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Philosophy Ph.D Programs
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Date: January 27th, 2005 11:50 AM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm Just wondering how many people out there might be applying to Ph.D programs in philosophy and to where they are applying. I'm applying to ten different departments, and I'm complete at 7. The other three have no way for me to check online and see if they've recieved my materials, so I guess I'm just going to have to call and harass them. Anyway, here's where I've applied.
NYU - Harvard - Princeton - Michigan - Columbia - Chicago - Berkeley - MIT - Penn - Yale
My roommate is applying to law school and I'm envious of all the information out there for him and the way he gets to interact with so many other people going through the exact same process. So I thought maybe the few of us applying to grad school in philosophy on this board could band together and share numbers or stories or whatever.
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Date: January 27th, 2005 2:35 PM Author: Wonderful free-loading mother hmmm...although im not applying, im interested
numbers, undergrad, story etc? |
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Date: January 27th, 2005 7:56 PM Author: filthy sienna gas station Berkeley is a rancid, festering, loathsome TTT in decline. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2014917) |
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Date: January 29th, 2005 2:43 AM Author: Aggressive chapel Subject: Berkeley Does Berkeley really exist? Maybe its a direct illusion on mind by God. Materialism is sooo atheistic! But then, what do they know about God at Berkeley?
What is a TTT, please? |
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Date: January 29th, 2005 11:07 AM Author: Hairraiser Pervert Stage Keynes once remarked to his father, "What a home of diseased thought Oxford is!" (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2023372) |
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Date: February 25th, 2005 9:20 PM Author: Talking Brunch are you serious about philosophy? Because that isn't a the list of someone who seriously wants to study philosophy. Rutger's and Pitt isn't on there. Not is Stanford or Cornell. And what's Penn doing on your list? - Penn sucks at philosophy. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2210015) |
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Date: February 25th, 2005 11:08 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm I am indeed serious about philosophy, and have already been admitted to a top 15 program as you can see in this thread below. I believe I also explained in a much earlier post why I applied to the schools that I did and why I didn't apply to Rutgers or Pitt specifically, so if you have some question as to my motivation I would suggest looking there first. I didn't apply to Stanford and Cornell for much the same reason I didn't apply to Rutgers or Pitt: they are not especially strong in the areas of philosophy in which I have the greatest interest. Only a true prestige whore who has no real interest in philosophy would go find the Philosophical Gourmet rankings and apply to the top ten schools listed regardless of whether or not they fit his particular interests.
And I applied to Penn and Yale because I wanted to have two safety schools so to speak, so that I wasn't just applying to schools in the top fifteen. It's really difficult to get into the most highly ranked programs, and I wanted to have some fallback options just in case. As it turns out, I probably won't end up relying on them now. But once again, only a true prestige whore would assume he's too good to apply to any school out of the top ten.
It sounds from your post that you are most familiar with issues in metaphysics and epistemology. That's great for you; I happen to think that those areas of philosophy are not all that interesting or important for the most part. Regardless, I think that if you knew anything about philosophy more broadly you would understand why I applied to the schools that I did based upon my own interests.
HTH. |
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Date: February 26th, 2005 4:31 PM Author: Talking Brunch Wow, chill out. It was an honest question.
I just wanted to know what it was about Penn that interested you. And I don't see how suggesting you apply to a school like Pitt (where I spent a year) in addition to Harvard, which you are already applying to, makes me a prestige whore. It think it's insane to list the schools which you listed and claim that prestige doesn't mean a lot to you.
I just came on the grad board - I haven't seen your earlier posts, and you have no reason to assume that I have. "so if you have some question as to my motivation I would suggest looking there first" - I think that's a very rude way to answer a question.
I was just trying to have a conversation - your paranoia is out of control.
Yeesh. |
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Date: February 26th, 2005 5:09 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm If you were indeed asking an honest question and trying to have a conversation, then I sincerely wish we would not have had this misunderstanding. Obviously I would love to talk about graduate programs in philosophy and who has applied where; that's why I started this thread. If you actually want to contribute to a discussion of that topic, then please ask or say whatever you like.
However, it does seem to me that you are doing more than a little backtracking now that I called you on your bullshit. In the future, if you are genuinely interested in finding out why someone has applied to the schools they did, I would suggest not beginning your question by implying that based upon the list of schools to which they have applied that they must not be "serious" about the subject. That sort of imputation is bound to offend anyone who does feel that they are quite serious about their graduate school ambitions - as I obviously feel that I am. Also, I don't think I should have to explain to you too much why it is that if you really wanted to know what it is that interests me about Penn there are better ways of finding out than immediately bashing Penn because it "sucks."
