Graduate Admissions

Overview of the admissions process

The graduate program in philosophy at the University of Chicago is primarily a doctoral program. We do not normally admit students who seek only a masters degree (though a masters degree is available to those students who meet the requirements for it in the course of their doctoral studies).

Completed graduate applications are due on December 17th. Applications may be filled out online. Paper applications are no longer used.

Applicants will be notified of the results of their application in early March, and, if admitted, must either accept or decline the offer of admission by April 15. Students who accept an offer of admission may matriculate at the beginning of the Fall, Winter, or Spring term of the following academic year. (Almost everyone matriculates in the Fall, and this is strongly recommended.)

Recently, the Philosophy Department has been receiving something around 250 graduate applications per year. A large number of these are from highly qualified applicants---many more than the program can reasonably accommodate (not to mention, support financially). Each year, the Department offers admission with full five-year fellowship support to about a dozen applicants. (Full fellowship means tuition remission plus a reasonably comfortable nine-month living stipend.) The Department also often nominates some of its applicants for special University fellowships, and, not infrequently, these nominations are successful. On the other hand, fellowship offers that are declined are not re-offered to another applicant; so there is never a "waiting list." (Also, fellowship offers cannot be deferred until a later year; they can only be accepted or declined for the year for which they are offered.)

The aim in each year is to matriculate an incoming class of about seven to nine new PhD students in Philosophy.

Finally, as with all humanities departments here, the Philosophy Department customarily refers a select group of qualified applicants (in our case, typically from the top third of the applicant pool) to the University's Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH). These are excellent students who, for one reason or another, could not be admitted to the doctoral program, but who might nevertheless profit from a year of graduate study—including but not limited to philosophy—at the University of Chicago. A referral from the Philosophy Department does not guarantee admission to MAPH; but it is generally quite helpful. MAPH students and graduates may, of course, apply (or re-apply) to the doctoral program in philosophy. Those applications will be considered fully on their merits along with all the others received in the same year.

The application

A bachelors degree (or equivalent) is required for admission to the graduate program. (Of course, you needn't have finished your degree at the time of application; but you must have the degree to matriculate.) Significant background in philosophy is also normally required for admission to the graduate program in the Philosophy Department. Most often, this will take the form of an undergraduate major in philosophy; but a masters degree in philosophy is also acceptable, as is anything else that evidences comparable preparedness for graduate-level work in the field.

It should be mentioned that a masters degree in itself is neither an asset nor a liability in applying to our program. What we care about is the applicant's aptitude for philosophy and readiness for graduate-level work. A masters degree is relevant only insofar as it sheds light on these. (Work done in masters programs elsewhere is not counted toward satisfying program requirements here.)

Besides the standard Humanities Division forms and application fee, a complete application to the Philosophy Department will include:

• A one-page personal statement outlining your philosophical interests and goals, and your reasons for wanting to pursue them at the University of Chicago;
• Up-to-date transcripts of all your post-secondary education;
• Official Graduate Record Examination scores (verbal, quantitative, and analytic writing sent by ETS);
• Recent TOEFL scores for students whose native language is not English (this requirement is waived for students who have already studied for two or more years at an English-language institution in an English-speaking country);
• Three or four confidential letters of recommendation from people who are in a position to comment on your philosophical background and ability; and
• A recent sample of your philosophical written work (see below for some advice).

All of the above should be in English, or accompanied by English translations. It is particularly important for non-native speakers to demonstrate their competence to read, write, and participate in class discussions in English.

All application materials must be mailed directly to the Office of the Dean of Students:.

Office of the Dean of Students
Division of the Humanities
The University of Chicago
1115 E. 58th Street
Walker Museum, Suite 111
Chicago, IL 60637

The Philosophy Department does not use personal interviews as any part of the graduate admissions decision process. However, prospective students may very well want to visit the Department (not to mention, the University and the city of Chicago) for their own information. While such visits are always welcome, they make much more sense—and we can be considerably better hosts—after the admissions decisions have been made and announced. Indeed, we highly encourage visits at that time, scheduling several receptions, appointments with individual faculty members, and many opportunities to meet and talk with current graduate students. What's more, we are then usually able to arrange accommodations and help in defraying travel expenses.

