 

Is it just the fact that with anonymity nothing could possibly go wrong? Or am I missing some scenario here that would influence admissions.

 

I wonder this every time that somebody brings up anonymity. I'm also failing to see how giving your undergrad institution will make it immediately obvious to the world who you are. I suppose that people are worried about being identified by adcoms, but I find it hard to believe that adcoms are taking the time to link up gradcafe usernames with their applicant pool. 

 

I imagine that adcoms, if they want to get 'dirt' on their applicants, are using Google to find any relevant information about the name. 

[kant_get_in]

I'm a little confused. I'm having trouble picturing what negative consequences a failure of anonymity would produce. There doesn't seem to be much material in these forums which an adcom, even if they saw it, could use to infer much about the candidate. 

 

Is it just the fact that with anonymity nothing could possibly go wrong? Or am I missing some scenario here that would influence admissions.

Did you ever meet our friend David Findley? 

Although, I suppose the more serious problem was that he was an ass and not that he failed to be anonymous. 

[Table]

I'm a little confused. I'm having trouble picturing what negative consequences a failure of anonymity would produce. There doesn't seem to be much material in these forums which an adcom, even if they saw it, could use to infer much about the candidate. 

 

Is it just the fact that with anonymity nothing could possibly go wrong? Or am I missing some scenario here that would influence admissions.

 

I wonder this every time that somebody brings up anonymity. I'm also failing to see how giving your undergrad institution will make it immediately obvious to the world who you are. I suppose that people are worried about being identified by adcoms, but I find it hard to believe that adcoms are taking the time to link up gradcafe usernames with their applicant pool. 

 

I imagine that adcoms, if they want to get 'dirt' on their applicants, are using Google to find any relevant information about the name. 

 

I don't think it would be "immediately obvious to the world" who I am. I think I would be identifiable to people who know a bit about me. 

 

Not sure why people seem to think fear about impacting admissions is the only reason someone might want to be anonymous… No, I don't think anyone is intentionally trying to link gradcafe usernames to applicants. No, I don't think anything I've said here would impact admissions.

 

I'd like to avoid someone I don't know well coming across my posts, inferring it's me, and reading everything I've posted out of curiosity.  It wouldn't be a big deal, but I'd rather avoid it. Not because I have paranoid fantasies, but because I'm a generally private person. The same reasons, I think, most people prefer anonymity online in general. 

Edited February 1, 2014 by Table

[MattDest]

I don't think it would be "immediately obvious to the world" who I am. I think I would be identifiable to people who know a bit about me. 

 

Not sure why people seem to think fear about impacting admissions is the only reason someone might want to be anonymous… No, I don't think anyone is intentionally trying to link gradcafe usernames to applicants. No, I don't think anything I've said here would impact admissions.

 

I'd like to avoid someone I don't know well coming across my posts, inferring it's me, and reading everything I've posted out of curiosity.  It wouldn't be a big deal, but I'd rather avoid it. Not because I have paranoid fantasies, but because I'm a generally private person. The same reasons, I think, most people prefer anonymity online in general. 

 

I did not mean to suggest that people who wish to remain anonymous are having "paranoid fantasies", and sorry if my post comes across that way. Still, I am wondering who could possibly identify someone by knowing their undergraduate institution and that they intend to apply to graduate school. I should note that I am a not a very private person and the prospect of having someone I don't know well coming across my posts and then reading all of them is not at all bothersome to me (I'm much more scared of someone reading a first draft!). It strikes me as a bit weird on their part, but I can't imagine it having any consequences whatsoever in my own life. 

[Edit_Undo]

I'm probably not the best person to ask, since this is the first real city I've lived in. I'm also a bit of a homebody and I don't drink. I get the impression from my peers that there are fun bars and the like. There's also an art museum that's free on Thursdays. 

 

The public transport seems decent to me. If you can find a place near one of the bus lines, which isn't too hard, it's a snap getting to and from campus since buses run pretty regularly (and you get a free bus pass from the university). I've lived on the eastern edge of Riverwest which is a fairly hip and happening place with cheap housing and a young punk/artist/hipster sorta crowd. Very homey in some ways, with a local co-op, independent bookstore and coffee-shop hangout. 

 

Crime has been iffy lately, but it's not Baltimore or Detroit or anything. East of the river is usually fine (though muggings around Campus seem to happen every so often). Once you start going west it can get pretty rough.

Thanks again for the information!

[Monadology]

I don't think it would be "immediately obvious to the world" who I am. I think I would be identifiable to people who know a bit about me. 

 

Not sure why people seem to think fear about impacting admissions is the only reason someone might want to be anonymous… No, I don't think anyone is intentionally trying to link gradcafe usernames to applicants. No, I don't think anything I've said here would impact admissions.

 

I'd like to avoid someone I don't know well coming across my posts, inferring it's me, and reading everything I've posted out of curiosity.  It wouldn't be a big deal, but I'd rather avoid it. Not because I have paranoid fantasies, but because I'm a generally private person. The same reasons, I think, most people prefer anonymity online in general. 

 

I didn't mean to suggest anyone was being paranoid* and I wasn't talking about any particular individual's case.  For instance, TheVineyard wants to make sure to remain anonymous until they've heard back which suggests it has something to do with admissions. Further, the trend seems to be towards anonymity generally and given the nature of this forum, I was inclined to think that the trend was a result of wanting to remain anonymous for admissions-related reasons. I'm didn't intend to make anyone feel judged or misunderstood.

 

*- In fact, I think it's quite reasonable to, for instance, to remain anonymous just in case. I was just wondering if there was some concern I wasn't aware of. I also think there's nothing wrong with being a private person.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Monadology

[Table]

I did not mean to suggest that people who wish to remain anonymous are having "paranoid fantasies", and sorry if my post comes across that way. Still, I am wondering who could possibly identify someone by knowing their undergraduate institution and that they intend to apply to graduate school.

 

Graduate school in philosophy, that is. Maybe I'm way off, but I would guess most departments have 0-3 undergrads applying to philosophy phd programs. If I knew someone from school X was applying and saw someone from school X post here, I would think it was reasonably likely that they were the same person, because I just don't think there are that many people applying. If I saw they had the same interests I would think they were probably the same person. 

 

I don't really think there would actually be tangible consequences, I would just not especially like it.

I should mention that someone has pretty intensively searched for information about me before, and they found (and read) a lot of posts by someone that they thought was me. It wasn't, so at the time I thought it was just funny, but it's probably made me a bit more cautious.