2016 Rejection/Plan B Thread

[MickeyRay]

15 minutes ago, philstudent1991 said:

You are in at Harvard. 

 

4 minutes ago, philstudent1992 said:

Perhaps he isn't aware: Harvard is one of the 10 best universities in the world to pursue a PhD in philosophy. And he's in there.

usernames are cute. 

Edited February 28, 2016 by MickeyRay

[completeurprofile]

4 hours ago, gughok said:

Pretty shit, I would guess, given how I'm nearly striking out everywhere. I wrote it in three days and the two professors I asked for help on it couldn't be bothered to give me more than one round of very loose feedback each.

It is sad that you're so down about going to Harvard when you are lucky enough to have been accepted with (what you consider to be) a subpar writing sample. A lot of people who have put in a lot of work in their writing samples (myself included) would have really appreciated the opportunity. Though I do realize that in the end, effort isn't always what matters. I hope you understand how your negativity is coming across to other people on this forum who would have been much more grateful for such an opportunity. 

Edited February 28, 2016 by completeurprofile

[psm1580b]

4 hours ago, gughok said:

Pretty shit, I would guess, given how I'm nearly striking out everywhere. I wrote it in three days and the two professors I asked for help on it couldn't be bothered to give me more than one round of very loose feedback each.

Here's a little perspective:

  I applied to Stanford last year, as well as several other top programs, and I learned from their rejection letter that they had over 400 applicants last year. 400. Given that those were PhD applicants to Stanford it's reasonable to assume that the top 80 or so were objectively indistinguishable from each other. Even if they can only accept 4 or so new students, that's only a 5% chance that you reasonably have of getting picked. You're not being shut out of other places because of anything wrong with your application, you're getting shut out because there are hundreds of other applicants who are at least as objectively good as you. It's a stats game, nothing more. Many people who are getting multiple acceptances have been applying for more than one year--they've had the extra time to really work on focusing their statements and working on reaching out to professors. 

Congratulations, you got into Harvard. That's an incredible achievement.

Now start treating that acceptance with the respect it deserves, or decline, and let someone else do so. 

[gughok]

39 minutes ago, completeurprofile said:

It is sad that you're so down about going to Harvard when you are lucky enough to have been accepted with (what you consider to be) a subpar writing sample. A lot of people who have put in a lot of work in their writing samples (myself included) would have really appreciated the opportunity. Though I do realize that in the end, effort isn't always what matters. I hope you understand how your negativity is coming across to other people on this forum who would have been much more grateful for such an opportunity. 

I'm sorry. It's not my intention to flood the forum with negativity. Apart from a single (I think?) post on the Venting thread I've refrained from unsolicited frustration, and in the case of the single post, I was using the thread for its intended purpose. I've been trying to say nothing where I've got nothing nice on my mind, but I was asked a question here and I answered it honestly. I can delete the response if that is preferred, and I will continue taking time (as I have been) to improve my attitude without needlessly complaining here. I know and understand what you and others are saying at a superficial level, and am working to integrate it into my perspective. Again, I apologize for any unwelcome effects my words might have had.

@psm1580b same as above; I'm trying.

N.B. I'm not "down about going to Harvard". Not at all. I'm still amazed, grateful, incredulous at the prospect. I'm just down about being rejected from other places. I hope that's not unfair of me.

Edited February 28, 2016 by gughok

[offyerhst]

I know there are a number of applicants out there who have similar areas of interest that are (presumably) making another go of it next year. If anyone is interested in creating an email group to keep up with and help each other out, let me know. Could use the help and camaraderie doing this again. 

 

[MVSCZAR]

7 hours ago, gughok said:

I'm sorry. It's not my intention to flood the forum with negativity. Apart from a single (I think?) post on the Venting thread I've refrained from unsolicited frustration, and in the case of the single post, I was using the thread for its intended purpose. I've been trying to say nothing where I've got nothing nice on my mind, but I was asked a question here and I answered it honestly. I can delete the response if that is preferred, and I will continue taking time (as I have been) to improve my attitude without needlessly complaining here. I know and understand what you and others are saying at a superficial level, and am working to integrate it into my perspective. Again, I apologize for any unwelcome effects my words might have had.

@psm1580b same as above; I'm trying.

N.B. I'm not "down about going to Harvard". Not at all. I'm still amazed, grateful, incredulous at the prospect. I'm just down about being rejected from other places. I hope that's not unfair of me.

I don't want to use the "there are starving children in Africa" trope, but this is basically what it is, man. 

 

It hurts to get rejected, even after getting accepted somewhere, obviously. But it's going to keep happening, and it's something we have to get used to. We aren't all little messiahs, as much as I'd like to convince myself otherwise. Some people are really just going to think we're not all that. Maybe that's part of the messiah thing, come to think of it. 

