Dear 2015 applicants, here is what we have learned from the 2014 season

[Edit_Undo]

I thought it would be a good idea to compile some thoughts and advice for those who will apply/reapply next season. 

As for me, I have nothing to suggest yet but I have to say that there is a good chance that my grades will suffer this semester because of the stress. I will write more about my failure or success and what I think the major reason(s) for that result.

 

For those who have been lucky, if you do not mind, share your experience. Also, what do you think the major factor(s) of your success. 

 

Oh and one more thing, convince Ian faircloud to post info and updates for next season, or find someone who would keep the legacy. We are lucky to have Ian for this season.

[MongooseMayhem]

One thing I learned when applying was how remarkably different each school's application procedures were. For whatever reason, I assumed that these procedures would be largely the same; what a foolish mistake! Some schools required official transcripts while others did not. One school (GSU) would not accept official transcripts sent directly from the schools, requiring me to have transcripts sent to me for me to bundle and then send to GSU. UWM required letters of rec to be mailed by my professors. Some schools required me to mail my writing sample and statement of purpose. Some schools required that I send documents to both the philosophy department and the graduate school. One school (UMSL) had an incredibly short (150 words!) maximum word count for statements of purpose.

 

In short, don't be a dumb like me and assume that application procedures are homogenous.

 

Also, applying to grad school is very expensive. I applied to 9 schools (which is fairly low compared to others on here), and between application fees, GRE fees, and official transcript fees, I probably spent around $1,000, so save up!

Edited February 26, 2014 by Dylanhelloglue

[Monadology]

One thing I learned when applying was how remarkably different each school's application procedures were. For whatever reason, I assumed that these procedures would be largely the same; what a foolish mistake! Some schools required official transcripts while others did not. One school (GSU) would not accept official transcripts sent directly from the schools, requiring me to have transcripts sent to me for me to bundle and then send to GSU. UWM required letters of rec to be mailed by my professors. Some schools required me to mail my writing sample and statement of purpose. Some schools required that I send documents to both the philosophy department and the graduate school. One school (UMSL) had an incredibly short (150 words!) maximum word count for statements of purpose.

 

In short, don't be a dumb like me and assume that application procedures are homogenous.

 

This. It was my fifth time around this year and I still got caught off-guard by last minute particularities (like UCSD wanting you to scan front and back of your transcripts even if the backs are blank).

 

Basically, it's boring but start each application early and fill in as much as you can, making sure to check every page/subsection of the application. Not only does it get busywork out of the way (which makes submitting them once your writing sample is done a breeze), but it will help you catch weird features of the application that are unique to the program.

Edited February 26, 2014 by Monadology

[greencoloredpencil]

Take the GRE seriously. I didn't and I have a low quantitative score because of it. I've heard that committees tend to value the verbal part more, however, this still becomes a liability. Even if you have an excellent application, you don't want a single stain to bring you down. When it's this competitive you can't afford to have a flaw that's so easily preventable. 

[microarray]

Take the GRE seriously. I didn't and I have a low quantitative score because of it. I've heard that committees tend to value the verbal part more, however, this still becomes a liability. Even if you have an excellent application, you don't want a single stain to bring you down. When it's this competitive you can't afford to have a flaw that's so easily preventable. 

 

I kind of have the opposite advice. I did horrible on the GRE and i got in to a wonderful program at University of Michigan.  However, the rest of my application was really strong - ~3 years of research, great LOR, high GPA, and first generation college student and non-traditional student.

 

 

Additional advice that I have is to contact professors as early as you can, develop good relationships with them, and keep in good contact throughout the whole process. I didn't get a chance to develop relationship at University of Oregon and i'm convinced that's why I haven't even heard from them. Do this regardless if you are going straight into a lab or on lab rotations. It will help you determine where you'd like to go and who you get along with, etc. Also, get in touch with their grad students. Ask them how their expectations have been met with their advisor and likes/dislikes about them.

