APPLYING TO
GRADUATE SCHOOL

 

This is an annotated list of materials that will be useful when considering graduate school. Books on applying to graduate school, writing the dissertation, publishing, and being an academic. Also, websites listing and ranking philosophy graduate programs, and fun stuff when you need a break.

Read these articles:

Advice for Students Contemplating Graduate Study in Philosophy

So You Want to Go to Grad School?

If You Must Go to Grad School ...

The Five "Virtues" of Successful Graduate Students

Shameless Self-Promotion

Ignoring Good Advice

Making a Statement

How to Win a Graduate Fellowship

Read Ronald Tobey's essay, Successful Graduate Study in History: Personal Guidance. Much of his guidance also applies to graduate study in other fields, such as philosophy.

Regularly consult Ms. Mentor's Words of Wisdom about Academic Culture. Although these articles are primarily intended for graduate students and junior faculty, her words of wisdom apply generally.

Read Networking on the Network.


Here are books that will be useful in learning about graduate school:

I highly recommend Charles Walters' book, How to Apply to Graduate School without Really Lying. It's out of print, but - if you're in Oregon or Washington - you can get it through the Summit Library Catalog. I owe whatever success I've had to this book.

As soon as you're admitted to graduate school, read David Sternberg's book on How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation. Click here to order this book.

The following are useful for learning about publishing:

The Grad Student's Guide to Getting Published, edited by Alida Allison and Terri Frongia, (New York: Prentice Hall, 1992), Out of print, use Summit.

Writing and Publishing for Academic Authors, edited by Joseph M. Moxley, (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1992). Click here to order this book.

Publish, Don't Perish: The Scholar's Guide to Academic Writing and Publishing, Joseph M. Moxley, foreword by Robert Boice, (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992). Click here to order this book.

Persist and Publish: Helpful Hints for Academic Writing and Publishing, Ralph E. Matkin and T. F. Riggar, (Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1991). Click here to order this book.

The Compleat Academic: A Practical Guide for the Beginning Social Scientist, edited by Mark P. Zanna and John M. Darley, (New York: Random House; Hillsdale, NJ: Distributed by L. Erlbaum Associates, 1986). This is helpful for learning how to be an academic, what the expectations are, etc. Out of print, use Summit.

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Here are two useful websites about graduate programs in philosophy:

The Real Guide the Graduate School Philosophy Programs has links to the programs it lists. It's not bad.

Peter Suber's Guide to Philosophy on the Internet has many links to philosophy sites, plus a search engine that will give you lots of stuff. Some of it is even helpful: try searching under "graduate".

Below are websites that rank graduate programs in philosophy:

The American Philosophical Association has a statement on Rankings of Departments and Programs: "The American Philosophical Association neither conducts nor sponsors the development of national 'rankings' of philosophy departments and their graduate and undergraduate programs. It further neither endorses nor approves of the use of any such rankings compiled by others. The reasons for being highly skeptical of all general rankings are many; and reliance upon rankings that are fundamentally unreliable is to be deplored. It does harm to those to whom rankings do not do justice, and also to those who are led by such rankings to make ill-advised decisions adversely affecting their own interests."

http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/guides/sthphi.htm has the 1995 philosophy rankings of the National Research Council (data from 1992-1993). This list displays professional philosophers' comparative rankings of graduate programs in philosophy.

http://www.utdallas.edu/%7Esudip.shekhawat/nrc.htm has the National Research Council's rankings for all disciplines, including philosophy.

The Philosophical Gourmet Report is Brian Leiter's ranking of graduate programs. Leiter has a strong bias towards analytic philosophy. However, his opinions are useful if that's factored in. Leiter's rankings have resulted in various replies and discussions.

Below are sites about graduate programs in continental philosophy:

The Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP) lists Graduate School Programs in Continental Philosophy. SPEP also gives advice on choosing a graduate program in continental philosophy.

Ferit Güven and Peter Suber have a list of Philosophy Graduate Schools Friendly to Continental Philosophy.

In The Philosophical Gourmet Report, Brian Leiter ranks departments teaching 20th century continental philosophy, discusses "analytic" and "continental" philosophies, and gives advice for those considering graduate work in continental philosophy. Leiter asserts that "the best work on so-called 'Continental' figures is done largely by philosophers with so-called 'analytic' training." Regardless of whether he's correct, that should be something to consider in terms of eventually finding a job.

Leiter's rankings of both continental and analytic philosophy have produced replies and discussions.

The Hartman Report is an anti-Leiter ranking of programs in continental philosophy. It provides a nice balance to his claims.

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Okay, you must be exhausted by now! Here are some funnies:

Brain-in-a-Vat at the Wheel asks: Can bad men make good brains do bad things?!

The Philosophical Lexicon is definitive! Pick almost any philosopher, and that person's name has a definition. You'll see....

Here are some philosophy comix.

There actually are philosophy jokes. Several are even funny.

Finally, there's the Philosophy Steel Cage Grudge Match.

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J. M. Fritzman
Department of Philosophy
Lewis & Clark College
0615 SW Palatine Hill Road
Portland, OR 97219-7899
USA

503-768-7477

fritzman@lclark.edu

Updated on 17 November 2008