 

I think that what's rubbing people the wrong way is that your posts are making you seem impervious to other peoples' struggles to get even this far. And it may have been difficult for you too, and it likely has been, but it's difficult to see that when you imply that having to study at Cornell was you settling for less that what you thought you deserved. Meanwhile, a whole chunk of us would have never even dreamed of going to a place like that. And Harvard, man. I'd be so damned proud of myself. Nobody in my family knows any of the schools I've gotten into. Hell, they don't even know what a PhD is. They don't even know what philosophy is, really. I had one family member ask me if that meant I was going to work in a hospital with my mom. But even if they don't all know that, they know that Harvard means you're worth something. You should seriously be proud of that. When I got the news from Stony Brook, I was in my aunt's house in Colombia (they're poor as hell and haven't ever even left Medellin) my cousins asked me if I had applied to Harvard and when I'd be hearing back from them.   

 

My best friend who is the smartest person I've ever met, by far, and probably the biggest reason I've even gotten this far, had so much shit going on during this application season that he probably won't get into the one place he applied to, and he was only able to apply there because there was no application fee. When we complain, we probably sound like we're fishing for compliments to people like him. You got into a school most people dream about AND, most importantly, YOU took THEIR spot. They shouldn't have to console you or feel like they have to console you.

 

But yeah, I do think you're allowed to vent. I myself am feeling a straight panic right now and disdain and contempt, even. I feel like a spoiled bitch, to be honest, and I don't even remember what possessed me to go into a discipline that would turn down so many willing and able devotees. I'm confused and I want time to just stop for a little bit. And I can go on and on and fill whole threads about it. But, again, how can I ask anyone to console me when I'm in such an enviable position? You shouldn't change what you're feeling if what you're feeling is hurt or rejected. You're allowed to feel that way and forcing yourself to feel any other way is dishonest. It isn't that you don't have problems, but you wouldn't go into a leper colony and complain about your sore throat, even though sore throats can hurt like hell. 

 

I've already gotten my lashings worth from people who have told me I have nothing to complain about, even though I truly feel hurt, so don't take this the wrong way. I'm meaning all of this in the friendliest way possible. I'm sure that there are plenty of people who have gotten accepted to multiple programs who feel similarly rejected and hurt. But I think that's part of all of this. At least I'm hoping so. 

[gughok]

42 minutes ago, MVSCZAR said:

I don't want to use the "there are starving children in Africa" trope, but this is basically what it is, man. 

 

It hurts to get rejected, even after getting accepted somewhere, obviously. But it's going to keep happening, and it's something we have to get used to. We aren't all little messiahs, as much as I'd like to convince myself otherwise. Some people are really just going to think we're not all that. Maybe that's part of the messiah thing, come to think of it. 

 

I think that what's rubbing people the wrong way is that your posts are making you seem impervious to other peoples' struggles to get even this far. And it may have been difficult for you too, and it likely has been, but it's difficult to see that when you imply that having to study at Cornell was you settling for less that what you thought you deserved. Meanwhile, a whole chunk of us would have never even dreamed of going to a place like that. And Harvard, man. I'd be so damned proud of myself. Nobody in my family knows any of the schools I've gotten into. Hell, they don't even know what a PhD is. They don't even know what philosophy is, really. I had one family member ask me if that meant I was going to work in a hospital with my mom. But even if they don't all know that, they know that Harvard means you're worth something. You should seriously be proud of that. When I got the news from Stony Brook, I was in my aunt's house in Colombia (they're poor as hell and haven't ever even left Medellin) my cousins asked me if I had applied to Harvard and when I'd be hearing back from them.   

 

My best friend who is the smartest person I've ever met, by far, and probably the biggest reason I've even gotten this far, had so much shit going on during this application season that he probably won't get into the one place he applied to, and he was only able to apply there because there was no application fee. When we complain, we probably sound like we're fishing for compliments to people like him. You got into a school most people dream about AND, most importantly, YOU took THEIR spot. They shouldn't have to console you or feel like they have to console you.

 

But yeah, I do think you're allowed to vent. I myself am feeling a straight panic right now and disdain and contempt, even. I feel like a spoiled bitch, to be honest, and I don't even remember what possessed me to go into a discipline that would turn down so many willing and able devotees. I'm confused and I want time to just stop for a little bit. And I can go on and on and fill whole threads about it. But, again, how can I ask anyone to console me when I'm in such an enviable position? You shouldn't change what you're feeling if what you're feeling is hurt or rejected. You're allowed to feel that way and forcing yourself to feel any other way is dishonest. It isn't that you don't have problems, but you wouldn't go into a leper colony and complain about your sore throat, even though sore throats can hurt like hell. 

