Tough Year(s) for Applicants out of MA Programs?

[Davidspring]

I just observed that GSU didn't successfully place any of their students into top 20 schools this year (maybe some of their students will be admitted into top 20 off waitlists later).  Does this suggest that this is a tough year for applicants out of MA programs?  How about other MA programs?  I bet responses to these questions will help applicants into such MA programs to make good choices.

For GSU's 2016 placement record, see: http://philosophy.gsu.edu/graduate/placement-record/

Edited March 15, 2016 by Davidspring

[Schwarzwald]

If placing people at Duke, Emory, Georgetown, and Boston University is a "tough year," I think we'll all be fine. 

My two cents, at least on the FB 2016 applicant group, it seemed to me that people with MAs/BPhils (from Toronto, Brandeis, Oxford, etc) were doing well for themselves. I'm open to more information though. There is a rumor that MAs are looked down upon by the more prestigious institutions; perhaps, with MAs becoming a more standard course of action, those institutions are drawing a line in the sand to maintain their prejudice. I think that's unlikely though, especially given some of the success stories in the Acceptance thread. For me it seems the MAs are doing their intended purpose: allowing applicants to strengthen their resumes and get into high-ranking institutions.

I honestly think any dip in results should be attributed to the misinformation that an MA is not required to get into a top PhD program. I think we're in the last or close to the last years in which an MA strengthens your application. I think people are waiting for institutions or the entire community to state that MAs are a preferred route before they hastily say that an MA is required; however, by the time a consensus like that is reached in the community, the MA won't be an advantage whatsoever. It seems to me it's not much of an advantage now, as it was in previous years, and so perhaps people have expectations that have not caught up with the fact that the MA is the standard course of action for many competitive students, and thus the advantage of having one is significantly limited, as opposed to say 10-15 years ago when many great MA programs were formed and the advantage was high (I'm thinking Brandeis, GSU, Tufts, etc).

[ABrown]

The philosophy MA program at University of Houston seems to be doing well this year.