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2015 Rejection/“Plan B” Thread


LennyBound

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From the results board for Oregon:

 

10 Feb 2014 - "178 applicants, 6 admitted. I'm 7th on a waitlist of 13."

 

2 Mar 2015 - "'This year we had 178 highly qualified applicants for a handful of openings.' My ego stings a bit, but those odds make it slightly easier to take."

 

They had exactly 178 applications both years? (Or last year they had 178 total applicants, and this year they had 178 "highly qualified" applicants and some unspecified number of applicants who were not highly qualified, which would still be a weird coincidence.)

 

(In 2013 they said they had 144 total applicants. I was hoping it was 178 and that they just trotted out that weirdly specific number every year. Aw.)

 

I'm still waiting on my rejection email, not that it matters. I accepted another university's offer weeks ago.

 

 

Interesting! They told us grad students that there were 190 or so this year; someone should have been more careful.

 

But yeah, because our program is unique with regard to our feminism requirements, because we have several people who do American philosophy (i.e. Pragmatism, Native American Philosophy), and because we're a SPEP school with several continentalists, we tend to draw applicants from wide and far. I think that's what accounts for how competitive admissions are here.

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Feminism, Native American philosophy, continental stuff... it's a good thing Oregon is a looooong way from Texas! But yes, I guess that explains why the programme should be attractive to some people.

 

You also have very good placement. I wonder, is it the case that good SPEP programmes usually have better placing than good PGR programmes?

Edited by verificationist
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I know this varies from institution to institution, but what role does the graduate school usually play in admissions? Reading some posts on the results page, some people seem to be suggesting that they were rejected even before their files were properly reviewed by the department, which I find very odd.

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I know this varies from institution to institution, but what role does the graduate school usually play in admissions? Reading some posts on the results page, some people seem to be suggesting that they were rejected even before their files were properly reviewed by the department, which I find very odd.

That speculation seems unfounded. Just because the graduate school sends the rejection doesn't mean the department failed to properly review the apps.

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I know this varies from institution to institution, but what role does the graduate school usually play in admissions? Reading some posts on the results page, some people seem to be suggesting that they were rejected even before their files were properly reviewed by the department, which I find very odd.

My understanding is that, at least at most places, the graduate school doesn't play a major role, or at least not in rejections or outright admittances. At some places however, the graduate school may offer to provide additional funding for a department to accept a certain candidate, if they meet some requirements. For example, UConn's Graduate School offers two fellowships that I'm aware of: one for "outstanding scholars" and one for "outstanding scholars which promote diversity" (there may be more as well). My understanding (which may be wrong!) is that these are in addition to the funding the department provides, so instead of say, accepting 5 students, a department may be able to admit 5 or 6.

 

I suspect, but don't know for certain, that many places operate similarly.

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My understanding is that, at least at most places, the graduate school doesn't play a major role, or at least not in rejections or outright admittances. At some places however, the graduate school may offer to provide additional funding for a department to accept a certain candidate, if they meet some requirements. For example, UConn's Graduate School offers two fellowships that I'm aware of: one for "outstanding scholars" and one for "outstanding scholars which promote diversity" (there may be more as well). My understanding (which may be wrong!) is that these are in addition to the funding the department provides, so instead of say, accepting 5 students, a department may be able to admit 5 or 6.

 

I suspect, but don't know for certain, that many places operate similarly.

I also heard that something of the sort was the case. In fact, when deciding whether to apply, many people told me that some schools might feel urged to admit students from unusual backgrounds like me (given, of course, that I meet the minimum standards for that institution). This might be true for undergraduate admissions, but I always thought that this was a misleading advice since graduate admissions are primarily handled by departments and not the Graduate School itself. But seeing those posts made me wonder about the subject again...

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Rejected from Oregon. It was my first choice, so I'm disappointed. I expected it though.

Probably going to start planning for next year, as it's looking like I am not getting in this year.

There is enough arbitrariness and randomness that I don't think you need to infer that you are out. You're waiting to hear from 6 or 7 out of 10? 3 explicit (and 1 implicit) rejections need not be representative of the whole yet.

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There is enough arbitrariness and randomness that I don't think you need to infer that you are out. You're waiting to hear from 6 or 7 out of 10? 3 explicit (and 1 implicit) rejections need not be representative of the whole yet.

I appreciate the consolation, you are right. I'm keeping my hopes up, but not too high!

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Feminism, Native American philosophy, continental stuff... it's a good thing Oregon is a looooong way from Texas! But yes, I guess that explains why the programme should be attractive to some people.

 

You also have very good placement. I wonder, is it the case that good SPEP programmes usually have better placing than good PGR programmes?

I'm from Texas and got into Oregon, but I didn't apply because it's far away. And, I also got into Texas A&M (another place I could do feminism and continental "stuff" - as you called it). So, do you mind explaining what you meant?

Edited by Happydays2
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Rejected from UCLA (finally). That makes 8/15. Please send all care packages to:

 

I Wanted a PhD but now I Just Want More Wine

c/o: The person sobbing in the corner

A big wet city, Ca 99999

FedEx tells me this address doesn't exist. Guess I'll be drinking the bottle myself.

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I'm attending UT Austin next year and incredibly happy about it. It was just a joke about how I'd find it so 'horrendous' to be in a place with non-analytic philosophy requirements that it's good I'll be living very far from it. But then I added a remark to acknowledge that it does seem like a pretty good place for someone who likes non-analytic philosophy.

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I'm attending UT Austin next year and incredibly happy about it. It was just a joke about how I'd find it so 'horrendous' to be in a place with non-analytic philosophy requirements that it's good I'll be living very far from it. But then I added a remark to acknowledge that it does seem like a pretty good place for someone who likes non-analytic philosophy.

Makes sense. Austin's a great city! So many of my friends graduated from UT and don't ever want to leave. Have fun!

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So I noticed a round of UCLA rejections went out. I have yet to be rejected it seems, but I have not been accepted either. What, if anything, should I infer from this? Thoughts? Any one else in the same boat? 

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So I noticed a round of UCLA rejections went out. I have yet to be rejected it seems, but I have not been accepted either. What, if anything, should I infer from this? Thoughts? Any one else in the same boat? 

It seems like you should infer nothing. Literally every possible option except rejected outright is still on the table. Probably not what you want to hear...

 

But who knows. Maybe it means you made the first cut. Fingers crossed. 

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So I am assuming this point that I have been rejected by JHU- it is just frustrating though because I emailed the DGS on Monday and he hasn't responded and I know he responded to someone else that they were not accepted into the program. Why would he not even respond to my inquiry?

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So I noticed a round of UCLA rejections went out. I have yet to be rejected it seems, but I have not been accepted either. What, if anything, should I infer from this? Thoughts? Any one else in the same boat?

Same here, even checked my app status online to see if I just didn't get the rejection email. I don't think it is unreasonable to assume being on UCLA's internal waitlist, but it's impossible to draw any other reliable conclusions from that.

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