 

I've already gotten my lashings worth from people who have told me I have nothing to complain about, even though I truly feel hurt, so don't take this the wrong way. I'm meaning all of this in the friendliest way possible. I'm sure that there are plenty of people who have gotten accepted to multiple programs who feel similarly rejected and hurt. But I think that's part of all of this. At least I'm hoping so. 

You're right, of course. I understand that my choice of venue was insensitive and my phrasing, tactless (not sure there is a sensitive venue for it other than a silent, unscrutinizing piece of paper, and I've already scribbled on one of those). I do wish people wouldn't imply, in incorrectly associating my frustration with my offer of admission, that I have the emotional capacity of a lightbulb and can only either be happy about the totality of my current state of affairs or unhappy about it. I'm pretty sure, and I hope I'm right about this, that I'm capable of being happy about one thing and unhappy about another. Nevertheless you're correct that I should refrain from going on about the comparatively insignificant bad that I'm experiencing when I've got it as good, in one very significant respect, as I do. I was being sincere in my apology above and I'll say it again: I'm sorry for the way I came off.

I've gotten similar lashings from friends and acquaintances who've scoffed at me and called me "stupid and irrational" for my current emotional state, and I don't doubt they're right. I feel like an arrogant, thoroughly dislikeable and genuinely horrid prick right now, and all I can do is hope it'll fade along with my disappointment. Self-applied tough love is probably the best mindset to adopt insofar as I can, and I know that. Thank you for speaking so understandingly. I'll have some tea for my sore throat now. Tea really is a beautiful thing.

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by gughok

[Schwarzwald]

If everyone would just apply to my school of blackjack and hookers we wouldn't have to deal with these disappointments.

[MVSCZAR]

32 minutes ago, Schwarzwald said:

If everyone would just apply to my school of blackjack and hookers we wouldn't have to deal with these disappointments.

Bullshit. You said no alcohol! I'm already disappointed. 

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

6 hours ago, Schwarzwald said:

If everyone would just apply to my school of blackjack and hookers we wouldn't have to deal with these disappointments.

 

[MickeyRay]

7 hours ago, Schwarzwald said:

If everyone would just apply to my school of blackjack and hookers we wouldn't have to deal with these disappointments.

In fact forget the school and the blackjack!

 

Eh screw the whole thing. 

Edited February 29, 2016 by MickeyRay

[jelris]

I can claim the Miami (OH) rejection. My application was a mixed bag considering that my undergraduate major was in modern culture & media as opposed to philosophy and that 2 out of my 3 recommendations were from non-philosophy professors. I didn't cultivate very close relationships with my professors and so asked the few that I felt would likely remember me. These are the reasons why I only applied to MA programs and, to my credit, I have been accepted into most of them. Right now I'm waiting to see if I'm lucky enough to get off of any of the funding waitlists that I'm on.

[MickeyRay]

On 2/27/2016 at 11:58 AM, Schwarzwald said:

Anyone claiming the Miami rejection? Do you have news to bear for the rest of us?

 

On 2/28/2016 at 9:38 AM, KevDoh said:

I second the question. Anybody want to claim that Miami Ohio rejection?

If anyone would like more info about Miami Ohio then PM me.

[jelris]

Stanford actually offers a dual JD/PhD program as do many other schools.

[personagrata]

16 minutes ago, jelris said:

Stanford actually offers a dual JD/PhD program as do many other schools.

Yes, I applied to the PhD program, and I'm hoping I'll get in....if I don't, I'm thinking I can't turn down the law school offer. Keeping my fingers crossed I'll get in, but I've presumably been rejected from the philosophy PhD programs at Yale and Harvard. I'm not too sure how competitive my app to Stanford is. 

[Siegfried42]

10 minutes ago, personagrata said:

Yes, I applied to the PhD program, and I'm hoping I'll get in....if I don't, I'm thinking I can't turn down the law school offer. Keeping my fingers crossed I'll get in, but I've presumably been rejected from the philosophy PhD programs at Yale and Harvard. I'm not too sure how competitive my app to Stanford is. 

I'm in the same boat - have you been accepted to any good, PGR Ph.D. programs? Ph.D. admissions are extremely unpredictable...If you've got something now I'm not so sure it's for the best to give it up in favor of Stanford Law. After all, if you get into top law programs now, you're virtually certain to get in after doing the PhD - but there's definitely no such guarantee the other way around: to the contrary.

