Admissions Data Regarding PhD Admits With M.A.

[bar_scene_gambler]

I just finished speaking with someone in an adcomm from one of the schools I applied to. It's ranked on the PGR. Anyway, I asked him/her for feedback on my application, and s/he said that, despite the fact that the adcomm found my application "very interesting", they had a strong pool of applicants, many of whom are applying with M.A.'s. Now, I know that the "To M.A. or not to M.A." is a touchy subject here, and I don't want to stir the pot any, but, said professor on the adcomm essentially said that the only applicants that they considered were people with M.A's and high GRE scores. S/he told me that the best way to be considered (if I'm not accepted this year) is to get an M.A. and reapply after I've finished. So, I figured I'd start a little poll here and see whether or not the admissions decisions of those who participate on this forum coincide with the advice that was given to me. It would be extremely interesting to see if the M.A. students are the only ones cleaning house, or if there are still strong applications from people with only B.A.'s. If you wouldn't mind, please respond to the poll question.

EDIT: And if people think this would be better off private, please feel free to say so. I can always repost the results when people have stopped voting.

Edited February 25, 2014 by bar_scene_gambler

[Gnothi_Seauton]

I don't fall neatly into any of the categories in the poll.  I have a BA from a non-PGR top 50 school.  Not even top 100 US News.  I switched my major to philosophy after two years and took five years to graduate, so overall three years of undergrad-level philosophy training.  I do have a Master's degree, but not an MA.  It's an MSc from a UK university.  The program lasted one year and my coursework was limited to topics in moral, political, and legal philosophy.  As such, the degree didn't have the kind of broad coverage that an MA would offer.  So...other?

[bar_scene_gambler]

I don't fall neatly into any of the categories in the poll.  I have a BA from a non-PGR top 50 school.  Not even top 100 US News.  I switched my major to philosophy after two years and took five years to graduate, so overall three years of undergrad-level philosophy training.  I do have a Master's degree, but not an MA.  It's an MSc from a UK university.  The program lasted one year and my coursework was limited to topics in moral, political, and legal philosophy.  As such, the degree didn't have the kind of broad coverage that an MA would offer.  So...other?

Done. Thanks for letting me know though.

Edited February 25, 2014 by bar_scene_gambler

[philosophe]

I just wanted to qualify my vote - I did not attend a top 50 pgr school because my school doesn't have a phd program, but it's top 35 on us news, and has a highly ranked terminal ma program. 

[bar_scene_gambler]

I just wanted to qualify my vote - I did not attend a top 50 pgr school because my school doesn't have a phd program, but it's top 35 on us news, and has a highly ranked terminal ma program. 

Thanks for the qualification. I did intend for the Top 50 vote to imply PGR ranked schools though. Is your school's MA program mentioned on the PGR? I'm coming from a school that's Top 40 US News, but it's unranked in the PGR.

[philosophe]

Thanks for the qualification. I did intend for the Top 50 vote to imply PGR ranked schools though. Is your school's MA program mentioned on the PGR? I'm coming from a school that's Top 40 US News, but it's unranked in the PGR.

 

Yeah, the MA program is listed in the PGR under terminal MA programs "with very strong faculties". I selected Admitted with B.A. from Non-Top 50 School., so it shouldn't mess with your data.

 

[beccamayworth]

I sort of had the opposite experience; I've been to two open houses and almost all prospects were straight out of undergrad. The people with MAs were generally the international students (including me). 

[bar_scene_gambler]

I sort of had the opposite experience; I've been to two open houses and almost all prospects were straight out of undergrad. The people with MAs were generally the international students (including me). 

That is interesting. So far it looks like the two major categories of people getting in are BA's from non-Leiter ranked programs and MA's. I'll obviously have to go through later and figure out where people are getting in and stuff like that, but so far it looks like an MA is pretty beneficial to one's application.

Wait...are you applying to Philosophy or to Psychology? Because that in itself makes a difference.

Edited February 25, 2014 by bar_scene_gambler

[beccamayworth]

Oh sorry ! - I didn't see that you had specified the field. I applied to Psychology and Linguistics programs. 

[beccamayworth]

Oops, this is a Philosophy forum. My bad. I have no idea how I ended up here. SORRY!

[TheVineyard]

You have left out a couple important categories that give important context. Namely, "rejected with M.A." and so on.

Here's why you need the "rejected" categories. 6 people have posted "accepted with B.A. from non-top 50" and that is the most common category, which makes it seem like being at a non-top 50 was more successful than coming from a top-50. However, there are probably farrr more people applying from non-top 50s, but we can't really know because the only ones that can answer this poll are the accepted/waitlisted ones.

If we wanted to make this really awesome, we would have subcategories of what school the person was accepted to...such as "accepted to top 10", "accepted to top 25", and "accepted to top 50."

[bar_scene_gambler]

You have left out a couple important categories that give important context. Namely, "rejected with M.A." and so on.

Here's why you need the "rejected" categories. 6 people have posted "accepted with B.A. from non-top 50" and that is the most common category, which makes it seem like being at a non-top 50 was more successful than coming from a top-50. However, there are probably farrr more people applying from non-top 50s, but we can't really know because the only ones that can answer this poll are the accepted/waitlisted ones.

If we wanted to make this really awesome, we would have subcategories of what school the person was accepted to...such as "accepted to top 10", "accepted to top 25", and "accepted to top 50."

Fair point. As for your second point, I'll leave it up to others to decide. If anyone wants subcategories, upvote or comment.

EDIT: If you've already voted, that's fine. I'll just go back through your post history and include your rejections in the overall tally. I'll just post the results when people have finished voting.

