philosophy phd application deadlines

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• Department Intranet

The Department of Philosophy typically receives over 400 applications each year. We ordinarily matriculate an entering class of five to six doctoral students. Although the number of qualified applicants exceeds the number of offers the department can make, we invite all who would like to study Philosophy at Harvard to apply.

Note regarding GRE scores:   The Philosophy Department does not require applicants to submit GRE scores. Submission of scores is permitted, and, when submitted, GRE scores are taken into account in the admissions process. But those who do not submit such scores will not be penalized.

Note regarding application fee waivers : Applicants can determine eligibility for a fee waiver by completing a series of questions in the Application Fee section of the application. Once these questions have been completed, the application system will provide an immediate response regarding fee waiver eligibility. Please consult the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences admissions pages for further information or email them at [email protected] .

Note regarding JD/PhD program:  Students seeking admission to the joint JD/PhD program must apply to and be separately admitted to both the Law School and the Department of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

Note regarding non-discrimination:  Harvard does not discriminate against applicants or students on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry or any other protected classification.

Student Qualifications

Background in Philosophy:  The Department requires that applicants have the equivalent of a solid undergraduate background in philosophy, so that they have a good grounding in the history of philosophy, as well as familiarity with contemporary work in ethics, epistemology and metaphysics, and logic.

Scholarly Potential:  The Admissions Committee looks for evidence of outstanding potential in the field of philosophy as shown in the applicant's academic record, letters of recommendation, and Statement of Purpose on the application form.

Questions?  Please contact the  Director of Graduate Admissions .

For more information on deadlines and application procedures, please click here:

William H. Miller III Department of Philosophy

• PhD Admissions

• Requirements
• Financial Aid
• BA/MA Admissions
• Graduate Courses
• Job Placement
• Miller Prize
• Student Organizations

While an undergraduate major in philosophy is good preparation for graduate study in the department, applications are welcomed from students with other majors whose interests are now turning toward philosophy.

To apply, please read the information below and on the Graduate Admissions website , and complete the application online.

If applying to more than one department, please send complete application materials for each department. All application documents must be provided in English (either the original or translations of the original documents). If you are unable to secure translations to English, we recommend that you contact World Education Services .

All application materials and supporting documents should be uploaded through the online application; these include:

• Online application
• Application fee
• Statement of Purpose (briefly state your area of interest at the beginning of your Statement of Purpose; upload through the online application)
• Letters of recommendation (at least three): Letters of recommendation should be submitted and uploaded electronically following the instructions in the online application.
• Transcripts: Unofficial transcripts must be uploaded through the online application. Applications will be ready for review with unofficial transcripts, but official transcripts will be required if an offer of admission is made
• GRE (optional)
• TOEFL or IELTS score (for international applicants)
• Sample of work (the sample should reflect the applicant’s area of interest, and generally does not have to be more than 20 pages in length).

Application Deadline

The deadline for applications is 15 December. Some finalists will be contacted for short Zoom meetings prior to a decision being made. Decisions on admitted and wait-listed students will be made by the first week of February.

For questions or inquiries about the online application and supporting documents, contact the Graduate Admissions office. You may also contact Michelle Brock, the academic program coordinator for the philosophy department, at [email protected]   or 410-516-7524.

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As a PhD student in the Harvard philosophy program, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your ideas, knowledge, and abilities. You'll work with other doctoral students, our faculty, and visiting scholars, all in a stimulating and supportive environment. The program has strengths across a broad range of topics and areas, so you'll be able to pursue your interests wherever they may lead, especially in moral and political philosophy, aesthetics, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, the history of analytic philosophy, ancient philosophy, Immanuel Kant, and 19th and 20th century European philosophy. 

Incoming cohorts consist of five to eight students per year. You will have substantial access to our renowned faculty and all the resources that Harvard makes available. This relatively small size also gives students a sense of intellectual community.

The curriculum is structured to help you make your way towards a dissertation: graduate-level coursework, a second-year research paper, a prospectus to help you identify a dissertation topic, and then the dissertation itself. Recent dissertations in the department have addressed a broad range of topics: Aristotle, Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau; contemporary moral and political philosophy; metaphysics; epistemology; and logic.

In addition to your research, you will also have the opportunity to develop your teaching skills in many different settings across the University.

You can find graduates of the PhD program in many universities. Recent graduates have gone on to tenure track positions at Yale University, Princeton University, Brown University, Northwestern University, Boston University, University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Washington University, and the University of Rochester. Other graduates have gone on to diverse careers in, among others, the arts, law, secondary education, and technology.

In addition to the standard PhD in philosophy, the department offers a PhD in classical philosophy in collaboration with the Department of the Classics and a coordinated JD/PhD program in conjunction with Harvard Law School. The department also offers a track in Indian Philosophy (administered jointly by Philosophy and South East Asian Studies.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Department of Philosophy and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

Areas of Study

Philosophy | Classical Philosophy | Indian Philosophy 

For information please consult the Department webpage on the  graduate program overview .

Admissions Requirements

Please review the admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Department of Philosophy .

Academic Background

Applicants to the program in Philosophy are required to have a strong undergraduate background in philosophy (or its equivalent), indicating that they have a good grounding in the history of philosophy, as well as familiarity with contemporary work in ethics, epistemology and metaphysics, and logic.

Personal Statement

Standardized tests.

GRE General: Optional GRE Subject: Optional

Writing Sample

A writing sample is required as part of the application and should be between 12 to 30 pages long. The sample must address a substantial philosophical problem, whether it is an evaluation or presentation of an argument, or a serious attempt to interpret a difficult text. The upload of the writing sample should be formatted for 8.5-inch x 11-inch paper, 1-inch margins, with double-spaced text in a common 12-point font, such as Times New Roman.

Applicants seeking admission to the coordinated JD/PhD program must apply to and be separately admitted to Harvard Law School and the Department of Philosophy.

Theses and Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Philosophy

See list of Philosophy faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

College of Arts & Sciences

We are a relatively large department with diverse philosophical interests, and we take pride in providing a rigorous and nurturing environment for graduate study in Philosophy. Our PhD program emphasizes both theory and history and represents a variety of philosophical traditions. In addition, we participate in dual JD/MA and JD/PhD programs with the Georgetown University Law Center and dual MD/MA and MD/PhD programs with the Georgetown University Medical School. Students wishing to pursue these programs must apply and be admitted to both Philosophy and the professional school. The Department does not offer a free-standing MA program.

We offer a small number of funded positions (usually five or six per year) for students admitted to the PhD program. These positions provide tuition remissions, living stipends, and health insurance.  In each student’s 1st and 5th years, these positions function as fellowships, and carry no service requirement.  In each student’s 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years, they function as assistantships, and require service as a teaching assistant or teaching associate. Funding is guaranteed for a total of five years for awardees in good standing, but the Department will normally extend assistantship support to students in good standing beyond five years if necessary. Students admitted without financial support can apply for assistantships in later years.

