2015 Applicants Assemble!

[ZiggyPhil]

As the 2014 application season is essentially over, I thought I'd make a thread where 2015 applicants could introduce themselves.  Is it too soon to do so?  Perhaps, but I think grad school admissions are like congressional elections - as soon as one is over you've got to start preparing for the next one.  So, on to my introduction.

 

Undergrad: Went to a big and not particularly prestigious state school.  Didn't major in philosophy and earned a terrible GPA from years of blowing off classes.  Applied and got accepted to law school, but balked at the last minute because I didn't really want to be a lawyer.  Found philosophy on my own, and went back to said big state school a couple years after graduating to get a second B.A. in philosophy.  Cumulative GPA (combining both degrees) is 2.7 (yeah, I said terrible), philosophy GPA is 3.9.

 

Grad: Currently attending a different big state school for my M.A. (not one of the leiter-mentioned programs, but it is funded).  Grad GPA is 4.0.

 

Other stuff: High GRE (except the stupid writing portion), which I'm hoping offsets some of the doubts my terrible undergrad GPA is sure to raise.  No publications, but I am currently preparing a few papers for submission to conferences, and I'm working on a book review, so hopefully that will change by application time.

 

Interests: Pretty much the entirety of analytic philosophy.  My first love was philosophy of language, but recently I've been more interested in mind.  But, I'm also quite interested in ethics and political philosophy.  My writing sample will probably be in philosophy of mind.  I've read a few continentals but don't get much out of it.  Historical areas are somewhat interesting but not a favorite, especially not ancient.

 

I applied to a lot of M.A. programs and did a ton of research about them, so I would happily answer questions from people looking to go that direction. 

[jjb919]

Undergrad: I went to a well-known but not elite SLAC.  I double-majored in philosophy and music, did very well in my classes (GPA 3.9), and wrote a senior thesis. I was shut out of grad school first time around; I didn't start thinking about it until late in the season and didn't do enough research or seek enough guidance to help prepare me so it's no surprise.  I took a year off and worked at a call center for an e-commerce company. Applied the second time and was admitted to a master's program.

 

Grad: I completed my MA requirements in Fall 2013 with a strong GPA (3.97), and have been revising and polishing a truncated version of my thesis to use as my writing sample. Currently working full time at an excellent non-profit.

 

Other: I took the GRE back in 2009 and did pretty mediocre; I'm going to start preparing in earnest this summer and take it in the fall. I won a graduate student essay competition in 2012 and the paper is supposed to be published, but the press is pretty backed up so I have no clue when it will appear. I will be presenting my shortened MA thesis at a conference this weekend (my first one!), and afterward will probably try my luck at submitting it to journals for publication. It's extremely unlikely that it would even be reviewed (let alone accepted) in time to make any difference in my application, but that's not really the purpose anyway, is it?

 

Interests: mostly in ethics, specifically virtue ethics and the intersection with embodiment/embodied cognition. I'm also very interested in recognition theory, German Idealism, and phenomenology (although I must admit, as much as I have studied it I only have a foggy idea of what it's about).

[ZiggyPhil]

Well, there are journals that have quick turnaround times for peer-review, so it's at least possible to have it accepted for publication before applying (of course that's only if you think it's ready for publication).  There's a site that keeps records of such things, though the name escapes me at the moment. 

 

By the way, congrats on your first conference!

[jjb919]

Well, there are journals that have quick turnaround times for peer-review, so it's at least possible to have it accepted for publication before applying (of course that's only if you think it's ready for publication).  There's a site that keeps records of such things, though the name escapes me at the moment. 

 

By the way, congrats on your first conference!

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah, I've been doing a bit of research and found that document I think you're referring to on Andrew Cullison's blog:

 

http://www.andrewcullison.com/journal-surveys/

 

I've pinpointed a few journals that I think would be sympathetic to my topic, style of writing, not too out of reach, and which have quick turnaround time and reasonable time to publication.  So theoretically it is possible to be accepted for publication by the time I submit my application, but that would require my paper to be accepted by the first or second journal I submit to, which is quite a long shot to say the least.

