2015 Applicants Assemble!

[jjb919]

I would guess. It was continental aesthetics, and it was impossible to make it really clear in the manner that arguments about, say, Kant's transcendental deduction can be. Probably that and the low quant score on the GRE - I'm sure the red flag goes up when an applicant has under 150-5 for any of the sections.

That's a fair assessment, I think. What schools are you looking to apply to?

[jjb919]

Largely the SPEP schools and some pluralist schools as well (though not the higher-tier ones you are, haha) - Penn State, Villanova, Depaul, Purdue, Duquesne, U Oregon, UNM, Kentucky (maybe), Boston College, Emory, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, and Texas A&M (maybe). The first four schools are at the top of my list, fit-wise.

That's a great list. I've heard great things about Penn State, Villanova, Emory, and Vanderbilt, but for a number of reasons I didn't think they were a good fit for me. I would absolutely love to go to Oregon, and work with Mark Johnson among others, but even if I get in I don't think I'll be able to convince my wife to leave her job for the dearth of job opportunities in Eugene. It's a very economically depressed city from what I can tell through the research I've done and the anecdotal evidence I've collected from people who've lived there.

[Billy Goehring]

That's a great list. I've heard great things about Penn State, Villanova, Emory, and Vanderbilt, but for a number of reasons I didn't think they were a good fit for me. I would absolutely love to go to Oregon, and work with Mark Johnson among others, but even if I get in I don't think I'll be able to convince my wife to leave her job for the dearth of job opportunities in Eugene. It's a very economically depressed city from what I can tell through the research I've done and the anecdotal evidence I've collected from people who've lived there.

 

That depends. (I think I was a part of your anecdotal evidence). It's certainly hard to find summer work for us graduate students (and this might have been what I conveyed), but I suspect things are very different for people looking for "real" jobs. The downtown area has practically sprung up ex nihilo over the last two years, so things might very well be better for your wife (depending, of course, on what she does). But of course, since I'm not in that situation, this is only conjecture piled atop more conjecture. 

 

And leviathaaaaan---do I spy a quote from Hegel's Naturphilosophie? Beautiful!

 

Anyway, just my two cents, as always. All I have to offer are my own UO anecdotes and Duquesne and hearsay vis à vis other departments. So take with a grain of salt, obviously.

[reixis]

idk your life, and there is a lot more to an application than GRE and school prestige, but believe me, you are setting yourself up for heartbreak if you are only applying to pretty much top ten schools. Even UConn is super, super competitive. Consider an MA: Tufts, Georgia State, Brandeis, NIU, Wisconsin Milwaukee, and a few others all have great programs with great placement into ranked PhD programs.

 

Yes, I know about the risks. Unfortunately, I cannot afford applying to MA programs in the US. I don't have money to live in the US by myself, and as far as I know, few MA programs provide full funding.

 

I’m applying to a MA program in my country as a backup and am also applying to a full-scholarship from my country’s government. I heard that if you have your own funding and admission folks think you are worth a spot in the program, then it might make things easier.

 

--

 

@topic

 

When do students usually send out applications? Many of the schools I’m applying to are opening the season in the next weeks and I was wondering whether it is advisable to send files earlier.

[overoverover]

Yes, I know about the risks. Unfortunately, I cannot afford applying to MA programs in the US. I don't have money to live in the US by myself, and as far as I know, few MA programs provide full funding.

 

I’m applying to a MA program in my country as a backup and am also applying to a full-scholarship from my country’s government. I heard that if you have your own funding and admission folks think you are worth a spot in the program, then it might make things easier.

 

--

 

@topic

 

When do students usually send out applications? Many of the schools I’m applying to are opening the season in the next weeks and I was wondering whether it is advisable to send files earlier.

I can't see time of submission mattering at all to departments. I doubt they start looking at applications until all are submitted. Professors are busy people, and they don't spend more than the required amount of time fulfilling departmental duties (including admissions). 

[overoverover]

Yes! My writing sample brings the Naturphilosophie into relation with the Phenomenology!

 

ALSO: Reixis, I've heard sending them in a month or two early is nice since supposedly the committee can 'familiarize themselves with your application' and you don't blend in as much. However, I've only heard from one person whether this matters at all, so I'm given over to thinking the extra time is well-spent on honing the sample and SOP.

I wholeheartedly agree with the last point. Take the extra month to revise your sample, take a week off, and revise again. Give it a final pass! 

[jjb919]

That depends. (I think I was a part of your anecdotal evidence). It's certainly hard to find summer work for us graduate students (and this might have been what I conveyed), but I suspect things are very different for people looking for "real" jobs. The downtown area has practically sprung up ex nihilo over the last two years, so things might very well be better for your wife (depending, of course, on what she does). But of course, since I'm not in that situation, this is only conjecture piled atop more conjecture. 