Application Deadlines

PhD programs (incl. joint MD and JD programs): Dec. 15 MD/MA and JD/MA programs: Jan. 15

Please read the complete admissions information found on the Graduate School website , including their FAQ for applicants . The Department requires all applications to be submitted electronically. We no longer require GRE scores and discourage including them in your materials. Applications must include:

• Official undergraduate and graduate transcript(s) from all tertiary institutions you have attended
• Three letters of recommendation
• A personal statement from the applicant of about 500 words
• Scores from a TOEFL or IELTS test of proficiency in English is required for non-native English speakers who do not have an undergraduate or graduate degree from an institution in which the primary language of instruction is English. You must have a score of 600 (paper test) or 100 (Internet-based test) or higher.  See further details below
• An application fee
• One sample of written work in philosophy, which should show evidence of the ability to do original work in Philosophy. It should not be more than about 6000 words
• An abstract of the writing sample
• A brief resume or curriculum vitae, with educational record, employment history, honors, and GPAs

Please note: All application materials must be sent directly to the Graduate School, not to the Philosophy Department.

If you have further questions, you may contact the Director of Graduate Admissions at [email protected].

Apply Online

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has an online application that you complete and submit using a secure online form processed by ApplyYourself. If you are ready to apply, please use this APPLY ONLINE link to proceed directly to the online application.

Please read all Application Procedures and instructions carefully before beginning the application. For information on technical support, confirmation of the application submission, and dual program submission, please read below.

Submission of a Dual Program Application

Applicants selecting approved dual programs or multiple programs can use one single electronic application form. Those applicants who wish to apply to more than one department, including applicants to dual degree programs, must pay an application fee and submit separate transcripts to each department to which application is being made. You will be able to make your program selections for dual or multiple programs in the program selection section of the online application.

 TOEFL / IELTS (Foreign Applicants’ English Language Proficiency Requirement)

All applicants who are not native speakers of English are required to demonstrate a level of proficiency in the English language sufficient to meet the admission requirement of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Proficiency can be demonstrated by the receipt of a bachelor’s or advanced degree from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States or from a university where English is the primary language of instruction (please note that applicants receiving degrees at universities in U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico, are required to submit the TOEFL or IELTS unless the primary language of instruction at the institution is English). All other applicants must achieve at least a minimum score on either the TOEFL or IELTS test. Test scores must be received by the application deadline date. Applicants should allow six to eight weeks from the test date for the reporting of scores to the institution. Applications will not be considered without TOEFL/IELTS scores.

TOEFL : A minimum score of 600 (paper-based test) or of 100 (iBT test)  on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).  TOEFL information: http://www.ets.org/toefl/

IELTS : A minimum score of 7.5 from the International English Language Testing System. IELTS Information: http://www.ielts.org/ 

For information concerning the time and place where the TOEFL is given, applicants should contact:

TOEFL Telephone in the U.S.: 609-771-7100 Internet:  http://www.toefl.org/ (new window) Georgetown University Graduate School ETS Code: 5244 

• Dates & Deadlines
• PhD/Master's Application Process

Deadlines below are for degree-seeking (PhD or Master's) applicants. Please note that all deadlines are subject to change at any time.

Summer-Fall 2024

Applicants should schedule any necessary standardized tests no later than November, in order to allow time for official scores to reach the Graduate School before the program application deadline.

December 1, 2024

Application deadline for:

• Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
• Computational Biology and Biomedical Informatics (MS)
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• English Language and Literature*
• History of Art*
• History of Science and Medicine
• Linguistics
• Psychology*
• Statistics and Data Science (MS)

December 15, 2024

• African American Studies*
• American Studies*
• Anthropology*
• Applied Physics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemical and Environmental Engineering
• Comparative Literature*
• Computer Science (PhD)
• Electrical & Computer Engineering
• Film and Media Studies*
• Germanic Languages and Literatures*
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
• Personalized Medicine and Applied Engineering
• Political Science*
• Public Health
• Religious Studies*
• Slavic and Eurasian Literatures and Cultures*
• Statistics and Data Science* (PhD)
• Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies*

January 2, 2025

Deadline for fee waiver requests .

• African Studies
• Applied Mathematics
• Archaeological Studies
• Architecture
• Computer Science (MS)
• Earth and Planetary Sciences
• East Asian Languages and Literatures*
• East Asian Studies
• Environment*
• European and Russian Studies
• International Development and Economics
• Investigative Medicine
• Italian Studies*
• Medieval Studies
• Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
• Philosophy*
• Spanish and Portuguese*

*Note regarding combined programs: The deadline to submit an application to a combined program is always the earlier deadline of the two individual programs, or December 15, whichever comes first.

Letters of recommendation do not need to be received before you will be able to submit your application, and there is no specific deadline for letters of recommendation. However, since programs begin reviewing applications shortly after the respective application deadline, please be sure that your letters of recommendation are submitted promptly.

All application deadlines are as of 11:59 pm Eastern time.

December 2024-March 2025

Applications are reviewed by departments and programs after the respective application deadline passes.

February-March 2025

Applicants are notified as admissions decisions become available.

April 15, 2025

The reply deadline for most offers of admission for fall 2025.

DPhil in Philosophy

• Entry requirements
• Funding and Costs

College preference

• How to Apply

About the course

The Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Philosophy is a three- to four-year full-time research programme whereby you undertake a doctoral level research project under the guidance of your supervisor(s). This course is not available in part-time mode of study and is not offered via distance learning.

The primary aim of the faculty’s DPhil in Philosophy is to prepare you for an academic career in philosophy. Each year, the Faculty of Philosophy welcomes students from a range of courses who have already completed substantial graduate work in philosophy. Typically, students who are successfully admitted to the DPhil course have already completed study that is equivalent or nearly equivalent to that required for Oxford’s BPhil in Philosophy course. The faculty’s Graduate Studies Committee recommends progression from Oxford's BPhil in Philosophy to the DPhil course, considering the BPhil offers the opportunity to study a wide range of philosophical topics over two years as well as to focus on a narrower field of research interest (unlike most one-year masters in a specialised subject, as offered elsewhere).

Students may also progress from the faculty's specialised MSt programmes - the MSt in Philosophy of Physics , the MSt in Ancient Philosophy and the MSt in Practical Ethics .

As part of your doctoral research you will produce a substantial 75,000-word thesis. Students proceeding to the DPhil programme via the BPhil will normally write a DPhil thesis which is an expansion of their BPhil thesis and may be able to incorporate the full contents of their 30,000-word BPhil thesis into the 75,000-word DPhil thesis. However, this is not a formal requirement; sometimes the BPhil thesis topic is not suitable for expansion into a DPhil thesis, or you may wish to write your DPhil thesis on a different topic.

You are not required to attend any taught graduate classes as part of your DPhil degree, but you are encouraged to participate in lectures, classes, seminars and other educational opportunities offered throughout the university as relevant to your topic of study. The course has no fieldwork, industrial placement or year abroad element, but you may decide to attend conferences, workshops or research training elsewhere.

You may attend any graduate or undergraduate classes, seminars and lectures in and outside of the Faculty of Philosophy which are of interest to you, provided that those classes, seminars and lectures are open to you.

Each term, many graduate classes and research seminars are organised by faculty members in which graduate students are full and important participants.

Graduates are encouraged to organise their own seminars and reading groups, and they also run two societies: one invites distinguished speakers from the UK and around the world, while the other gives graduates the opportunity to present papers to a graduate audience.

