2015 Rejection/“Plan B” Thread

LennyBound · January 31, 2015

“On this earth one pays dearly for every kind of mastery, and perhaps one pays too dearly for everything. For having a specialty one pays by also being the victim of this specialty.” ― Nietzsche, The Gay Science

This thread is (primarily) a place for posts concerning three things: (1) announcing rejections to the community, (2) discussing reasons why one might want to leave academic philosophy, and (assuming one plans on doing so) (3) discussing one’s own personal plans moving forward. One’s own individual reasons for leaving academia can obviously vary, however I think there are three that are the most common: (1) the statistical unlikelihood of success, (2) that "success" isn’t as glamorous as one once thought, and (3) the diminishing returns of philosophical education.

Reason #1: The Statistical Unlikelihood of Success

The end goal of an academic career in any discipline is a tenured professorship. The problem, however, is that the odds of achieving such a position are quite slim. In order to visualize just how unlikely it really is, imagine a series of five sieves, one after the other.

Sieve #1: Undergraduate Education

Like it or not, one’s academic pedigree (both graduate and undergraduate) is extremely important for success in academia, especially in philosophy. Among the graduate students at well-ranked PhD programs in philosophy, approximately a third received their undergraduate degrees from just eight universities (Chicago, Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale), and the majority of the remaining students come from undergraduate institutions with top 50 US News rankings [1]. While gaining admittance to an elite college for one’s undergraduate education obviously doesn’t guarantee that one will succeed in academia, it is quite clear that doing so confers quite a hefty advantage compared to those who attended schools lacking such reputations.

Sieve #2: Graduate Admissions

Graduate admissions in philosophy have become increasingly competitive in recent years, many schools accepting fewer than three percent of applicants. Moreover, the standards utilized by the particular admissions committees are almost entirely opaque to applicants, and, as a result, professors and students often refer to admission as being determined by a “roll of the dice” or a “spin of the wheel of fortune.” (I’ve personally heard them referred to this way by several well-known philosophers in casual conversation.) Regardless of the particular metrics used, the fact remains that the likelihood of getting accepted into a philosophy graduate program, even under the best of circumstances (i.e., perfect GPA, GRE scores, exemplary letters of recommendation, etc.), is extremely slim.

Sieve #3: Obtaining the PhD

The numbers concerning the attrition rates at various schools are (perhaps deliberately) not very easily accessible. In some programs, I've been told that it is sometimes above 50 percent. Moreover, this number includes not only those that spent a year or two in the program and then decided to leave, but also those that invested significantly more time (sometimes upwards of 7-8 years) before leaving to pursue divergently different careers. Moreover, the loss of those years is not insignificant. One can find oneself starting a career in the private sector upwards of a decade behind other members of one’s age cohort, often with large amounts of debt from undergraduate tuition and any partially or completely unfunded graduate programs one has attended.

Sieve #4: Obtaining a Tenure-Track Job

The academic job market for philosophy is quite dismal. There are some disagreements concerning the actual numbers, but from what I can tell the rough odds that one will find any job teaching philosophy is around 24 percent, and the likelihood that one will find a tenure-track job is approximately 17 percent [2] [3]. This is due in large part to universities eliminating tenured professorships in favor of cost-reducing adjunct labor. The transition has been dramatic. In 1960, only 10 percent of faculty were adjuncts, whereas now they are upwards of 75 percent [4]. However, even if you are able to find a tenure-track position that you are highly-qualified for, unless the school you received your PhD from is sufficiently well-ranked in the discipline, it is extremely unlikely that you will be offered the position. For illustration, during this past year’s round of hires, a total of 37 percent of all tenure-track philosophy positions were given to individuals with PhD’s from the top-5 Philosophical Gourmet programs [5].

