<p>I found the following story on other site. I would like to know what you think of it:</p>
<p>"I’ve discovered that applying to philosophy PhD programs is much like raising a child: one can be very conscientious and always try to do the “right thing” and still fail at it.</p>
<p>I applied to PhD programs three times: once immediately after finishing my undergraduate degree in philosophy, once a couple of years after finishing my undergraduate degree, and once immediately after finishing an M.A. at a well-respected terminal master’s program in philosophy. The first time I was denied outright by all eleven schools to which I applied. The second time, I was denied by all 8 PhD programs I applied to, but was admitted to two M.A. programs (one not in philosophy, but at a top 3 school for philosophy, the other was a fully-funded TA ship). The third time, I was denied by 10 PhD programs, waitlisted and one, and accepted at one program (ranked at the time around 40) without any funding.</p>
<p>All three times, my peers and my professors considered me one of the best students in the program (at least at the time. I have no delusions about being the “best student they had ever seen”). As I mentioned before, I did “all the right things”: I took extra courses, presented papers at conferences, worked to help professors with books and papers they were publishing. I never made a grade below a ‘B’ in any course throughout my academic career, and only three out of 26 of the philosophy courses I have taken earned grades below an ‘A’. My GRE scores were well above average all three times. Every part of my application was better each time I applied. I tutored students in philosophy. I won academic awards, filled in for professors to teach, etc., etc. Moreover, I did many of these things not because I was thinking at the time “This will help me get into a PhD program.”, but because I loved philosophy.</p>
<p>My experience was incredibly demoralizing, especially after my third try, when I had successfully completed an MA. It was also very expensive. I estimate that I spent around $5000 total just applying to PhD programs over the years (if you factor in things like postage, fees for GRE scores, etc.).</p>
<p>After applying three times, I have given up for now. Maybe I’ll try again a few years down the road (possibly in a discipline other than philosophy). But the application process remains a total mystery to me and seems fairly arbitrary. I have learned a few things my three times, but nothing that hasn’t already been said above. Just know that sometimes, it doesn’t work out. You can heed all the advice and work as hard as you can at something and still fail miserably. Over and over. This is depressing to me, because philosophy is definitely my “first love”. It is a shame that not everyone who loves philosophy so can make a career of it. "</p>