Each year there is an Oxford Graduate Philosophy Conference, in which most graduate philosophy students participate in some way.

The Masters of Letters (MLitt) in Philosophy is awarded on the basis of a thesis of maximum 50,000 words. In practice, applicants are admitted for the MLitt only in exceptional cases, and few students submit a thesis for the MLitt. The MLitt is more often an exit award for DPhil students who fail or withdraw from the DPhil degree but meet the requirements for the MLitt.

Course Outcomes

As a DPhil student, you will research, summarise, present and defend an argument with some of the best scholars in their subject, under the direction of (an) experienced researcher(s), and will extend your skills and experiences.

During the DPhil you will learn new or hone existing intellectual, practical and transferable skills, as follows:

• analyse and clarify an abstract question, grasp and critically compare different approaches to answering it, and develop an approach of your own
• put complex arguments together for and against a position and take them apart
• interpret difficult historical texts produced within a historical context
• construct extensive pieces of writing that provide a clear overview of a subject and a sustained independent argument about it, presented in a lucid, objective and scholarly manner
• demonstrate excellent oral presentation
• have effective time organisation (since you must produce extensive pieces of written work at regular intervals and to tight deadlines)
• sustain intensive work to a deadline over an extended period
• make effective use of libraries, information technology and other sources of information

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Faculty of Philosophy and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Faculty of Philosophy.

You should have regular one-to-one tuition sessions with your supervisor(s). These will normally happen twice per term but in some terms, especially at the start of the degree and during the final stages of the thesis, the number of sessions may be increased.

You will normally be assigned one supervisor to start with but towards the end of your course, after you have been awarded confirmation of status, it is usual for you to receive a second, additional supervisor, to offer another view on your work as well as to provide another reference for you if required.

You will initially be enrolled as a Probationary Research Student (PRS), unless you have previously completed the BPhil course at Oxford (see below). Normally in the third term after enrolment onto the DPhil as a PRS student, you are required to complete a transfer of status from PRS to full DPhil student status. Two appointed examiners will interview you on:

• your thesis outline, which explains the intended line of argument or contribution to the subject;
• a piece of written work in the area and philosophical style of the proposed thesis which is typically, though not necessarily, a draft chapter of the thesis.

If you progressed from the MSt in Philosophy of Physics course, you are required to write a 20,000-word thesis during your year as a PRS, as your MSt does not have a thesis element.

Normally at the end of the second year after you enrolled, you will be required to apply for confirmation of your DPhil student status. This application will involve an interview by one or two appointed examiners on:

• your thesis outline, comprising both a reasoned statement of the nature of, and some detail on, the proposed thesis together with a provisional table of contents; and
• a piece of written work intended as a part of the thesis, in final or near-final draft.

If you progress from the BPhil, you will normally enter the DPhil without being required to pass a year as a PRS and as a result you will normally apply for confirmation of DPhil status in the third term after enrolment onto the DPhil and, according to the Examination Regulations at time of publication, you will only have six terms (instead of the usual nine terms) of fee liability  for your DPhil.

The doctoral work culminates in a 75,000-word thesis that is defended orally in front of two appointed examiners ( viva voce ).

Graduate destinations

The DPhil in Philosophy's primary aim is to prepare students for an academic career in philosophy. Most DPhil graduates do indeed secure academic posts, as witnessed by the faculty's placement record .

The faculty provides a  placement scheme to help students seeking jobs within philosophy. Users of the placement scheme may ask their referees to send reference letters directly to the faculty where they will be held on file and sent out to universities or other academic institutions at the student’s request. The placement scheme is normally available to alumni until they have secured a tenured post.

The faculty's Placement Officer helps job applicants with the preparation of their CVs, provides advice about the presentation of material in an application dossier, and arranges practice interviews. The Placement Officer also holds a yearly introductory placement seminar, compulsory to those wishing to make use of the placement scheme. Also, students are invited to give talks based on material they propose to use in their writing samples or job talks, with an opportunity for comment and discussion. 

The faculty also runs an email mailing list for members of the placement scheme, which will be used to pass on job tips and news of vacancies.

The faculty runs a teaching scheme, lecturing scheme and a Graduate Teaching Register with the aim of providing teaching experience for those DPhil students who intend to pursue an academic career. In the case of the teaching scheme and Graduate Teaching Register, you will do a certain amount of teaching and marking under the guidance of a college fellow. If you are accepted into the lecturing scheme, you will be allowed to give an undergraduate lecture course of your own choice and design, consisting of four one-hour lectures.

Changes to this course and your supervision

The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made in circumstances of a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.

Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.

For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.

Entry requirements for entry in 2024-25

Proven and potential academic excellence.

The requirements described below are specific to this course and apply only in the year of entry that is shown. You can use our interactive tool to help you  evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .

Please be aware that any studentships that are linked to this course may have different or additional requirements and you should read any studentship information carefully before applying. 

Degree-level qualifications

As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:

• the BPhil in Philosophy from the University of Oxford with a distinction or near-distinction grade, or an equivalent national or international qualification;  and
• a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in philosophy or a closely-related degree which involved substantial engagement with philosophy.

However, entrance is very competitive and most successful applicants have a first-class degree or the equivalent.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.6 out of 4.0. However, most successful applicants have a GPA of 3.7 or above.

If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.

GRE General Test scores

No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.

Other qualifications, evidence of excellence and relevant experience

You are not required to have any publications but these may be an advantage.

Further guidance

Applicants who achieve a distinction in the BPhil in Philosophy , the MSt in Philosophy of Physics , the MSt in Ancient Philosophy or the MSt in Practical Ethics are eligible for progression to the DPhil, provided that the faculty's Graduate Studies Committee is satisfied that their proposed thesis topic and outline indicate that they can be adequately supervised by members of the Philosophy Faculty. Students who pass the BPhil in Philosophy, the MSt in Philosophy of Physics, the MSt in Ancient Philosophy or the MSt in Practical Ethics without a distinction may be admitted to the DPhil at the Committee’s discretion.

All applications are assessed by the faculty's Graduate Studies Committee at the same time, after the application deadline has passed, and offers are made on a strictly comparative basis.

Applicants should not apply with more than one distinct research proposal.

English language proficiency

This course requires proficiency in English at the University's  higher level . If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement. The minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level are detailed in the table below.

*Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) † Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)

Your test must have been taken no more than two years before the start date of your course. Our Application Guide provides  further information about the English language test requirement .

Declaring extenuating circumstances

If your ability to meet the entry requirements has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (eg you were awarded an unclassified/ungraded degree) or any other exceptional personal circumstance (eg other illness or bereavement), please refer to the guidance on extenuating circumstances in the Application Guide for information about how to declare this so that your application can be considered appropriately.

You will need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. The  How to apply  section of this page provides details of the types of reference that are required in support of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Supporting documents

You will be required to supply supporting documents with your application. The  How to apply  section of this page provides details of the supporting documents that are required as part of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Performance at interview

Interviews are not normally held as part of the admissions process.

How your application is assessed

Your application will be assessed purely on your proven and potential academic excellence and other entry requirements described under that heading.

References  and  supporting documents  submitted as part of your application, and your performance at interview (if interviews are held) will be considered as part of the assessment process. Whether or not you have secured funding will not be taken into consideration when your application is assessed.

