Admissions Blog 2017: Taking Over

[Ibycus]

Good stuff! Thanks for doing this, Sam.

[SamStone]

Oh! It looks like Vanderbilt is predicted for tomorrow. Is anyone else hoping to hear from them?

I'll be waiting on U-Chicago, Vanderbilt, and Brown this week. (Though, I see that someone posted an acceptance from Brown already. Hopefully thats not not it for them this year.)

[Glasperlenspieler]

Yeah, I'm also wondering if more Brown acceptances are coming (hopefully!). Chicago seems like they've been pretty consistent the last few years so it should be this week. It looks like they've sent out acceptances on Saturdays a couple times though, so I would rule that out.

[The_Last_Thylacine]

I'm ready to hear back from UVA! 

[hector549]

58 minutes ago, I_am_the_last_Thylacine said:

I'm ready to hear back from UVA! 

Same here! And Duke.

Edited February 6, 2017 by jkm871

[Tecumseh Valley]

What does the Notifications tab on the Wordpress site indicate? Do the colored blocks indicate the type of responses that have gone out? If so, that seems really useful, so would it also be updated for this year? 

https://philosophyadmissions.wordpress.com/notifications/

Thanks. 

[Dysexlia]

Thanks for taking this on, Sam!

I am wondering about the possibility of adding UK and Canadian schools to the list (UBC, Simon Fraser, Brock, KCL, Edinburgh...)?

[Dialectica]

@Sam Anscombe I realize you're probably quite busy, but I'm curious what is going on with the admissions site. Will it be updated soon? In any case, I'm grateful for your willingness to run it this season.

[Sam Anscombe]

8 hours ago, Dialectica said:

@Sam Anscombe I realize you're probably quite busy, but I'm curious what is going on with the admissions site. Will it be updated soon? In any case, I'm grateful for your willingness to run it this season.

 

 

Hi there,

Yes, I meant to update, and then many more results were posted, which meant it would take more time to upload, so I put it off, etc. So, guilty as charged. I am going to update the site tonight (if not tomorrow morning). Bear in mind that I am still an undergraduate, so I'm doing this on top of my own coursework and working (I might be wrong, but I don't think Ian or Jac were in school while working on the blog). Thank you for the patience (and for the gentle nudge). 

- S

[Sam Anscombe]

On 2/6/2017 at 6:26 PM, Tecumseh Valley said:

What does the Notifications tab on the Wordpress site indicate? Do the colored blocks indicate the type of responses that have gone out? If so, that seems really useful, so would it also be updated for this year? 

https://philosophyadmissions.wordpress.com/notifications/

Thanks. 

 

Hi there,

Good question. I will consult Jac (previous blog owner) about it, and when I do the large update tomorrow, I can update that as well. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

- S

On 2/6/2017 at 6:53 PM, Dysexlia said:

Thanks for taking this on, Sam!

I am wondering about the possibility of adding UK and Canadian schools to the list (UBC, Simon Fraser, Brock, KCL, Edinburgh...)?

 

Hi there,

In the past, the Philosophy Admissions Blog has not included additional UK and Canadian schools. If you calculate the predictions (based on the TGC Survey results page), I will post them as I have done for other schools.

- S

[goss]

Oh good, as if there wasn't enough web pages for me to continually refresh throughout the day.

Thanks for doing this!

[Dialectica]

19 hours ago, Sam Anscombe said:

Hi there,

Yes, I meant to update, and then many more results were posted, which meant it would take more time to upload, so I put it off, etc. So, guilty as charged. I am going to update the site tonight (if not tomorrow morning). Bear in mind that I am still an undergraduate, so I'm doing this on top of my own coursework and working (I might be wrong, but I don't think Ian or Jac were in school while working on the blog). Thank you for the patience (and for the gentle nudge). 

- S

I totally understand. Once again, thanks for being willing to run it.

I also wanted to suggest a correction. You have Indiana down as releasing a decision on the 9th. But that's not their philosophy program, but their History and Philosophy of Science program, which is not what the prediction is supposed to track. 

[Sam Anscombe]

1 hour ago, Dialectica said:

I totally understand. Once again, thanks for being willing to run it.

I also wanted to suggest a correction. You have Indiana down as releasing a decision on the 9th. But that's not their philosophy program, but their History and Philosophy of Science program, which is not what the prediction is supposed to track. 

 

 

Good call. Thanks!

Everything should be caught up now, by the way. If predictions go as planned, this should be a fairly big week for decisions.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Sam Anscombe

[goss]

12 minutes ago, Sam Anscombe said:

Good call. Thanks!

Everything should be caught up now, by the way. If predictions go as planned, this should be a fairly big week for decisions.

Just when I thought my stress levels couldn't be higher...

You probably get asked this a lot. If I have not received an acceptance/wait list/rejection from a school, but they have sent out acceptances (e.g. Rochester), am I just waiting for the bad news?

