2016 Acceptance Thread

[Incregible]

Claiming the third Columbia admission. Mine had xxx's and yyy's!

2a/0w/2r and 3 presumed rejections out of 9.

Edited March 2, 2016 by Incregible

[MVSCZAR]

47 minutes ago, doxazein918 said:

Claiming the Columbia acceptance.  Still in shock this is like my dream place omg

Congratulations! It's in such an ideal place in NYC. Super stoked for anyone who got in. It wasn't a good fit for me, but the location is so perfect I couldn't not apply. 

[doxazein918]

33 minutes ago, MVSCZAR said:

Congratulations! It's in such an ideal place in NYC. Super stoked for anyone who got in. It wasn't a good fit for me, but the location is so perfect I couldn't not apply. 

Yes the location is huge for me!!  Affordable housing in NYC plus close proximity to SO makes me so happy

[thatsjustsemantics]

3 hours ago, philstudent1991 said:

Perhaps the "Oxford" in the location is a partial explanation? Not that oddnumber isn't an excellent philosopher, but perhaps that explains in part why she is an excellent philosopher. 

To be honest, I've noticed this interesting correlation about people who didn't think they'd do well this admission season, who end up doing extremely well this admission season, and it turns out they're from some of the best places to do philosophy -- with letters from P.V. Inwagen, for example. The correlation is interesting to note because one expects more confidence from people who underwent an excellent course of study with good professors in a (presumably) great community setting, but the betrayal of insecurity might lead us to believe that attendance at such programs is tough due to the pressure to be excellent and to compete with excellent peers.

As for me, I went to a small liberal arts college on a need-based scholarship. My department peers would tease me, very rarely, only because I'd turn my philosophy papers in on time when the norm was to turn it in a few days late. The environment was chill, and I was doing relatively well. Now, I'm getting waitlisted for funding at MA progams (despite having higher expectations), and I kind of just feel chill about it . . . how the world works, I guess.

Edited March 2, 2016 by thatsjustsemantics

[AnotherKantFan]

Claiming the Cambridge MPhil acceptance!

[axiomness]

2 hours ago, dgswaim said:

Based on my email exchange with Fr. Prof. Vitali, I feel pretty certain that  initial acceptances and wait lists have all been sent at SLU.

Thanks for that. (I'm out of upvotes for today...). It seems like in general there are fewer people reporting acceptances this year than there have been in years past--it's somewhat disconcerting.

[Bestseller]

Is Columbia done sending emails?

[currentphilgrad]

1 minute ago, Bestseller said:

Is Columbia done sending emails?

I'm guessing they have two left to send: one for me and one for you! They're just taking a while because they want to get the wording just right.

[T]

I applied several schools around NYC but haven't heard from them so far . I just want to take a moment and congratulate everyone who was accepted.

[Poetic Justice]

4 hours ago, philoguy said:

Hey, Congrats! Tufts is my first choice and I haven't heard anything...you heard on March 1?

Thanks !  Yep, I got an email sent on that day and a letter attached also dated that day.  I was quite surprised actually as I didn't expect to hear back from Tufts so soon (I believe it's earliest date in the past 4 years) ... I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!  

[andrewrichmo]

Anyone have info on Columbia's stipends? I got an informal acceptance this morning, but it just says I'm getting "full funding," details to follow. I'm trying not to get too excited until I know I'll be able to afford it.

[doxazein918]

18 minutes ago, andrewrichmo said:

Anyone have info on Columbia's stipends? I got an informal acceptance this morning, but it just says I'm getting "full funding," details to follow. I'm trying not to get too excited until I know I'll be able to afford it.

I got the same email, but since they guarantee full funding with a stipend I would guess that it's pretty similar to other PhD funding.  So around $30,000/year plus discounted housing.

[currentphilgrad]

25 minutes ago, doxazein918 said:

I got the same email, but since they guarantee full funding with a stipend I would guess that it's pretty similar to other PhD funding.  So around $30,000/year plus discounted housing.

There are PhD programs that make 30k?!? I make about half that and it's not like I live somewhere cheap (my rent is about 1100 per month).

Oh and I'll add that I was accepted to 5 PhD programs last time around and none of them offered 30k (even one in NYC). Maybe programs have gotten wealthier in the last couple of years.

Edited March 2, 2016 by currentphilgrad

[dgswaim]

5 minutes ago, currentphilgrad said:

There are PhD programs that make 30k?!? I make about half that and it's not like I live somewhere cheap (my rent is about 1100 per month).

Actually, what's pathetic is that anyone thinks 30k is a lot of money.