Furthermore, I didn't apply to the schools I listed because they are prestigious - I applied to them because they are excellent programs. Those two facts may happen to coincide in many cases, so I can see where you might think that it was prestige that motivates me. But the fact that I didn't apply to highly ranked programs like Pitt and Rutgers, as you well noted, is proof of what my true intentions are. I'm sure prestige motivates all of us in some ways, but it certainly wasn't the ultimate factor that decided where I applied for grad school.
Lastly, I don't think recommending that you read my earlier posts in this thread was at all a rude answer to your "question." In so far as you were asking a fair question then it is one that I did answer in an earlier post, one which I just assumed you had read if you were posting in this thread. This is another reason it was so clear to me that you were basically insulting me in your post and not actually seeking information.
In short, I think it's obvious that your first post was very confrontational and obnoxious. I won't apologize for the way I responded to or read the post because it is so obvious what you were saying and that you were being hostile. I don't think I am a dick and I don't want to seem like one, but I'm also not stupid and I'm not going to be clearly insulted and then wax apologetic when someone pretends like they didn't do it. However, if you really were making a legitimate inquiry then I would like it if we can avoid any unfortunate miscommunication like this in the future. If you've spent a year in a graduate philosophy program then I'm sure you have a lot that you could contribute and say to those of us who are applying right now. I hope you will.
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Date: February 26th, 2005 5:49 PM Author: khaki stage Subject: Hey Sean (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2214463) |
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Date: February 26th, 2005 5:50 PM Author: khaki stage Subject: (Sorry about that last one) Have you heard from Harvard or Chicago yet? I applied there too! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2214466) |
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Date: February 26th, 2005 6:56 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm The only school I have heard from is Berkeley. It says on Chicago's website that applicants will be notified of a decision in late February, so I expect to hear from them any day now. I called Harvard this past week and was told that all applicants to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences would receive a decision in the next three weeks, so by sometime around March 15 by my calculations.
I imagine you're probably going crazy with the waiting; I know I am. It's almost hard for me to believe that by the end of March the madness will be all over with and I will have finally heard from all ten schools. Until then, I guess I'll just have to find some good sedatives. |
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Date: February 26th, 2005 7:15 PM Author: khaki stage when did you hear from berkeley - good news (and did they call you)? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2215011) |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 1:30 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm I received an email from Berkeley on February 22. I wasn't called, and they say a letter from the Graduate School officially confirming my acceptance should be forthcoming. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2219551) |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 10:20 PM Author: khaki stage Did they e-mail you on their own or did you e-mail someone about it - I haven't heard about anyone hearing from berkeley yet.. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2223203) |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 11:00 PM Author: filthy sienna gas station Schools email you if they've reached a favorable decision on your application. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2223523) |
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Date: February 28th, 2005 12:57 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm I was emailed by a professor in the department. I also received an email a day or two later with information about coming to visit, and the email was sent to 14 different people who I am assuming are all of the people that the philosophy department admitted. From what I can tell schools will almost always email or call you if you were admitted. Obviously though, they are not going to call people to give them the good news that they got rejected. So, I think this means that people who got admitted hear earlier since its by email or phone call while people who got rejected have to wait for the bad news to come via snail mail. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2226331) |
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Date: February 28th, 2005 2:27 AM Author: filthy sienna gas station Rutgers' primary philosophical specialty is the philosophy of bullhonky. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2224585) |
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Date: March 21st, 2005 6:56 PM Author: Bateful thirsty hell
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Date: April 8th, 2005 8:10 AM Author: Aggressive chapel Subject: Different strokes: Scholasticism, continental schools As a hopeful neo-Scholastic, my top choices are not Leiter's -- but he refers to them saying: "In the judgment of the Advisory Board, the following programs that were not part of the survey ought to be considered by students interested in this area"...except for Notre Dame, which is on his list, and I would apply to only with much prayer.
Now, I ask, what are the Philosophy school reputations of colleges on the Continent? Particularly the Sorbonne (which exchanges with Georgia State?) or the Catholic Universities of Louven (which exchange with Notre Dame?)...or which, I imagine, might be applicable with a Research MA or other stateside degree?
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Date: January 30th, 2005 2:53 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm Alright, I guess I'll go first.
I have a 3.9 at a Midwestern state school, and I got a 1480 on the GRE. My recs should be good, but only one of my recommenders is well known at all so that could hurt me some. That's the disadvantage of going to a mediocre state school I guess. I hear that the writing sample is often the make-or-break aspect of your application, and I put a lot of work into mine so I'm hoping that's true. It's about Rawls and Sandel, which should make clear that I am primarily interested in political philosophy and ethics. That's why I didn't apply to certain programs that are really strong overall but which don't place much emphasis on those particular areas of philosphy, like Pitt and Rutgers.