 

Start drafting your statements early and ask profs to look them over. Also, contact the people who you'd like to write letters for you early.  Remember they're super busy and need time to write a letter for you.

 

 

*ps i just realized i posted in the philosophy forum. hopefully this advice is still helpful for you guys! I saw the topic on the most recent forum!*

Edited February 26, 2014 by microarray

[bar_scene_gambler]

I realized that there's no such thing as a safety school. Also, definitely apply to several MA programs, because even if you have a strong application as a BA student, it won't look as strong on paper as those with MA's (generally, but I wouldn't say this is a rule). 

[philosophe]

The one thing I regret is not contacting professors in my areas of interest prior to applying. I would recommend you do that, since it can't hurt (as long as you are polite and ask relevant questions).

 

To any future applicants out there worried about or considering a possible gap year -- I just wanted to emphasize that I have taken a year and a half off to work, and I'm glad that I did it. I have had two full time jobs, an understanding of adult life, and no one can tell me that I'm choosing to pursue a PhD because I'm afraid of "the real world." I've also saved up enough money that I can suplement my stipend. Overall, I think it was super beneficial, though you need to make sure to touch base with your letter writers so they don't forget about you. I recommend asking them to look over your materials the summer before the application season, when they're not yet busy with classes.

 

Besides that, narrow down the list of schools you're applying with one of your professors in your area of interest. It's overwhelming because there are so many programs, and the acceptance rate is so low that it all seems like a real crap shoot. The best thing I did for my application was to talk to an epistemologist, and he literally took a list of 30 schools and checked off the ones he knew were strong in epistemology.

 

Last -- get your materials in early! I did not have a stressful time because I applied to most schools in november, and ordered my transcripts early. I think a lot of other people felt the pain of a missing transcript, while I had pleanty of time to reorder. Someone's going to lose your transcript. It just happens. Do yourself a favor and start early.

[Table]

Just wanted to add a link to anyone reading this thread can find their way over there.

 

I was thinking I would edit my post there to link to this thread without bumping up the old thread, but it looks like it's too late for editing, boo. 

Edited February 26, 2014 by Table

[Cottagecheeseman]

If you can manage it, don't check the Grad Cafe, don't check results, just wait until you hear from them. Take your mind off them. This is too stressful! 

[philosophe]

If you can manage it, don't check the Grad Cafe, don't check results, just wait until you hear from them. Take your mind off them. This is too stressful! 

 

Actually, I have to say grad cafe really softened the blow of the rejections for me... mainly because I can tell by everyone else's stats I'm in excellent company.  Also, it was good to infer my status, and I felt better about my rejections when I knew they were on the way. But maybe that's just me.

[wandajune]

Finish the applications early to make sure that your materials are all received by the due date. You'll save yourself much anxiety. (Did they match my GRE scores to my application? Were my transcripts received? Etc.)

 

Develop a good relationship with your undergraduate professors, and ask them to help you with your writing sample. Really, don't be shy about this. The comments my professors gave me on my sample made all the difference.

 

Ask your professors to help with your personal statement, too. A lot of people seem to think the personal statement doesn't matter, and it probably isn't as important as other parts of the application, but I do think a strong statement can set you apart from other applicants. I almost didn't have anyone look over my statement before sending it in, and my first draft turned out to be awful. The final version was good enough that an adcomm member at a school that admitted me mentioned liking the statement. The statement may not be as important as the writing sample, but it will be read and remembered!

[stressedout]

Take the GRE seriously. I didn't and I have a low quantitative score because of it. I've heard that committees tend to value the verbal part more, however, this still becomes a liability. Even if you have an excellent application, you don't want a single stain to bring you down. When it's this competitive you can't afford to have a flaw that's so easily preventable. 

 

I second this.