[andrewrichmo]

35 minutes ago, doxazein918 said:

I would guess that it's pretty similar to other PhD funding.  So around $30,000/year plus discounted housing.

 

11 minutes ago, currentphilgrad said:

I was accepted to 5 PhD programs last time around and none of them offered 30k (even one in NYC). Maybe programs have gotten wealthier in the last couple of years.

So I took what looks like Columbia's standard stipend from 2009 (judging by this: http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2009/03/financial-aid-offers-for-phd-students-is-there-a-normal-amount-these-days.html) and plugged it into an inflation adjustor—one of the posters said the stipend was adjusted for inflation—and it looks like that would make it ~$24,900 today. I'm still holding out until I get the official offer, but if it's anything north of $20,000 I'm going to be thrilled.

[MVSCZAR]

58 minutes ago, doxazein918 said:

I got the same email, but since they guarantee full funding with a stipend I would guess that it's pretty similar to other PhD funding.  So around $30,000/year plus discounted housing.

CUNY is offering me 35k. 25k plus an extra 10k fellowship. 

[currentphilgrad]

44 minutes ago, MVSCZAR said:

CUNY is offering me 35k. 25k plus an extra 10k fellowship. 

I wonder if that extra 10k is the reason why you're the only one who has heard from CUNY so far.

[jacbarcan]

I would very much appreciate if some of you would fill out the funding survey. 

https://philosophyadmissions.wordpress.com/funding/

[philosophe]

6 minutes ago, jacbarcan said:

I would very much appreciate if some of you would fill out the funding survey. 

https://philosophyadmissions.wordpress.com/funding/

Just completed a few for you

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

6 minutes ago, jacbarcan said:

I would very much appreciate if some of you would fill out the funding survey. 

https://philosophyadmissions.wordpress.com/funding/

When I try to view this, I can only see six results - it seems to cut off after USC, although I have to keep scrolling a while before I hit the bottom of the page. Is this a problem on my end, or have you only received six responses?  

[philosophe]

11 minutes ago, Cecinestpasunphilosophe said:

When I try to view this, I can only see six results - it seems to cut off after USC, although I have to keep scrolling a while before I hit the bottom of the page. Is this a problem on my end, or have you only received six responses?  

That's all I see too. I imagine that's because it only has six responses.... and I imagine my results will only post pending approval.

[smwinterfeldt]

So I've been pretty quiet on the forums for the past few weeks because all I've been hearing so far is rejections.

That changed today. I was accepted to SUNY Buffalo and wait listed for funding. Unless I am accepted to either Rutgers or Missouri (with funding), I will likely accept Buffalo's offer. If anyone got accepted to Buffalo with funding and intends to turn it down, it would be greatly appreciated!

[Dialectica]

10 minutes ago, smwinterfeldt said:

So I've been pretty quiet on the forums for the past few weeks because all I've been hearing so far is rejections.

That changed today. I was accepted to SUNY Buffalo and wait listed for funding. Unless I am accepted to either Rutgers or Missouri (with funding), I will likely accept Buffalo's offer. If anyone got accepted to Buffalo with funding and intends to turn it down, it would be greatly appreciated!

Congrats!

[502845824]

3 hours ago, dgswaim said:

Actually, what's pathetic is that anyone thinks 30k is a lot of money.

Ah, my family (a father, a stay-at-home mom, and four kids) lived on less, so I'd take $30,000 any day of the week over the backbreaking manual labor my dad has done for $20,000~$25,000 per year for 30 straight years.

Edit: I fail to understand how anyone could think that 30K is a small sum for reading books, writing papers, and -- probably unsubstantial, at least in the first year -- teaching duties. Sorry for being 'pathetic.'

Edited March 3, 2016 by oldhatnewtricks

[philosophe]

23 minutes ago, oldhatnewtricks said:

Ah, my family (a father, a stay-at-home mom, and four kids) lived on less, so I'd take $30,000 any day of the week over the backbreaking manual labor my dad has done for $20,000~$25,000 per year for 30 straight years.

Edit: I fail to understand how anyone could think that 30K is a small sum for reading books, writing papers, and -- probably unsubstantial, at least in the first year -- teaching duties. Sorry for being 'pathetic.'

Of course this is an excellent sum to be a philosophy grad student! To be fair and charitable to dgswaim, however, he or she was clearly referring to the fact that 30k a year is considered a rather low income across almost every category for those with bachelor's degrees. Most college graduates will immediately making more money than we will even five years from now -- that's the depressing part, and why it's a bit laughable that we drool at the idea of 30k a year. (I think I speak for dgswaim when I say that those who work hard for low sums to support their families are admirable, and no one was trying to say otherwise).