Berkeley has fallen off some in recent years, but they are still without doubt a top 20 program. They are also especially strong in political philosophy and ethics, which makes them attractive to someone with my interests. And what are you doing over here on the grad board anyway 44? Aren't you the Penn troll from the law board? |
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Date: February 1st, 2005 1:58 AM Author: filthy sienna gas station I think you might want some safety schools along with Michigan and Berkeley, in case you don't get into Harvard, Yale or PEnn. Have you considered:
http://www.tamucc.edu/ |
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Date: February 20th, 2005 10:07 PM Author: big-titted liquid oxygen faggotry Not sure if you'll see this bump, but whatev- I did a honors BA (inc. thesis) at umich in ethics/political. I think if you are into ethics/metaethics, umich is the best school (in the states). Unless you are a neo-Kantian, then H might be better with Christine K. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2173934) |
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Date: February 21st, 2005 8:59 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm I agree with your analysis of Michigan, and that's why I applied there. If I have any reservations about going to Michigan (if I am admitted of course) they would be extra-curricular. I would kind of like to go somewhere smaller, rather than a state school with 50,000 yahoos running around. Also, it's just so fucking cold up there, and it snows all the time. But, other than those factors that are admittedly completely unrelated to the education I could receive there, I would love to be at UMich. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2180209) |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 6:05 AM Author: Sick startled area Hey,
Did you apply for straight philosophy at Princeton, or the inter-departmental PhD in political philosophy?
Cheers, C. |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 1:33 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm I applied to the inter-departmental program in political philosophy. I'm guessing the application is still evaluated by the philosophy department, but maybe there's some other process it goes through as well where the inter-departmental committee also looks at your application and has some input on the final decision. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure how that works. I would be interested to find out if anyone else knows. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2219568) |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 1:34 PM Author: Sick startled area Yeah I don't know how it works either. I've applied for the inter-departmental program too, but via the politics department. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2219577) |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 1:44 PM Author: Sick startled area Also, I just re-read your original post, and realised you initially said something about wishing there were more ways of interacting with other people going through the app process, like your law buddy.
Well, you may have seen it already, but check out www.whogotin.com - a tracking site for decisions put up by applicants themselves.
C. |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 2:13 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm Yeah I just found out about that site a few weeks ago and I've been following it closely. That's exactly the kind of thing that I was hoping we would get some day for grad school applicants. The only real major improvement that could be made in my opinion would be to have some way for people to also post their numbers like they can on the law school admissions tracking site so you could maybe infer more about your own chances from the information rather than just being able to figure out when decisions are being sent out. Maybe that wouldn't be as helpful as with law school though, since grad school admissions are somewhat less numbers driven and more about rec letters and writing samples. Still might be nice to have some way to compare yourself to your fellow applicants though.
Good luck with your application, hopefully we'll both get good news soon. By the way, do you check the Princeton website about twice a day like I do? I'm wondering if I'm the only one neurotic enough to be checking in mid-February when I knew very well decisions wouldn't be up by then, or who looks on Sunday even thought it's virtually guaranteed there won't be any posting of decisions then. |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 2:25 PM Author: Sick startled area Hey, good luck too.
To tell you the truth, I haven't logged into the Princeton site lately since I thought their online tracking was only for the tracking of application documents (transcripts etc), and not the decision itself (though I could be wrong). Instead, I've been checking whogotin.com neurotically and, like you say, on a Sunday too! It's horrible.
I actually called the department of politics on Friday afternoon. They were really nice and helpful, and told me that decisions will be made by the end of next week, or possibly a few days after that, and successful applicants would most likely be notified by email and a follow up phone call. I forgot to mention to them that I was applying for the inter-departmental program, so perhaps we have to wait longer. I'm not sure. I'm not feeling so confident about this round of admissions, it was my first time at tackling the US system (I'm from the UK), so I suspect I'll be getting a few knockbacks soon and may reapply (a little wiser) next year.
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Date: February 27th, 2005 3:58 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm The email I got from Princeton to confirm receipt of my application says that they will post decisions in the "Track your Status" section of the online application. They are the only school I'm applying to that does this, so I was surprised but I have checked the email several times now to make sure I read it correctly and I'm pretty sure that's what they're doing.
I'm imagining that just like you I will get an email or a phone call if I'm admitted as soon as they make the decision so checking the website still isn't really necessary - but again it falls under the me being neurotic thing.
