Fall
2008
Dear
Interested Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in our Graduate
Program in Philosophy. Please apply online at
http://www.grad.uconn.edu/applications.html.
Merit-based financial aid is available from the philosophy
department in the form of Graduate Assistantships and fellowships. Teaching
assistantships will range from $19,098.89 to $22,342.52 in salary for the academic
year 2008-2009. Tuition is waived for
graduate assistantships who are awarded half or full teaching assistantships
and with full time registration (6 credits or more & maintaining a 3.0 or
better). Both half and full teaching assistants may purchase excellent
health-care coverage, heavily subsidized by UConn.
There are also fellowships of up to $10,000 as well as work-study and other
forms of support. Graduate students accepted into the Ph.D. program are
guaranteed three additional years of support at the full teaching assistant
level.
Our deadline for fellowship applications is January 15, otherwise
the deadline for fall applications is February 1. Applications for admission without aid are
accepted until June 1, and there is always a chance that some money might be
available. Need-based aid is available through the Financial Aid Office. To get
their form, please visit their website at http://financialaid.uconn.edu or
phone (860) 486-2819. While we accept new students for both the Spring and Fall
semesters, we typically have no financial aid available for those who begin in
the Spring, since we generally award aid packages for the entire academic year
in the preceding Spring.
An application must include:
1)
three letters of recommendation,
preferably from your Philosophy professors (forms not required)
2)
transcripts (Applicants must have
a minimum 3.00 grade point average)
3)
GRE scores
4)
a statement of your academic
goals and interests
5)
a 10-15 page sample of your
philosophical writing
PLEASE
NOTE: ALL APPLICATION MATERIALS
MUST BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE
Potential applicants should be aware that typical aid recipients
have very good letters, respectable transcripts, GRE verbal scores in the 90’s,
and a writing sample that shows philosophical promise. We generally accept
students with good letters and transcripts whose GRE verbal scores are in the
high 70’s to low 80’s, but such acceptances usually include no offer of aid.
We are often asked about M.A. degrees earned from other
institutions. We count M.A. degrees in philosophy towards our Ph.D., but we do
not count M.A. degrees earned in other fields. Students who enter the Ph.D.
program with an M.A. from another institution are reviewed after one year
before they are allowed to continue towards the Ph.D. The criterion for being
continued in the program is, “We can get this person a tenure-track job.” If
you seek a program that is willing to have you spend years earning a Ph.D. even
though you have little prospect of employment as a professional philosopher,
then some other program than ours would be more appropriate. Our placement
record over the past decade is extremely good.
Our faculty is first-rate both in teaching and research (see the
CV’s on our web-page). Since our program is small (about 6-10 new graduate
students per year), the faculty members are able to devote quite a bit of
attention to each student. The interests and expertise of the faculty are
wide-ranging and our students are exposed to a variety of areas in philosophy.
The environment here is friendly and intellectually stimulating.
We have weekly, informal brown bag discussions, in which graduate students and
faculty can try out papers and idea. We also have a regular colloquium series,
with distinguished outside speakers. Philosophy graduate students often take
courses in UConn’s world-renowned departments of Psychology and Linguistics.
The motivated student can also attend colloquia at Yale, Harvard, and other
area universities.
If you have questions about our program or your prospects, please
contact me by phone, letter or e-mail.
Sincerely,
Samuel C. Wheeler III
Professor of Philosophy and Director of Graduate Studies
Phone: office: (860) 486 3592
e-mail: samuel.wheeler@uconn.edu