Comments on: Ranking Philosophy Programs

By: Noelle McAfee

Noelle McAfee — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:13:54 +0000

This post of mine, which is over 2 1/2 years old, still gets a lot of traffic. To those of you visiting this post, I’d like to ask, what are your interests and concerns? Is this discussion at all helpful? What kind of ranking system (or other system) would you like to see? And do you think this matter is of importance to just potential graduate students or also to faculty and administrators?

By: Noelle McAfee

Noelle McAfee — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:44:58 +0000

Tom,

I recommend you contact Mary Magada-Ward on the philosophy faculty at MTSU and discuss with her what your interests and goals are.

In general, I recommend finding a graduate program that has faculty with whom you’d like to study. If a place has an excellent reputation in X but you really only care about Y, then its reputation is of limited value. A good mentor will open doors as much as more as a big name on the degree.

Good luck.

Noelle

By: Tom Wiser

Tom Wiser — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:25:51 +0000

Hello,

I am begining to research a MA in Philosophy. I live in Nashville, TN and would prefer to stay close. Being a married homeowner working as a Senior Financial Analyst in the healthcare industry, I am also disinclined to expensive programs. Do you know the reputation of MTSU, UT (Knoxville or Chattanooga), etc. I am open to suggestions as well.

Please feel free to contact me. I would enjoy speaking with somone to provide me an objective opinion.

Thank you.

Cheers,
Tom Wiser

By: Eli Weber

Eli Weber — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:05:45 +0000

To be totally honest, as an MA student in philosophy with aspirations to continue on to a Ph.D, I’d like to see a site that ranked philosophy departments by their job placement record. This information is often hard to find on department websites, and it doesn’t seem that either of these ranking systems takes that into consideration. Just a thought. Obviously placement isn’t all that matters, but lets be honest, it matters a little bit.

By: Maximus

Maximus — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:01:52 +0000

I would like to see a continuation of the topic

By: Idetrorce

Idetrorce — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:51:27 +0000

very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce

By: Philosophy Rankings « gonepublic: philosophy, politics, & public life

Philosophy Rankings « gonepublic: philosophy, politics, & public life — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:59:49 +0000

[...] someone named Ann posted a comment to an earlier thread about philosophy rankings. The upshot of her comment is that (1) she recalls a paper “statistically analysing the feedback and showing near total [...]

By: Ann

Ann — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 02:25:32 +0000

Concerning the worry about the evaluators being from a select number of depts, I seem to remember a paper statistically analysing the feedback and showing near total consensus amongst faculty from the entire range of depts assessed as to who was top and who bottom (I actually think those from lower ranked depts tended to be harsher in their evaluations).

Of course, I’m sure people will say that this is because everyone has been brainwashed by the PGR into thinking the rankings are gospel and so rank accordingly.

But there have always been rankings of depts; at least Leiter’s methodology is explicit and based on up-to-date information. Thanks to the statistical analyses it’s possible for people to be fully informed of the fact that having metaphysicians will count for more than having historians of philosophy (and know exactly how much that counts). Whatever else you think of the PGR, it at least allows people to think clearly about these matters.

By: wes

wes — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 01:05:27 +0000

philosophical gourmet updates
it is more of a specialized rating guide
it helps with undergraduate school choices and masters programs as well.

By: wes

wes — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:57:28 +0000

how does Noelle McAfree know that there are only two philosophy school ranking websites?