I'm hoping the philosophy department is deciding soon like the politics department. Thanks for the information, every little piece of additional knowledge calms my nerves a bit more. |
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Date: February 27th, 2005 4:21 PM Author: Sick startled area Oh yes, you're absolutely right, I have the same email that says the Princeton decision will, in fact, appear online. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2220380) |
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Date: February 28th, 2005 4:31 PM Author: light set knife who got in shows a Princeton Phil PhD admit by phone on the 26th. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2227864) |
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Date: March 3rd, 2005 6:16 PM Author: Razzle-dazzle Locus Corn Cake Subject: Admission Mania Nice to finally find this thread. I think I'll need an entire summer just to recover from this waiting period! I didn't even know Princeton had an online service for checking. I never got a password since I applied with paper.
My results so far are a bit wacky. I notice a lot of Cornell rejection letters on the whogotin page, and I got one of those too (at least I got the rejection from a professor who is not only a genius but also good looking; make your own guess who I mean). The funny thing is, Cornell was one of the two places at which I know philosophers personally. The other one I have not heard back from yet, but I know they started calling people a long time ago. This makes it seem that 'connections' might not be as important as some people think.
I got into some even better programs, fortunately. It seems like the whole thing is quite a bit more random than college admissions, where my results were more or less consistent with ranking (i.e. if I got rejected from a certain school, I did not get accepted at a higher ranking school). Here, the 'personality' of the writing sample probably makes a big difference.
Case in point, I got a rejection from Pittsburgh super fast. Surprise surprise. I wrote about philosophy of cog-sci/linguistics, and only found out just now that they don't do that sort of thing there at all. What did you guys write about?
Good luck to you all! |
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Date: March 3rd, 2005 6:47 PM Author: filthy sienna gas station what schools did you get in to? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2251711) |
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Date: March 5th, 2005 5:33 AM Author: Aggressive chapel Subject: How far to the right will the text display? I thought Cornell was more Ancient-Medieval instead of Wittgenstein/Chomsky.... (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2262470) |
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Date: March 5th, 2005 3:35 PM Author: Razzle-dazzle Locus Corn Cake Yeah, true. They've got Szabo-Gendler though, for example, who seems like one of those people to watch in philo language/ling. I wonder what school has the happiest grad students. |
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Date: March 6th, 2005 12:48 AM Author: Aggressive chapel Well, for starters, are they to be judged by the same criteria as undergrad colleges -- which are found on the Princeton Review site? http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankings.asp
By the way, how do students get to know the reputations of graduate program teachers from other collages? By outside reading, or chatting with profs?
Regards -- |
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Date: March 5th, 2005 5:59 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm In at Harvard. Heard by email today. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2263973) |
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Date: March 5th, 2005 8:14 PM Author: filthy sienna gas station STFU U TTT SEF (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2264842) |
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Date: March 6th, 2005 12:40 AM Author: Aggressive chapel Mr. Bateman, a sincere congratulations. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2266530) |
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Date: March 6th, 2005 5:58 AM Author: Sick startled area Good show old boy! Well done. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2267796) |
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Date: March 7th, 2005 12:24 PM Author: Excitant impertinent messiness Congratulations. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2275781) |
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Date: March 6th, 2005 1:43 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm Thanks everyone. Now I feel really silly for posting a drunken thread a couple of nights ago bitching about some rejections. This whole process really is quite a roller-coaster ride. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2268505) |
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Date: March 8th, 2005 2:11 PM Author: Talking Brunch On a related note - and I have posted this here before - how much do people know about the Philosophy PhD program at MIT. Obviously more math and number theory - but are there an anecdotes? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2285674) |
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Date: March 8th, 2005 7:13 PM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Subject: MIT philosophy rocks Hi, I'm new here. I've been enjoying obsessing along with all of you since I discovered this site a few days ago.
plucot - MIT philosophy is (almost-)all-around very strong, except in the history of philosophy and some other very specific areas. The Philosophical Gourmet Report (for what it's worth) has the program ranked in the top 10. The PGR also has MIT in the top few groups in Language, Mind, Metaphysics, Philosophical Logic, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Decision/Rational Choice/Game Theory, Feminist Theory, AND Philosophy of Math and Mathematical Logic. Here's that link: http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/departments.htm Anecdotally, I've heard that MIT students are quite happy with the program and they have one of the best placement records around. I applied this year and haven't heard back yet. When I contacted the department a couple weeks ago, I was told that I made the first cut. Not holding my breath, though, because it seems (from whogotin.com) they've made offers by phone already. My only hope is that I'm on the waitlist since haven't yet received a rejection letter. Did you apply this year, or are you doing research for future applications? |
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Date: March 10th, 2005 5:17 PM Author: Talking Brunch Thank you so much for your response, VeggieBurger. I'm considering applying for a program in a couple of years? Any advice on where to start if I'm merely getting an English and Econ degree from a crappy school? My grades aren't so wonderful, but I have a 4.0 in both majors, as well as in the 5 philosophy classes I've taken. But I'm nowhere near the big leagues - what do you suggest be my next step? Is getting published in journals that important? I've heard that top programs care about the GRE less - is this true? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2302345) |
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Date: March 8th, 2005 10:12 PM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Subject: Admission Feedback In case this is helpful to anyone, here's my admissions story so far:
I applied to Harvard, MIT, Columbia, NYU, CUNY, Princeton, Rutgers, and Yale.