An overview of the shortlisting and selection process is provided below. Our ' After you apply ' pages provide  more information about how applications are assessed . 

Shortlisting and selection

Students are considered for shortlisting and selected for admission without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex, sexual orientation, as well as other relevant circumstances including parental or caring responsibilities or social background. However, please note the following:

• socio-economic information may be taken into account in the selection of applicants and award of scholarships for courses that are part of  the University’s pilot selection procedure  and for  scholarships aimed at under-represented groups ;
• country of ordinary residence may be taken into account in the awarding of certain scholarships; and
• protected characteristics may be taken into account during shortlisting for interview or the award of scholarships where the University has approved a positive action case under the Equality Act 2010.

Processing your data for shortlisting and selection

Information about  processing special category data for the purposes of positive action  and  using your data to assess your eligibility for funding , can be found in our Postgraduate Applicant Privacy Policy.

Admissions panels and assessors

All recommendations to admit a student involve the judgement of at least two members of the academic staff with relevant experience and expertise, and must also be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies or Admissions Committee (or equivalent within the department).

Admissions panels or committees will always include at least one member of academic staff who has undertaken appropriate training.

Other factors governing whether places can be offered

The following factors will also govern whether candidates can be offered places:

• the ability of the University to provide the appropriate supervision for your studies, as outlined under the 'Supervision' heading in the  About  section of this page;
• the ability of the University to provide appropriate support for your studies (eg through the provision of facilities, resources, teaching and/or research opportunities); and
• minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted to the University's taught and research programmes.

Offer conditions for successful applications

If you receive an offer of a place at Oxford, your offer will outline any conditions that you need to satisfy and any actions you need to take, together with any associated deadlines. These may include academic conditions, such as achieving a specific final grade in your current degree course. These conditions will usually depend on your individual academic circumstances and may vary between applicants. Our ' After you apply ' pages provide more information about offers and conditions . 

In addition to any academic conditions which are set, you will also be required to meet the following requirements:

Financial Declaration

If you are offered a place, you will be required to complete a  Financial Declaration  in order to meet your financial condition of admission.

Disclosure of criminal convictions

In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will ask you to declare any  relevant, unspent criminal convictions  before you can take up a place at Oxford.

Oxford is one of the world’s great centres for philosophy, and is widely recognised to be amongst the best. In the most recent Philosophical Gourmet Report (2021-22) Oxford University’s Faculty of Philosophy was once again ranked top in the list of Philosophy Faculties in the United Kingdom and still ranked second in the overall ranking of philosophy faculties in the English speaking world. More than 150 professional philosophers work in the University and its colleges, between them covering a vast range of subjects within philosophy, and many are international leaders in their fields. 

Many philosophy subjects at Oxford are ranked highly in the most recent Philosophical Gourmet Report’s breakdown of programmes by speciality (2020-21) , including metaphysics, epistemology, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, applied ethics, metaethics and moral psychology, normative ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of law, philosophy of art, philosophy of physics, decision & rational choice, & game theory, ancient philosophy, 18th century early modern philosophy and 20th century continental philosophy.

The Philosophy Centre in the Radcliffe Humanities building on Woodstock Road acts as a focal point for the faculty’s activities and contains, as well as lecturing and teaching space, a graduate study room and a graduate common room. A wireless network runs throughout the Philosophy Centre.

The Philosophy Centre also contains the department's library, with over 25,000 volumes, a collection of approximately 80 periodicals, online access to many philosophical databases, and librarians trained in the specific bibliographic needs of philosophers. Many college libraries also have extensive holdings in philosophy.

The faculty runs a teaching scheme, lecturing scheme and a Graduate Teaching Register with the aim of providing teaching experience for those DPhil students who intend to pursue an academic career. In the case of the teaching scheme and Graduate Teaching Register, you will do a certain amount of teaching and marking under the guidance of a college fellow. If you are accepted into the lecturing scheme, you will be allowed to give an undergraduate lecture course of your own choice and design, consisting of four one-hour lectures. 

Over 150 Oxford academics are employed by or associated with the Faculty of Philosophy, making it one of the largest philosophy departments worldwide. 

The Faculty of Philosophy is widely recognised to be amongst the best philosophy departments in the world, ranked first in the UK and second in the English-speaking world by the most recent  Philosophical Gourmet Report  (2021-22). 

The faculty offers a wide range of graduate classes, seminars and supervisions, providing you with high-quality tuition in philosophy. This includes its flagship course, the  BPhil in Philosophy , which we believe provides the perfect graduate level training for further studies to doctoral level and is usually studied as the first two years of a four- to five-year doctoral program.

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The University expects to be able to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across the collegiate University in 2024-25. You will be automatically considered for the majority of Oxford scholarships , if you fulfil the eligibility criteria and submit your graduate application by the relevant December or January deadline. Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential. 

For further details about searching for funding as a graduate student visit our dedicated Funding pages, which contain information about how to apply for Oxford scholarships requiring an additional application, details of external funding, loan schemes and other funding sources.

Please ensure that you visit individual college websites for details of any college-specific funding opportunities using the links provided on our college pages or below:

Please note that not all the colleges listed above may accept students on this course. For details of those which do, please refer to the College preference section of this page.

Further information about funding opportunities  for this course can be found on the faculty's website.

Annual fees for entry in 2024-25

IMPORTANT : Please note that while most of the content of these pages relates to the course starting in 2024-25, this information about course fees and the additional information section on this page relate to entry in 2025-26 . The remaining content will be updated for 2025-26 entry later in September.

Information about course fees

Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). For courses lasting longer than one year, please be aware that fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges .

Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information below.

Continuation charges

Following the period of fee liability , you may also be required to pay a University continuation charge and a college continuation charge. The University and college continuation charges are shown on the Continuation charges page.

Where can I find further information about fees?

The Fees and Funding  section of this website provides further information about course fees , including information about fee status and eligibility  and your length of fee liability .

Additional information

The Philosophy Graduate Studies Committee has a research and travel fund for graduate students to which students may apply for assistance with, for example, the costs of attending conferences or workshops. BPhil and MSt students may only apply for funding if they are presenting a paper. Probationary Research Students and DPhil students are entitled to apply for funding to attend a workshop, conference, etc, whether or not they are presenting a paper.

There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees (or, after fee liability ends, continuation charges) and living costs. However, please note that, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.

Living costs

In addition to your course fees, you will need to ensure that you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course.

For the 2024-25 academic year, the range of likely living costs for full-time study is between c. £1,345 and £1,955 for each month spent in Oxford. Full information, including a breakdown of likely living costs in Oxford for items such as food, accommodation and study costs, is available on our living costs page. The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. When planning your finances for any future years of study in Oxford beyond 2024-25, it is suggested that you allow for potential increases in living expenses of around 5% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national economic situation. UK inflationary increases will be kept under review and this page updated.

Students enrolled on this course will belong to both a department/faculty and a college. Please note that ‘college’ and ‘colleges’ refers to all 43 of the University’s colleges, including those designated as societies and permanent private halls (PPHs). 

If you apply for a place on this course you will have the option to express a preference for one of the colleges listed below, or you can ask us to find a college for you. Before deciding, we suggest that you read our brief  introduction to the college system at Oxford  and our  advice about expressing a college preference . For some courses, the department may have provided some additional advice below to help you decide.

