Philosophy Graduate Resources

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)*

This page contains resources for graduating philosophy majors interested in graduate school or other opportunities.


Pursuing a Graduate Degree

Some basic advice:

1. Apply to as many universities as you can. Include those you really wish to attend, and include some that you are sure you can get accepted to. Acceptance is highly competitive. For example, the top twenty or so graduate philosophy programs may receive 150-250 applications per year and accept only 5% - 20% of them.

2. Apply to the universities you are interested in as early as they allow. Many universities have application deadlines in the December of the year before you attend.

3. Most universities require prospective students to take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), which is kind of like the SAT test for graduate students. The official GRE site has lots of information abot the exam.

4. Talk to as many qualified people as you can about your plans, including your faculty here at UL and faculty and graduate students at schools you are considering applying to.


What Sort of Graduate Degree Should I Pursue?

There are not nearly as many stand-alone MA programs in philosophy as there are Ph.D. programs. This is because teaching at the university level usually requires a Ph.D. Thus, if you intend to pursue research in philosophy in an academic setting, you should plan on getting the Ph.D.

A typical Ph.D. program in philosophy in the U.S. will require 2-3 years of course work followed by 2-3 years of dissertation work. The dissertation work involves your writing a small book on your chosen topic. You will be supported by a dissertation committee consisting of philosophy professors, the members of which are determined by mutual agreement. The committee will normally be led by your primary advisor, with whom you will work most closely.

Graduate degrees outside of philosophy may differ considerably. If you are interested in, e.g., law, English, etc., you should meet with faculty at UL who have gotten a Ph.D. in that area to get further information.


Deciding Where to Apply

Apply to (a) those places you would most like to go and (b) some places where you are certain you will get accepted and are willing to go. Think about which area you would like to do a dissertation, and make sure that there are several faculty who specialize and are actively publishing in that area. It is not uncommon for students to change their choice of specialization while in graduate school, and a department with more faculty will provide you with more options. Before applying to a university, you should call some of the faculty there and discuss with them how their department there could serve your interests.

Some Handy Resources:

The journal Review of Metaphysics includes enrollment statistics and doctoral dissertation titles and advisors for programs in North America. This can give you an idea of how active a particular department is in a particular field. The Review of Metaphysics is available in Dupre Library under the call number B1.R34.

The Gourmet Report evaluates the top philosophy graduate programs in the around the world, including a breakdown by specialties, and other information for people interested in graduate work in philosophy. Their information on Graduate Study is excellent and you should take a look at it.

Peterson's on the web provides an extensive to graduate programs and universities.

Epistemelinks.com contains probably the most complete set of links to Philosophy Department home pages, and includes some other useful links as well.

Matthew Lu's page on applying to Philosophy graduate programs contains much helpful advice.

The American Philosophical Association keeps statistics on the status of the profession which will be of interest.


Preparing for Entrance Exams

Visit the GRE web site for information about the test and free practice exams. There are also a variety of books and test preparation services available on the web or through your local book store.

While there is no special exam for prospective philosophy graduate students, there are some for other areas. For example, law schools typically require the LSAT (for information about the LSAT and a career in law, see the Law School Admissions Council web site), and business schools typically require the GMAT (for information about the GMAT, see the Graduate Management Admission Council's web site).


Financial Aid

A variety of forms of financial aid are commonly distributed by departments for their graduate students. Perhaps the most common sort of financial aid for Philosophy graduate students is a Teaching Assistantship (TA-ship). TA-ships typically require you to assist in the teaching of a large course, and you may do things such as lead a discussion section for a portion of the class and grade assignments. In return, tuition and/or certain fees may be waived, and you may receive enough additional pay to cover basic living expenses. TA-ships are awarded on the basis of merit. Often, most of those admitted to a given program will receive one if they apply for it. Research Assistantships (RA-ships) are less common. For one of these, the student typically assists a professor in doing research with remuneration comparable to that of a TA-ship. Finally, there may be fellowships which pay the student for no work in return. Typically, perhaps only the top handful of students in the program will receive one of these.

In addition, there are the usual sources of financial aid (government grants and loans, university sponsored programs, etc.) that you may wish to apply for.


Letters of Recommendation

Most, if not all, universities require several confidential letters of recommendation in support of your application. Generally, if pursuing a graduate degree in philosophy, all of your letters should be from your philosophy professors, as they will be best able to gauge your ability to pursue graduate work in philosophy. However, if you have a professor in another field from whom you have taken several classes and whom you know well, it cannot hurt to add a letter from him or her as well. Provide any professor from whom you request a letter with a stamped envelope addressed to the appropriate person at the university to which you are applying. Be sure to give the professor a few weeks to write the letter, and allow an extra week for the letter to arrive in the mail. It is not a bad idea to provide the professor with a list of reminders as to which courses you took from them, a couple of your best papers written for them, your interests in philosophy, and any other accomplishments which you think might help your application.


Strengthening Your Application

Few applications are perfect. If there is a weakness in your application, you should try to explain or offset it with additional information, even if this is not explicitly asked for in the application materials you receive. For example, perhaps your overall GPA is low, but your GPA in Philosophy courses, or over the last two years, or in upper division courses, is very high. It cannot hurt to add a typed sheet listing your higher GPA in these cases. Similarly, if you had to take off a year from school, or your performance in a particular semester was poor due to, e.g., a family tragedy or financial problems, it is worth explaining this in your application.

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* Photo courtesy of The Bertrand Russell Archives at McMaster University.