I have offers from Yale and CUNY (with twice as much $$ at Yale as at CUNY).
Unofficial rejections (through calls and emails that I initiated) from Harvard, NYU, and Princeton.
I made the first cut at Rutgers and MIT, but not the group that got early offers either place. Rutgers is still deciding on the waitlist, and I don't know any more from MIT.
No word from Columbia. |
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Date: March 9th, 2005 8:52 AM Author: Marvelous Resort Stain Subject: RE: Admission Feedback How do you know if you made the first cut at Rutgers? I didn't know anyone was rejected as of yet.
I just started reading this thread, and I think it's a good topic Sean. Thanks for starting it. And congrats! |
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Date: March 9th, 2005 4:47 PM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Subject: Rutgers I had met earlier with Barry Loewer, the director of grad admissions there. He was surprisingly open about the whole process. I had time constraints on when I could make visits, so I requested information about my application status a couple of weeks ago, and he obliged. According to him, Rutgers should be making their waitlist decisions within the next couple of days. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2295600) |
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Date: March 12th, 2005 8:10 AM Author: Marvelous Resort Stain Thanks for the info. I just found out today (by checking the status of my online application) that Rutgers has released its first round of rejections. One more to the rejection column for me! Hope you have better luck with the Yankees of philosophy. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2315118) |
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Date: March 12th, 2005 10:28 AM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Sorry to hear about it. My info page hasn't updated yet. Where else did you apply? |
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Date: March 12th, 2005 10:44 AM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Subject: Rejection Wall Oh, I got a Princeton email rejection last week. I thought it was pretty lame that you have to REQUEST a hard copy. They can't afford to spend part of my $90 application fee to buy a stamp? It's nice to have a real letter to hold onto. My MIT rejection letter came in the mail yesterday.
My senior year of college, I lived in a suite of 5 roommates all applying to various jobs, fellowships, law school, and grad school. We created a "rejection wall," wallpapered with our various rejection letters. Most of the time, if you applied over email, you got an electronic rejection. We printed those out and posted them, too, but it was nice to get letters printed on nice paper with letterhead. The nicest one was my roommate's rejection letter from Bloomingdale's. It got to the point where we would apply to jobs we didn't really want just to get a really prestigious or quirky rejection letter.
I should really start writing next week's lesson plans. |
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Date: March 9th, 2005 1:21 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm If you don't mind my asking, what are your numbers? And what were your personal statement and writing sample about? I've just been struck through this whole application process that I have no real good idea of what competitive numbers are for these places, or what approaches people take in trying to sell themselves to schools. If you don't want to share that information I of course understand though - just curious. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2293794) |
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Date: March 9th, 2005 5:08 PM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask For what it's worth, I've heard that philosophy departments care more about the writing sample and recs than anything else (and, for some places, GREs as well). Many schools take into account areas of interest also. (I think I made a mistake describing mine, but more on that below.) Anyway, here's my info:
Undergrad: Amherst College '03, Philosophy and Psych major 3.7 overall GPA/3.9 Philosophy St. John's University, MEd in Math Education 4.0 (part of NYC Teaching Fellows) GRE: 790Q/720V/5.5AWA Reccs: Very strong (I think) Work: 2 years as a math teacher Writing Sample: a chapter from my undergrad thesis on Darwall's care theory of personal welfare I'm not sure how people would classify the chapter I selected -- it was a linguistic analysis of a metaethical argument. Personal Statement: I wrote about the process of working through my senior thesis and teaching middle school math in an urban setting. I related both experiences to a theme of striving for clear communication. I also wrote about why I want to go to grad school, my interests, etc. I listed as my interests philosophy of language, applied ethics*, metaethics*, and possibly epistemology and phil. of mind. I might have also listed phil. of education.
(For some reason, I mentioned "applied ethics" (something I've never actually done) among my interests and not normative ethics, which is what I'm really interested in. I also mentioned metaethics, an actual interest of mine, but an area that not all departments cover. Perhaps it would have been best to leave that out in some versions of the sop/ps.)
Maybe some of the above will be helpful to future applicants. If I had to do it over, I would be much more careful in listing areas of interest. Departments make efforts to take people who will fit in well with what they have to offer. For someone like me who's interested in just about everything, it's probably best to specify the specific interests that align well with the strengths of any particular department. |
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Date: March 10th, 2005 10:11 AM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm That seems like a very impressive application; it's a humbling experience to have to compete with such qualified people for so few available spots. I remember thinking to myself once during the application process that I wish the people who went into philosophy weren't as smart as they are and got lower GRE scores.
