Decisions 2016

[MentalEngineer]

47 minutes ago, Schwarzwald said:

FSU is an amazing place, I will forever be kicking myself for declining their generous offer. Just decided on Brandeis, however, it'll take some days before I'm emotionally prepared to celebrate.

See ya in two years, then

[Schwarzwald]

48 minutes ago, MentalEngineer said:

See ya in two years, then

 You know it. I can't be far away from Potterworld for too long.

[brush]

One thing I noticed is a lot of MA programs (e.g. VTech) offer lots of graduate level survey courses, whereas others offer mostly seminars on particular topics (e.g. FSU). I'm wondering which type of class will put me in a better position to make a good writing sample? I've never taken a graduate seminar before. Survey courses are nice in that they get you thinking about a lot of things and give you good background knowledge, but I'm afraid they don't go in depth enough on any topic to be able to write a novel paper on that topic.

[MentalEngineer]

1 hour ago, brush said:

One thing I noticed is a lot of MA programs (e.g. VTech) offer lots of graduate level survey courses, whereas others offer mostly seminars on particular topics (e.g. FSU). I'm wondering which type of class will put me in a better position to make a good writing sample? I've never taken a graduate seminar before. Survey courses are nice in that they get you thinking about a lot of things and give you good background knowledge, but I'm afraid they don't go in depth enough on any topic to be able to write a novel paper on that topic.

Two things for you. First, my understanding is that FSU (shameless plug) will always offer at least one survey course per semester; in Fall '16 it's Early Modern. So you can get that there. Second, having taken plenty of both at this point, I think your intuition is right. I think survey courses are great for background, they often show you all sorts of connections between your pet interests and other issues, they help prep you to teach undergrad-level stuff, and they're often lots of fun. But for starting to develop my own work, I've found it much more helpful to start digging into a specific area or problem in a seminar. Even if it turns out that I hate the area or think it's a non-problem, I learn a lot getting to that point.

Edited April 14, 2016 by MentalEngineer

[Adequate Philosopher]

2 hours ago, brush said:

One thing I noticed is a lot of MA programs (e.g. VTech) offer lots of graduate level survey courses, whereas others offer mostly seminars on particular topics (e.g. FSU). I'm wondering which type of class will put me in a better position to make a good writing sample? I've never taken a graduate seminar before. Survey courses are nice in that they get you thinking about a lot of things and give you good background knowledge, but I'm afraid they don't go in depth enough on any topic to be able to write a novel paper on that topic.

From what I can tell, Virginia Tech usually offers a mixture of both. http://www.phil.vt.edu/courses/fall_2016_coursedescriptions_GRAD.pdf

For example, this fall they'll be offering advanced introductions to the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of language. However, they'll also be offering a seminar on David Hume's political philosophy and how it was influenced by Adam Smith.

I suppose we can compare survey courses and seminars on particular topics to swimming in a pool. I prefer to start at the shallow end, dip my big toe in the water and make sure it isn't too cold (i.e., survey courses), then gradually swim to the deep end (seminars on particular topics). However, it's perfectly reasonable to prefer jumping in the deep end of the pool and splashing about a bit. There are virtues to both methods, I suppose.

[Establishment]

Survey courses do literally nothing for me. I'd prefer an incredibly deep and focused course on something I'm totally opposed to and know nothing about than a survey of something I'm totally interested in and know nothing about.

That's in general too. If I have a particular desire to produce a good piece of writing at the end, a survey course is not going to help towards that end.

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

Accepting Stanford's offer now. I can't believe this entire process is over. It's been one hell of a ride.

[Siegfried42]

9 minutes ago, Cecinestpasunphilosophe said:

Accepting Stanford's offer now. I can't believe this entire process is over. It's been one hell of a ride.

Congratulations!! Good luck at Stanford :-)

[oddnumber]

Just accepted an offer from Rutgers! The season is over for me. Best of luck to everyone!

[Kel Varnsen]

I accepted Indiana.  I believe 4 of the 5 spots are now full.  Good luck, everyone.

[Siegfried42]

Just accepted an offer from Michigan Ann-Arbor. Declined Cornell wait list and UC-Boulder (fellowship). Really happy (and still a little shocked) to be in at Michigan, but declining Boulder was kind of crushing: everyone there has been so kind and helpful and it seemed like a great program, too. 

[gughok]

UCLA!

[thegnomechomsky]

I have accepted my offer of admission at Cornell. Good luck all!

[philstudent1991]

Headed to UConn!

[Davidspring]

UVA, I'm coming!  Any others to join me?

[AnotherKantFan]

Stanford!!!! Off the WL

[thehegeldialectic]

Accepted Duquesne's M.A. offer. Anyone else going to be there with me?

[pragmatism]

Anyone else going to Berkeley?

[kant_get_in]

I received an offer of funding from The University of Tennessee today. I declined that offer, and I have decided to attend UC Santa Cruz.