[brettmullga]

Undergrad: Large and somewhat respected state school, although, not for my interests. Switched from Math to Bio/Pre-Med to Econ and eventually added on Philosophy. Needless to say, I've taken many more than the minimum number of courses required for a bachelors. Ending with a 3.7 overall and much higher for my last two years and in my degree areas. I've recently become interested in math, again, and am spending Fall '14 and Spring '15 taking a handful of undergrad/grad math courses. 

 

Other: My GRE score was lower than I had hoped, especially the writing. To be fair, I didn't take it as seriously as I should have. I published in an undergrad journal (that hardly counts as publishing) and presented at a handful of conferences, including a professional one. I have also done some empirical work in Econ and hope to get my name onto a publication from a research center at my university before next Fall. 

 

Interests: My interests can be broadly characterized as 'Formal Epistemology.' Specifically, I'm interested in game theory, epistemic logic, and probability theory. My writing sample is a shortened version of my undergrad thesis on Popper and logical probability. I'm applying to Phil, Econ, and, perhaps, Math programs.

 

jjb919, congrats on the acceptance!

[dgswaim]

Undergrad: Large and somewhat respected state school, although, not for my interests. Switched from Math to Bio/Pre-Med to Econ and eventually added on Philosophy. Needless to say, I've taken many more than the minimum number of courses required for a bachelors. Ending with a 3.7 overall and much higher for my last two years and in my degree areas. I've recently become interested in math, again, and am spending Fall '14 and Spring '15 taking a handful of undergrad/grad math courses. 

 

Other: My GRE score was lower than I had hoped, especially the writing. To be fair, I didn't take it as seriously as I should have. I published in an undergrad journal (that hardly counts as publishing) and presented at a handful of conferences, including a professional one. I have also done some empirical work in Econ and hope to get my name onto a publication from a research center at my university before next Fall. 

 

Interests: My interests can be broadly characterized as 'Formal Epistemology.' Specifically, I'm interested in game theory, epistemic logic, and probability theory. My writing sample is a shortened version of my undergrad thesis on Popper and logical probability. I'm applying to Phil, Econ, and, perhaps, Math programs.

 

jjb919, congrats on the acceptance!

Wow. You're applying to a broad range of programs! Are you preparing separate writing samples to fit each prospective field of study?

[brettmullga]

Wow. You're applying to a broad range of programs! Are you preparing separate writing samples to fit each prospective field of study?

 

Not right now, at least. For the Econ programs, I'm interested mostly in Micro Theory. In some sense, my writing sample on probability is relevant to work in this field. With this being said, many of the non-philosophy programs that I'm looking at do not require writing samples. Even though the programs are in different types of departments, I intend to study the same broad topic. For example, to study environmental ethics, one may study philosophy, pol sci, public policy, and so forth. 

[sar1906]

Undergrad:  Technical school in upstate NY, majored in biochemistry, minored in philosophy.  Paper accepted at an undergraduate philosophy conference but conflicted with a biochemistry conference, and chose the latter.  I regret that. 

 

Grad:  Graduated, applied to graduate schools, accepted at the New School, no funding, turned it down.  Interviewed at DePaul but not offered a position, ended up going to Johns Hopkins to study biochemistry.  After some time knee-deep in research and conversing with older students and faculty, decided that was the wrong path, left the program, moved to China to teach English and study Chinese.

 

Third year in China, now preparing application for 2015.

 

Interests:  Nietzsche, Foucault, American philosophy.  19th and 20th century continental philosophy.  Phenomenology, Critical Theory.

[isostheneia]

Hi, folks.

 

Undergrad: I'm graduating this spring. Research university, pretty well-ranked on PGR and in general. Philosophy major, ~3.75 GPA, ~3.85 in philosophy. I've taken two grad courses, both within my areas of interest and with professors I hope to write me letters of rec (one being my adviser).

 

Other stuff: Haven't taken the GRE yet, not looking forward to it. I presented at three conferences last year, another this spring. No publications, but I co-founded an undergrad philosophy journal.

 

Writing sample: Planning on using a revised (and substantially shortened) version of my BA thesis. I look at a debate within contemporary Hegel scholarship, try to get clear about the disagreement, and attempt to resolve it by giving an original reading of the relevant sections of text. Actually, that's due on Friday, so I should probably be working on that rather than looking at gradcafe.

