Is a reapplication inherently disadvantaged?

[gughok]

Suppose I applied to a particular PhD program this year and was rejected. Next year, I reapply. Does the fact that I've been rejected once already prima facie affect their decision?

Obviously there are additional factors to account for, such as whether I have improved anything in my applications. So, if the original question is too vague to answer, then let me try this phrasing:

In world A I apply this year to a particular PhD program, am rejected, and reapply next year with noticeably improved materials.

In world B I do not bother applying this year, still improve my materials exactly the same way, and apply for the first time the next year.

Is there a difference between the two worlds in terms of my chances of admission next year?

[TakeruK]

Although there may be some weird field-dependent thing going on, I'm going to assume that the answer in Philosophy would not be different from another field.

In your World A and World B examples, I do not think you would be at any inherent disadvantage in World A. Given that there are a lot of applicants to each program, I'd consider these two potential scenarios that might happen in World A:

A1: The committee next year does not remember you so this is effectively World B. They might not remember you because there are way too many applications each year. Or, maybe the committee is different this year than last year. Or, maybe the committee's first pass at applications is to divide all of them across the X subcommittees and only those that make it through the first pass gets considered by the whole committee, and this year, your application goes to a different subcommittee. Or some other variant.

A2: Your application is remembered from last year. Maybe this is because you were a close decision and they agonized between you and another candidate. In this case, they will certainly be looking for differences. In your example Worlds, you say you have noticeably improved materials, so you should not be at a disadvantage in World A.

Sure, there could be other scenarios such as a committee mis-remembering who you are, or not actually reading your whole application and thus missing the improvements, but screwups like this can happen even in World B. 

[nonexistententity]

Reapply. It's exactly as TakeruK said: either they don't recognize you, in which case there's nothing to worry about. Or they do recognize you, and they recognize: a) you're serious about wanting to get into their program; b ) you've improved in the past year. Both those things are going to be advantageous.

I have been advised explicitly to reapply by the same people who turned me down last year. Now of course I don't know whether that's the usual course of business or an exception, but it does show that there is not necessarily a stigma attached to reapplying after a turndown.

[fuzzylogician]

There are usually more good applicants than free spots. If you were near the top of the pool in year 1 but didn't make it, improving your application and applying again might just put you over the top. Having applied before should not hurt your chances, you might even be remembered as someone strong that unfortunately just didn't make it. If you were mediocre before, chances are no one will remember, or if you've significantly improved then someone might notice the improvement, but this can only be a positive thing. The only real way that having applied before will be held against you is if your first application was somehow inappropriate in some way that was sufficiently memorable (I assume that isn't the case), or if there is some inconsistency that raises a red flag (I'm going to go ahead and assume that you're not planning on distorting the truth in any way). Unless you do something outrageous, having applied before won't be held against you.

[gughok]

I do not think you would be at any inherent disadvantage in World A.

Reapply.

Unless you do something outrageous, having applied before won't be held against you.

Great, thank you all so much! I have my mind set on applying to several master's level programs, and since the application materials are almost identical to what one would require for a PhD, this tells me that - cost aside - it couldn't hurt to simultaneously try for some of my top choice PhD programs.

Now I just need to actually get my applications ready... oh dear...

[ianfaircloud]

Suppose I applied to a particular PhD program this year and was rejected. Next year, I reapply. Does the fact that I've been rejected once already prima facie affect their decision?

Obviously there are additional factors to account for, such as whether I have improved anything in my applications. So, if the original question is too vague to answer, then let me try this phrasing:

In world A I apply this year to a particular PhD program, am rejected, and reapply next year with noticeably improved materials.

In world B I do not bother applying this year, still improve my materials exactly the same way, and apply for the first time the next year.

Is there a difference between the two worlds in terms of my chances of admission next year?

The answer is no, there is no difference.