overoverover Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I'm just really hoping for an early acceptance. I only need to get into one school, and I'd like that to be the first school I hear from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reixis Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I'm just really hoping for an early acceptance. I only need to get into one school, and I'd like that to be the first school I hear from. Â Do early acceptances happen often in philosophy? I heard about it in other areas, but it seems like a rare thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reixis Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) If it's any consolidation, a few of my apps still are "incomplete," even though everything's been submitted. Â I am having similar troubles with UPenn. The deadline was December 15th and the status now says that almost all applications had their scores matched, but mine still marks "needed". I'm waiting until next week to contact them. Â EDIT: Oops, sorry for the double post. I meant to edit the previous one. Edited January 2, 2015 by reixis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overoverover Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Do early acceptances happen often in philosophy? I heard about it in other areas, but it seems like a rare thing. I mean early as in sometime in late January as opposed to in March or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nastasya_Filippovna Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 It's like waiting for Christmas!  ...except Santa is a 65 year old philosopher with a big white beard, and he has rejection letters instead of gifts. hahahahahahahaha!! YES!!!! He knows when I've been misinterpreting text, he knows when I've not made a valid argument....etc isostheneia, brettmullga, Edit_Undo and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinite Zest Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I'm just really hoping for an early acceptance. I only need to get into one school, and I'd like that to be the first school I hear from. Â Seriously. One early acceptance would make the rest of this process so much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overoverover Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Seriously. One early acceptance would make the rest of this process so much easier. I guess I'm saying I wouldn't mind if Berkeley let me in... Infinite Zest 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monadology Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Seriously. One early acceptance would make the rest of this process so much easier.  It definitely does, I got a fairly early one last year and just knowing you've got somewhere to go is a huge relief. However, it wasn't as easy as I expected. Once I had that acceptance I was a lot more hopeful for my chances at other schools (I knew this was irrational but it didn't change anything). That meant it was a lot more disappointing when rejections kept coming. Infinite Zest, isostheneia, reixis and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnothi_Seauton Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I had an early acceptance last year as well. Â I'm currently attending the program that accepted me early (UNC), and I'm confident that I made the right choice, but I will warn that an early acceptance can create a psychological bias in favor of that program. Â I immediately started imagining my life in Chapel Hill. Â I started researching apartments and looked up what there is to do in the area. Â Once you start imagining your life somewhere, other places start seeming less appealing. Â It's natural enough. Â I would just caution others to try not to let this bias get in the way of making the right graduate school decision. Â "X accepted me earlier than Y" is not a good reason to choose X over Y. Â Similarly, and more importantly, "X accepted me early and Y only accepted me off the waitlist" is not a good reason to accept X over Y. Â It's nice to feel wanted, but all first years will be on equal footing once the program begins. Â Professors are not biased in favor of those admitted immediately vs. those admitted off the waitlist. Â Â Good luck to all! Â I know these next few months will be stressful, but hang in there! Monadology, Edit_Undo, overoverover and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reixis Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) I would second what Gnothi said. I guess I didn't post it here, but I received an offer from the University of Otago (New Zealand). It seems like a very good place, and I have heard a lot of great things about the department. I was very tempted to accept the offer straightaway, but was advised by my advisor and my girlfriend to at least wait for US decisions to make a more informed decision. Luckily the timing was right and I will be able to wait until Feb/March to accept the offer. Anyway, it was particularly good to receive an early offer, as I was very suspicious of my prospects of going overseas. Â In time, one of my letter writers (a US professor) told me that I would do good to let US programs know about this early offer. What do you guys think? I think there are two possible scenarios here: one in which they hear about the offer and feel tempted to make me an offer as well; and another one in which they use this fact to reject me since I have somewhere else to go. I suspect that the second case is more likely to happen, but I might be wrong. Edited January 2, 2015 by reixis Nastasya_Filippovna, overoverover and Monadology 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isostheneia Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Congrats on the acceptance, reixis! Â In terms of letting other programs know, I don't think you have any obligation to tell them, at least not before you accept the offer. In terms of using your acceptance strategically, you might try something like this: hold off mentioning it for now, but if there are schools you haven't heard from and the deadline by which you have to make a decision regarding Otago is approaching (so, in late February or early March), you might let the departments you haven't heard from know at that point. That way, they might be more motivated to get back to you quickly, whether or not you get accepted to these programs. Monadology 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reixis Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Congrats on the acceptance, reixis! Â In terms of letting other programs know, I don't think you have any obligation to tell them, at least not before you accept the offer. In terms of using your acceptance strategically, you might try something like this: hold off mentioning it for now, but if there are schools you haven't heard from and the deadline by which you have to make a decision regarding Otago is approaching (so, in late February or early March), you might let the departments you haven't heard from know at that point. That way, they might be more motivated to get back to you quickly, whether or not you get accepted to these programs. Â Thanks! Â Yes, I thought of that too, but he told me that it would be a good idea to send them a message later this month. Anyway, I'm still reluctant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overoverover Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Thanks! Yes, I thought of that too, but he told me that it would be a good idea to send them a message later this month. Anyway, I'm still reluctant. They won't use this as an excuse to reject you. What you're saying to them by letting School X know is that you have an offer but you are still interested in possibly attending X, but that due to different timetables this could be difficult if you don't know your status by around March. They won't hold that against