Less importantly, but still a consideration: you will probably not need to borrow anything for the Ph.D., but you'll likely need to borrow at least something for the JD, since stipends in a T14 are basically out of the question. If you do the JD first and then apply to the PhD later, this  means you'll be stuck with that loan for a longer duration and without being able to find employment to make payments (since you'll still be doing the PhD). If, on the other hand, you finish the Ph.D. first, you'll be ready for the job market directly after the JD. So, if you decide to do one degree before the other, it seems to me you are financially better off doing the Ph.D. first.

Of course, you could apply to Stanford Phil again - should you get rejected this time around - next cycle. Yet, no matter how strong your application, statistically your odds of admission would remain very slim, since the number of qualified applicants really does greatly outweigh the available spots in the program. So, going to SLS and hoping for a PhD admission next round seems risky to me. This, at least, represents some of my own thinking in the likely case that I do not get into the JD/PhD programs to which I applied. 

In any case: do you plan to find work in philosophy or law? Your acceptance to Georgetown - particularly its JD/PhD, to which I have no doubt you'll be accepted given your admission to SLS - should already take you quite far in either field, it seems to me, but will surely provide you with excellent credentials in the latter. 

[personagrata]

14 minutes ago, Siegfried42 said:

I'm in the same boat - have you been accepted to any good, PGR Ph.D. programs? Ph.D. admissions are extremely unpredictable...If you've got something now I'm not so sure it's for the best to give it up in favor of Stanford Law. After all, if you get into top law programs now, you're virtually certain to get in after doing the PhD - but there's definitely no such guarantee the other way around: to the contrary.

Less importantly, but still a consideration: you will probably not need to borrow anything for the Ph.D., but you'll likely need to borrow at least something for the JD, since stipends in a T14 are basically out of the question. If you do the JD first and then apply to the PhD later, this  means you'll be stuck with that loan for a longer duration and without being able to find employment to make payments (since you'll still be doing the PhD). If, on the other hand, you finish the Ph.D. first, you'll be ready for the job market directly after the JD. So, if you decide to do one degree before the other, it seems to me you are financially better off doing the Ph.D. first.

Of course, you could apply to Stanford Phil again - should you get rejected this time around - next cycle. Yet, no matter how strong your application, statistically your odds of admission would remain very slim, since the number of qualified applicants really does greatly outweigh the available spots in the program. So, going to SLS and hoping for a PhD admission next round seems risky to me. This, at least, represents some of my own thinking in the likely case that I do not get into the JD/PhD programs to which I applied. 

In any case: do you plan to find work in philosophy or law? Your acceptance to Georgetown - particularly its JD/PhD, to which I have no doubt you'll be accepted given your admission to SLS - should already take you quite far in either field, it seems to me, but will surely provide you with excellent credentials in the latter. 

Siegfried, thanks for your thoughtful comments! I'm trying to keep an open mind at this point. I know the philosophy job market is extremely competitive. I need to do more research on legal academia. I'm not sure which side I want to pursue, but I'd like a "scholarly" career.  I will be doing visits to DC and California soon, so I think the trips will help me decide. I am concerned about living in DC...I'm not sure I could handle the snow! 

[philosophe]

Can someone tell me more about their UCLA rejection? I've had my heart broken by many a late rejection this cycle because of my late-in-the-alphabet last name. If you're received a rejection from UCLA and don't mind, please DM me the first letter of your last name so I can have some evidence about whether or not I'm going to hear later today or tomorrow. Thanks!!!

[Siegfried42]

12 minutes ago, philosophe said:

Can someone tell me more about their UCLA rejection? I've had my heart broken by many a late rejection this cycle because of my late-in-the-alphabet last name. If you're received a rejection from UCLA and don't mind, please DM me the first letter of your last name so I can have some evidence about whether or not I'm going to hear later today or tomorrow. Thanks!!!

Same!!

[Dialectica]

Recieved official rejections from Chapel Hill and UT-Austin this morning. Lovely. 

[currentphilgrad]

For UT-Austin, maybe I'm just not looking at the right thing but under status for me it says "In review." Am I looking in the right place? Ah limbo...

[philstudent1992]

I also only see "under review" for Texas. Looking back at past years, apparently some people who asked about their status were told that they weren't accepted or on the waitlist, but they also weren't officially rejected yet, either. So it's possible that's the case, but obviously it's also possible that they just haven't uploaded all rejections yet.

Edited March 1, 2016 by philstudent1992

[majorshake]

I just posted a rejection from McGill. Solicited email from the grad coordinator.

Was told the shortlist is finalised.

[psm1580b]

9 minutes ago, majorshake said:

I just posted a rejection from McGill. Solicited email from the grad coordinator.

Was told the shortlist is finalised.

I'm too afraid to check

[Schwarzwald]

Presuming rejections from Georgia State University, Boston College, and Miami University.

Feels good to finally be in this thread for a reason.