Edited February 25, 2014 by bar_scene_gambler

[burroughs]

This poll seems reasonably good as it is, especially since the ideal poll (which would give one space to be clearer about where one went, was admitted, was rejected, and so forth) isn't something that can, so far as I can see, be handled by this software. One way to do it, of course, would be for one person to compile, and for everyone to state whether or not they took an MA, whether or not they attended a top-50 university, and which universities (anonymized according to approximate ranking) they had been accepted into, or rejected from.

Edited February 25, 2014 by burroughs

[wandajune]

I just finished speaking with someone in an adcomm from one of the schools I applied to. It's ranked on the PGR. Anyway, I asked him/her for feedback on my application, and s/he said that, despite the fact that the adcomm found my application "very interesting", they had a strong pool of applicants, many of whom are applying with M.A.'s. Now, I know that the "To M.A. or not to M.A." is a touchy subject here, and I don't want to stir the pot any, but, said professor on the adcomm essentially said that the only applicants that they considered were people with M.A's and high GRE scores. S/he told me that the best way to be considered (if I'm not accepted this year) is to get an M.A. and reapply after I've finished. So, I figured I'd start a little poll here and see whether or not the admissions decisions of those who participate on this forum coincide with the advice that was given to me. It would be extremely interesting to see if the M.A. students are the only ones cleaning house, or if there are still strong applications from people with only B.A.'s. If you wouldn't mind, please respond to the poll question.

EDIT: And if people think this would be better off private, please feel free to say so. I can always repost the results when people have stopped voting.

 

I'm curious about this. Did this adcomm categorically deny all non-M.A. applicants, or did it just happen that the M.A. students were the stronger applicants and thus the only ones seriously considered?

[bar_scene_gambler]

I'm curious about this. Did this adcomm categorically deny all non-M.A. applicants, or did it just happen that the M.A. students were the stronger applicants and thus the only ones seriously considered?

My guess is that it's probably the latter. The email didn't explicitly state so, but I doubt they excluded non-MA applicants solely because they lack an MA.

[Table]

Is the "rejected" option for people that have been rejected everywhere so far, or people that have just been rejected somewhere? Say I was accepted to 2 programs, wait listed at 1, and rejected at 1. Would I select admitted, wait listed, and rejected?

[bar_scene_gambler]

Yeah I'd just respond to all that apply. I'll sort the data out once everyone is done.

[TheVineyard]

Yeah I'd just respond to all that apply. I'll sort the data out once everyone is done.

 

I think you should restart the poll anew with these questions firmly answered. You can't have everyone click everything that applies to them...that doesn't really make sense, because most applicants will be all 3... accepted, waitlisted, and rejected.

I would do the finer graining on what ranking of school they were accepted to, and have them choose in a hierarchical order. Now I just don't know.

[DHumeDominates]

I thought I'd tell you a bit more about myself, bar_scene_gambler. I have a BA but not an MA. My BA is not from a PGR top-50 program. In fact, it's from a liberal arts college without a graduate school (ipso facto without a graduate program in philosophy). The liberal arts college in question is in the U.S. News and World Report top-50 (I don't recall exactly where).

 

EDIT: That is, the top-50 liberal arts colleges.

Edited February 26, 2014 by DHumeDominates

[ta_pros_to_telos]

Not sure how to answer the poll question in a way that is insightful and accurately describes my background.

 

I have a B.A. from a very highly ranked SLAC, which wouldn't be in PGR since there is no grad school there. I also have a recommendation from a professor at a non-U.S. institution that features quite well in Leiter's world rankings. I'm currently pursuing a Master's degree, which is strictly speaking not just in philosophy, from another institution abroad.

 

Most of the schools to which I have applied (fifteen total) have already made at least their first offers. I have two acceptances at this point.

[Weltgeist]

what I'd be more interested in seeing is how many people get into top-50 programs coming from non-top 50 schools (with and without MA)

[perpetuavix]

I picked "other" in the poll, because I have a Masters in teaching with a high GPA (3.96) that I think made up for my lower GPA for undergraduate (3.27). I did my undergraduate in philosophy, but my school does 'concentrations', not majors so I've taken fewer philosophy classes than most philosophy undergraduates. I was just accepted to UW-Seattle. 

[Table]

I'm going to make a Survey Monkey poll, because the forum's poll options seem too limited to let us get meaningful data. I'll post it when it's done!

 

Info needed for poll: I've seen people say they attended a "top 6" MA program, etc. What are these rankings? 

Edited February 26, 2014 by Table

[MattDest]

I'm going to make a Survey Monkey poll, because the forum's poll options seem too limited to let us get meaningful data. I'll post it when it's done!

 

Info needed for poll: I've seen people say they attended a "top 6" MA program, etc. What are these rankings? 

I've seen that mentioned by Ian, I suppose he means those mentioned in the first category here: "After Tufts, several other terminal MA programs have very strong faculties:  Arizona State University, Brandeis University (their M.A. program is relatively new, so has a limited placement ecord), Georgia State University, Northern Illinois University, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and Virginia Poytechnic Institute & State University"

[Gnothi_Seauton]

I've seen that mentioned by Ian, I suppose he means those mentioned in the first category here: "After Tufts, several other terminal MA programs have very strong faculties:  Arizona State University, Brandeis University (their M.A. program is relatively new, so has a limited placement ecord), Georgia State University, Northern Illinois University, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and Virginia Poytechnic Institute & State University"

That would have to be the "top 7," unless one of them no longer has a program.