The following colleges accept students on the DPhil in Philosophy:

• Balliol College
• Blackfriars
• Brasenose College
• Campion Hall
• Christ Church
• Corpus Christi College
• Exeter College
• Harris Manchester College
• Hertford College
• Jesus College
• Keble College
• Kellogg College
• Lady Margaret Hall
• Linacre College
• Lincoln College
• Magdalen College
• Mansfield College
• Merton College
• New College
• Oriel College
• Pembroke College
• The Queen's College
• Regent's Park College
• Reuben College
• St Anne's College
• St Catherine's College
• St Cross College
• St Edmund Hall
• St Hilda's College
• St Hugh's College
• St John's College
• St Peter's College
• Somerville College
• Trinity College
• University College
• Wadham College
• Wolfson College
• Worcester College
• Wycliffe Hall

Before you apply

Our  guide to getting started  provides general advice on how to prepare for and start your application. You can use our interactive tool to help you  evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .

If it's important for you to have your application considered under a particular deadline – eg under a December or January deadline in order to be considered for Oxford scholarships – we recommend that you aim to complete and submit your application at least two weeks in advance . Check the deadlines on this page and the  information about deadlines and when to apply  in our Application Guide.

Application fee waivers

An application fee of £75 is payable for each application to this course. Application fee waivers are available for the following applicants who meet the eligibility criteria:

• applicants from low-income countries;
• refugees and displaced persons; 
• UK applicants from low-income backgrounds; and 
• applicants who applied for our Graduate Access Programmes in the past two years and met the eligibility criteria.

You are encouraged to  check whether you're eligible for an application fee waiver  before you apply.

Readmission for current Oxford graduate taught students

If you're currently studying for an Oxford graduate taught course and apply to this course with no break in your studies, you may be eligible to apply to this course as a readmission applicant. The application fee will be waived for an eligible application of this type. Check whether you're eligible to apply for readmission .

Do I need to contact anyone before I apply?

Before you apply, you should identify an academic member of staff who is willing to supervise you and has the resources to support your proposed research project. There is no need to contact prospective supervisors directly; details of academic staff, including their research interests and contact details, can be found on the department's website.

Please note that it can never be guaranteed that your proposed supervisor will be assigned to you, even if you receive prior informal approval from that supervisor.

Completing your application

You should refer to the information below when completing the application form, paying attention to the specific requirements for the supporting documents .

For this course, the application form will include questions that collect information that would usually be included in a CV/résumé. You should not upload a separate document. If a separate CV/résumé is uploaded, it will be removed from your application .

If any document does not meet the specification, including the stipulated word count, your application may be considered incomplete and not assessed by the academic department. Expand each section to show further details.

Proposed field and title of research project

Under the 'Field and title of research project' please enter your proposed field or area of research if this is known. If the department has advertised a specific research project that you would like to be considered for, please enter the project title here instead.

You should not use this field to type out a full research proposal. You will be able to upload your research supporting materials separately if they are required (as described below).

Proposed supervisor

If known, under 'Proposed supervisor name' enter the name of the academic(s) whom you would like to supervise your research. Otherwise, leave this field blank.

Referees Three overall, academic preferred

Whilst you must register three referees, the department may start the assessment of your application if two of the three references are submitted by the course deadline and your application is otherwise complete. Please note that you may still be required to ensure your third referee supplies a reference for consideration.

Three academic references are usually required. However, if you have been out of education for a long time, or if you have substantial relevant working experience, then a maximum of one professional reference may replace an academic reference, provided that it speaks to your ability to undertake philosophy studies at graduate level.

Your references should support outstanding academic achievement, great intellectual ability, strong motivation, and independence of thought.

Official transcript(s)

Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.

More information about the transcript requirement is available in the Application Guide.

Personal statement and research proposal: Statement of a maximum of 500 words and a proposal of a maximum of 2,000 words

Your statement of purpose/personal statement and research proposal should be submitted as a single, combined document with clear subheadings. Please ensure that the word counts for each section are clearly visible in the document.

Personal statement

You should also submit a personal statement explaining your motivation for applying for graduate study at Oxford. Your statement should focus on philosophy, rather than personal, extra-curricular achievements and interests. In your statement, you may wish to consider the following questions:

• why are you applying to this particular programme of study?
• what relevant academic and/or research experience do you have?
• which areas of study within the subject interest you?
• why would you be an excellent candidate for this course?
• how does this course fit in with your future career plans?

Your personal statement should be written in English and be a maximum of 500 words.

If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.

Your personal statement will be assessed for evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study.

Research proposal

Your research proposal should comprise a detailed outline of your proposed research, covering areas such as the background to the research, methodology, expected results and the contribution to the field of learning. You may wish to make reference to your academic achievements, interests and aspirations and the relevance of the course to your future career development plans.

Your research proposal should be written in English and be a maximum of 2,000 words. The word count does not need to include any bibliography or brief footnotes.

Your research proposal will be assessed for:

• coherence 
• originality 
• evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study
• ability to present a reasoned case in English
• feasibility of successfully completing the project in the time available for the course (normally three years and a maximum of four years)
• commitment to the subject
• knowledge of research techniques
• capacity for sustained and intense work
• reasoning ability
• ability to absorb new ideas, often presented abstractly, at a rapid pace.

It will be normal for your ideas subsequently to change in some ways as you investigate the evidence and develop your project, but you should nevertheless make the best effort you can to demonstrate the extent of your research question, sources and method at the time of your application.

Written work: One essay of 4,000 to a maximum of 5,000 words

You should submit an academic essay on a subject related to your proposed research topic. 

The essay should be typed or word-processed in English and must be clearly marked with your name and the date of composition. The word count does not need to include the end bibliography. Footnotes and in-text referencing are included.

This will be assessed for:

• clarity and accuracy of thought and writing
• intellectual independence
• willingness and ability to reach conclusions by reasoned argument rather than assertion
• a critical and attentive reading of any texts discussed
• understanding of important philosophical ideas and theories
• if required by the topic of the work, appropriate technical skills.

Start or continue your application

You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please  refer to the requirements above  and  consult our Application Guide for advice .

Application Guide   Apply

ADMISSION STATUS

Closed to applications for entry in 2024-25

Register to be notified via email when the next application cycle opens (for entry in 2025-26)

12:00 midday UK time on:

Friday 5 January 2024 Latest deadline for most Oxford scholarships Final application deadline for entry in 2024-25

*Three-year average (applications for entry in 2021-22 to 2023-24)

Further information and enquiries

This course is offered by the Faculty of Philosophy

• Course page  and FAQs on the faculty's website
• Funding information from the faculty
• Academic and research staff
• Faculty research
• Humanities Division
• Residence requirements for full-time courses

Course-related enquiries

Advice about contacting the department can be found in the How to apply section of this page

✉ [email protected] ☎ +44 (0)1865 276930

Application-process enquiries

See the application guide

Other courses to consider

You may also wish to consider applying to other courses that are similar or related to this course:

View related courses

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FAQs from Prospective PhD Applicants

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The online application is usually available starting in early September. But there's no strategic advantage to applying early; we review all our applications at the same time. Just make sure all your materials get to us by January 7 if you are applying for the PhD program.

