2015 Applicants Assemble!

[Infinite Zest]

I've read these forums enough now that it's probably time to say hi. A quick intro:

 

- I've been out of school for quite some time. (About 7.5 years.) I started writing a book, started reading philosophy again, fell into an abyss... and now here I am. (Kidding. I was always in an abyss.)

- GRE: 168 V, 158 Q, 4.0 AW. (Shocked at the writing, received today. C'est la vie. I'd also like to thank ETS for making me study high school math after a million years.)

- Looking at primarily continental programs. I have a decent idea of my list, but it could still change.

- While I had a minor's worth of philosophy credits, my actual minor was in history and my major was in film.

 

We shall see where this all goes. In any case, thank you to applicants past and present for sharing your stories! I am always all for that.

 

Hey FellowSufferer! For a minute, I thought your name was FellowSurfer.

 

Are you planning to apply to philosophy PhD programs or MA programs?

[PreciselyTerrified]

Hi.

[philpos]

When filling out application forms, does anyone answer the question: "what other schools are you applying to?" I always leave it blank. I guess I'm not sure what it could be used for.

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

When filling out application forms, does anyone answer the question: "what other schools are you applying to?" I always leave it blank. I guess I'm not sure what it could be used for.

I don't fill that out either. I don't fill out the question regarding what profs I would like to work with either- I figure somebody's ego may get bruised if I don't include their name and they work on the same topics I wish to pursue and that could possibly count against me. I just want to play those questions as neutral as possible by avoiding them!

[overoverover]

Optimistically, I assume the questions about other schools is just so departments/universities get a sense of what schools are seen as similarly attractive to certain kinds of candidates. 

Pessimistically, I can't help but think that it would somehow hurt me to list schools.
 

[reixis]

Anyone who applied to Penn had the GRE scores matched to your application? I submitted my application about two weeks ago and the status still says "needed".

[overoverover]

Anyone who applied to Penn had the GRE scores matched to your application? I submitted my application about two weeks ago and the status still says "needed".

 

It can take a little while for the scores to arrive. On top of that, they're probably swamped right now, and they probably weren't open most of this week due to the holiday. I'd recommend shooting an email to the graduate admissions office (not the philosophy department!) in the coming week and seeing what's up. People in the admissions office are nice enough usually and don't get annoyed—they understand we're nervous and want to make sure everything works out well. 

Also, reixis, how're you feeling about Cornell now that Sider got hired by Rutgers? I know Cornell became much less attractive for me after hearing that. 

Edited November 30, 2014 by overoverover

[reixis]

It can take a little while for the scores to arrive. On top of that, they're probably swamped right now, and they probably weren't open most of this week due to the holiday. I'd recommend shooting an email to the graduate admissions office (not the philosophy department!) in the coming week and seeing what's up. People in the admissions office are nice enough usually and don't get annoyed—they understand we're nervous and want to make sure everything works out well. 

Also, reixis, how're you feeling about Cornell now that Sider got hired by Rutgers? I know Cornell became much less attractive for me after hearing that. 

Hey, thanks for the answer! It's my first application round, so I'm not really used to the process as a whole.

About Cornell, I was also expecting to be able to work with Sider in case offered a place at Cornell. Anyway, Karen Bennett is likely to stay (I heard she turned down an offer from MIT a few months ago) and there is also Nicholas Silins who works in philosophy of mind/perception, which is one area of my interest. That wasn't really good news, but I'm still confident that there will be people to work with in my areas of interest. 

[overoverover]

Hey, thanks for the answer! It's my first application round, so I'm not really used to the process as a whole.

About Cornell, I was also expecting to be able to work with Sider in case offered a place at Cornell. Anyway, Karen Bennett is likely to stay (I heard she turned down an offer from MIT a few months ago) and there is also Nicholas Silins who works in philosophy of mind/perception, which is one area of my interest. That wasn't really good news, but I'm still confident that there will be people to work with in my areas of interest. 

 

I figure Cornell is still a solid place too—Bennett is staying, like you said, and they still have some strengths in language (plus affiliated linguists, which is important to me). Plus, there's a good chance that with Sider gone they'll be able to hire some new people, or make a senior hire to replace him. Either way, not the end of the world (so maybe 'much less attractive' was a bit strong on my part). 

Edited November 30, 2014 by overoverover

[MorganFreemanlives]

I don't fill that out either. I don't fill out the question regarding what profs I would like to work with either- I figure somebody's ego may get bruised if I don't include their name and they work on the same topics I wish to pursue and that could possibly count against me. I just want to play those questions as neutral as possible by avoiding them!

 

i think it depends on the rarity of your specialty  within the department and in general. if you work on a field where a department likely has multiple people working in that field, then maybe keeping it blank makes sense, but when you have a sub specialty were even finding an appropriate faculty among departments requires doing some homework, then it can be to your advantage to write  a name down.

