2016 Rejection/Plan B Thread

[samori]

Apologies if this thread is a bit premature, but I can just feel the rejections looming towards me so I figured let's see what people are thinking of in terms of a back-up plan.

There was an excellent thread last year that outlines just how absurd this whole process is - and importantly, how we shouldn't take rejections and shut-outs to heart. There are numerous reasons why someone may or may not get accepted, and those reasons tend to vary so wildly that it's difficult to pinpoint what we could have done differently.

That being said - what's plan B?

[gughok]

Plan B: study for and take the LSAT, go to law school, become lawyer, keep reading and writing philosophy on the side.

Plan C: brush up my tech skills, work as a software developer/engineer.

Plan D: linguistics.

OPTIONAL BONUSES:

Plan A1: finally succeed as an independent fiction writer.

Plan A2: convince Tesla they need a Chief Executive Philosopher, ???, profit.

[FoxAndChicken]

It was recently suggested to me that I go into finance, actually. I can probably spin my degree as a technical one (majored in Logic). I don't totally hate the idea, I guess. 

 

[smwinterfeldt]

I have yet to hear back from any schools either way, but my back-up plan throughout this entire process is to go into history. I'll likely get my teaching license and teach HS history. Maybe I'll eventually work up to the college level. But regardless, I'll probably stick with academia. The Marxist in me hates the corporate world too much.

Edited January 25, 2016 by smwinterfeldt

[LLeuven]

1 hour ago, gughok said:

Plan B: study for and take the LSAT, go to law school, become lawyer, keep reading and writing philosophy on the side.

Plan C: brush up my tech skills, work as a software developer/engineer.

Plan D: linguistics.

OPTIONAL BONUSES:

Plan A1: finally succeed as an independent fiction writer.

Plan A2: convince Tesla they need a Chief Executive Philosopher, ???, profit.

I like the cards against humanity reference in plan A2!

[FoxAndChicken]

18 minutes ago, LLeuven said:

I like the cards against humanity reference in plan A2!

Is that where that's from? 

[PorchlightPhilosopher]

Smoke pot, drink beer, and fish. 

[samori]

1 hour ago, gughok said:

Plan B: study for and take the LSAT, go to law school, become lawyer, keep reading and writing philosophy on the side.

Plan C: brush up my tech skills, work as a software developer/engineer.

Plan D: linguistics.

OPTIONAL BONUSES:

Plan A1: finally succeed as an independent fiction writer.

Plan A2: convince Tesla they need a Chief Executive Philosopher, ???, profit.

Definitely Plan A2. I have a feeling they would be very open to the idea... 

[dgswaim]

MTV's the real world. Putting a lot of eggs in that basket if this doesn't work out.

[LLeuven]

1 hour ago, FoxAndChicken said:

Is that where that's from? 

It might also be from other places, but there is a card in cards against humanity that is "Step one:____ Step two: _____ Step 3: Profit"

[Chrysippus'Doge]

Probably join the Foreign Legion and then try and break into the Continental scene with my new French name and citizenship when I get out. Or pull a Larry Darrell and work on a cargo ship for passage to India, where I'd hope to become a Yogi's disciple. So ya know.... the usual. 

[AnotherKantFan]

Publishing! Especially academic publishing. For example, [The-University-I-Didn't-Get-Into] Press.

[jjb919]

end of the road for me; if I get shut out, I'm moving on to some other career. Either stick with non-profit administration (at least for the next 10 years so I can cash in on the student loan forgiveness program...assuming it's still around in 10 years), or something else, not quite sure. I've been taking a data science specialization through Coursera so I can do some higher level analysis for my current job, but maybe I can use that to get into a different career track. At this point though I don't think I really enjoy doing data analysis enough to do it full time, especially if the data I'm working with doesn't interest me.

[dgswaim]

In all honesty, I probably spend a year adjuncting and working on a killer writing sample and studying to max out the stupid gre and then try one more time. I have one more go left in me if this round doesn't work out, but after that I'll pack up my toys and go home.

Edited January 25, 2016 by dgswaim

[gughok]

13 hours ago, hot.glass said:

Definitely Plan A2. I have a feeling they would be very open to the idea... 

Yeah I'm actually pretty seriously planning on trying something audacious like that. Maybe writing and sending Elon Musk a manifesto of why, when designing self-driving cars, he should listen to philosophers on how those should behave in various trolley-dilemma-like situations. Then arguing why I'm the right one for the job

[samori]

11 hours ago, dgswaim said:

In all honesty, I probably spend a year adjuncting and working on a killer writing sample and studying to max out the stupid gre and then try one more time. I have one more go left in me if this round doesn't work out, but after that I'll pack up my toys and go home.