The application is accessible online. The deadline for PhD admissions is January 7 (or the first business day after that), and the application must be submitted online . There is an application fee . (Some students in special circumstances are eligible for a fee waiver .)

One part of your application is the online form. In addition to the form, you will also submit several kinds of supporting material. 

You will be asked to provide:

A 1-2 page statement of academic purpose, describing past and present work as it relates to your intended field of study, and anything unusual we should know when evaluating your application.

The application will also prompt you to submit an optional personal history statement. The personal history statement is truly optional. If you do feel that there is information relevant to your application, a brief paragraph will normally suffice. It will not be held against you if you choose not to include a personal history statement.

A CV or resume

A writing sample

This should be an example of polished, substantive philosophical writing. It should display your philosophical abilities at their strongest, and will need to manifest analytical skills on a par with students already in our program. It may be the most important part of your application. A reasonable length for this is 20-25 double-spaced pages. Some applicants submit more than one writing sample; this is alright if, for example, they display very different aspects of your philosophical capacities (for example, a paper in philosophical logic and one in ancient philosophy). If they don't, we'll most likely only look at one of the papers submitted. Short 10-page papers of the sort written for a class or a tutorial rarely show us enough of a candidate's ability to be successful, and sending several of these is no better. Applications to our PhD program are intensely competitive. You're best off taking extra time to select your best philosophical work and develop it into a mature, interesting piece of writing.

Sometimes students send us sections of longer pieces of writing; this is ok in principle but what you submit should be self-contained and should be enough on its own for us to reliably evaluate you.

To enable anonymous review, author's name and other identifying information should not be included in the writing sample.

Transcripts

You are strongly encouraged to scan and submit these electronically when you submit your application (with English translations, if needed). Unofficial transcripts are acceptable but if you are admitted, you will have to submit final and official paper copies of your transcripts later.

If your school is in the US, and your GPA is not shown on the transcript, you'll need to calculate it and supply it in the application.

Here are further instructions and FAQs about transcripts.

We ask that you include all of these documents as part of your online application. 

The GRE general test is optional for the upcoming 2023-2024 cycle only. We will consider GRE test scores if they are submitted.

Either the TOEFL or the IELTS is required of all applicants who are not native English speakers or who do not have a bachelor's or master's degree from an institution where the language of instruction is English.

Finally, you'll need to ask several faculty who know you well to submit letters of recommendation to us. We ask for three letters; you can provide up to five if there are special reasons for doing so. Here are further details about letters.

In accordance with GSAS policy, we do not accept letters of recommendation from credentials services, such as Interfolio. Please have your references upload their letters directly to the online application. Additionally, we do not accept any other documents through Interfolio and other services. The statement of academic purpose should be included in your online application and not sent through them. Transcripts and translations should be uploaded to your online application, as well.

Weaker GREs or grades do not decisively exclude a candidate. Coming from a lesser-known school is not much of a handicap, if other parts of the application are strong. Letters from philosophers (or faculty in affiliated departments) are much more useful to us than any other sort of letter. Finally, the writing sample is what you have most control over.

As a matter of policy, we cannot go into further details about what makes an application successful, or how to improve your application.

In order to enroll in the Graduate School of Arts & Science (GSAS), you must have received a bachelor's degree or its equivalent from a college or university of acceptable standing. (In some countries, the equivalent degree is there called a "masters" degree.) It is not formally required that your bachelor's degree have been in philosophy. However, your application won't be successful unless we can see you have a comparable level of preparation.

There is no requirement to have done (what in the US we call) a master's degree—in some places, these are called "MPhil" or "BPhil" or "MLitt" degrees—before applying to our PhD program. You can apply directly to the PhD, and many of our applicants do. However many others, especially those with thinner undergraduate backgrounds in philosophy, have done some master's work.

If you think your background and preparation in philosophy aren't strong enough yet to get you into a competitive PhD program, doing a masters degree can help strengthen your application for the PhD. Not because we're impressed you've done the extra degree, but because it puts you in a position to give us a stronger writing sample, and gives more faculty the opportunity to see you doing advanced work, and write more useful letters of recommendation.

Some students without much formal training in philosophy have been extraordinarily talented at it and have been able to demonstrate this to admissions committees: for example, by writing papers of publishable quality. However, the overwhelming majority of untrained students aren't yet ready to enter competitive PhD programs.

Not at all. We often encourage our own students to do just this. It often gives people better lives, and makes them more ready for grad school when they get to it. At the same time, though, when you do apply we'll want to see that you've actively and recently been doing work of the sort our grad students do. If you've been outside of academia for a while, you'll need to find other ways to do that.

No, I'm sorry, we can't make specific such judgments until we formally review your application. And even if we could, we can't give feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of individual applications.

For these and other international student questions, view the FAQs for international student applicants .

The TOEFL or IELTS test is required of all applicants who are not native English speakers. The TOEFL/IELTS requirement is waived if you will have completed a bachelor or master's degree at an institution where the language of instruction is English. You don't need to do anything to inform the grad school that you're eligible for this waiver; they can determine that from your regular application materials.

For further details, review the GSAS Application Instructions  and the GSAS Testing Requirements FAQs .

The graduate school requires official test scores, sent to them directly from the GRE, TOEFL, or IELTS programs. Have them sent to New York University—GSAS, code 2596. The TOEFL requires you to list a department code; you should select the code that is most appropriate for your field of study. You may also use code 99. However, do not use code 00—we will not receive your test scores if you report 00 as the TOEFL department code. Also, do not leave the field blank. If you do, it will become code 00 and we will not receive your test scores. For IELTS scores, they must be sent directly to New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Science, New York ,NY. No code is needed for IELTS.

Often there are constraints on when you'll be able to take the GRE and TOEFL tests. You should schedule them early in the fall. Every year, some students end up scheduling them too late and then email us frantically asking what exceptions we can make for them. There's little we can do. If your test scores won't reach us until (shortly) after the application deadline, then self-report the scores on your application, or email them to us as soon as they are available. However, we may have already set your application aside as incomplete; and we make no promises to go back and reconsider it. Also, the grad school must receive your official test scores by the time we make our final decisions, or we won't be permitted to make you an offer.

We see all of your scores.

Please don't do this. It turns out to be a huge amount of work for us and for the grad school. These are things that DON'T justify sending us any update or new material:

• you accidentally sent us the statement of academic purpose that was addressed to Columbia
• your paper which was under consideration for ... has now been accepted, and you want to update your CV
• you have a newer draft of your writing sample, or you accidentally sent one that left out a few changes

If you have some more compelling reason to update your application, then you can email [email protected] .

GES gets applications to us, and we begin reviewing them, in mid-January. We make no promises whatsoever to include materials submitted late in our review.

Please review your Application Status Page which has a checklist of the various parts of the application and whether we have received them or not.

Philosophy gets over 300 PhD applications each year, and are typically permitted to make fewer than 10 first-round offers, plus a small number of second-round offers, aiming to get an entering class of 4-8 students. This means we accept around 3% or fewer of our applicants. For comparison, Yale Law School's acceptance rate is around 7%, and Harvard Law School's acceptance rate is around 11%.

