Please Help. Brand new and applying into philosophy.

Graduate School
1

<p>Hey guys, first of all, I believe this is my first time posting in the graduate school forum, so please forgive my ignorance. I was recently admitted to UC Berkeley as un undergraduate transfer (this is my first semester), and being that I'm already a junior, it's time to begin looking ahead to graduate school. That said, I have a complicated background and need advice.</p>

<p>I can tell you that philosophy is my passion. I'm extremely analytical and enjoy reading the esteemed works of the greatest philosophers ranging from the Greeks to Eastern philosophical thinkers like Chuang Tzu and Krishnamurti to modern day philosophers. Interestingly, my passion may lie within Eastern philosophy, but I do enjoy Western nearly as much.</p>

<p>I'm planning to apply into philosophy Ph.D programs. Ideally I would go straight through undergrad, receive my BA, and continue onto a Ph.D. As I've browsed through stats and profiles of admitted students online, I can see this is particularly difficult to do. Complicating this, I'm actually a psychology major and have only taken 2 philosophy courses. I transferred from a community college in California and received A's in both of those phil courses. Granted, I know this isn't much experience to base my decision off of, so I -am- going to take more philosophy courses beginning this summer and through next year. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, it's too late (realistically) in my undergraduate career to switch into philosophy or tack on another major in addition to psych (I'm a second semester junior). Thus, I'll probably be at a bit of a disadvantage having not majored in philosophy. </p>

<p>In addition, when I was at my community college, I received 2 F's and 1 D in my first semester. I received academic renewal, which the UC's accept as redemption in undergrad, and they were extracted from my GPA. I left my community college with a 3.75 GPA....if I were to calculate my GPA with those 3 abhorrent grades, I have no doubt that my GPA would be somewhere around the 3.3 range. I'll note that I did retake the D grade and received an A as well.</p>

<p>I'll ask quite simply: How much will those 3 grades affect my chances of getting into graduate school? Those grades were in Trig, Business, and Speech (yes, completely random fields). To briefly elucidate, I was 16 and in my first semester of community college as high school didn't work for me, and I failed miserably taking courses I had little to no interest in. </p>

<p>Assuming I'm not totally dead in the water from my first semester in community college, I'll continue to explain my stats. Again, I left my CCC with a 3.75 (not including the 3 terrible grades), and had A's in 2 philosophy courses. </p>

<p>I now attend UC Berkeley, and I'm expecting around a 3.57 GPA for my first semester...which isn't perfect, but in my opinion isn't too shabby for my first semester. Of course, I am striving for as close to a 4.0 as possible, but as of this moment, if grades were tabulated as they are, I would have a 3.57. </p>

<p>I'm not taking any philosophy courses currently, but am going to beginning this summer. I expect to complete roughly 5 more philosophy courses by the end of next spring for a total of 7 including courses on Logic, Ancient phil, Modern phil, Kant, and Descartes.</p>

<p>Being realistic here and assuming that grad schools will take into account my 2 F's and 1 D, let's say I complete my undergraduate career (both CCC and Berkeley) with a cumulative 3.4 GPA and a sharp upward trend. Let's estimate that I finish at Berkeley with a 3.6 GPA (A modest-fair estimate). Let's also assume that my philosophy GPA is around a 3.6-.3.7. Yes, I know this has a lot of assumptions, but again, let's just assume this is what occurs. Frankly, nobody -knows- what type of GPA they'll receive in advance of taking courses, so I'm estimating to my best based on my work ethic and capabilities. </p>

<p>To be quite frank, do I have any chance of getting into a decent Ph.D program? If not, I'll completely understand, but it's important that I gage my chances (realistically). Moreover, if I'm not up to snuff for a Ph.D program in the immediate timeframe, would I be a better candidate for a MA first? </p>

<p>Essentially my question boils down to this: What is the best path for me? A realistic assessment would be fantastic!</p>

<p>All the best, and good luck to those applying!</p>

<p>Respectfully,</p>

<p>Emil Sinclair</p>

2

<p>Look, I’m only a high school freshman. But this one advice I can give you.</p>

<p>“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ----Mark Twain</p>

3

<p>philosophy is super competitive and it is hard to get funding</p>

<p>but i dont think a couple bad courses are something you should worry about</p>

<p>you should worry more about</p>

<ol>
<li><p>figuring out if you REALLY want a phd in philosophy</p></li>
<li><p>getting quality and lots of research experience (you didnt mention any…)</p></li>
<li><p>getting outstanding LOR’s</p></li>
<li><p>super high GRE score</p></li>
</ol>

4

<p>@cogneuro: I’m currently doing research in the Haas School of Business at UCB, but obviously that doesn’t have much affect on philosophy. </p>

<p>I’m assuming you’re referring to philosophy research, right? If so, I’ll get on that ASAP in the fall.</p>

5

<p>I think your bad grades from community college are old news now that you are earning good grades at UCB. You don’t absolutely have to major in philosophy as an undergraduate to apply for a PhD in that subject, but you should take lots of classes in it, and get high grades.</p>

6

<p>@ greennblue: Thanks for the info! That’s extremely helpful. </p>

<p>So would you recommend a Ph.D program over a masters? Alternatively, if you feel like my stats are fairly borderline, should I just apply into MA programs?</p>

<p>I guess my question is: Why do people choose Masters over Ph.D’s? Is it the workload/time/money associated with Ph.D work, or is it due to academic achievement and potential?</p>

7

<p>If you haven’t already done so, check out the websites of philosophy departments across different schools to check what is required or necessary to qualify for admissions into phd programs. Doing this should provide insight into how feasible it may be for you to actually pursue a phd program. Given your major, you might find that some colleges will recommend a master’s program before starting a phd program. Some departments have a faq section that can answer some of your questions and concerns.</p>

8

<p>Get a Rec from John Searle and take a grad course in something you’ve read a lot about. Also figure out what sort of philosophy you want to do now, continental or analytic. If you like a mix of both try philosophy of mind or metaphysics at a very integrated university (like uchicago or stonybrook). I’d also look into philosophy of science, specifically philosophy of psychology given your experience. </p>

<p>Should you end up deciding not to major in philosophy, but still like it, cognitive science encompasses philosophy and psychology as well as neurology, you may want to study that. Plenty of good schools and much easier to get into grad programs.</p>

9

<p>Take. Time. Off.</p>

<p>Think really hard about getting a graduate degree in philosophy. Are you willing to go into debt for the sake of loving the subject? It’s not a degree that can pay back loans. Are you also willing to spend 8 years of your life doing this and being prepared to find a different career at the end? A MA or a PhD in philosophy rarely lands you an academic job at the end (very low rate of being hired as a philosophy professor). </p>

<p>To illustrate my point: One of my best friends was a philosophy major. Her adviser highly encouraged her to go for a PhD. My friend wanted to take a break from academics so she worked to pay the bills while mulling this over. Then she moved to DC and found plenty of opportunities that involved a lot of analytical thinking (which she really likes doing), especially in political/economic NPOs. People valued her ability as a clear communication and strong analytical skills. She also realized that there were really no jobs in philosophy so she explored other options related to her interests and skills. Now she’s going for a MA in economics. She still reads philosophical books for fun.</p>

<p>It’s okay to plan and everything but please do consider taking a year off after you graduate to breathe. You’ll also be able to devote more careful attention to your application when you’re not being driven crazy by everything else going on in your life, especially as a senior undergraduate.</p>