Congratulations on Yale and CUNY, it sounds like you will end up somewhere good next year regardless of where else you hear from or what you decide. |
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Date: March 11th, 2005 2:52 PM Author: bearded embarrassed to the bone tanning salon darwall has a mean lazy eye. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2308972) |
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Date: April 12th, 2005 2:06 PM Author: big-titted liquid oxygen faggotry ...but he's one of the best profs in the world for ethics. Being able to work with him one-on-one for a year was sweet. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2542825) |
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Date: March 12th, 2005 10:29 AM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Subject: Where did you apply? Just curious: What are you all interested in as areas of speciality and where did you apply? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2315344) |
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Date: March 12th, 2005 1:23 PM Author: Marvelous Resort Stain (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2315943) |
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Date: March 18th, 2005 4:24 PM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Subject: Columbia? Anyone hear any positive news from Columbia? I noticed people have posted rejections on whogotin.com, but I don't see any acceptances or rejections. Maybe they've only now made the first cut? I'm operating under deadline pressure to accept or reject a fellowship by next week, and I'm hoping I'll get the Columbia decision soon. |
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Date: March 20th, 2005 12:32 AM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm I don't pretend to know your individual situation so this may not apply to the fellowship you're talking about, but just in case you didn't know no school can force you to respond to any offer of financial support before April 15th. This uniform deadline has been agreed to by all graduate schools, so don't be afraid to insist upon your right to more time to decide if you need it for any reason. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2365108) |
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Date: March 20th, 2005 8:14 AM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Thanks, Sean. I have read that and I have already asked for more time (which they granted by extending the deadline from March 15 to March 22). I'm going to email the program director again today to make another request. I'm quite annoyed that they've done this, but at the same time I don't want to burn any bridges with the department, so I'm trying to approach the issue carefully. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2365926) |
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Date: March 20th, 2005 8:41 AM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask How's this? Strong enough without projecting my annoyance?
Dear X,
I am still very interested in attending University X; however, I am still waiting on decisions from some departments and will be unable to get back to you by Tuesday. Every other department I've heard from has the uniform deadline of April 15. I understand your department's reasons for requesting earlier responses on fellowship offers, and I will certainly contact you with my decision as soon as I can. I would be very appreciative if you would adjust the deadline to the standard April 15.
Thanks very much for your understanding,
Veggieburger |
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Date: March 21st, 2005 2:34 AM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm Yeah I think that's good; I especially like the signing it Veggieburger it's a nice touch.
By the way I just looked at the resolution from the Council of Graduate Schools to make sure that CUNY signed on to it and indeed they did.
http://www.cgsnet.org/pdf/resolution.pdf
I think that this missive is a good starting point in your struggle and hopefully they will just extend the deadline without any resistance. But if push comes to shove perhaps you could contact someone in the administration and force them to live up to their contractual obligations, though I recognize there might not be any way to do this without engendering such ill will among the faculty so as to make it a bad idea to study there at that point anyway.
Hope everything works out - I know I'm agonizing over my decision-making process too. |
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Date: March 21st, 2005 6:20 AM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Thanks, I hadn't seen that. If they don't respond to my email, a former professor has agreed to follow up with the issue. I'll send the link to him, if it comes to that. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2371620) |
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Date: March 21st, 2005 9:12 PM Author: Bateful thirsty hell Subject: Columbia I also applied to Columbia and am awaiting a response. What do you guys make of the seemingly sporadic timeline for responses-- as on Whogotin.com? It looks like Columbia has rejected a few people-- so what does that mean for those of us who haven't heard? Obviously, we're not so desireable as to consider ourselves "early admits"-- but we're not out of the running yet??-- or do most programs just not bother to get back to their "rejects" in a timely manner? Any insight into to the process? It seems as if several programs have released their admit/reject info in a staggered manner. Rationally, I've given up hope of being admitted to this program-- but there's that small bit of me that thinks "oh, maybe they're still considering my app!" (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2376054) |
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Date: March 23rd, 2005 4:25 AM Author: Low-t public bath wagecucks i applied to MIT (phd in philosophy), but have not heard back yet.
Does anyone know what that means? - i.e. no news=good news???
