Decisions 2016

[gughok]

Since the first round is almost over, and I imagine a number of people now have some very difficult decisions to make, I thought it might be a good time to start this thread so people can brainstorm what might be best for them. I know some of you hate my guts at this point, but I hope you'll find the thread useful.

I'm currently trying to figure out a hypothetical choice between Harvard and Rutgers, in case I get off the latter's waitlist. Rutgers has the obviously stronger department, especially for my interests (mind, language, and cognitive science). Harvard, however, is much stronger across all its departments, which is important to me because of the interdisciplinary work I really want to do. Knowing I can walk into any building and find leaders in the field feels like a valuable advantage. Coupled with the strengths Boston has as a city over most places in New Jersey, and the easy accessibility of MIT and Tufts (I know Rutgers has the consortium but that's not quite as unrestricted to my understanding), it's really tough to decide.

What choices are you struggling with?

Edited March 6, 2016 by gughok

[completeurprofile]

19 minutes ago, gughok said:

 I know some of you hate my guts at this point

Why do you think that?

[Cromulent Flurp]

I started a thread on this, called "Choosing between offers". It didn't take off though, so I'm happy for a new one to start. 

[dgswaim]

I'm looking forward to being able to make a decision at some point.

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

I'm glad to see you're warming up to Harvard, @gughok  

I think a large part of my decision is going to come down to how the campus visits go. Last year, I only made the decision to do an MA rather than accept the offer I had after spending a few days visiting the department, so I think I can trust my intuitions to one extent or another - but at the same time, it seems incredible that I'm deciding where I'm going to spend the next five/six years of my life (and, in many ways, how my life is going to unfold after) based on a couple of days hanging out at a department while its professors and grad students are trying to put their best foot forward. I mean, visits are surely better data for reflection than email conversations with current students, or whatever else one might have access to... but it still seems like such a small data set for making such an important decision!

[gughok]

6 minutes ago, Cromulent Flurp said:

I started a thread on this, called "Choosing between offers". It didn't take off though, so I'm happy for a new one to start. 

 Oh I'm sorry! I didn't realize. How is UC Boulder vs. WUSTL going? A magnificent battle of pros and cons, I imagine.

 

2 hours ago, completeurprofile said:

Why do you think that?

I made a few posts about my presumed and official rejections which were interpreted by some as being profoundly ungrateful about Harvard, and they responded with corresponding reproach. I've taken steps to clarify myself but I would understand if I'm still held in resent by a few.

@Cecinestpasunphilosophe receiving the official admissions package helped. Now I have a folder with the Harvard seal on it. I've never been so in awe of a piece of paper. I definitely agree about the visits, they're going to make a huge difference. It's a little inconvenient, therefore, that the Harvard visit isn't until April 11-12. That's really really late, and for the sake of both my sanity and that of the people on waitlists, I'd rather have the visit sooner. What can you do, eh? Anyway, you look to have a pretty awesome record this season. Will you be visiting Princeton?

[omfgzell]

I'm trying to decide between an interdisciplinary program in cognitive science and philosophy, on the one hand, and a PhD in cognitive science, on the other, both in California and with full funding. Trying to decide whether your general boredom with philosophy is genuine or due to your gruesome MA dissertation process has been incredibly taxing :/

[doxazein918]

Is anyone else a little annoyed at how late some of the visit days are?  I'm choosing among Columbia, Cornell, and Stanford and will almost certainly pick Columbia.  But since the three programs are pretty comparable in what I want to do (ancient and comparative epistemology--if anyone else thinks there's clearly a best choice among these three for that, though, do let me know!), I want to visit all three and at least have a chance to meet the people in the departments before I make my final decision.  But the visit days are all in April (Stanford's is super late at April 10-12) and I feel bad since I'll be formally declining two offers so close to the deadline and I know people are hoping to hear from wait lists  anyone else in this situation?

[Swann]

34 minutes ago, doxazein918 said:

I'm choosing among Columbia, Cornell, and Stanford and will almost certainly pick Columbia.  But since the three programs are pretty comparable in what I want to do (ancient and comparative epistemology--if anyone else thinks there's clearly a best choice among these three for that, though, do let me know!), I want to visit all three and at least have a chance to meet the people in the departments before I make my final decision.

As someone with similar interests as you, I am curious why you would almost certainly choose Columbia. It seems to me that, at least in regards to ancient philosophy, Stanford seems to be a much better program (but, of course, all three programs are great overall); and as far as epistemology goes I would again opt for Stanford...although, it is true that as far as faculty interest goes there are more professors at Columbia that have epistemology listed as their interests.

For me: it seems I unfortunately have been totally shut out this year. And, like I said I have similar interests as you, so I envy the choice you have to make. But I guess I am just curious if there are specific reasons why you're learning towards Columbia, or if its just a general intuition you have. 

