International Applicants Thread

[gradcoffee]

Seeing how most of the posters in the acceptance/reject/waitlist threads are mostly applicants from US colleges, I'm quite curious as to how are the international applicants faring in the current application season.

 

For those of you who have received offers, how is the funding situation like? Looking forward to hear your replies.

Edited March 7, 2014 by gradcoffee

[Edit_Undo]

I am an international student with an american degree though I am out of luck so far. 

[AcademicX]

I am going to college in the US, but I am an international student. At least for the schools I applied to, the funding situation is the same as for domestic students. Now, I don't know if there are any extra taxes we would have to pay on the fellowship money as international students. Moreover, I know for sure that Penn State (and probably most schools) are looking to diversify their student body given that philosophy is still predominantly a white-male field (of course, I don't want to assume that you are a person of color or a woman). Fun fact: I noticed that at least 4 out of the 6 Columbia admits this year were international students (with or without a degree from a US undergraduate institution).

Edited March 7, 2014 by Johannes14

[PedagogodeLiberacion]

I am going to college in the US, but I am an international student. At least for the schools I applied to, the funding situation is the same as for domestic students. Now, I don't know if there are any extra taxes we would have to pay on the fellowship money as international students. Moreover, I know for sure that Penn State (and probably most schools) are looking to diversify their student body given that philosophy is still predominantly a white-male field (of course, I don't want to assume that you are a person of color or a woman). Fun fact: I noticed that at least 4 out of the 6 Columbia admits this year were international students (with or without a degree from a US undergraduate institution).

Hey, I'll be applying to Columbia and I'm also an international student (I'm doing my BA). Since you were admitted to Columbia, I was wondering, if you're willing, I'd like to hear your experience/thoughts on the program. Cheers!

[AcademicX]

Hi pedagogo, 

I saw in another post that you're from South America. I'm from Peru, where are you from? I have to say that I love Columbia and that I think it's a great place to study continental philosophy, especially if you are interested in the German tradition. Based on your interests, I think that Columbia would be great for you. If by Critical Theory you mean the Frankfurt School, Columbia has Lydia Goehr and Axel Honneth. Goehr's main focus is aesthetics and Robert Gooding-Williams (our new hire from UChicago!) works on it too. My main interest is social and political philosophy and I think that Columbia has one of the best departments in the country in terms of breadth: Axel Honneth, Gooding-Williams, Michelle Moody-Adams, Fred Neuhouser, Akeel Bilgrami. Columbia also has Taylor Carman who especializes on Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty and is well-trained in 20th century continental philosophy (including existentialism). I am also planning on using the resources available in the University. For example, next semester I'm taking a class with Balibar who is a visiting professor. He will be gone after the fall, but there are always great people coming to Columbia! Butler just went back to Berkeley, but she may come back to Columbia in the future (and so may Wendy Brown). There's also the possibility of taking classes at other universities through the NYC consortium (e.g., Stony Brook, Fordham, NYU, CUNY, New School, etc.). There are definitely more opportunities in New York than you can take advantage of just because of the lack of time. Also, when I visited Columbia, I got a great feeling of the department. Grad students, staff and faculty were all very nice and helpful. If you have other questions about Columbia, let me know. I'm starting there next fall and I'm super excited.

[PedagogodeLiberacion]

Hey Johannes, 

I'm from Venezuela. That's great to hear that a fellow South American is at Columbia, congratulations! Yes, I've been interested in Habermas and Arendt primarily but I've been wanting to read more people like Marcuse, Horkheimer & Adorno. It is great to hear that Columbia has so many opportunities. I've definitely been interested in the program and, since it is one of my dream schools, I'll be applying for sure. Thanks for the information. Cheers!