[Dialectica]

33 minutes ago, Sam Anscombe said:

Good call. Thanks!

Everything should be caught up now, by the way. If predictions go as planned, this should be a fairly big week for decisions.

Thanks again for all of your work. 

[753982]

1 hour ago, goss said:

Just when I thought my stress levels couldn't be higher...

You probably get asked this a lot. If I have not received an acceptance/wait list/rejection from a school, but they have sent out acceptances (e.g. Rochester), am I just waiting for the bad news?

As mentioned above, Sam's an undergraduate, so I doubt that's something to which he/she could speak. But if you look at last year's results for Rochester, someone was accepted via a phone call in March, so you should probably not assume anything yet.

Edited February 13, 2017 by 753982

[Sam Anscombe]

3 hours ago, goss said:

Just when I thought my stress levels couldn't be higher...

You probably get asked this a lot. If I have not received an acceptance/wait list/rejection from a school, but they have sent out acceptances (e.g. Rochester), am I just waiting for the bad news?

 

2 hours ago, 753982 said:

As mentioned above, Sam's an undergraduate, so I doubt that's something to which he/she could speak. But if you look at last year's results for Rochester, someone was accepted via a phone call in March, so you should probably not assume anything yet.

Correct, I am an undergraduate. I base my advice on data from previous years, conversations with applicants from past years, and information gathered from an unhealthy amount of time spent browsing TGC over the last three years.

Based on this, I know that some people are never notified about certain schools and assume a rejection at the end of the season. Rejections also tend to be sent quite a bit later than acceptances and waitlist decisions (with the exception of schools that don't use waitlists, like the University of Chicago). As early as last year there were instances of some people being accepted from something like a secret waitlist—a waitlist for the waitlist, if you will. 

I can't tell you what to assume, but as someone also going through this process, if a hypothetical university released 5+ acceptances as well as waitlist decisions and it had been over two weeks since the last posted result, I would assume a rejection for my own sanity. If I were eventually accepted from a secret waitlist, it would be a pleasant surprise. This approach is based on general trends and my proclivity to expect the worst, but I would still agree with 753982 that it is too early to assume for Rochester. 

[Dysexlia]

On 2/11/2017 at 9:51 PM, Sam Anscombe said:

Hi there,

In the past, the Philosophy Admissions Blog has not included additional UK and Canadian schools. If you calculate the predictions (based on the TGC Survey results page), I will post them as I have done for other schools.

- S

Hey Sam,

I will see what I can do and send you as many predictive dates as I can get together!

[akraticfanatic]

Are you only doing PhD programs? Otherwise, I'm not sure why Tufts and Brandeis (both terminal MA's) aren't on there since they're top-ranked by The Philosophical Gourmet. I applied to both so I'd like to see them on there if possible!

[Ibycus]

Minor correction for the blog: CU Boulder sent me notice of acceptance on February 13th, so their first notification was no later than that. 

[Duns Eith]

I think there's an error regarding IU Bloomington and Notre Dame, in that decisions for HPS have typically come out earlier than the normal philosophy PhD program. Like, I am thinking that Notre Dame should be posting on or about the 17th, and the same for Bloomington (not Feb 6).

[Dialectica]

46 minutes ago, Turretin said:

I think there's an error regarding IU Bloomington and Notre Dame, in that decisions for HPS have typically come out earlier than the normal philosophy PhD program. Like, I am thinking that Notre Dame should be posting on or about the 17th, and the same for Bloomington (not Feb 6).

Sorry, I'm a tad confused. Are you saying there is an error with the predictions?

[Duns Eith]

27 minutes ago, Dialectica said:

Sorry, I'm a tad confused. Are you saying there is an error with the predictions?

Yes. I should've spelled out the context a little better. I think the dates are predicted too early, given that they were (apparently?) calibrated for the HPS program of each.

...That, and I am looking for reasons not to be anxious.

Edited February 16, 2017 by Turretin

[Dialectica]

16 minutes ago, Turretin said:

Yes. I should've spelled out the context a little better. I think the dates are predicted too early, given that they were (apparently?) calibrated for the HPS program of each.

...That, and I am looking for reasons not to be anxious.

Got it. That makes sense. Though, to be fair, Indiana has released much sooner than the 17th (sometimes the 8th). But, in any case, the prediction does seem a tad early. Either way, I expect both very soon. 

 

I wish I could find reasons not to be anxious! This process is exhausting!

[Sam Anscombe]

14 hours ago, Turretin said:

I think there's an error regarding IU Bloomington and Notre Dame, in that decisions for HPS have typically come out earlier than the normal philosophy PhD program. Like, I am thinking that Notre Dame should be posting on or about the 17th, and the same for Bloomington (not Feb 6).

 

I will talk to Jac about the protocol for this in previous years, but thank you for the heads up.