We aim to make all our admissions decisions by the end of the second full week of March.  Our admissions decision must be finalized with the Graduate School before applicants are informed whether their application was successful, a process which may take up to another week after the decisions have been made.  Graduate School policy does not permit us to answer individual queries about decisions.

If you're worried that an announcement hasn't reached you, the best thing you can do is make sure you update us with changes to your email address. Do so by writing  [email protected] .

There are websites where applicants say what schools they've heard decisions from. Sometimes there are phony reports of NYU decisions on these sites. I don't know why. We will attempt to get our real decisions to you as soon as we can. Decisions are not available by phone.

As stated above, we get many excellent applications and can only extend offers to a small handful of them. Many strong applications are unsuccessful. As a matter of policy, we are not permitted to discuss details regarding individual decisions.

No. The application and all materials submitted to the Graduate School become the property of NYU and will not be returned under any circumstances.

Only your GRE scores (retained for five years) and TOEFL/IELTS scores (retained for two years). Review the FAQ for Re-applying for Admission .

If you are applying for the dual-degree JD/PhD program, you need to apply separately to both NYU Philosophy and NYU Law School. Each program's decisions are made independently, on the basis of their usual standards, and they do not share application materials. The cooperative nature of the program consists in your being able to use certain coursework to satisfy some requirements simultaneously. (Here are more details .) If you're accepted to both programs, we'll gladly discuss this all further, and put you in touch with some other students who have pursued this dual-degree program. As stated above, LSAT scores cannot be substituted for the graduate school's GRE requirement.

Admission to a dual-degree program is contingent on acceptance by both programs. If one does not accept you, the other may at its discretion consider you for admission to that individual program.

Apart from dual-degree programs, GSAS policy permits students to apply for only a single program and degree in a given year. Review the policy around multiple applications .

Exceptions: Students who apply to the Philosophy PhD program and are unsuccessful can ask to be considered for the MA programs in  Bioethics , or the interdisciplinary Center for Experimental Humanities . To arrange this, let Graduate Enrollment Services (GES, they are GSAS's admissions office) know as soon as possible after getting the PhD decision. They will instruct you how to proceed.

You are allowed to apply simultaneously to multiple programs at NYU if they are in different schools, such as GSAS and Steinhardt.

Students tend to take from 5 to 7 years.

All our PhD offers come with the same standard financial aid package. No separate application is required. We will discuss the details with you when we extend an offer.

If you've won an external fellowship, be sure to let us know; this will affect the details of your financial aid.

Typically our students are able to support themselves in modest shared housing on the fellowships we offer. They don't need to take out educational loans. Opportunities for teaching are available and compensation is in addition to the fellowship offer. The terms of the fellowship (as well as student visas for international students) severely constrain your eligibility for other employment.

The university has a subsidized student housing program for first-year PhD students. Details about this will be supplied in your offer letter.

Most US graduate programs, including NYU, have signed the Council of Graduate Schools Resolution.

This promises that admitted students with financial aid offers aren't required to accept the offer before April 15 (or a later date if specified in your offer letter). However, if you're able to make a decision earlier, you are encouraged to do so. This helps students on our waiting list, and helps us better create the incoming class. But it is your privilege to take until the deadline, if you need to.

If you do accept an offer before April 15, you are allowed to cancel the acceptance at any time until April 15.

After April 15, you cannot accept an offer from another school (school #2), without first obtaining a written release from the school you originally accepted (school #1). And school #2 cannot offer you financial aid except conditional on your supplying that written release from school #1.

You can notify us by email of your decision to accept or decline our offer, but you must also follow the instructions in your offer letter, and (if you're accepting) submit a tuition deposit. The details will be spelled out in your offer letter.

In some circumstances this is possible. You have to petition for it, and your reasons for deferring should be academic.

Here are the departmental rules .

We are willing to consider applications from students seeking to transfer from other PhD programs. However, we make offers only to the most exceptional of these; our expectations are much higher than for beginning students.

Our PhD students can get some course credit for graduate-level work done previously (whether in a degree program or not). Generally this will be for up to two courses, and will be subject to approval by the Director of Graduate Studies. Please wait until we've made our admissions offers before asking us to pronounce about your individual circumstances.

Even if you don't get course credit for work done previously, you are welcome to use that work as a seed for work you'd submit here, either for a seminar or for an independent study you arrange with a member of our faculty.

Other local philosophy departments: sure! Sometimes, someone at NYU will have to nominally oversee your participation in the outside course, and approve the grade. But in practice, this doesn't make much difference.

Other departments at NYU: sure, if it's relevant to your philosophical studies. (Otherwise, your fellowship doesn't pay the tuition, and we wouldn't count it towards your degree.) In recent years, our students have attended courses in the Law School, and the linguistics, psychology, math, and physics departments. There are also some programs for language study, in NY or abroad; though this also has to be relevant to your studies, and in practice our students don't have to satisfy a separate language requirement.

One of the requirements of our PhD program is that 9 out of the 11 required courses be taken in the NYU Philosophy department (courses cross-listed in other departments count for these purposes). It's common to audit courses at other departments, even when one doesn't take them for credit.

Our PhD students do coursework for two years and only decide on their dissertation topic during their third year. A dissertation committee is formed at that time. We assign supervisors during your first years in the program, but this is just someone who talks to you about program requirements, problems you're having, and so on. There's no reason for it to be someone who's directly related to your research interests.

There is no general language requirement for the Ph.D. Language proficiency may be required for specialized research in particular areas (e.g., ancient philosophy) or topics (e.g., Kant).

See our placement record .

See our course listings .

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Admissions Statistics

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• Philosophy: PhD Time to Degree Statistics
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Apply for the Ph.D. in Philosophy Program

Complete the online application administered by the Duke Graduate School . (Although the general Graduate School deadline is earlier, the department will consider all applications completed by December 5, 2024). We consider applications for admission to the fall semester only. Applications are completed and submitted to the Graduate School in the fall of the year preceding the applicant's expected year of entry into the program. 

Required documents and information:

• Academic transcripts
• Letters of recommendation
• Statement of purpose
• GRE scores (Optional)
• Writing sample
• International students also need to submit their TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo English Test score

Writing Sample

The submission of a writing sample (nonreturnable, limited to fewer than 15 pages) is required. Writing samples are to be uploaded to the Graduate School on-line application site, along with general application materials, behind the other documents.  

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Department of Philosophy

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Graduate (MA/PhD) Admissions

Ready to apply.

Click the appropriate link below to find instructions for the application procedure:

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Frequently Asked Questions

Once you submit your application, you will receive an e-mail with a link to your application status page.  The status page contains the modules for uploading your supporting documents and entering the contact information for your letter writers.

We ask that you submit three letters of recommendation, a resume/curriculum vitae, a statement of purpose, copies of your test scores and transcripts, and a writing sample that does not exceed 20 double-spaced, typed pages.  Applicants must submit official test scores and transcripts to the Office of Admissions.

GRE scores are now an optional component of applications to our MA and PhD programs. The department reviews each application holistically, so, for those applicants who choose to submit GRE scores, these are merely one data point among several; they are not used to filter out any applications. And their absence has no negative impact. When GRE scores are not submitted, the applicant will be assessed entirely on the basis of the required materials as far as admission to the graduate program, and departmental funding, are concerned. 