Most of my anecdotal evidence comes from a professor coworker of my fiancee's who taught at U. Oregon for a bit and whose wife had a really hard time finding work. What he said was that while the university is one of the largest employers in Eugene (one of the other largest employers being Walmart), jobs there are really hard to come by, don't pay as well as they should (even when accounting for the lower cost of living in Eugene), and if she does get a job my fiancee may have to settle for a position lower than what she has been working hard for many years to achieve at her current institution. Needless to say, this makes her very resistant to move across the country away from her family for a very little and risky opportunity. Unless I am able to secure some confidence that she would be able to attain an administrative job at the university close to her current level and with decent pay, then it is extremely unlikely that I would be able to convince her to move out there. And this is a fair deal I think.

[jjb919]

I can't see time of submission mattering at all to departments. I doubt they start looking at applications until all are submitted. Professors are busy people, and they don't spend more than the required amount of time fulfilling departmental duties (including admissions). 

For what it's worth, from having worked in a graduate admissions office before, we would send applications over to departments as soon as they were complete (all letters of recommendation, transcripts, and GRE scores received). Whether or not other schools do it like this, or if the departments actually read them when they arrived, or waited for the rest of the applications to arrive, I don't know. It's also important to note that the admissions office I worked for operated on a rolling admissions basis; there was not final deadline to apply. So that may have an effect on how and when they would send applications to the departments.

[overoverover]

For what it's worth, from having worked in a graduate admissions office before, we would send applications over to departments as soon as they were complete (all letters of recommendation, transcripts, and GRE scores received). Whether or not other schools do it like this, or if the departments actually read them when they arrived, or waited for the rest of the applications to arrive, I don't know. It's also important to note that the admissions office I worked for operated on a rolling admissions basis; there was not final deadline to apply. So that may have an effect on how and when they would send applications to the departments.

I imagine rolling admission changes the process significantly, but AFAIK no philosophy PhD programs use a rolling admissions system? If it's a non-rolling system, then I can't see applying early being an advantage. 

[Edit_Undo]

Hello again! I am reapplying this season.

[overoverover]

Hello again! I am reapplying this season.

What do you think you changed the most in your apps between this year and last?

[overoverover]

I should add that I asked that question out of honest curiosity. As I'm going through the application process for the second time, I know I've put a lot of thought into the ways I've changed as an applicant/how my materials reflect that, and I'm wondering what that experience is like for others.

[Lutefisk!]

I should add that I asked that question out of honest curiosity. As I'm going through the application process for the second time, I know I've put a lot of thought into the ways I've changed as an applicant/how my materials reflect that, and I'm wondering what that experience is like for others.

I am attending a Leiterific MA program. I am also working on a new writing sample. And I will retake the GRE soon.  

 

[Edit_Undo]

What do you think you changed the most in your apps between this year and last?

The main aspect that I have changed is my writing sample. My writing sample for last season was on Ethics (unrelated to my areas of interest). This time, the sample is on philosophy of logic. Other than that, you can see from my previous list that I was over ambitious, so I lowered my target. Also, I am going to spend more time on my statements and look deeper on how some professors' works are aligned with questions I am interested in.

However, I still feel that I have not changed much from last time, and I am guessing that you feel somewhat the same because of your question.

 

How about you, what have you changed?

[overoverover]

Well, I've been in a PGR PhD program for over a year now, so I've taken a lot more philosophy courses and in general gotten much more serious about philosophy. My interests have narrowed, allowing me to produce a cohesive narrative in my statements. My writing sample is much stronger than the one I used last time, and that's to be expected—my first writing sample was written in my junior year of undergrad and revised a little over the summer, and this new one was written near the end of my first year in grad school and heavily revised over the summer (still a WIP, though). And I've presented at two conferences in the last year, which I'm hoping will at least make me look active in the profession.

I actually see myself as a pretty different applicant than I was two years ago, but I also think self-assessment is incredibly difficult. So who really knows.

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

I imagine rolling admission changes the process significantly, but AFAIK no philosophy PhD programs use a rolling admissions system? If it's a non-rolling system, then I can't see applying early being an advantage. 

 

Yep. My advisor in the philosophy department told me this.

[MorganFreemanlives]

plenty of canadian and UK programs especially at the master's level have a rolling admissions of sorts, but financial compensation quickly begins to drop to close to zero as you pass certain dates.

[tm333]

A little late to the party it seems, but here it goes.