you. Of course, some schools say "Congrats on Otago, but we can't tell you anything right now." But some school might have you on the fence between admission and the waitlist, and knowing you have an offer could tip the scales in your favor. Edited January 3, 2015 by overoverover isostheneia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page228 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 One of the application systems has two different spots to upload writing samples... but as far as I can tell (and I double-checked) they only want one sample. The system won't let me leave the second spot empty. Â Do I upload the same sample twice? I was so prepared to pay, click submit, and be done. Argh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isostheneia Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 That's odd. If you feel comfortable sharing which school, perhaps others who are applying would have some insight. Â As long as you're providing everything that the department asks for, you should be fine. So for the second spot, you could upload your writing sample again (this seems like your safest bet), upload a document stating that their admissions website is idiotic (don't do this), or upload a document with some funny philosophy jokes (maybe do this, but still probably don't do this). Page228 and Infinite Zest 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page228 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Ha. Yeah, I'll probably upload the same sample again. That's seems to be the only safe option. (Although I don't know how they could object to funny philosophy jokes.) Â (Oregon) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinite Zest Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 That's odd. If you feel comfortable sharing which school, perhaps others who are applying would have some insight. Â As long as you're providing everything that the department asks for, you should be fine. So for the second spot, you could upload your writing sample again (this seems like your safest bet), upload a document stating that their admissions website is idiotic (don't do this), or upload a document with some funny philosophy jokes (maybe do this, but still probably don't do this). Â Or you could be really "philosophical" and upload a .jpeg of you submitting your first writing sample. Ritwik 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isostheneia Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (Although I don't know how they could object to funny philosophy jokes.) Â My favorite: Â Three logicians walk into a bar. The bartender asks them, "Can I get you all something to drink?" Â The first one looks at the others and says, "I don't know." Â The second says to the bartender, "I don't know either." Â The third one says, "Yes." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjb919 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Ha. Yeah, I'll probably upload the same sample again. That's seems to be the only safe option. (Although I don't know how they could object to funny philosophy jokes.) Â (Oregon) I know that Oregon requires you to send two copies of your transcript, one to the graduate admissions office and one to the philosophy department. Maybe the online application system wants you to upload two copies of your writing sample so that one goes to the admissions office and the other goes directly to the philosophy department (allowing them to start reviewing it sooner, instead of having to wait to receive it from the admissions office). I can't say for sure, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roast beef Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) Ha. Yeah, I'll probably upload the same sample again. That's seems to be the only safe option. (Although I don't know how they could object to funny philosophy jokes.) Â (Oregon) Â Not sure about Oregon in particular, but many schools have these extra fields to accommodate non-philosophy programs that require two samples. My understanding is that you can safely leave one blank. Â edit: sorry, I see now that you say the system won't let you do that. Weird. Edited January 5, 2015 by roast beef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinite Zest Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 My favorite: Â Three logicians walk into a bar. The bartender asks them, "Can I get you all something to drink?" Â The first one looks at the others and says, "I don't know." Â The second says to the bartender, "I don't know either." Â The third one says, "Yes." Â Descartes is on a flight. The flight attendant says, "Hello Mr. Descartes, would you like anything to drink?" Â "What do you have?" asks Descartes. Â "Let's see. We have orange juice, tea, coffee, and water," the flight attendant responds. Â "Let me think about it," says Descartes. And then he disappeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armchair_revolutionary Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) Hello all,  I discovered this forum a few days ago while looking forward to my rejections. I thought I'd create an account seeing as how I'll probably be stopping by until the end of notifications.  A bit about myself: 3.6 undergrad GPA at a UC, though my major was in the social sciences 3.93 GPA for my MA studies in Philosophy at a state school GRE scores were 163V/150Q/5.0A No publications  I applied to 11 programs: U. Oregon, Michigan State, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Marquette, Stony Brook, U. Memphis, Emory, Berkeley (Rhetoric), W. Ontario (Theory and Criticism), and Binghamton (Comp Lit)  Looking forward to another month or so of relaxation before I have to think about getting in the thick of things again. Edited January 5, 2015 by armchair_revolutionary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overoverover Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Hello all, I discovered this forum a few days ago while looking forward to my rejections. I thought I'd create an account seeing as how I'll probably be stopping by until the end of notifications. A bit about myself: 3.6 undergrad GPA at a UC, though my major was in the social sciences 3.93 GPA for my MA studies in Philosophy at a state school GRE scores were 163V/150Q/5.0A No publications I applied to 11 programs: U. Oregon, Michigan State, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Marquette, Stony Brook, U. Memphis, Emory, Berkeley (Rhetoric), W. Ontario (Theory and Criticism), and Binghamton (Comp Lit) Looking forward to another month or so of relaxation before I have to think about getting in the thick of things again. Welcome, comrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinite Zest Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Hello all,  I discovered this forum a few days ago while looking forward to my rejections. I thought I'd create an account seeing as how I'll probably be stopping by until the end of notifications.  A bit about myself: 3.6 undergrad GPA at a UC, though my major was in the social sciences 3.93 GPA for my MA studies in Philosophy at a state school GRE scores were 163V/150Q/5.0A No publications  I applied to 11 programs: U. Oregon, Michigan State, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Marquette, Stony Brook, U. Memphis, Emory, Berkeley (Rhetoric), W. Ontario (Theory and Criticism), and Binghamton (Comp Lit)  Looking forward to another month or so of relaxation before I have to think about getting in the thick of things again.  Hello there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catria Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 So I have to wonder whether philosophy's graduate applicant pool has collapsed in the same way history and English graduate applicant pools have... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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