Reapplying - Fall 2016

[Transparent]

Hello philosophy admissions community!

The admissions season is almost over and I find myself in the position of being accepted to a program without funding. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to move and undertake the program without funding so I will have to turn down the offer. Does the community think it is wise/possible to reapply next year?

Also, I would like to reach out to others who have been shut out this year. What are you thinking? Is it worth reapplying?

Background info:

UGRAD GPA: 3.896 PHIL GPA: 3.97 GRE 160/152/4.5

I did not study properly for the GRE so, if I reapply, I will be resitting the exam. Also, my writing sample ended up being good but I literally finished it as I hit deadlines. This year, I think I will start NOW rather than LATER.

[bechkafish]

For what it's worth, I think if your heart is still in it, you should definitely consider reapplying. I know a truly staggering number of wonderful, intelligent, qualified applicants who were shut out their first time around, tweaked their application materials, and reapplied the following year to numerous funded offers. Remember that at the end of the day, this whole process is more about luck than qualifications... And your luck can change from season to season. And though obviously it isn't the whole story, your GPA and even the GRE scores look solid enough to warrant another go at it.

Good luck!

[psm1580b]

This is my second year and the quality of my entire application was better (and I got in with funding!) definitely do it.

[matchamatcha]

I'll be reapplying this year too!  I realized some key mistakes like not applying to enough places, so I'm aiming to apply at a lot more places this year.  I do wonder what it looks like to adcom though if you reapply to some of the same places as you did this year.  Supposedly, they've read your application package this year, and probably won't remember you given the number of applicants, but I do wonder if it hinders your chances the year after incase they remember you.

 

We should make up some sort of (email? G+? Twitter?) group to read and review each others' statements of interests and writing samples and general support through this god awful process.

[MentalEngineer]

1 hour ago, psm1580b said:

This is my second year and the quality of my entire application was better (and I got in with funding!) definitely do it.

Likewise. Having been in the same position w/r/t finishing my writing sample at the deadline, I can tell you that taking the time to write a fresh piece makes an immense difference. Plus it's much better practice for doing self-directed research and writing than the first attempt probably was. My writing sample feels like (and felt like to write) real philosophical work, as opposed to just whatever argument I thought I could make stick about whatever we were reading for class.

[Transparent]

For what it is worth, here is my writing sample for this past year.

What do you guys think? Good/Bad?

 

Self-Consciousness as Freedom.pdf

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

I was declined everywhere I applied last year, except for Fordham. Decided to try again, begged the grad director at my program to let me do a one-year MA, slaved over a new writing sample over the summer...

and it worked out. I think it's definitely worth a shot.

[Transparent]

You are not kidding. You have some great options!

@Cecinestpasunphilosophe Did your program let you do an MA? Do you think it helped you?

Edited April 13, 2016 by Transparent

[Another applicant]

4 hours ago, Transparent said:

For what it is worth, here is my writing sample for this past year.

What do you guys think? Good/Bad?

 

Self-Consciousness as Freedom.pdf

"Something went wrong. Please try again."

[Transparent]

Unfortunately, the website says the file is too large? 

It is odd because the file is only 300 kb or 18 pages long. But, if you are still interested in reading/critiquing I will send you a link.

 

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

6 hours ago, Transparent said:

You are not kidding. You have some great options!

@Cecinestpasunphilosophe Did your program let you do an MA? Do you think it helped you?

I think the MA definitely helped. Granted, Ancient Phil is a bit of a unique situation, and my MA was in Classics - but I also have friends who did MAs in Philosophy and have done very well this cycle. So, in my anecdotal experience, doing an MA seems like an excellent idea. 

[pragmatism]

5 hours ago, Cecinestpasunphilosophe said:

I think the MA definitely helped. Granted, Ancient Phil is a bit of a unique situation, and my MA was in Classics - but I also have friends who did MAs in Philosophy and have done very well this cycle. So, in my anecdotal experience, doing an MA seems like an excellent idea. 

If I'm not mistaken, what you had in mind are mostly one-year MAs. In that case, people are only three or fourth months into their MA when they apply to PhD programs. I conjecture that the benefit mostly comes from having an extra year of preparation (as opposed to being enrolled in a degree program) and you and your friends might've done equally well had you simply taken a year off. 

[Transparent]

@Another applicant I posted my writing sample in my signature. It works now.

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

7 hours ago, pragmatism said:

If I'm not mistaken, what you had in mind are mostly one-year MAs. In that case, people are only three or fourth months into their MA when they apply to PhD programs. I conjecture that the benefit mostly comes from having an extra year of preparation (as opposed to being enrolled in a degree program) and you and your friends might've done equally well had you simply taken a year off. 

Perhaps. The entire application process is so opaque and mysterious, it very well could be the case that the only difference in my application that mattered to admissions committees was the writing sample I was able to improve over the summer. But seeing that I would be "master's-prepared" when starting my Ph.D. might have helped. Seeing the Latin and Greek reading list I will have completed by September might have helped (at least for my applications, given the emphasis on philology in a lot of ancient philosophy programs). The extra semester working (in one form or another) with most of the professors writing me letters might have helped. Who knows? 

[smwinterfeldt]

On 4/12/2016 at 8:45 AM, Transparent said:

Hello philosophy admissions community!

The admissions season is almost over and I find myself in the position of being accepted to a program without funding. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to move and undertake the program without funding so I will have to turn down the offer. Does the community think it is wise/possible to reapply next year?

Also, I would like to reach out to others who have been shut out this year. What are you thinking? Is it worth reapplying?

Background info:

UGRAD GPA: 3.896 PHIL GPA: 3.97 GRE 160/152/4.5

I did not study properly for the GRE so, if I reapply, I will be resitting the exam. Also, my writing sample ended up being good but I literally finished it as I hit deadlines. This year, I think I will start NOW rather than LATER.

I'm in a very similar position, too. I'm finding it increasingly harder to justify accepting an offer from an unfunded program given the current state of the job market. The application process is expensive, but not as expensive as one year of tuition at a graduate program. The program that I got accepted to has a reconsideration process for funding every year, but I'm not sure if the better option would still be to just wait and re-apply.

[MVSCZAR]

On April 12, 2016 at 5:49 PM, Transparent said:

For what it is worth, here is my writing sample for this past year.

What do you guys think? Good/Bad?

 

Self-Consciousness as Freedom.pdf

Have you considered having it as an open draft in academia.edu? 

[Transparent]

7 hours ago, MVSCZAR said:

Have you considered having it as an open draft in academia.edu? 

I just put it in my signature. But I will consider making an academia.edu page!

[Establishment]

4 hours ago, dthatphilosopher said:

Another thought for getting some feedback on your paper: consider submitting it to a journal. I recently did this with my writing sample, and though it wasn't accepted, I did get some valuable feedback. Feedback from the referees can be hit or miss. So, just be mindful of that if you do so.

And in the off chance it gets accepted into The Philosophical Review, you just mail that shit into NYU and tell them that you'll be accepting their future offer of admission.