Thanks |
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Date: March 23rd, 2005 6:04 AM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask According to whogotin.com, MIT completed its first round of acceptances and its first round of rejections awhile ago. If you haven't heard, you might be on an unofficial waiting list or something like that. I haven't yet heard back from Rutgers, but I don't consider that to be great news. They admitted 7 people and they're holding another 10 applications as a possible waiting list. tsparks - Some departments make decisions in phases. I'd guess that if you haven't heard from Columbia, you've made the first cut. |
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Date: March 23rd, 2005 9:51 AM Author: Bateful thirsty hell Subject: Dinged at Columbia So-- I just took it upon myself to write the department. I was told that I was not admitted, and I should have heard by now. Nice of Admissions to send me something!!
Lesson being that if you haven't heard from a program, go ahead and contact them...because maybe you fell through the cracks. |
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Date: April 2nd, 2005 11:31 PM Author: beady-eyed honey-headed juggernaut piazza Subject: Yale Veggieburger,
What are your thoughts on Yale? I applied to both philosophy programs and law schools this cycle and Yale is the only philosophy program that admitted me. (The other ones are much more highly ranked.) I'm trying to decide if it's worth going there, or if my other rejections are a sign from the gods that I should go to law school. I'm going up there to visit on Monday.
They do have an incredible placement record, and the stipend they're offering sure as hell beats paying 100K to go to law school. But I'm concerned by how much they've fallen in the rankings in the past year, and I'm worried the faculty might all be abandoning ship. What do you think?
Thanks,
Carolinek |
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Date: April 3rd, 2005 11:53 AM Author: Amethyst generalized bond step-uncle's house If you're considering going to law school instead, why not do a year at Yale and then reevaluate? You can always reapply to law school. You could even defer. Yale gives all grad students a masters at the end of the first year so you would still have something to show for your time.
By the way, I'm not saying to take the PhD commitment lightly but it's still a reasonable thing to do. A philosophy PhD is a huge time investment with significant risk, and (most) people understand if you start and then decide it's not for you.
If you start law school, on the other hand, it will be costlier to switch. You'll almost certainly never do it. |
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Date: April 3rd, 2005 12:38 PM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Subject: Yale hiring policy I've posted many of my impressions of the department on the Yale philosophy thread, but I can add a bit about the faculty issue here. It seems that Yale sometimes has trouble keeping and hiring people because of university-wide hiring and tenuring policy. A grad student described Yale's university-wide hiring policy as follows: (If anyone out there knows more about Yale's policies than I, please correct me if I screw something up here.) Let's say the department wants to hire someone in a particular subfield - say philosophy of science. First, the department must solicit specialists at other institutions to provide lists of the "top five specialists in philosophy of science." The department may then only seek to hire people who consistently show up on those lists. The same policy applies to the granting of tenure. (To get tenured at Yale, you have to be considered "top five" in your subfield - a near-impossibility for any junior faculty member.) This means that 1) Junior people will rarely be around for too long, as almost no one gets tenure. 2) Senior people will rarely get hired, because the hiring standards are obscenely high, BUT 3) The people who actually DO get hired will be really good. One of the reasons that Robin Jeshion and Michael Nelson (a married pair) are leaving might be because Nelson is untenured and more likely to get tenure at another institution than at Yale.
Hope this helps! (Again, I make no guarantees about the accuracy of the policies I've described above.) bosterone - let me know whether this sounds right. |
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Date: April 3rd, 2005 1:15 PM Author: beady-eyed honey-headed juggernaut piazza Thanks for the feedback. I actually am thinking of deferring admission for a year at one of my law schools. The only problem is if I don't end up enrolling in law school I forfeit my deposit, which is almost $800... (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2474088) |
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Date: April 3rd, 2005 5:34 PM Author: Amethyst generalized bond step-uncle's house I wouldn't worry about the deposit. Making a good decision is worthy much more than $800. Personally, I think it would be foolish to let $800 affect this important decision.
To add to previous comments about Yale's tenure policy: As I understand it, the policy gives no special advantage to Yale junior faculty. In other words, when a junior person comes up for tenure, they are considered alongside other possible candidates who could be recruited from other universities (probably through the policy described). So you are not just competing against a super-high standard, you are almost just "one applicant among many" for the senior position. Good junior people routinely accept tenure offers from other institutions for this reason. |
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Date: April 6th, 2005 4:12 PM Author: mischievous dingle berry Subject: CUNY What is the reputation of the CUNY phil program? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2500518) |
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Date: April 6th, 2005 5:49 PM Author: Concupiscible nursing home According to the Philosophical Gourmet Report, CUNY is among the top 20. You can have a look here: http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/overall.htm
However, you should also check the following survey, which offers a more somber view of the graduate program in philosophy. http://survey.nagps.org/report1250-119-1.php?source=rank_1_119
EDIT: Have you applied there? |
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Date: April 10th, 2005 10:11 PM Author: beady-eyed honey-headed juggernaut piazza Subject: where are you going? Hi all,
Since April 15 is approaching I thought I'd check and see what everyone has decided about philosophy programs. Where are you going and what factors most influenced your decision?