Sieve #5: Achieving Tenure

If you do somehow manage to obtain an assistant professorship position, you then have to make sure to fulfill whatever requirements are necessary for the probationary 5-7 years before actually obtaining tenure. These requirements usually consist of (1) publishing at least one monograph (which requires navigating the highly competitive and complex academic publishing business), (2) publishing multiple articles in sufficiently well-respected journals, (3) instructing a full load of courses every year, and (4) performing all of your necessary faculty service obligations. I am unable to find any statistics concerning how often individuals are denied tenure (if anyone can find some please post them below). Needless to say, it is a difficult process, and being denied not only means suffering all of the previously mentioned problems (i.e., starting a new career a decade or more behind your age cohort, etc.) but also carries with it a strong stigma of failure [6].

Reason #2: That "Success" Isn’t as Glamorous as One Once Thought

There are obviously idealized conceptions of the life of a tenured professor which are dashed when one learns of the real difficulties and stresses of trying to make a living in academia [7]. However, even if one has no illusions about how difficult such a pursuit can be, there are various factors in the last few decades that have radically transformed the nature of academic employment that should give anyone considering seeking such employment pause. Three often mentioned concerns are: the increasing corporatization of academia [8], the academic incentive structure inclining one away from doing interdisciplinary work, and the politics of departmental tribalism [9].

Reason #3: Diminishing Returns of Philosophical Education

The critical thinking skills gained from a philosophical education are extremely valuable. However, after a few basic survey courses that cover the general landscape of questions, positions, and arguments, additional philosophical training falls prey to diminishing returns. Knowing some informal fallacies and being able to apply ethical theories to real world moral dilemmas is important to be able to navigate the social and natural world effectively, whereas knowing how to espouse an esoteric interpretation of the Hegelian master-slave dialectic or talk at length about two-dimensional semantics is significantly less helpful. Put simply, the particular skills honed and topics discussed at the graduate level of academic philosophy are not only impractical and social limiting (since the community capable of understanding your insights concerning philosophical minutia shrinks as one’s interests become increasingly specialized), but can actually be actively harmful, since during this time one is failing to cultivate other skills that are relevant and transferable to “real world” concerns and the job market outside of academia.

With all of that said, here are some (hopefully) helpful links for anyone who is considering transitioning out of academic philosophy.

Best of luck to everyone waiting to hear back from schools!

Edited February 1, 2015 by LennyBound

reixis · February 1, 2015

Hi, great topic! I will share some thoughts about how I've been dealing with the likely possibility that I don't receive any offers.

I was lucky to receive an early offer from Otago and will be moving anyway even if things don't work out in the US. My plan was first to move to an Anglophone department and, if possible, to a well-ranked one. As for the first one, I've already accomplished that and I've been told by many people that although Otago's not highly ranked, it's a great place to do philosophy.

As for jobs and my future in the long run, I often find it helpful to "forget'' about these things and give them a serious thought only when the time comes. I had a quite unpleasant experience after I entered college (I was a Physics major and had everything planned out, things like where I would do my Masters and PhD, and even what I would study my entire life. All of this was by the time I started as a freshman. *Note: in my country, we pick majors before we enter college) and that kinda of showed me how naive I was about planning too much in the long run. I gave up my Physics major after a few months and started a Philosophy major without thinking too much. All I wanted was to study philosophy, and the rest I would figure out later in my undergrad career. It turns out that in hindsight I think this was the best thing I ever did.

The point is that I try to apply this posture as much as possible now that I am applying to graduate school in a country I've never been to. As I conceive of it, the most important thing in this moment is to be able to continue studying philosophy, preferably in a place where my work is appreciated. Whether I will be able to land a star job, or even any job at all, is something I delegate to my future self to think about. This not to say that I don't think whether a school would improve my chances of landing a good job, but that it's particularly helpful to "forget'' about it when you get stuck in bad thoughts about your prospects of being admitted.