[brettmullga]

i think it depends on the rarity of your specialty  within the department and in general. if you work on a field where a department likely has multiple people working in that field, then maybe keeping it blank makes sense, but when you have a sub specialty were even finding an appropriate faculty among departments requires doing some homework, then it can be to your advantage to write  a name down.

 

Agreed. I've spent a good bit of time thinking about the 'Other schools you're applying to' box. It signals at least two things. First, the quality of the schools listed may indicate how the student evaluates themselves against their peers. Second, the school may use the information to act strategically. Suppose you're on an admissions committee of a lower ranked school with poor funding. An applicant has an amazing profile but is also applying to several top ranked programs with better funding. Should this particular applicant be admitted, potentially taking up a spot and pushing other students onto the waitlist? In light of this, I left it blank in all but two cases. 

[PreciselyTerrified]

Being honest can backfire.

Dishonest strategizing can backfire.

1. If being honest backfired, I might regret my failure to be strategic, but I wouldn't regret my honesty. (1 regret)

2. If dishonest strategizing backfired, I would regret strategizing and regret being dishonest. (2 regrets)

3. If being honest benefited me, I would not regret it. (0 regrets)

4. If dishonest strategizing benefited me, I might regret being dishonest. (0-1 regret)

I'll take honesty.

[MorganFreemanlives]

Being honest can backfire.

Dishonest strategizing can backfire.

1. If being honest backfired, I might regret my failure to be strategic, but I wouldn't regret my honesty. (1 regret)

2. If dishonest strategizing backfired, I would regret strategizing and regret being dishonest. (2 regrets)

3. If being honest benefited me, I would not regret it. (0 regrets)

4. If dishonest strategizing benefited me, I might regret being dishonest. (0-1 regret)

I'll take honesty.

i admire the calculated objectification of your freedom

[brettmullga]

Being honest can backfire.

Dishonest strategizing can backfire.

1. If being honest backfired, I might regret my failure to be strategic, but I wouldn't regret my honesty. (1 regret)

2. If dishonest strategizing backfired, I would regret strategizing and regret being dishonest. (2 regrets)

3. If being honest benefited me, I would not regret it. (0 regrets)

4. If dishonest strategizing benefited me, I might regret being dishonest. (0-1 regret)

I'll take honesty.

 

Fair enough, but I took it as what was under discussion wasn't whether to be honest or dishonest. Instead, it was to omit or include the relevant information. One could hold that the omission is equivalent to dishonesty. If that's the case, consider a different example. With Carnegie Mellon's app (I believe), you can list only 5 other programs. Suppose you is applying to 10 programs. Which 5 should you list? This is more of what I had in mind. 

[PreciselyTerrified]

In the Carnegie Mellon case, the solution that maximizes EU isn't obvious, is it? I'd say don't worry about it too much. It's a tiny concern.

[alopachuca]

Unless they explicitly state that not answering those questions could affect your application somehow, don't worry about it. It's not like they're oblivious to the current state of academic philosophy. Many students are applying to several programs. 

[reixis]

Anyone else applying as an international student?

 

I have seen a great deal of discussions about inclusion in the discipline in the philosophy blogosphere. It would be certainly nice to collect information that might help prospective applicants with similar background in the future. I myself have had a hard time preparing for applications since virtually no student from my country went to study philosophy in the US in the past (as far as I know, there were only five students in the past ten years who did their entire PhD in PGR departments). I am not sure about other countries, but I suspect the situation is similar.

Edited December 9, 2014 by reixis

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

Anyone else applying as an international student?

 

I have seen a great deal of discussions about inclusion in the discipline in the philosophy blogosphere. It would be certainly nice to collect information that might help prospective applicants with similar background in the future. I myself have had a hard time preparing for applications since virtually no student from my country went to study philosophy in the US in the past (as far as I know, there were only five students in the past ten years who did their entire PhD in PGR departments). I am not sure about other countries, but I suspect the situation is similar.

I am curious what country in South America are you from Reixis? I am in the US so I'm sorry I am not an international student, but I can imagine it must be frustrating not having that experience to share with anybody else around you! Are there many people from other disciplines at your graduating school that are pursuing further degrees? I know that from my tiny university there aren't too many other phil students who did or plan to pursue post-grad phil work (one or two actually in the next graduating class), but it has to be an entirely enervating ordeal to apply from another country, and hard to do it alone! Your professors must be impressed!

[Page228]

I'm also applying as an international student for at least a couple programs, but from US to UK. I'm already non-traditional, and without anyone to advise me, so I just click around websites and do searches on here occasionally for key terms. (Have you searched your country's name on here to see if anyone has discussed applying from it? Even if it was in another discipline, you might find some insight.)