 

Undergraduate: I'll be graduating in the Spring with a double major in Philosophy and Psychology from a well-known state school. My overall GPA is a 3.5, though in Philosophy I maintain a 3.9. No Bs in any philosophy courses to date (hoping to keep it that way, though intermediate logic is trying!) I'll be completing an Honors Thesis this semester. My advisors are two tenured professors, one of whom is very well-known in my field of interest. These two professors, along with one other, are my letter writers. I've also been President, and am currently Co-President, of my university's undergraduate philosophy association (though I'm not sure how relevant that fact is). I've held these positions over the last two years.

 

Other: I wasn't satisfied with my GRE the first time around, so I'll be retaking that. I'll be submitting papers for publishing in the coming weeks.  

 

Interests: My main interests are in philosophy of language and mind, particularly with singular thought. In my thesis I am analyzing the differences and similarities between Jeshion's Cognitivism and Recanati's mental file theory. Secondary interests are in the philosophy of consciousness/personal identity and perception, specifically whether a theory can allow for "branching kills" while remaining palatable and the veridicality of data representations of color in the color perception, respectively. 

[Infinite Zest]

A little late to the party it seems, but here it goes.

 

Undergraduate: I'll be graduating in the Spring with a double major in Philosophy and Psychology from a well-known state school. My overall GPA is a 3.5, though in Philosophy I maintain a 3.9. No Bs in any philosophy courses to date (hoping to keep it that way, though intermediate logic is trying!) I'll be completing an Honors Thesis this semester. My advisors are two tenured professors, one of whom is very well-known in my field of interest. These two professors, along with one other, are my letter writers. I've also been President, and am currently Co-President, of my university's undergraduate philosophy association (though I'm not sure how relevant that fact is). I've held these positions over the last two years.

 

Other: I wasn't satisfied with my GRE the first time around, so I'll be retaking that. I'll be submitting papers for publishing in the coming weeks.  

 

Interests: My main interests are in philosophy of language and mind, particularly with singular thought. In my thesis I am analyzing the differences and similarities between Jeshion's Cognitivism and Recanati's mental file theory. Secondary interests are in the philosophy of consciousness/personal identity and perception, specifically whether a theory can allow for "branching kills" while remaining palatable and the veridicality of data representations of color in the color perception, respectively. 

 

Overlapping interests! Woo!

[overoverover]

So, almost November now. How's everybody doing? How're the apps coming?

Also, anybody know how long schools hold on to GREs? I'm applying to a few schools that I applied to two years ago—what's the likelihood they kept my GRE scores on file? (That'd save some money during this wallet-draining process!)

Edited October 30, 2014 by overoverover

[jjb919]

Also, anybody know how long schools hold on to GREs? I'm applying to a few schools that I applied to two years ago—what's the likelihood they kept me GRE scores on file? (That'd save some money during this wallet-draining process!)

I think the standard to hold on to GRE scores is 1 year. After that they discard them. And depending on how organized the admissions office is, they may not even be able to find your scores from a year ago and you'll have to resend them anyway. Sucks.

[overoverover]

I think the standard to hold on to GRE scores is 1 year. After that they discard them. And depending on how organized the admissions office is, they may not even be able to find your scores from a year ago and you'll have to resend them anyway. Sucks.

Damn! But oh well. I might send some emails just to see, but I won't get my hopes up.

[reixis]

I'm almost done, just waiting for letter writers to upload their files. Due to some financial issues (US dollar conversion rate to my country's money increased substantially in the past few months), I had to remove two schools from my list (Pittsburgh (HPS) and Oxford).

 

The major drawback in my applications are, obviously, my GRE scores and my undergrad institution. I almost gave up this season, but I've been told to apply anyway. From what I've been told, the rest of my application is pretty good, including two letters from senior philosophers at Top-30 Leiter programs.

 

As a plan B, I'm applying to a Master's program in my country in case things do not go well. In doing so, I can raise more money and apply in the next seasons.

Edited October 30, 2014 by reixis

[overoverover]

I'm almost done, just waiting for letter writers to upload their files. Due to some financial issues (US dollar conversion rate to my country's money increased substantially in the past few months), I had to remove two schools from my list (Pittsburgh (HPS) and Oxford).

 

The major drawback in my applications are, obviously, my GRE scores and my undergrad institution. I almost gave up this season, but I've been told to apply anyway. From what I've been told, the rest of my application is pretty good, including two letters from senior philosophers at Top-30 Leiter programs.

 

As a plan B, I'm applying to a Master's program in my country in case things do not go well. In doing so, I can raise more money and apply in the next seasons.

 

 

Sorry to hear about the conversion rate troubles—that's a real bummer. But good luck!

[kant_get_in]

Damn! But oh well. I might send some emails just to see, but I won't get my hopes up.

 

I did this yesterday. I'm curious: did you email Philosophy Department staff/faculty? Or did you email someone at the Graduate Admissions Office?