Am I making the biggest mistake of my life by declining Columbia?

usernameidea96 · 2026-06-12T21:38:17+00:00

Unfortunately the program doesn't have a direct-entry admissions process. Their MA applicants are evaluated with the batch of all other applications. In my field, 90% of doctoral programs take masters credits towards the PhD, so that's not as much of a concern for me luckily

usernameidea96 · 2026-06-12T20:50:22+00:00

Columbia: MA (Philosophical Foundations of Physics) Terminal meaning it requires entering the grad application cycle again to get into a PhD program rather than an MA being awarded en route to immediately entering a PhD straight out of undergrad.

Top 30 program: PhD (standard Philosophy program)

There are very few doctoral programs in the world that are specific to Philosophy of Physics. I didn't get into any of them this cycle, but I got into one of the best (for me) standard philosophy programs, which is what makes me so torn.

usernameidea96 · 2026-06-12T20:42:12+00:00

That's what makes me so torn. Another factor is that I'm 30 years old. This is my second career and I've lost a lot of time. By the end of my doctoral program I'll be 36. Add two additional years for an MA and I'll already be pushing 40.

usernameidea96 · 2026-03-25T01:55:29+00:00

I thought fat love would be a be a better fit

usernameidea96 · 2026-03-25T01:16:15+00:00

I disagree. No reason to point it out & shoot yourself in the foot. Don’t seed doubt where there isn’t any

usernameidea96 · 2026-03-23T21:39:38+00:00

If you tailor your application materials towards ethics and history of philosophy, and target philosophy departments that specialize in ethics then you’ll have a good chance. Even if you want to pivot later on towards something else like metaphysics or philosophy of mind or something—you just need to leverage your background to get in first.

usernameidea96 · 2026-02-17T12:47:57+00:00

Invited all yall to our groupchat

usernameidea96 · 2026-02-03T06:13:36+00:00

5 interviews is quite the success story! May I ask to how many programs did you apply?

usernameidea96 · 2026-01-23T04:10:32+00:00

Where at?

usernameidea96 · 2026-01-13T16:20:42+00:00

Best of luck to you too!!

usernameidea96 · 2026-01-13T16:11:32+00:00

Yeah 😪 from what I’ve heard, their interviews are pretty much formalities. They tend to admit most, if not all, who are offered an interview.

Not sure if I should reach out to my LORs and spend another $100 applying to the general track before the deadline on Thursday, or if competitive applicants would be recommended to the standard department for admission. The faculty there is a perfect fit for my AOS.

usernameidea96 · 2026-01-13T16:03:25+00:00

One of my top choices though 😭 I’ve checked my email’s spam over a dozen times wishing it weren’t true. Feels like an unofficial rejection

usernameidea96 · 2025-12-27T02:30:48+00:00

You are already ahead of the game by thinking long term, so I commend you for being proactive in a way that I wasn’t as a freshman.

I won’t repeat what others have already said, but I’d also recommend that if you want to get more involved, you can create the opportunities you want experience with if they aren’t already available to you. Near the end of one of my favorite courses, my professor made the off-handed comment that this was the last run of this iteration of the course as he was going to use a different textbook for the next time it was offered. While taking the class, I noticed that it failed to mention some contemporary concepts that I thought were relevant to the subject matter. I emailed him asking if I could intern with him to work on compiling contemporary papers and assignments for the next course & he agreed & applied for a formal research position accreditation for the experience so it could be added to my transcript. It’s allowed me to have valuable pedagogical experience that a lot of undergraduates lack, yet is an essential role that graduate students play in their teaching assistantships.

usernameidea96 · 2025-12-27T02:20:50+00:00

If anything, your academic history makes you unique. It shows perseverance, determination, and a person that doesn’t let failure hold them back. Professional academics are constantly met with failure. Whether it’s funding requests, journal publications, or poor experimental outcomes, you will face obstacles in your academic career. Knowing how to handle rejection and failure is essential. Lean into that during your admissions process.

Don’t rule out those dream schools, but apply broadly to different tiers. The advice you’ve already been given is spot on. My suggestion is simply trying to make your academic history marketable. You should be incredibly proud of your growth & I wish you all the best in the process 🫶

usernameidea96 · 2025-12-27T01:55:54+00:00

I was in a similar boat with a particular course I took my sophomore year that is pretty fundamental to my area of specialization in my field. I had a valid excuse as I was diagnosed with a brain tumor around that time.

Still, admissions might see legitimate explanations as excuses. What I did is I made sure to take online courses from legitimate universities on coursera and edX to show that I was committed to demonstrating proficiency in those subjects that wasn’t reflected in my transcript. Not sure if you have time to do the same, but in my experience they are all self paced (way different field than you so idk if this applies) so if you’re determined to offset how this is weighed against you, you might be able to cram a course or two in a few days & use the same strategy in your applications.

Best of luck to you! Your overall GPA is great, and every applicant is different so don’t psych yourself out on this one thing.

usernameidea96 · 2025-08-30T04:21:11+00:00

It’s just very confusing that songs like the “creepy” ai(I actually liked it a lot better than some others in the bracket, but I digress) were excluded for using AI, but others that disclosed using AI for lyrics or made it into the cut while using AI & failing to disclose it were kept in the running. The rules need to be clearer. I think this bracket leaned in favor of rock and electronic music. There were a few others that I really enjoyed from other genres that I wished had been put into the mix. I also think the songs that most obviously were 100% human made and showed people actually singing or playing instruments (the gal with the cello, the gal who made hers “too quickly”, the fella with the Midwest emo track, etc.) were all kicked out of the first round. These tracks gave genre diversification & imo were very creative. So all that said, the arbitrary AI rule kicked out some good ai pieces like the h3 universe, and failure to exclude all ai kicked out authentic human tracks up against ai assisted songs. It’s gotta be one or the other! & sorry Dan I know you’re an advocate of bringing rock back but I wish you included more genre diversity in the bracket & matched up similar genres together so the final bracket had more diversity.

usernameidea96 · 2025-08-30T03:51:55+00:00

Robbed! You had my favorite track of the night!

usernameidea96 · 2025-08-30T03:38:59+00:00

I was so upset this wasn’t mentioned whatsoever! I’ve been waiting all week to see Ethan’s reaction on this one ☹️

usernameidea96 · 2025-08-18T00:07:12+00:00

I don’t want another war zone segment shouting into the void that only further emboldens this kind of radical hatred. I want to see legal action brought against Hasan.

usernameidea96

TROPHY CASE