Same here. If a pristine writing sample and perfect GRE scores (...presuming that will happen) don't get me in next year, that's the end of the road for me. I considered trying for another MA so I could adjunct but I don't know how realistic that plan is. How are you finding adjuncting?

[Establishment]

3 hours ago, hot.glass said:

Same here. If a pristine writing sample and perfect GRE scores (...presuming that will happen) don't get me in next year, that's the end of the road for me. I considered trying for another MA so I could adjunct but I don't know how realistic that plan is. How are you finding adjuncting?

I know you didn't ask me, but adjuncting is kind of fucked if you want to make a living. Universities seem to have in place a max amount of courses you can teach, between two and three in my experience. This is perhaps due to the ACA. They'd have to offer you benefits if you started to teach more. Which means you're going to have to find two to three, at least, universities to teach at, and hope that you can in future years still get 5 courses that don't overlap with each other. That lack of job security is probably the worst.

I'm adjuncting and am only teaching one course granted, so I haven't experienced the above, but that seems to be the way things would play out.

In regards to the original post, I'm actually going to law school in the fall, this was sort of my fallback plan (although I made the choice to not apply out at my MA). But I'd forgotten just how much I love teaching philosophy. In addition to trying to adjunct in the city where I go to law school, I honestly won't be surprised if I apply out for a PhD either after my JD, or after working for a few years. (I sort of regret not taking the PhD offer I had out of undergrad...)

[Schwarzwald]

Plan B. MA in comparative humanities/history, study for the GRE, get a great application together, and reapply in 2 years.

Plan C. MA in Poli Sci/Policy/Public Admin, reassess my options, decide in 2 years, probably a Ph.D in some sort of political field.

Plan D. Ph.D in Rhetoric/Discourse Theory. Teach. Die.

Plan E. Ph.D in English or Comp Lit. Teach. Die.

Plan F. Ph.D in library science. Become university librarian.

Plan G. M.A in systems administration. Work. Die.

Plan H. M.A in graphic design/digital marketing. Work. Die.

Plan I. 2nd Bachelors, Art History, then get a Ph.D in Art History. Teach Art History. 

Plan J. Get an MBA in business admin. Work. Die.

Plan K. Take LSAT (my practice scores are perfect), Go to law school, live in the agony of the law profession. Die.

Plan L. Die.

 

[dgswaim]

54 minutes ago, Schwarzwald said:

Plan B. MA in comparative humanities/history, study for the GRE, get a great application together, and reapply in 2 years.

Plan C. MA in Poli Sci/Policy/Public Admin, reassess my options, decide in 2 years, probably a Ph.D in some sort of political field.

Plan D. Ph.D in Rhetoric/Discourse Theory. Teach. Die.

Plan E. Ph.D in English or Comp Lit. Teach. Die.

Plan F. Ph.D in library science. Become university librarian.

Plan G. M.A in systems administration. Work. Die.

Plan H. M.A in graphic design/digital marketing. Work. Die.

Plan I. 2nd Bachelors, Art History, then get a Ph.D in Art History. Teach Art History. 

Plan J. Get an MBA in business admin. Work. Die.

Plan K. Take LSAT (my practice scores are perfect), Go to law school, live in the agony of the law profession. Die.

Plan L. Die.

 

Plan L*: Die, reincarnate, re-start decision tree.

[SamStone]

Agh! I don't want to think seriously about a back up plan. 

But if I get shut out, I'd begin planning to apply again in the fall. I have a business idea that would take me totally out of academic work, but not totally out my philosophical background. The business relates to publishing, which I have some experience with so I don't think it'd be too much of a long shot, but it would take serious dedication to get off the ground. So I guess I would start some of the preliminary work getting that idea going, and wait to see if I got shut out again.

[psm1580b]

I would think long and hard about identifying a Plan B. I didn't, and now I'm an adjunct. Although I love teaching, and it's great, the lack of stability and permanence is frustrating. So I think my Plan B for this year is to continue being an adjunct. My hopes are not high--I thought I was a strong candidate last year and, despite making a few chances, really could not put as much of my heart into applications this year. At least, it certainly felt that way. 

[SamStone]

Today marks my first notification: a rejection from Northwestern.

 

[samori]

7 minutes ago, SamStone said:

Today marks my first notification: a rejection from Northwestern.

 

Yeah, looks like they all went out today. Sorry ;( Was it a top choice?

[SamStone]

9 minutes ago, hot.glass said:

Yeah, looks like they all went out today. Sorry ;( Was it a top choice?

It wasn't in my top 3, but I definitely had hopes for that application. 

[Swann]

Yep, I received my rejection from Northwestern as well.