Columbia offer holders and wait listers thread

[Contretramp]

Calling all Columbia offer holders and wait listers. (@Kel Varnsen, @SamStone, @doxazein918, ...)

I thought it would be useful to have a thread to hang out, compare AOIs and chat ahead of the Open House on April 7-8. 

One particular thing I'm interested in (as a wait lister) is gauging where the offer holders' heads are at re their Columbia offers. Sharing this would be purely a supererogatory act for you offer holders, but would certainly help with our decision calculus. Since the Columbia event is so late, that would offer some valuable psychological comfort.  

To start things off: I'm into philosophy of science and epistemology, particularly social aspects of science. As such, my interest in Columbia is basically focused on Philip Kitcher as a potential adviser. I've heard he's great to work with, and he's a giant in my area. 

I have a great offer + funding from a department that is probably better holistically (given my interests), but without a star supervisor (or, to be honest, with a slightly less star supervisor who is not 100% in my area). So that's my (hypothetical) dilemma. 

 

Edited March 8, 2016 by jorou
Tagged people

[doxazein918]

Hi!  This is a great idea for a thread  my main interests are in the history of epistemology with a focus on ancient epistemology--I'm really fascinated by the idea of belief and how it's developed in the ancient world and onwards.  So Katja Vogt is a huge draw for me at Columbia, as well as Christia Mercer who told me that Columbia will be bringing in a series of people to give talks on the history of philosophy in the next few years.

Hate to be a bearer of bad news for the WL people, but I'm very likely going to choose Columbia (like 95%ish certain).  I'll be at the Open House, so I hope to meet some of you there!  Best of luck to everyone!

[SamStone]

Thanks for starting this thread!

I'm on the WL, and I am really hoping an offer ends up coming through. Besides the fact that Columbia was among my top-choice programs, it has turned out that I was not accepted or WL at any other departments. So receiving an offer would be doubly exciting.

As far as my interests go, I like the history of philosophy and philosophy of mind. With history I plan to work mostly with Kant's legacy/reception through Nietzsche, but also in phenomenology and Pragmatism. And regarding mind, I'm interested in working between cognitive science and phenomenological perspectives—issues surrounding perception, consciousness/self-consciousness, embodiment, and representation. So obviously, there'd several professors I'd be thrilled to work with at Columbia. 

I'll also be at the Open House, so it will be fun to meet you all and get to see the department!

[Incregible]

I turned down my offer from Columbia today. I heard their waitlist was based on AOI -- so, in case it matters to anyone, I'm interested in mind/cog sci/metaphysics. Best of luck to you all! 

[Kel Varnsen]

Hey everyone,

I'm on the wait list and will be at the open house as well. I'm broadly interested in psychology and cognitive science and particularly interested in attitudes and emotion. 

I honestly can't say what my decision would be if I make it off the wait list. It would depend very much on the visit and the advice of my professors who I will consult after the open house. In short, my dilemma is that Indiana is probably a better fit for my particular interests, but Columbia is a better place to train overall as a philosopher and of course much higher ranked. 

Unfortunately, I think the people named in this thread are all the Columbia people following the grad cafe threads. But of course it's great that we have at least all of our info in one place now.

@completeurprofile

[Contretramp]

On 3/9/2016 at 2:32 AM, Incregible said:

I turned down my offer from Columbia today. I heard their waitlist was based on AOI -- so, in case it matters to anyone, I'm interested in mind/cog sci/metaphysics. Best of luck to you all! 

Anybody get some good new in the wake of this?

[Kel Varnsen]

Nope.  Just got an email yesterday from a current grad student.  He said they released our names to them so they could contact us if we had any questions.

Still waiting on some more specific details about the open house.  I'll wait til late March before I ask.

[SamStone]

I haven't gotten any good news since that decline as well. I'm wondering how they do it at Columbia. Think they've already made an offer to someone on the waitlist...or, think they'll wait until they've heard back from more current admits to redistribute their offers? 

But, like Kel, I was emailed from a current student—I asked a few questions in return, and they provided very helpful responses. I'm really looking forward to visiting the dept; I'm trying not to get too excited/hopeful, but its hard! haha

[PrimeMumble]

On 3/7/2016 at 3:00 PM, doxazein918 said:

Hi!  This is a great idea for a thread  my main interests are in the history of epistemology with a focus on ancient epistemology--I'm really fascinated by the idea of belief and how it's developed in the ancient world and onwards.  So Katja Vogt is a huge draw for me at Columbia, as well as Christia Mercer who told me that Columbia will be bringing in a series of people to give talks on the history of philosophy in the next few years.

Hate to be a bearer of bad news for the WL people, but I'm very likely going to choose Columbia (like 95%ish certain).  I'll be at the Open House, so I hope to meet some of you there!  Best of luck to everyone!

Katja is amazing. Incredibly smart, supportive and committed to her students. Welcome!

[Kel Varnsen]

Just curious if everyone is holding onto their offers or wait lists still.  Has anyone already accepted or declined?

[doxazein918]

8 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Just curious if everyone is holding onto their offers or wait lists still.  Has anyone already accepted or declined?

Since visit days are Thursday-Friday, I expect a lot of people will make decisions early this weekend.

[Kel Varnsen]

Has anyone heard anything from Akeel regarding the status of offers and the wait list?

[Ulixes]

6 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Has anyone heard anything from Akeel regarding the status of offers and the wait list?

I've been naked and chanting 'Sam Stone Sam Stone' all morning, so hopefully he's heard something from Akeel.

[Kel Varnsen]

6 minutes ago, Ulixes said:

I've been naked and chanting 'Sam Stone Sam Stone' all morning, so hopefully he's heard something from Akeel.

Well that's something   I wrote Akeel about an hour ago and haven't heard anything.

[Ulixes]

15 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Well that's something   I wrote Akeel about an hour ago and haven't heard anything.

Hmm. I'll start chanting 'Kal Varnsen Kal Varnsen' then.

[Contretramp]

Just got a rejection email from John Collins. Disappointed but a bit relieved tbh. 

[Kel Varnsen]

25 minutes ago, Contretramp said:

Just got a rejection email from John Collins. Disappointed but a bit relieved tbh. 

Thanks for posting here.  I'm so stressed waiting.  Best of luck at the LSE to you, Joe.

30 minutes ago, Ulixes said:

Hmm. I'll start chanting 'Kal Varnsen Kal Varnsen' then.

Lol, much appreciated.

[SamStone]

Not accepted  

I talked with Akeel yesterday and he told me I was on the top of one of the two waitlists (I'm assuming the waitlists were categorized by broad interest in European/Social philosophy and Logic/Mind/Sci [though, that assumption could be wrong]). But this morning I was told that all the spots were filled (at least from category that I was in: euro/social). 

Looks like I'll be re-applying next year. 

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Rejected as well.