 

Interests: German Idealism, particularly Kant and Hegel. Also, epistemology and philosophy of logic (including but not limited to contemporary appropriations of Kant and Hegel on these topics). I'm also interested in philosophy of film, but that's so far removed from my other interests that I'm not planning on including it as part of my pitch.

[Hopephily]

Undergrad: I went to a well-known but not elite SLAC.  I double-majored in philosophy and music, did very well in my classes (GPA 3.9), and wrote a senior thesis. I was shut out of grad school first time around; I didn't start thinking about it until late in the season and didn't do enough research or seek enough guidance to help prepare me so it's no surprise.  I took a year off and worked at a call center for an e-commerce company. Applied the second time and was admitted to a master's program.

 

Grad: I completed my MA requirements in Fall 2013 with a strong GPA (3.97), and have been revising and polishing a truncated version of my thesis to use as my writing sample. Currently working full time at an excellent non-profit.

 

Other: I took the GRE back in 2009 and did pretty mediocre; I'm going to start preparing in earnest this summer and take it in the fall. I won a graduate student essay competition in 2012 and the paper is supposed to be published, but the press is pretty backed up so I have no clue when it will appear. I will be presenting my shortened MA thesis at a conference this weekend (my first one!), and afterward will probably try my luck at submitting it to journals for publication. It's extremely unlikely that it would even be reviewed (let alone accepted) in time to make any difference in my application, but that's not really the purpose anyway, is it?

 

Interests: mostly in ethics, specifically virtue ethics and the intersection with embodiment/embodied cognition. I'm also very interested in recognition theory, German Idealism, and phenomenology (although I must admit, as much as I have studied it I only have a foggy idea of what it's about).

 

FWIW, I submitted a paper in mid July of the summer before application season and it was accepted by October. 

[jjb919]

Thanks, Hopephily, that's good to know.

[brettmullga]

Actually, that's due on Friday, so I should probably be working on that rather than looking at gradcafe.

 

I'm in the same boat. Mine is due on the 28th. Good luck!

[Hopephily]

Thanks, Hopephily, that's good to know.

 

Sure thing and best of luck!

[Kantianisms]

Undergrad: I went to a small, non-prestigious, Catholic, liberal arts college. It's known in the region for being a good school, but nobody outside of the region has heard of it. I changed my major from history to political science with a minor in philosophy in my junior year, and realized my senior year that I wanted to do philosophy. Of course, I foolishly decided to apply that same semester and go absolutely nowhere - I had only taken 3 philosophy courses (2 more in progresses), had no writing sample, hadn't studied for the GRE, done very little research, and had no relationship with my professors. I had an average GPA with a 3.55, a 3.75 in Philosophy, and a 3.65 in Political Science. I also studied abroad in Ireland for a semester. After failing to gain admission to graduate school, and receiving my BA in Political Science, I decided that I would get a second BA in Philosophy at a larger state school, work on my philosophy, get to know professors, and work on a writing sample. This is what I am currently doing.

 

Other: I took the GRE late November of the same year that I applied and did about average (compared to the general population) but did slightly above average for verbal. I tutor in both writing and philosophy and am the president of philosophy club.

 

Writing Sample: I'm not sure what I want to use yet, but I may use my paper on Korsgaard's constitutivism, defending it against objections to the possibility of accounting for bad action.

 

Interests: I have many interests. My main interests are in value theory/normativity - social and political philosophy, ethics, metaethics, philosophy of action. I have some other interests in metaphysics and epistemology, philosophy of law, feminist philosophy, philosophy of social science, philosophy of mind, and game theory. As for the history of philosophy, I'm particularly interested in Kant, modern philosophy, continental, analytical, and I'm also really interested in the historical progression of philosophical thought (rather then particular historical views).

[Monadology]

Writing Sample: I'm not sure what I want to use yet, but I may use my paper on Korsgaard's constitutivism, defending it against objections to the possibility of accounting for bad action.