[doxazein918]

7 minutes ago, Swann said:

As someone with similar interests as you, I am curious why you would almost certainly choose Columbia. It seems to me that, at least in regards to ancient philosophy, Stanford seems to be a much better program (but, of course, all three programs are great overall); and as far as epistemology goes I would again opt for Stanford...although, it is true that as far as faculty interest goes there are more professors at Columbia that have epistemology listed as their interests.

For me: it seems I unfortunately have been totally shut out this year. And, like I said I have similar interests as you, so I envy the choice you have to make. But I guess I am just curious if there are specific reasons why you're learning towards Columbia, or if its just a general intuition you have. 

Stanford does have a really great program, and I'd say it's got a lot of advantages over Columbia especially on the ancient side of things.  One thing that really attracts me to Columbia is that Katja Vogt's work is very similar to the kind of stuff I want to do; I had the chance to meet her when she was at Princeton last semester and I really got a great impression from her about her work and the department in general.  On the history of philosophy side of things, I think Columbia is probably at least as strong, and I've gotten a very good impression from Christia Mercer on that front as well.  One of my biggest reasons for preferring Columbia is entirely non-academic, though:  my SO lives about an hour from New York and I've really been hoping I could be in the city for the next few years.  So with such a clear advantage in location, I feel that the departments are similar enough in strength for me still to favor Columbia.

I'm sorry to hear things didn't work out for you this year  I didn't realize how crazy a process this whole thing was until recently, and I definitely feel that I got lucky more than anything.  Hope things work out for you, whether you keep trying or decide to pursue something else!

[NathanKellen]

3 hours ago, omfgzell said:

I'm trying to decide between an interdisciplinary program in cognitive science and philosophy, on the one hand, and a PhD in cognitive science, on the other, both in California and with full funding. Trying to decide whether your general boredom with philosophy is genuine or due to your gruesome MA dissertation process has been incredibly taxing :/

You might consider your job prospects as a way to decide. I think you'd have a better shot on the job market with the program which gives you a PhD in something other than philosophy, but I'm no expert. I'd suggest checking the placement for both programs and talk to your advisors about that issue.

[Cromulent Flurp]

I'm leaning very strongly towards WashU, gughok. The person I'd like to work with there, who's the person I'd most like to work with in the world, was on the committee and is very enthusiastic about me going there. She's planning on staying there too. I won't decide till I visit there and Boulder, though. 

I'm glad you're feeling more positive about the possibility of going to Harvard. Something to keep in mind with things not turning out ideally is that that's what a career in philosophy tends to consist of much of the time. You'll have to face publications being rejected by everywhere regularly, or not getting into the journals you'd like them to, and applying for jobs usually means getting rejected from dozens of places and having to accept whatever you get as well. I think using the opportunity to build one's acceptance and determination is a good idea.  

[Kel Varnsen]

5 hours ago, doxazein918 said:

But the visit days are all in April (Stanford's is super late at April 10-12) and I feel bad since I'll be formally declining two offers so close to the deadline and I know people are hoping to hear from wait lists  anyone else in this situation?

Are you going to the Columbia open house? I don't mind waiting til april 8 so much as long as I get a sense at the open house of how many people are thinking of accepting. 

 

[AnotherKantFan]

10 hours ago, doxazein918 said:

Is anyone else a little annoyed at how late some of the visit days are?  I'm choosing among Columbia, Cornell, and Stanford and will almost certainly pick Columbia.  But since the three programs are pretty comparable in what I want to do (ancient and comparative epistemology--if anyone else thinks there's clearly a best choice among these three for that, though, do let me know!), I want to visit all three and at least have a chance to meet the people in the departments before I make my final decision.  But the visit days are all in April (Stanford's is super late at April 10-12) and I feel bad since I'll be formally declining two offers so close to the deadline and I know people are hoping to hear from wait lists  anyone else in this situation?

Yeah, as someone who has been wait-listed at Stanford and dreams of Stanford the fact that the official visit is so late is really painful  Well, hopefully some accepted people are going to visit earlier, alongside/together with other campus visits? 

If you're worried about making a last-minute decision, both for yourself and for other people waiting, perhaps you could do the same. 

[doxazein918]

10 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Are you going to the Columbia open house? I don't mind waiting til april 8 so much as long as I get a sense at the open house of how many people are thinking of accepting. 

 

Yes!  It's only a pretty short train ride away so I'll be there for at least some of it.

 

4 hours ago, AnotherKantFan said:

Yeah, as someone who has been wait-listed at Stanford and dreams of Stanford the fact that the official visit is so late is really painful  Well, hopefully some accepted people are going to visit earlier, alongside/together with other campus visits? 

If you're worried about making a last-minute decision, both for yourself and for other people waiting, perhaps you could do the same. 

