If you want to get a masters in philosophy, make sure the departments you apply to does not have a PhD program, but rather a terminal masters. Two schools that I remember that have excellent terminal masters programs in philosophy are the University of Vermont and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

If by advice you mean the choice of a school, there is no better initial advice from one or two of your professors. I am sure that if you set up an appointment and discuss with them the kind of studies that you wish to pursue, they will happily recommend universities where you will be happy. If you are interested in religion and not a particular religion, a school not affiliated with some sect would probably be more congenial, but this would seem to mean going to larger institutions that could offer more courses in the direction you want to take because of their larger faculties.

Another option would be to continue to major in Philosophy, but do independent work in P of R with guidance from a knowledgeable faculty member, at least until you begin your doctoral studies, which would require more specialization.

I already got my B.A. in Philosophy and am currently out of school. I've already spoken with one of my professors about grad school, but I suppose contacting the others and asking them would be a good idea.

Why should I go to a school that does NOT have a Ph.D. program? Seems to me that a school with a Ph.D. program would have more qualified professors. Thank you for your input.

Hi Axis Austin!

I have been down that road before and there are a few things I have learned that you may benefit from. This information was not privy to me when I was an undergraduate so I hope you can utilize it.

First, I take it that you are an undergraduate, so this is partially under that assumption. This following bit was from another post I had written for another member. You, as an undergraduate, can take graduate classes that count towards your master's degree. Normally, departments vary as to how many credits can be fulfilled as an undergraduate. My school limited prospective current-matriculate applicants to half the program credits. This is great considering that a master's in philosophy is two years, so you basically have a one year program. Also, you can get permission through the philosophy department chair and your particular college (i.e. liberal arts) to incorporate an independent study as a preliminary thesis evaluation course. For some reason, my sub college was very insistent on that name. I don't know what they would do at your school in regards to this, but it is worth a try. Trust me, this information is worth its weight in gold.

When it comes to degrees like economics, which my fianc? was a major in, it is very easy to pass the masters program and go straight into the Ph.D. program. However, this is not the case with Philosophy or Religion doctoral programs. These liberal doctorate programs require a preliminary thesis developed during your masters course. There are of course the rare exceptions, but realistically, this is not the case. But this is not a bad thing. As an undergraduate with prospects of becoming a grad student (at the same university), you can begin forming acquaintances with the dean of the masters program. This really helps. Usually, if you are close to graduation, the dean of the masters program always teaches the cap stone class required for you to graduate. This can probably help you obtain a fellowship or at least a good cut in your tuition. Fellowship's vary in compensation, from tuition reimbursement to small stipends? which are very small. At my university, the religion department is separate from the philosophy department, and is actually affiliated with the department of foreign language. Check to see if additional classes are required to apply to your specific target masters program. Also, on that note, there is separate dean of admissions for the masters program from the undergraduate matriculation for the general school. THIS IS VERY USEFUL ADVICE? START AN EMAIL DIALOG WITH THE ADVISOR. This helps a lot.

Other than that, be sure to get a very good score on your GMAT. I took the LSAT's, which are somewhat similar to the GMAT's. When I took the LSAT's for law school, I repositioned myself for close to a year because of the sheer terror of taking that infernal test. The following is VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Do not, under any circumstances, take that test unless you are very comfortable with it. The reason is very simple. The LSAT requires you to subscribe to LDAS, the law school data assembly service. This nefarious organization makes its money from you and your forced subscription to the service. It used to be that you could pay $300 for 3 year subscription and $500 for a two year subscription. This is not the case anymore. You pay a flat fee $200for 5 years. The problem arises when this happens. Say you get a bad grade on your first test. This bad grade will be on your transcripts for as long as your subscription is active? 5 years. If you get a better grade the second time around, the old test is taken into consideration as well. If you do bad the second time around, it looks very bad. It would take 5 years to erase that duo of mistakes. So you used to be able to pay more for less time, but not anymore. Also, very important for the GMAT, make sure you are very apt in math. There is a quarter section devoted to algebra, trig, etc. Not a big problem, but it is certainly bad for others.

I am probably writing too much, but there is a lot more to say on the subject. But always keep this in mind? it is not an impossible goal to get into a good masters program. You just have to maintain a realistic mind frame. Many-a-class-mate were too optimistic and paid the price for it. Not that you should not be optimistic, but always keep a realistic frame of mind and keep the objective in hand. It is uncomfortable to take matriculation ratios and the odds of being accepted, but that worrying helps you push a little harder, although, it turned me into a nervous wreck.

If you have any other questions, I am happy to help you out. I was very disheartened when I could not find anyone to help me with all this stuff a year ago because it gets very overwhelming, so this is all the more reason to advise you if you want the help. Currently, I'm on reserve list for law school, meaning I was accepted but have two years in reservation to get some money to pay for school. Hence my free time and romp 'about philosophy forum. I applied to my university's philosophy masters program as well and was provisionally accepted, but I opted for law school instead. If you need any help with any other questions, especially with the subscription services and recommendation services which were an A-hole to figure out, let me know. Happy to help out a fellow member!