 

Interests: I have many interests. My main interests are in value theory/normativity - social and political philosophy, ethics, metaethics, philosophy of action. I have some other interests in metaphysics and epistemology, philosophy of law, feminist philosophy, philosophy of social science, philosophy of mind, and game theory. As for the history of philosophy, I'm particularly interested in Kant, modern philosophy, continental, analytical, and I'm also really interested in the historical progression of philosophical thought (rather then particular historical views).

 

If you haven't yet, you should definitely read Douglas Lavin's Practical Reason and the Possibility of Error. Also, I recommend applying to UWM's MA program, which is where I did my MA. It might help bridge you into a good PhD program if you have trouble with that due to your unusual background and Luca Ferrero, Bill Bristow, Ted Hinchman and Andrea Westlund are all right up your alley (EDIT: I totally forgot Blain Neufeld because I never took a class with him). 

 

As far as PhD programs, you might find UC Riverside (which is where I'm headed this Fall) very appealing as well. Lots of action/ethics folks there, some phil mind, and very pluralistic. Also, from what I've gathered, a really happy student body. 

Edited April 25, 2014 by Monadology

[jailbreak]

Hi, folks.

 

Undergrad: I'm graduating this spring. Research university, pretty well-ranked on PGR and in general. Philosophy major, ~3.75 GPA, ~3.85 in philosophy. I've taken two grad courses, both within my areas of interest and with professors I hope to write me letters of rec (one being my adviser).

 

Other stuff: Haven't taken the GRE yet, not looking forward to it. I presented at three conferences last year, another this spring. No publications, but I co-founded an undergrad philosophy journal.

 

Writing sample: Planning on using a revised (and substantially shortened) version of my BA thesis. I look at a debate within contemporary Hegel scholarship, try to get clear about the disagreement, and attempt to resolve it by giving an original reading of the relevant sections of text. Actually, that's due on Friday, so I should probably be working on that rather than looking at gradcafe.

 

Interests: German Idealism, particularly Kant and Hegel. Also, epistemology and philosophy of logic (including but not limited to contemporary appropriations of Kant and Hegel on these topics). I'm also interested in philosophy of film, but that's so far removed from my other interests that I'm not planning on including it as part of my pitch.

 

"Pretty well-ranked in general"?

[philstudent1991]

I'm not applying this year, but here's my advice and do what you will with it: get off this forum until October lol. Work on your sample, your GRE, researching schools, your GPA, professor relationships and maybe saving money if possible.

[philosophia14]

I second philstudent1991. As someone who just survived this process, the later you can convince yourself to get mentally involved with it, the better. By the time February hits, you will be permanently checking your inbox and checking this forum. Enjoy the rest of your undergrad!! I wish I had!

[overoverover]

Currently a PhD student in philosophy at a ranked program, but we've lost some faculty recently (including my advisor), so I'm applying to transfer. Should be able to get an MA out of my current place, though.

 

I do philosophy of language and metaphysics. 

Undergrad GPA was good but not great. Grad GPA is a 3.95. Don't remember the specifics of my GRE right now, but they were pretty solid. No publications, but a couple of conferences (not grad student conferences).

I have two potential writing samples, one in philosophy of language and one in metaphysics. I'll be spending the summer revising them and decide in the fall. 

Long list, will be shortened by a little bit: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, USC, UC Berkeley, MIT, UConn, UMass, Cornell, Rutgers, NYU, Maryland, Syracuse, UT Austin, Northwestern, Michigan.

[DHumeDominates]

I also second philstudent1991's advice. I didn't read any TGC threads, let alone become a member and post in them, until my applications were complete (roughly, late Nov/early Dec), which is not to say submitted.

 

At this (insanely!) early stage, if you're looking for advice on how to prepare applications, etc., talk to your advisors, those who know you personally.

[ccjester]

Greetings! I'm new to this forum entirely. I plan on applying for 2015 and was getting an early start on researching the application process. 

