<p>Does anyone know the acceptance rate to get into the M.A. program for philosophy at Columbia? Not the M.A. leading to the phd program, just the M.A. Or in general how difficult admissions is? Thanks</p>
<p>from what I’ve seen about columbia, MAs generally have a relatively high admissions rate (30 to 40%) compared to other Columbia programs. They use them to fund the PhDs so don’t expect any funding. </p>
<p>Whats your stats right now?</p>
<p>I have a 3.8 in economics at a small school, im a senior. No patience to take the GRE but i guess i’ll have to.</p>
<p>Obviously I don’t know the details, but I bet you get in.</p>
<p>Even if I’ve never taken a philosophy course before? My school doesn’t offer philosophy courses- dont ask why- and ive always been really interested in the subject and would really like to get a masters- Not sure if they take kids who’ve never taken a course in the subject but i guess il call and ask.</p>
<p>You won’t get in if you’ve never taken a course before. Come on…</p>
<p>I thought that was the point of a masters though… There are two tracks… one for people who want to do a masters then continue to their phd… another for just a “terminal masters”…</p>
<p>Why do you want to pay so much money for a MA in a subject that you don’t know how much you’ll like it at a graduate level? Why Columbia? If you want to study philosophy for fun, go to a state school, or better yet, just a take a few courses as a non-degree student.</p>
<p>Studying humanities in graduate school is whole another level. Read the articles in philosophy ACADEMIC journal. Can you see yourself researching, analzying data, and writing that kind of thing? Look at the footnotes, can you bring yourself to check some of them out or use them to support your argument?</p>
<p>Agree completely with ticklemepink.</p>
<p>Just because youre “interested in the subject” doesn’t mean that jumping ahead to undertake graduate studies in it at an ivy institution is the best path for you at the moment. </p>
<p>At the least, you should research the field. Then, if it’s a field you want to enter, consider taking some courses in it just to see if it’s something you would enjoy beyond a passing interest. </p>
<p>And no, I don’t think the “point of a masters” is to introduce a field to someone who doesn’t have the background. The point is to engage in advanced thinking, reading, writing, criticism, and scholarly activity. </p>
<p>I really doubt that any grad program at Columbia has anywhere near a 40% admission rate. That would be wishful thinking. Especially for philosophy, where I expect that main criteria for admission would be writing samples (most submit thesis papers and research essays, and often have already been published), personal statement (your way of saying how your background would suit you for the MA program), transcripts, GRE verbal, and letters.</p>
<p>I k ow that for many of the humanities and related departments (Eng/writing/history/Philosophy/even anthropology/art history/musicology/theory, etc) at Ivies, the Phd program receives about 150+ applicants, most of them who already have advanced degrees in their field, For about 2-3 spots. I would bet that for stand alone MAs, it would be less competitive, but nowhere near 40 percent.</p>
<p>Thanks, ticklempink… I never heard of non-degree really and it looks more up my alley and a better fit than a M.A…</p>