Edited February 1, 2015 by reixis

yoink7 · February 1, 2015

I feel like my purpose for this thread is to post this or some variation with every rejection:

kosmo · February 1, 2015

Thanks for this awesome thread, after all, I'm sure that all of us will have to face some rejections at some point. I got my first rejection two days ago, from Northwestern. It was the first result I'd gotten, and it was definitely difficult to swallow. Now I'm having thoughts about getting a teaching qualification and becoming a high school teacher if grad school doesn't work out (!). To make matters even more stressful, my partner and I are both applying this season (same schools, different disciplines), and we're both non-US citizens from a non-English speaking country. I'm really worried about what might happen if I can't get into any school and therefore cannot move overseas with my partner.

jjb919 · February 1, 2015

I plan on making one final attempt at entrance to a PhD program next year. If I don't get in anywhere (or get in but without funding), I'm walking away. Even if I do get in with funding, it's not an automatic yes that I'll go. I'm currently working at a non-profit in higher education, and all of the issues LennyBound so articulately laid out above have become oh so salient to me. I'll take a deep long look into whether or not I want to go through all of the trials and tribulations that come with the package for such an uncertain end-game.

Even if I do get in somewhere with funding, and I do decide to go, it is not worth it to me (already in my late twenties with a wife, and wanting to start a family in a couple of years) to string myself and my family along on a series of postdocs, VAPs, or adjuncting positions for 4-5 years just to have an elusive TT job slip through my fingers anyway. If I get to the point of trying my luck on the academic job market, I will do it once as an ABD and once again with a PhD in hand. I'll give it everything I have, using all the resources my department has to offer, and probably even hiring a coach like Karen Kelsky. While some may say that I'm crippling my chances by only giving it 1-2 go arounds, in my mind my chances are not going to significantly increase by going back on the market 4, 5, or more times, so it is not worth putting my family through the repeated anxiety, uncertainty, impermanence, and poor salary. I do not expect to land an academic job, at any kind of institution.

Luckily I now have solid experience working in the non-profit sector. If I don't get in to a graduate program, I may continue down the non-profit road (ironically, if I want to go any higher at my organization or similar ones, I need a PhD, haha), or I may test the waters in other sectors; I'm not yet 100% sure which way I will go, but I know what kind of work I find enjoyable and could make a decent living at. If I do get the PhD but strike out on the academic market, I will probably go back to non-profit work, focusing on higher-education or social justice foundations. Or I'll look for alt-ac opportunities at a university, in administration or something similar (which might still give an opportunity to teach a class or two if I'm lucky). Maybe I'll go into consulting work, or maybe government work (I've even flirted with the idea of applying for a job with the CIA or FBI or something. I was told that a lot of philosophy MAs go into that work when I was finishing my degree).

I don't know precisely what kind of job I will go for if I don't get into a PhD program or if I strike out on the academic market; but I am much more aware now of the kinds of opportunities available to PhDs on the non-academic market, and it is not nearly as limiting as I first feared.

ianfaircloud · February 1, 2015

The forum this year is at a new high. The dialogue is civil, the topics are carefully selected, the comments are thoughtful. Thanks, everyone, for making that happen.

At some point, I'll offer a post about my thoughts as someone who left philosophy for another discipline. It's pretty common to go to law school after failing in some other aspect of life (only some sarcasm intended), so I'll comment on that, too. For now, I better get back to the books. Have a good day!

alopachuca · February 2, 2015

Reason #3: Diminishing Returns of Philosophical Education

The critical thinking skills gained from a philosophical education are extremely valuable. However, after a few basic survey courses that cover the general landscape of questions, positions, and arguments, additional philosophical training falls prey to diminishing returns. Knowing some informal fallacies and being able to apply ethical theories to real world moral dilemmas is important to be able to navigate the social and natural world effectively, whereas knowing how to espouse an esoteric interpretation of the Hegelian master-slave dialectic or talk at length about two-dimensional semantics is significantly less helpful. Put simply, the particular skills honed and topics discussed at the graduate level of academic philosophy are not only impractical and social limiting (since the community capable of understanding your insights concerning philosophical minutia shrinks as one’s interests become increasingly specialized), but can actually be actively harmful, since during this time one is failing to cultivate other skills that are relevant and transferable to “real world” concerns and the job market outside of academia.

