Can I go to any grad school if I have the money?

Applying to College
1

<p>I appeared on a game show and won $500,000. Though I’m not getting it all at once, but as an annuity.</p>

<p>I would really like to go back to school and get a graduate degree. Does my windfall mean I could get into an Ivy?</p>

2

<p>Congrats on your jackpot!! You need the grades and scores. They don’t really care about the money.</p>

3

<p>Think of it this way. If you get out of school without massive debt, you will be far ahead of some of even the best grad school graduates.</p>

4

<p>My grades aren’t bad. I have a 3.2 GPA. My MGPAs (I was a double major) are 4.0 and 3.3. I did really bad my first semester, which brought my GPA down overall.</p>

<p>I’m also applying for Philosophy and I’m female. I know that is a male-dominated field.</p>

5

<p>You still have to be accepted</p>

<p>This section might help more for grad school stuff
[Graduate</a> School - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/]Graduate”>Graduate School - College Confidential Forums)</p>

6

<p>Some schools might accept you for a “terminal MA.” This is a degree which you get for your own edification, because an MA in philosophy does not prepare you for a career. I usually advise students to avoid these programs because some universities are notorious for running them as “cash cows.” But if the money is a freebie and you’re interested in philosophy, there would certainly be worse ways of spending it than on one of these MA programs.</p>

<p>Admission to the top PhD programs in philosophy is very, very, very competitive. You don’t need to have much money, because you will generally be supported by a fellowship, but you do need to have terrific credentials–not merely straight As in your major, but evidence in your writing sample and letters of recommendation that you are, or will shortly be, capable of doing original, publishable work in the field. That’s because there aren’t many academic jobs in philosophy departments, and responsible programs don’t want to take on students that have no chance of getting jobs afterward. Placement success is one of the criteria by which programs get ranked relative to one another.</p>

<p>Being female is not going to be a hook. There are plenty of women nowadays in philosophy departments.</p>