If they're willing to pay for flights and stuff for visiting earlier, I would definitely consider it.  Still waiting on an official letter for them and everything.

[MVSCZAR]

17 minutes ago, doxazein918 said:

If they're willing to pay for flights and stuff for visiting earlier, I would definitely consider it.  Still waiting on an official letter for them and everything.

You gotta do what's best for you, doxa. If that means waiting until April 13, then that's unfortunately what you have to do. It's also really useful to meet the other accepted students, so if it's at all possible, I would just go during the recruitment weekend or whatever. 

If you're on the waitlist for a place you really want to go to, wait until April 15th to accept any other offers. That seems like the only way of going about this. 

[frege-bombs]

I am also waiting to make final decisions until I take all of my visits, but barring unexpected changes, I will likely be deciding between Ohio State and UMass Amherst. My interests are in mind and metaethics. It's a dead heat at this point. UMass seems to have a somewhat stronger placement record and is stronger in mind, while OSU would be more affordable and stronger in metaethics (though there are still good people doing mind at OSU and metaethics at UMass). One thing that may tip the scales in favor of OSU is that Tristram McPherson was recently hired there away from my MA institution, so there would be some familiarity to that end.

All things considered, this is a good problem to have, and I feel very fortunate to have a choice at all. Any thoughts at all re: OSU or UMass would be very welcome! 

[AnotherKantFan]

54 minutes ago, doxazein918 said:

If they're willing to pay for flights and stuff for visiting earlier, I would definitely consider it.  Still waiting on an official letter for them and everything.

Yes, I know for a fact that all the schools reimburse you the same (i.e. as much as they would anyway), no matter whether you visit during official days or at another time. 

[dgswaim]

23 minutes ago, frege-bombs said:

 

All things considered, this is a good problem to have, and I feel very fortunate to have a choice at all. 

I was thinking about this precise sentiment a lot over the weekend. I've been admitted to two schools with world-class philosophers of biology and wait listed at a few others. I feel a little guilty sometimes for thinking my life is hard as a result of any of this. I should be more appreciative.

[roundtwo]

5 hours ago, AnotherKantFan said:

Yeah, as someone who has been wait-listed at Stanford and dreams of Stanford the fact that the official visit is so late is really painful  Well, hopefully some accepted people are going to visit earlier, alongside/together with other campus visits? 

If you're worried about making a last-minute decision, both for yourself and for other people waiting, perhaps you could do the same. 

@AnotherKantFan—Just curious: did you receive an official email from someone in the department/graduate school about the waitlist, or solicit one? I know there was some question about whether they do waitlists, and I noticed there is only one posting of one. Just waiting on @doxazein918 to turn them down in hopes I might get a surprise acceptance ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (just kidding)

[AnotherKantFan]

10 minutes ago, roundtwo said:

@AnotherKantFan—Just curious: did you receive an official email from someone in the department/graduate school about the waitlist, or solicit one? I know there was some question about whether they do waitlists, and I noticed there is only one posting of one. Just waiting on @doxazein918 to turn them down in hopes I might get a surprise acceptance ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (just kidding)

I received an email from someone in the department, but I know they are still finalising the admissions/WL lists! 

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

19 hours ago, gughok said:

 

@Cecinestpasunphilosophe receiving the official admissions package helped. Now I have a folder with the Harvard seal on it. I've never been so in awe of a piece of paper. I definitely agree about the visits, they're going to make a huge difference. It's a little inconvenient, therefore, that the Harvard visit isn't until April 11-12. That's really really late, and for the sake of both my sanity and that of the people on waitlists, I'd rather have the visit sooner. What can you do, eh? Anyway, you look to have a pretty awesome record this season. Will you be visiting Princeton?

Yeah, these late visits are really frustrating. I'll have two days after my Stanford visit to try and make an informed choice about my options - which is ridiculous. It also means that, between Berkeley and Stanford, I have a full month that's going to be spent stressing about these stupid visits. Which is upsetting.

I'm waiting to hear back from the DGS at Princeton as to whether they'll be able to fund my visit or not. If they're able to do so, I'll probably go. Even if they're not able to do so, I'll still probably go... but I won't be happy about it  

[Nat_Foot]

Someone is turning down Stanford today. Good luck to those on the wait list. 

[AnotherKantFan]

8 minutes ago, Nat_Foot said:

Someone is turning down Stanford today. Good luck to those on the wait list. 

How many people have turned Stanford down, so far? (I heard of a few instances already, but never know if it's the same or new people haha!)

Edited March 7, 2016 by AnotherKantFan

[Nat_Foot]

Just now, AnotherKantFan said:

How many people have turned it down, so far? (I heard of a few instances already, but never know if it's the same or new people haha!)

I'm not sure about the others, but this is definitely a new person!