[dgswaim]

It seems to me more and more that there's no clear answer as to what makes for a strong application. Some find that a terminal MA strengthens an application, others seem to be skeptical of such claims. There is some evidence that certain programs place a high premium on GRE scores, while this is perhaps not the case in other programs. The weight given to overall GPA (as opposed to philosophy GPA) can vary from department to department. 

 

I suppose, then, that the main lesson I take from this is that given the lack of transparency as to what (exactly) constitutes a strong application given the differential importance of a given variable from department to department is that one, as an applicant, should simply operate under the assumption that every single last little piece of the application is important. Do whatever you can do to come across well in every application element. Leave no room to guess and, I suppose, no one will have to.

[philstudent1991]

If your BA isn't from a well regarded school, and by this I probably mean PGR, don't even mess with PhD programs. No matter who you are your chances are very poor. There are many good MA programs that you should consider to stepping stone your way in to a top school.

[Differance]

If your BA isn't from a well regarded school, and by this I probably mean PGR, don't even mess with PhD programs. No matter who you are your chances are very poor. There are many good MA programs that you should consider to stepping stone your way in to a top school.

 

I feel like this might be a little extreme. I come from an unranked (PGR and US News) and generally poorly regarded school. We have a wonderful philosophy department (in my opinion), but only a few of them publish/attend conferences consistently, so none of my LORs were well-known.

Granted, I only have one Ph.D. acceptance, but I'm quite happy with it. I did not apply to any terminal MA programs, which may have been a mistake, but I think that things have turned out well, all things considered.

[Ryura]

If your BA isn't from a well regarded school, and by this I probably mean PGR, don't even mess with PhD programs. No matter who you are your chances are very poor. There are many good MA programs that you should consider to stepping stone your way in to a top school.

Have to disagree with this. Yes, if your BA isn't from a well regarded school, you should apply to MA programs. But why would you not throw out at least a few PhD applications? There are plenty of people here, myself included, who went to absolute no-name schools and yet got into decent PhD programs. Even if you get into a non-ranked program, you can always try to transfer to another program after earning the MA at that non-ranked program.

 

My advice, then, is to keep many options open. Apply to PhD programs, apply to MA programs, apply abroad, apply in the US and Canada, etc. But fit seems very important, and I think I underestimated the role of fit in my own application process. I don't think it's a coincidence that I got accepted to my best fit and nowhere else, and I see now that there were schools that I would have a close fit to that I didn't apply to, and I regret that.

[objectivityofcontradiction]

I really would recommended avoiding this website, at least until this time of year. I found that very early in the admissions season, aka late January and most of February, I was constantly being disappointed seeing so much news come up and not hearing anything myself. All the while it was just a fact that the schools I applied to all tend to release info later than others. It was a lot of unnecessary stress. I say TGC is great before you apply, and great once you start to hear some news via email, phone, etc. But it can be totally disheartening to find out about your potential chances from this site, and not from the departments themselves, in that in-between period. This is just a way of saying that so many unfounded and problematic inferences can be made based on what you find on the results page, without actually hearing any legitimate word form departments. This leads to you taking guesses at your admissions status, which, like I said, induces unneeded stress. I have some wait-list offers out and am still waiting on a few schools. But if i strike out this time and decide to apply again, I will not be back here. Why don't I just get off now, you ask? Well, because I am already enmeshed in this admissions cycle, that is why; can't pull the plug now. It'll be easier to do that if I have a summer to reflect on the shortcomings of my application. 

Edited February 26, 2014 by objectivityofcontradiction

[wandajune]

To chime in on the B.A. from unknown school situation -- I am applying with a B.A. from an unknown school, not ranked in the top 50 PGR or US news, and I have five Ph.D acceptances. I think the wise advice is to apply to several M.A. programs, but apply to Ph.Ds as well, you may get lucky. It may be a disadvantage, but they don't automatically throw out your application if you have a B.A. from an unknown school.

[TheVineyard]

I turned in almost every single one of my applications on the due date. I waited to collect info and tailor my personal statements, which I did for every school. I almost got burned once, as some schools (Berkeley this year) have a year-old due date listed on their site which is off by a day or two.