 

Undergrad: I am graduating from a small and probably relatively unknown state college. Due to soul searching my way through nearly the entirety of my undergraduate career, my GPA is far less than stellar. 2.92 cumulative, and about 3.5 in Philosophy after this semester. The 3.5 would be higher, but I took one phil class long before becoming a major and did extremely poorly out of pure laziness and lack of interest. I also got some B's. I had the good fortune of meeting a Professor who took an interest in my Philosophical ability. She convinced me to major in Philosophy, and later suggested I apply to Grad school. It took me half the semester mulling over it to make a decision, but I have decided that I definitely do want to apply. 

 

Other stuff: I have yet to take the GRE, and I plan on studying as much as possible for it. I plan on perfecting the paper I am presenting to the department on Wednesday (our degree requires either a portfolio or a senior presentation to graduate) to use as a writing sample. It is on a fairly esoteric topic (Marx/Benjamin on alienation). I hope that doesn't count against me. It is, however, my best writing sample candidate as I produced it research-wise independently under the loose guidance of a professor. 

 

Interests: My interests currently include German Idealism, modern philosophy (esp. Berkeley), 19th and 20th century philosophy, Marxism, and secondary interests in Philosophy of Art, Existentialism, and Symbolic Logic. I would also like to study friendship further, a la Kant and Aristotle. Figures I am currently interested in are Marx, Benjamin, Adorno, Berkeley and Kant.

 

I haven't quite decided what schools I am applying to (I plan to apply to at least 12), although I already know my top choice school is University of Toronto. The department there really seems in line with my personal interests, and I'd love to work with Rebecca Comay who lists Marx and Marxism and Benjamin and Adorno under her research interests. I will be focusing on applying to schools with strengths in the "continental" side of Philosophy rather than the Analytical side. 
 

Edited May 4, 2014 by ccjester

[PedagogodeLiberacion]

I'm an international student from South America and I've been doing my B.A. here in the U.S. and I'm hoping to continue my studies here for PhD & MA. This is my first time using this forum and I'll be applying for Fall 2015.

 

Undergraduate: I will be graduating from a large, pluralistic department. I started off with Psychology as my major but was thoroughly disappointed when I took upper-level classes and realized that it was too empirically oriented for my taste. So, I decided to do Philosophy as my second major. So far, my overall GPA is a 3.8 but in Philosophy is a 4.0. Since I'm basically done with all of my Philosophy coursework, I'll have to struggle through these next couple of semesters taking core classes. 

 

I have yet to take the GRE but I will be taking it in October so I'll have enough to prepare and hopefully not have to retake it. I've published two essays in an undergraduate journal and attended one conference. I'll be working with a fairly well-known professor for my honors thesis until next year so I hope I'll be able to use that as my writing sample. 

 

Interests: Social & Political Philosophy [whether it is Continental (Critical Theory: Arendt, Habermas, Marcuse) or earlier (Rousseau, Locke, Hegel)], some Post-Structuralism that overlaps with Social & Political Philosophy (Deleuze, Derrida, Foucault), Latin American Philosophy (Ortega y Gasset, De Unamuno), Philosophy of Education (Dewey, Freire), Philosophy of Literature (I've been interested in the relationship between Latin American literature and philosophy), Aesthetics (I've been reading some Baudrillard and it has been pretty enthralling).

[primenumbers]

 

 

Interests: My interests can be broadly characterized as 'Formal Epistemology.' Specifically, I'm interested in game theory, epistemic logic, and probability theory. My writing sample is a shortened version of my undergrad thesis on Popper and logical probability. I'm applying to Phil, Econ, and, perhaps, Math programs.

 

That's awesome, and VERY similar to my area.  I was a math/philosophy double major undergrad, and had pretty good luck this year on philosophy admissions with a semi-technical decision theory paper.  Good luck!

[brettmullga]

That's awesome, and VERY similar to my area.  I was a math/philosophy double major undergrad, and had pretty good luck this year on philosophy admissions with a semi-technical decision theory paper.  Good luck!

Congrats! Masters or PhD? It's always nice to meet someone with similar interests. 

[primenumbers]

Congrats! Masters or PhD? It's always nice to meet someone with similar interests. 

PhD, and funded!    I think technical philosophy is favored a bit at the moment...  I see you are applying to CMU.  I had a great experience visiting there.  They are a cool department for sure.  They accept a lot of students for their masters program rather than the PhD, though...