I wanted to reply with some personal comments to this section.

I think there is a lot of practical value (although indirect) in doing a couple of years of in-depth, rigorous, philosophical study. In other words, I think there's value to be gained from philosophy beyond learning some fallacies and being able to apply ethical theories. Any person fresh out of undergrad philosophy will find that they're actually very adaptable, creative, good negotiators, and usually good writers, communicators, learners. But yes, these and other practical skills are not benefitted beyond an undergraduate education, at least not for the non-academic workforce. So I would say no one should sell their undergraduate education short, while also realizing that spending some years in graduate study only to leave will generally never be as beneficial as spending that time in the workforce.

Here's a link to 2013's plan B thread. There are some helpful anecdotal posts and some thought on alternatives like law school or finding work out of undergrad.

A personal thought on the thread: There's a general sentiment that a BA in philosophy is stigmatized. I disagree with the sentiment. It might not work wonders for you straight out of undergrad, but neither will anything else outside of STEM. I graduated in May, worked for the summer and started job hunting around September/October. Yes, it's been hell. But not only for me. I have many friends who opted for Econ/Bio/Chem/PoliSci/etc. and it has been more or less the same for all of us. Dozens of applications over a few months, and 3-5 interviews each, with each employer taking forever to make a decision. We all either got part-time jobs, job offers with temp. places, or are still looking. I'm in the last of these categories since I'm looking for employment out of state, which requires a lot of patient waiting. My friends and I, with some help from mentors, have agreed that a recent grad should be applying to hundreds of jobs, not just a few dozen.

kant_get_in · February 5, 2015

Someone posted a Vanderbilt wait list. I'm going to assume I've been rejected.

Euromaniac · February 5, 2015

Someone posted a Vanderbilt wait list. I'm going to assume I've been rejected.

Same

philstudent1991 · February 5, 2015

Same

In a field of incredibly competitive admissions, Vandy is exceptionally competitive. Don't let it get you down

alopachuca · February 9, 2015

Has anyone considered doing grad school in a different field?

riverstyx · February 11, 2015

I saw that a few University of Virginia acceptances went out today. I am really so disappointed I didn't hear anything. I was on their wait list last year, and this year, my application is even better, with three great letters of recommendation. I emailed the graduate admissions person, Elizabeth Barnes, to make sure that one of my recommendations made it there (the recommender broke her arm and couldn't fill out the online form, and so she emailed it to Barnes directly), but she never got back to me. I mean, how do I get rejected (presumably) after I was on their wait list last year with two crappy letters, but three great letters this year? My only hope for UVA is that they send out their acceptance notifications over a period of several days, like they did last year. But that's hardly a lot to be encouraged about.

Isaac32 · February 11, 2015

Has anyone considered doing grad school in a different field?

I went 0 for 6 (was accepted to two programs without funding) in the 2012-2013 season and went for an MA in history which I am finishing this semester. I've given up on the philosophy track and am actually hoping to do religious or theological studies now.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Isaac32

isostheneia · February 12, 2015

Since this is a rejection thread, I'll just say that UChicago is my first rejection. No fun at all. I was really hoping to be this year's ungerdrag.

And since this is a plan b thread, I'll also say that I found a sweet monastery in Canada, and maybe I'll become a monk if I don't get into philosophy. More realistically, I would continue working on my philosophy app but also do some law apps next year if I don't get in anywhere. Not totally kidding about the monastery idea though.

Cecinestpasunphilosophe · February 12, 2015

Since this is a rejection thread, I'll just say that UChicago is my first rejection. No fun at all. I was really hoping to be this year's ungerdrag.

And since this is a plan b thread, I'll also say that I found a sweet monastery in Canada, and maybe I'll become a monk if I don't get into philosophy. More realistically, I would continue working on my philosophy app but also do some law apps next year if I don't get in anywhere. Not totally kidding about the monastery idea though.