The review process

Graduate admissions decisions are based on a delicate balance of objective criteria, experience, and professional judgment. That is why all admissions committees rely on a variety of different credentials, and also why their decisions are not always the same. Students who may look much the same "by the numbers" will fare differently at different places (one will be admitted here, not there; the other, vice versa ). The following information is intended to give prospective applicants a rough feel for the graduate admissions process in the Philosophy Department at the University of Chicago. At other departments and schools, there will be differences of detail and emphasis; but overall it will be more similar than different.

The personal statement is not, strictly speaking, an admissions credential. But it's certainly better to sound interesting, sensible, and serious than the opposite.

Nominally, the four official credentials—grades, scores, letters, and writing sample—are weighted about equally. But, in practice, there's a little more structure to it than that. For obvious reasons of efficiency, the grades and scores are looked at first; but the letters of recommendation in every folder are at least skimmed. That way, in case the grades and scores give a mixed or misleading picture, there's a chance for somebody who knows the situation personally to explain what's going on, and place it in an accurate perspective.

Over the years, we have found that undergraduate grades, especially those in philosophy courses, are a somewhat better indication of philosophical potential than GRE scores. It cannot be denied that grades from colleges and universities that are themselves more selective give more information than grades from institutions that are less so. But excellent marks are a very positive credential, no matter where one went to school. The GRE scores are relatively more important in cases where, for whatever reason, the grades are less informative or harder to interpret.

For what it's worth, the average grade average in philosophy for our recent admitted students has been about 3.9 (out of 4). The average verbal score on the GRE was around 710, the quantitative was 740 and the analytic writing was just under 5.5. The qualification "for what it's worth" is important: quite a few applicants who were not admitted had significantly better numbers than these (especially GREs). And, at the same time, since these are averages, roughly half of our admittees were at or below them. The reason, needless to say, is that other factors—especially, the writing sample—are making a big difference.

After the initial screening, something between a third and half of the applications are examined more closely. Every letter of recommendation is read carefully (and notes taken); and all of the writing samples are read at least quickly (again with notes taken). Then the admissions committee meets to discuss all of the results so far, and select thirty-five or forty exceptionally promising candidates for a final, thorough evaluation. The writing samples are distributed to various members of the faculty with expertise in the relevant areas, who then submit written reports on each one. (Most papers are evaluated by two or even three different faculty members.)

Once all those reports are in, the admissions committee meets again and compiles all of the information available to it on each applicant. Though every credential is considered again at this final stage, the reports on the writing samples tend to loom somewhat larger. This is not simply because they are the main new information, but rather because, in the end, the ability to write a good philosophical essay is the best single indication of the potential to become a good philosopher. At the conclusion of this meeting—which is typically long and arduous—the committee produces a graduate admissions recommendation for the department.

Advice concerning the writing sample

Clearly, selection of a writing sample to submit with your application is an important decision. Most often, it's a term paper written for a philosophy course---one that reflects your interests, that you put a lot of work into, that you did well on, and, above all, that you're proud of. A paper of twenty pages or thereabouts is plenty; we're interested in quality, not quantity. An eight or ten page paper, on the other hand, is almost always too short to give much of an indication of how a person thinks.

Sometimes, students want to submit a senior thesis (or even a masters thesis) running fifty or, occasionally, hundreds of pages. And, if that's your best work, then, by all means, that's what to send. But, in such a case, you should also give us some guidance as to what part or parts of it (totaling twenty or twenty-five pages, say) we should look at (or, at least, look at first). We'll all be doing a lot of reading at that time of year, and can't often afford to devote a disproportionate share of it to one application.

Alternatively, it may be that you have more than one major interest, and a piece of work that you're proud of reflecting each. In that situation, it might be appropriate to submit two (or conceivably even three) writing samples. But here again, a cover note with some guidance to the reader(s) would be much appreciated. And, as before, bear in mind that it's quality, not quantity that makes the good impression.

You may apply electronically via the Humanities Division's applications page.