[reixis]

 

I am curious what country in South America are you from Reixis? I am in the US so I'm sorry I am not an international student, but I can imagine it must be frustrating not having that experience to share with anybody else around you! Are there many people from other disciplines at your graduating school that are pursuing further degrees? I know that from my tiny university there aren't too many other phil students who did or plan to pursue post-grad phil work (one or two actually in the next graduating class), but it has to be an entirely enervating ordeal to apply from another country, and hard to do it alone! Your professors must be impressed!

 

Hi, I am from Brazil. And yes, that was really hard and I thought of giving up a couple of times. Hopefully, I had very good professors who were always encouraging me throughout the whole process. As for my colleagues, there are a few of them who are going to study further, but the reason why they don’t go to the US or other English-speaking departments is, I suspect, more of a cultural factor in Brazilian academic philosophy than any other thing. We have a very strong exegetic and conservative view of philosophy, much due to the French ‘colonization’ in Brazilian philosophy departments around the 60’s and 70’s. There are many Brazilians who have gone to pursue their doctorate in France, but only a few to England and the US. As far as I know, only two individuals have gone to what we now call high-ranked programs (one in Oxford in the 80’s) and another one at UCLA (in the 90’s). Using more familiar terms, I would say that Philosophy in Brazil is more friendly to a ‘Continental’ or historical view of the discipline. Hopefully, things will change in the future, and there are some signs of that lurking around.

 

But the main problem for me was always geographical distance and money. I used to earn 400 Brazilian money, which amounts to roughly U$150-170 each month, and I had to make this budget work both for my expenses and to raise money for applications. I had to start planning applications early in 2012 to be able to raise enough money. College here is different from the US and UK (we choose our major before entrance) and we do four years of course work on a single subject (in my case, Philosophy and a few other courses on Teaching Experience), so I already had a vague idea of what I wanted to do by that time. I did not travel much to international conferences, but I had the luck to be introduced to two American philosophers by my professors. They have been helping me out and I got letters from them, which gave me way more confidence. It took me sometime to convince myself that I even stand a chance on this process, and sometimes I am not sure yet, but I had support from my family and professors, which gave me confidence to at least give it a shot. Hope it works out in the end!
 

I'm also applying as an international student for at least a couple programs, but from US to UK. I'm already non-traditional, and without anyone to advise me, so I just click around websites and do searches on here occasionally for key terms. (Have you searched your country's name on here to see if anyone has discussed applying from it? Even if it was in another discipline, you might find some insight.)

 

Yep, I tried that already. But I was thinking of applicants to philosophy more specifically. Many students from my country apply to schools in the US, but only very few of them are from philosophy. I thought other philosophy students from overseas might be at the same situation.

Edited December 10, 2014 by reixis

[MorganFreemanlives]

since im applying to the UK  I will be an international student as well. i was wondering though.

 

when you apply to places like Oxbridge, is it better to be a U.S international student, or is it better to be considered an international from a more obscure place? i checked oxford's site the other day, and no one from my country of birth has attended oxford in quite a  couple of years.

 

now as far as financial aid goes, Americans and people of commonwealth countries have the advantage of specific scholarships just for them but say you are only considering admissions and not necessarily FA. which one of the two would increase your odds of admission  more , if any? Rumor even has it being international alone already raises your chances of admissions because they get to charge you considerably more, but that may just be a myth.

[alopachuca]

when you apply to places like Oxbridge, is it better to be a U.S international student, or is it better to be considered an international from a more obscure place? i checked oxford's site the other day, and no one from my country of birth has attended oxford in quite a  couple of years.

 

now as far as financial aid goes, Americans and people of commonwealth countries have the advantage of specific scholarships just for them but say you are only considering admissions and not necessarily FA. which one of the two would increase your odds of admission  more , if any? Rumor even has it being international alone already raises your chances of admissions because they get to charge you considerably more, but that may just be a myth.

 

I think that speculating in those matters is a bit paranoid. I suspect those schools will want you to come up with the money regardless of where you're coming from. I remember when I was looking into LSE, I came across a couple of paragraphs in their section for international student that basically said (not verbatim obviously), 'If you don't have the funds, please consider whether you should even apply'. That was one of the most honest and straightforward things I'd ever read on a university page.

[Page228]

Slightly off-topic, but I love it when schools are blunt.

[a_for_aporia]

Hi all. Reporting in for 3-4 months of abominably stressful waiting. 

[isostheneia]

Nice list you've got there, a_for_aporia. What are your areas of interest?

 

Currently procrastinating hard for Monday deadlines. Given the amount of stress I'm enduring while submitting applications, I can only imagine what it'll be like while waiting to hear back.