Oka?

isostheneia · February 12, 2015

Oka?

Gambo. But I just looked up Oka, and Oka makes cheese, and Gambo doesn't, so... that may help narrow it down. Of course, there's also the small matter of Buddhism vs Catholicism, but I think I could be happy enough with either, really.

Cecinestpasunphilosophe · February 12, 2015

Gambo. But I just looked up Oka, and Oka makes cheese, and Gambo doesn't, so... that may help narrow it down. Of course, there's also the small matter of Buddhism vs Catholicism, but I think I could be happy enough with either, really.

Oka cheese is absolutely delicious. Between that and the Trappist beers that come out of Belgium, it's a wonder applications to become monks aren't at least as competitive as four these Ph.D. programs...

Establishment · February 12, 2015

Good gpa from a good school...nothing but rejections so far. fuck, this really hurts doesn't it? makes me feel so down whenever the posts come up and I don't hear a thing.

anyway. how are you guys?

Don't forget that it only takes one acceptance, and it's still early. Much success waits for you just a little further ahead.

philstudent1991 · February 13, 2015

Don't forget that it only takes one acceptance, and it's still early. Much success waits for you just a little further ahead.

That's absolutely right. It's still over two months until the final dust will settle. Hang in there!

Euromaniac · February 14, 2015

Right now I am rejected from Stony Brook and Northwestern, and presumably rejected from Penn State, Vanderbilt, Depaul, and Georgetown. Things are not looking so hot. I might get a job on campus, or who knows.

psm1580b · February 14, 2015

Oops! Should have posted here. Yeah, rejected from Pitt HPS.

Though, after careful consideration, I've decided to reject their rejection.

philstudent1991 · February 14, 2015

Just so you guys know, I was rejected at 11 schools, waitlisted with no acceptance at another, accepted without funding to one, and accepted with funding at one. I went to my only option, and it has been amazing. I couldn't be happier. The moral of the story is that you only need one acceptance. I know from experience that it really sucks to get rejected over and over again. But there is light at the end of the tunnel so hang in there!! More acceptances will start rolling around soon.

Nastasya_Filippovna · February 15, 2015

Oops! Should have posted here. Yeah, rejected from Pitt HPS.

Though, after careful consideration, I've decided to reject their rejection.

I am all about this comment

Euromaniac · February 16, 2015

Things are looking more and more dreary for this year. Eight presumed rejections out of fourteen, the remaining six seem more competitive (Emory, Duquesne) or not a great fit (Fordham, Boston College) for the most part. The only two I am moderately optimistic about is Loyola Chicago and University of New Mexico. But given the other results I don't think I'll be accepted anywhere.

Point being: does anyone have any ideas for gap years? I'm not particularly flush, so just vacationing to Europe or something is not an option. I've been thinking more about volunteer organizations like AmeriCorps. Anyone have experience with something like this, or know anything similar?

tuv0k · February 16, 2015

Things are looking more and more dreary for this year. Eight presumed rejections out of fourteen, the remaining six seem more competitive (Emory, Duquesne) or not a great fit (Fordham, Boston College) for the most part. The only two I am moderately optimistic about is Loyola Chicago and University of New Mexico. But given the other results I don't think I'll be accepted anywhere.

Point being: does anyone have any ideas for gap years? I'm not particularly flush, so just vacationing to Europe or something is not an option. I've been thinking more about volunteer organizations like AmeriCorps. Anyone have experience with something like this, or know anything similar?

Not sure if this is an option for you, but I'm on a gap year right now working as a 'research associate' at a non-US university's philosophy department. If you could get a research assistant / associate-type job near where you are, that might be something to consider. The pay may not be great, and you may not be able to get a full-time position etc. but at least mingling with philosophers will keep you sharp. You may also get recommendations out of this - that is, if the work you do with them is substantively philosophical (as opposed to administrative), or if you manage to frequently engage them in philosophical discussion.

Do continue to hold out... as many above have said, it only takes one. Wishing you all the best.

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