Joshua Paschal

I recently have found myself discussing college applications with multiple people. I want to make my thoughts more public for whomever wants to know my thoughts on the matter. I will focus on graduate applications, but I will add in advice for undergraduate applicants as it arises organically.

I think the core of a good application cycle has three important parts: a schedule, a budget, and a map. I believe this extends to collegiate applications overall, not just graduate applications.

The schedule is the most basic thing. Programs let you know what their deadlines are well in advance, so all this requires if making sure you get all the materials requested in when it is requested to be submitted. This does not just mean you need to know when X or Y school wants your materials: you need to make sure you have those materials prepared well in advance. In the case of graduate school, your writing sample should be prepared before you even start to think about where you want to end up (undergraduate essays are not nearly as important as graduate writing samples: your grades and letters matter more in that case).

The budget is less discussed. I think people going into collegiate applications fail to realize just how much it can cost. In the case of graduate programs, the GRE can cost around $220, then add in an additional $20 for sending scores to every program beyond 4. This is on top of around $80 application fees per program. Undergraduate applications have a similar cost with SAT/ACT and fees. Before you decide on how many places you want to apply, know how much you’re willing to spend. Offhandedly, I would suggest not even consider going above $800. If you believe you’re competitive enough to get in somewhere, adding application upon application should not be worth it!

Thirdly, I think the idea of a map is less discussed. Often, students will just throw themselves into asking if A or B school is a school they like, but a lot more goes into deciding where you will live for 4 years, or 2 years, or 7 or 8 years! It is important to consider where you would be okay living. Going from a home in Florida to school in, say, Michigan or Minnesota very well could be overwhelming. I suggest establishing a hard-limit distance from home, and only then adding in exceptions (ex: 300 miles, except for New York City or Boston, given their airports). Out-of-state cost should factor in here, too, for applicable programs. Some states are egregious as to how they impose costs on out-of-staters, so beware some programs do cost a lot more than alternatives would.

For philosophy and adjacent programs, looking back, I would apply to between 4-12 programs. 4 programs should deliver a sufficient choice of some kind (or, in the case of competitive cycles like those for philosophy PhDs, a hopeful acceptance with funding), regardless of undergrad/grad applications. Again, if you believe you’re competitive enough to get in somewhere, adding application upon application should not be worth it! 12 is thus a hard limit in most cases: if you believe you’re good enough to get a good offer from a good school, you should not settle for any less. Know your worth above all else.

Applications can be stressful. Many of my friends are getting to the point that they are preparing to apply for law school and graduate school. I hope this advice will prove helpful to them. Applying to philosophy graduate programs was pretty hard on me: I didn’t really have anyone that could give me recent and specific advice like I have, hopefully, provided here.

Let me know if there is something I’ve excluded from this you’d like answered: I’ll add to my thoughts as necessary.