<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am studying Philosophy at University in New Zealand and am interested in coming to the US for grad school. I have already done some research on the general grad school admissions process and what difficulties/costs I might face so I have a good idea of the basics but I would appreciate a little bit of advice as my situation is a little different. </p>
<p>My University is not well-known for Philosophy, however our Department does have quite a wide range of courses in Philosophy which I think provides a very good grounding in Philosophy from which to pursue further study. I don't know what my GPA is in American terms as we have a completely different grading system but in our terms, my grades are above average so far and I am hoping to push them higher still if I can. I am also planning to do an Honours year once I have completed my BA (which is a 3 year undergrad degree here, the BA (Hons) is a seperate 1 year post-grad course which is largely based around a research project) and to get the best possible results I can in that and also to get some decent research experience.</p>
<p>My second issue is the nature of my study I am a distance student. I am doing exactly the same course as the students who attend lectures, except I do it at home in my own time. I still have to do the same coursework and exams etc as everyone else, it is in no way an easier course in fact most people think it's harder because you really have to motivate yourself to do the work, the lecturers and tutors are available at the end of the phone/email/visits but you really have to be organised and learn how to work/research independently on your own to get the grades and to fit in in around your work, life etc. My University has been doing a lot of its programs by distance as well as on campus for many years now so it has built up a pretty good reputation for it. I am making every effort that I can to get to know my Professors as well as I can so that when it comes to letters of recommendation and the like they do actually know me and would therefore be able to actually write something more than just "Silver_Cat has good grades and sends her course work in on time."</p>
<p>Anyway...</p>
<p>My question is (assuming that I have the GPA, GRE scores, LORs, finance etc) would any US grad schools even consider someone from a little known University in New Zealand? Would the fact that I have done my degree by distance really count against me? </p>
<p>Even if it a really long shot I will still apply as it has long been a dream of mine and I would rather apply and be rejected than live with what if?. I have a couple more years at least before I will start to think seriously about applying for grad school so if I can get an idea of what my chances might be and, more importantly, what I could possibly do to strengthen my application between now and then, then I can start to work towards those things. </p>
<p>Any/all advice would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>P.S. Apologies if this has posted twice this is my first post here and I tried to post it a few minutes earlier and it didn't seem to work so I have tried again.</p>