I applied all up and down the top 50, and I think everyone ought to throw in a good variety of schools, both higher and lower than they expect. For the last few years, I worked my ass off getting the right people to support me. Getting accepted is largely a political game. The key is putting together the best possible app. Focus there, and don't spend too much time doing stuff that won't help your app at the expense of stuff that will (i.e., building connections with the connected matters more than reading that interesting new article that isnt directly related to your writing sample.)

When it is all done for me, I will post my acceptance/rejection info and you will see that although there might be a trend in who chooses me, I'm in at a top 5, #1 in subfield (not presenting any details, need to remain anonymous to be safe) but got rejected to a school at the very bottom of the top 50 (and I even had a good fit there!) I'm starting to suspect that region has a bunch to do with it... We'll see.

I will have much more to say when this is all over and I have made my decision.

Edited February 26, 2014 by TheVineyard

[dgswaim]

I wonder sometimes about questions related to undergrad pedigree. Certainly my undergraduate institution should count as a "good school." Granted, it's a small school with little in the way of national reputation, but it is a top 20 school among regional universities in its category. I guess what I mean to say is that I wonder about pedigree, but I'm not altogether certain as to what it means to have a good pedigree. Simply coming from a school coming in high on Leiter's list?

[TheVineyard]

I think it is important to have letters from professors who the adcom has heard of, and preferably worked with, in a good context. This will roughly correlate with the pgr. It isn't essential to have this, but I believe it is the kind of thing that gets you automatically into the waitlist/acceptance discussion.

Doing it without profs known by the adcom gives you a higher burden that you must overcome with the rest of your app. Not impossible, but more difficult.

[Weltgeist]

Take the GRE seriously. I didn't and I have a low quantitative score because of it. I've heard that committees tend to value the verbal part more, however, this still becomes a liability. Even if you have an excellent application, you don't want a single stain to bring you down. When it's this competitive you can't afford to have a flaw that's so easily preventable. 

 

I wonder how low of a quant score becomes a liability. Mine's in the fifty-eighth percentile and I've gotten a few acceptances and waitlists at top-thirty programs (which really shocked me to be quite honest).

[philosopheme]

I took a gap year, originally not even sure if I wanted to apply to MSW, JD, or Philosophy PhD programs. Within a few months of being in the real world, I realized how much I missed philosophy. I came into the application process with a lot of confidence that this was what I wanted to do. Also, I turned my sprawling mess of a 50 page senior thesis into a tight, edited 20 page writing sample. I also took the opportunity to continue auditing graduate seminars with professors I already knew, and started working with one of them on a project. And now that I'm getting into schools as a non-student with a flexible work schedule, I'm getting to visit every place that looks interesting without worrying about time/schoolwork!

 

So obviously I'm a big proponent of the gap year (or more), assuming that:

1. You're not 100% set on applying

2. You don't already have a polished writing sample

3. You could benefit from taking more classes/forging stronger relationships w faculty (ie you can stay in the area where you went to school)

4. The idea of winning free trips sounds almost as fun as the idea of philosophy camp itself.

 

If you know you want to do this, have a roughly ready-to-go writing sample, know your letters are great, and think visiting would be stressful, maybe the gap year isn't going to help you. But damn I'm glad I did it.

[Edit_Undo]

Just wanted to add a link to anyone reading this thread can find their way over there.

 

I was thinking I would edit my post there to link to this thread without bumping up the old thread, but it looks like it's too late for editing, boo. 

I have been following TGC for quite some time now, how did I not see that thread! Sorry, table, for making another thread on the same topic, and thanks for the heads up!

[TheVineyard]

As far as average GRE scores, both Wisconsin-Madison and Duke publish this, and the scores are on average around 163-165 verbal and 155-160 quant.

Edited February 26, 2014 by TheVineyard