I'm going to Yale. I'm requesting a one-year deferral of my admission to UVA law school, in case things don't work out.
Carolinek |
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Date: April 10th, 2005 11:13 PM Author: Godawful Boistinker How could they agree to defer your admission, given that de facto you have declined it and chosen another institute this year?
Could you tell me how you think about philo program at UToronto, compared with that at UVa? I am totally nervous about my decision. Many many thanks.
Zhiheng
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Date: April 11th, 2005 6:25 AM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Yay, Caroline! I'm going to Yale philosophy, too! I'll see you in New Haven! (Would you post your email so we can talk offline?) (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2534378) |
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Date: April 11th, 2005 3:58 PM Author: Bateful thirsty hell Subject: Yale, me too! Hey you guys. . what are the chances that we'd all find each other here? I accepted Yale as well! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2535952) |
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Date: April 11th, 2005 7:25 PM Author: beady-eyed honey-headed juggernaut piazza Fellow Yalies:
My email is ReductiaAbsurdum@yahoo.com and my AIM is ReductiaAbsurdum. (extremely dorky, I know.) Drop me a line sometime.
About Toronto versus UVA: I know that Brian Leiter doesn't think very highly of UVA, but that's where I went for undergrad, and I had very positive experiences with the philosophy department. If you'll tell me what areas of philosophy you're most interested in I can give you detailed information about the professors you'd be working with. (I don't know anything about Toronto, though.)
Caroline |
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Date: April 12th, 2005 10:41 PM Author: Godawful Boistinker Thanks Caroline. I know UVA has the most beautiful campus, lovely living environment and overall good fame in its philo program, but I am especially eager to learn more about the academic quality of dept of philo at UToronto. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2546265) |
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Date: April 13th, 2005 10:33 AM Author: Concupiscible nursing home Congratulations to all the Yale students! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2549059) |
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Date: April 12th, 2005 10:35 PM Author: Godawful Boistinker Subject: UToronto Anybody could tell me anything about PhD in philo at U of Toronto? April 15 is so approaching and I am so nervous now:( (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2546190) |
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Date: April 13th, 2005 12:50 PM Author: galvanic awkward temple pisswyrm I'm going to be at Harvard. I had a hard time turning down Berkeley because the weather and the people were so nice when I visited, but ultimately I think that Harvard is a little better in moral and political philosophy and has more money to support graduate students to allow them to finish their dissertations in a reasonable amount of time. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2549534) |
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Date: April 14th, 2005 7:47 AM Author: Concupiscible nursing home Congratulations! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2556195) |
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Date: April 15th, 2005 12:33 PM Author: flickering heaven pocket flask Congrats! (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#2564386) |
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Date: June 25th, 2005 10:35 AM Author: Yapping Kitty Subject: Faculty advisor here--can you help? I am an undergraduate faculty advisor. Could Sean, Veggie Burger and others who have applied to "top " PhD philosophy programs let me know what your numbers and stats were and what programs you applied to.
I will keep all information confidential. I am only compiling numbers in aggregate. I don't need to know your name if you prefer.
I would like to know: GRE scores, undergrad GPA, type of undergraduate program you got your Bachelors degree from (no name needed), were you published as an undergraduate? (describe), how strong was your undergraduate analytical philosophy program? did you present/ comment at any undergraduate student philosophy conferences?, did you participate in any extracurricular activities that might relate to philosophy (describe i.e philosophy club--what role?, forensics/debate etc.) what sort of philosophical writing have you done?
This information will generally help me better advicse undergraduates. Thank you.
E-mail stats to larryb [at] hetirisk [ dot] com |
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Date: September 22nd, 2005 11:24 AM Author: Razzle orchestra pit Subject: Yale Ph.D. Hello, I'm an MA Philosophy student at the National University of Singapore (www.nus.edu.sg) I am writing my Master's thesis on Seyla Benhabib and I am planning to apply to US Ph.D. programs in Philosophy this fall. I am thinking of applying to MIT, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton and Yale. I definitely want to get into Yale, because that's where Seyla Benhabib teaches. Can anyone here assess my chances of getting into Yale, given that I come from Southeast Asia?
My thesis supervisor came from Oxford, and is not helpful at this point since he's just familiar with the UK system. Help please! |
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Date: September 22nd, 2005 11:28 AM Author: Razzle orchestra pit Subject: can I get Carolinek's and Veggieburger's emails please? Hi, to Carolinek and Veggieburger, can I get your emails please? I want to ask you specific questions re Philosophy at Yale, since you're there already. thanks. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=129067&forum_id=2#3878989) |