First off, many philosophy departments do not admit students that intend on receiving a masters if they grant PhD's. If they do, you will probably not receive as much attention from the faculty as you should considering the lower status of student. Many departments also, only grand a terminal masters degree when one fails to meet the requirements of the PhD or just gives up. If you want to get a masters degree go to a school that specializes in that area of study. Not to mention, there are more opportunities to TA when you are not competing with PhD candidates. When you go for the PhD then go to a school that specializes in the study you desire.

At a certain stage in your educational process and once you have a firm idea of your area of interest and specialisation, you will want to find a faculty that will provide instruction and guidance in that area. Each university faculty has its own "personality" in which some schools of thought or areas are better represented than others both in number and quality. Nor do you want to attend a school where you and one other grad student are majoring in P of R because you will miss the many different perspectives (and late night discussions) that a larger number of fellow grads will provide.

Obviously, church supported schools will have a large number of students and faculty in your area; however, many of these schools tend to be "training centres" for one particular sect or religion.

Thank you everyone for the advice. To VideCorSpoon, I really appreciate the help, but I guess I wasn't clear enough before because there were a few things not applicable to me. I am not an undergrad. I've already graduated. I am not looking at returning to the school I attended because they do not have a grad program. Also, I am taking the GRE and not the GMAT. I am studying for it and will only take it once (when I'm prepared). Thank you for your advice.

Thaetetus, that makes since.

Jgweed, do you have any suggestions for good Philosophy of Religion schools/profs? Of course I have some ideas, but other's input helps. The only problem with church sponsored schools is that I haven't found many good ones that are universities with grad programs (most are small undergrad colleges). I'm probably not looking in the right places. Thanks.

I know Marquette University here in Milwaukee, WI (Jesuit university) has a very good philosophy department and I am assuming that philosophy of religion is one of their strong points (along with ethical study). It's one of the grad schools I am considering and I have little interest in studying religion so that says something about the quality of the department and college.

Sorry about that, I meant the GRE, not the GMAT (which is for Business School). To tell the truth, you may have an easier time depending on how long you have been out of school. A few years of work experience really reflects well on applications from what I understand.

My advice in this respect is to get in contact with an admissions adviser and lay everything out on the table for them. Advisers do a pretty good job of telling you what you need to do in order to qualify for their specific programs. If you are lacking in some specific area, they can tell you what you can do to make it up and they will note it on your file. Cool thing is, if you apply and do not get in the first time, they will, if you reply with a thank-you note (optional but essential) and an inquiry statement, give you a list of things you need to do in order to get in. Most people that follow this path usually get in after a few rounds.

If you are looking for a good grad program and university for religious/philosophy, you may want to contact Loyola University, New Orleans. I went there my freshman year and it is a superb school. The school is also founded on Jesuit teachings, and I believe there is a seminary right behind it next to Tulane University so the school is very well equipped for your type of degree. Extremely good professors. My mother used to work in the institute for ministry section before they discontinued it, but many of the professors (many of whom are priests and surprisingly very liberal) are still there in different departments now. The hurricane did not effect the quality of the school, so its still as good as it was. But it is a very tight knit academic community there. I changed from there to a school up in Philadelphia and have not even encountered a fraction of the level of commitment the professors give to their students they had given. One professor in particular was a man by the name of Prof. Roger White. Quite possibly the best professor I ever had. I believe he still teaches there.

Alas! I would probably be the LAST one to ask about P of R universities, so I am unable to offer specific advice; that is why I mentioned talking to a favourite professor who may have taught a class in P of R that you attended. Generally, philosophers who specialise in one subject or one philosophical "school" have a large (networked to be sure) knowledge of both "hot topics" and "hot universities" that may narrow down your choices. You can then spend some happy time looking at their course catelogs on-line.

Hmmm, jgweed suggested I post here about finding Philosophy of Religion programs. The first thing for you to do, especially since you have been out of school for a bit, is to think about what you want to do in a more specific way. The right program and/or professor will be determined by your own personal goals and what kind of study you want for yourself, i.e., what kind of work you want to be doing, what area of interest you want to work in, etc.

I did my undergraduate work at Columbia U. in New York City, starting in anthropology, then moving to the religion dept. to study philosophy. I went through a process of evaluating whether or not to go into the philosophy dept. or the religion dept. and chose religion since it was much more open and flexible in terms of what I could do. From there, I applied to three schools, all of which had programs that fit what I wanted to do. I ended up at Princeton, which has an incredible religion dept. with top-drawer professors. It's an extremely open program and made up of very generous group of people. Since I really wanted to study philosophy and not so much religion (or even philosophy of religion), it was a good place for me to be, because they were very open and let me do what I wanted within certain, open-ended parameters. It worked out very well for me!

But again, it really depends on what your more specific area of interest is. It's different in grad school than undergrad. You are there for more focused study of your own choosing, and it makes it more important to know a bit about what you want to do beforehand. If you end up in the wrong program for your particular needs, it can make it difficult when you get to the thesis level.

Also, the program entered at Princeton was a Ph.D. program from the outset. I received my M.A. along the way by writing four generals papers, so the process is a bit different than with a M.A. program alone.

So, I don't know if any of that helps you!!! I guess in sum I'd say you need to think first about what kind of program you are looking for, i.e., what it is you want out of it and what you want to study. Do you want a program that is open and flexible, like mine was, or something with more structure that might offer more direct guidance than mine did.

I'd be happy to answer specific questions if you have them!

Alexandria