No, but you do need a background in Philosophy (or the equivalent of a minor in Philosophy, i.e., at least 12 credit hours)

The deadline to ensure full consideration of your application for admission and funding is  January 2nd . However, applications will be accepted until the final application deadline of March 31st.

PhD applicants who wish to be considered for the MA program if not accepted to the PhD program should indicate such interest at the end of their statement of purpose.

All applicants are automatically considered for a teaching assistantship by the department, and any student admitted to the program (either MA or PhD) is typically offered one. A teaching assistantship is a funding award that includes a stipend, a tuition waiver, and health insurance, and requires that the student work as a teaching assistant. In addition, there are some departmental fellowships available, which are offered to exceptional PhD applicants by the department. University fellowships are special financial awards offered by the university. They are competitive, with only a few being offered each year across all disciplines within the university. For a complete list of university fellowships and their requirements, please consult the FSU graduate school fellowships and grants page.

Florida State University's Institution Code is 5219.

The university requires a minimum GPA of 3.0. Successful applicants will typically have a very strong background in Philosophy, with a GPA of 3.8 or higher

You may send them in one large envelope as long as you have each of your letter-writers seal the envelopes and sign across the seal before you collect the letters. Otherwise, the recommenders should mail their letters separately.

We ask that you do not submit more than three. You can help us keep the application process fair and efficient by submitting the requested number of letters.

We ask that you submit only one writing sample for the same reason we ask you to submit only three letters of recommendation: it helps preserve the fairness and efficiency of the application process.

Please submit only the materials requested, and only in the numbers requested. The Graduate Admissions Committee considers the materials requested to be those most relevant to making admissions decisions.

Yes. University Admissions will not consider your application to be complete until they receive official transcripts from all of your previous institutions.

You should contact  [email protected] .

Sometimes your application is complete with the Department of Philosophy, but incomplete with University Admissions. This situation can occur because the Department of Philosophy considers your file complete once we have the information required to make an admissions decision. University Admissions, however, will consider your application incomplete until they have received and processed your application fee and official copies of your transcripts. We cannot officially admit you until your file is complete with University Admissions.

We endeavor to make admissions decisions as early as possible in the calendar year, so we hope to inform applicants about their status by the end of February. We adhere to the  Council of Graduate Schools Resolution  concerning offers of funding, which sets an April 15 deadline for the acceptance of funding offers.

If you do not find your question or concern answered here, please contact Dr. Andrea Westlund, Director of Graduate Admissions, by e-mail at [email protected]   or by completing the inquiry form below.

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Faculty and Staff Resources

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PhD Program Overview

Academic mission.

The PhD Program in Philosophy offers an intensive course of study in preparation for a career as a scholar and teacher of philosophy. The program in particular consists of four major components. (1) Completing coursework in the three main areas of contemporary philosophy and in the history of philosophy. (2) Participating in a paper revision workshop, in which students significantly revise an essay originally written for a seminar in consultation with faculty and other students. (3) Defining an intellectual project and writing the PhD dissertation under the direction of a faculty committee. (4) Teaching as assistants in faculty-taught lecture courses and then as lecturers in stand-alone tutorials and small courses. In addition to these major components, students and faculty also participate in a variety of workshops and reading groups in which students present their own work for criticism by their peers and faculty. Throughout the PhD program, students and faculty join together in a continuous, rich philosophical dialogue. And faculty also support that dialogue and students’ intellectual work through advising, mentoring, ongoing academic evaluations, and canny career advice.

Note: The PhD Program in Philosophy is the only graduate program to which the Department of Philosophy admits students; those students interested in a masters degree can apply directly to the Masters of Arts Program in the Humanities ( MAPH ). This is a standalone program in the Division of Humanities within which students can take a number of graduate courses in philosophy. Elsewhere on this site we have a more thorough explanation of how our faculty interests serve our MAPH students.

PhD Program Handbook for 2024-25

Culture of the PhD Program

The PhD Program in Philosophy is intellectually inclusive, capacious in its research and teaching interests, and unusual in the extent and depth of the collective engagement with both the analytic and continental traditions. All programs now promote their interdisciplinarity, but we’ve been enjoying our wide range of philosophical interests for decades here at Chicago—thanks in part to the thorough integration of the interdisciplinary Council of Advanced Studies workshops into the PhD program and also to departmental colloquia, in which departmental and visiting faculty speak (and are challenged) on various philosophical issues. The department hums with free-flowing philosophical discussions among students and faculty occurring in seminars, workshops, colloquia, the hallways of Stuart Hall, and the Friday afternoon coffee hours in our Anscombe Library.

Socially, the department also tries to make sure that every student’s voice is heard in the running and shaping of the department and its PhD program. There are always two elected graduate student representatives who help keep channels of communication open and flowing in both directions between the departmental faculty and graduate student body, and faculty meet with students regularly about issues of concern. The department also has a faculty diversity liaison; a Diversity, Inclusivity, Climate, and Equity (DICE) Committee composed of departmental faculty and graduate students; and a graduate student outreach coordinator. We all work to ensure that the PhD program, courses, and the departmental culture feel welcome to students from all backgrounds. Here is  more information on DICE .

The Women in Philosophy (WIP) group organizes bi-quarterly social gatherings for graduate women in the department. Gatherings typically consist of dinners or brunches hosted at the home of one of our members. While the primary purpose of these gatherings has typically been that of socializing, they are also a space in which people should feel free to raise and discuss any issues pertaining to life in the department. These social events build solidarity and community for the women in our department, and in general there is a high level of cooperation and collaboration between graduate women in the department. Here is  more information on WIP .

The University of Chicago is situated in the heart of the South Side of Chicago, one of the country’s most culturally and intellectually rich cities . Life in Chicago is itself also inclusive: it’s a diverse, vibrant city with many social possibilities and livable—and strikingly affordable!—neighborhoods for students.

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Admissions and Eligibility

The graduate application system opens every year on October 1st and closes on December 15th at 11:59 pm P.S.T.

You can find more information about the online application and Penn on the Graduate Division’s website .

What we’re looking for

Our Admissions Committee takes a holistic approach to evaluating applications. Along with a solid academic record, our program is looking for individuals who demonstrate excellence in their chosen field and fit well with the goals and interests of the department.

Admissions requirements for the program reflect the high standards of the School of Arts & Sciences. Admissions criteria include:

• A bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution
• A minimum 3.0 GPA
• TOEFL scores of at least 100 (iBT), 250 (CBT), or 600 (PBT) for international applicants (TOEFL scores are not required from international students who are attending or have attended English-speaking institutions or programs for their undergraduate or graduate degree)

The department receives between 150 - 250 applications each application cycle and we admit between 4-7 students. As such, the application process is very competitive. If your application for doctoral work is successful, you will receive an offer of financial aid. Our five-year aid package offers two and one-half years of fellowship support without teaching or other duties (though first-year students help monitor the library), and two and one-half years of service as a teaching fellow or assistant. (The aid package is adjusted for joint-degree programs.) Doctoral study is full-time.

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Graduate Admissions to the Department of Philosophy will open late summer for the academic year 2024-2025. Deadlines will be December 15, 2024, 10 PM Mountain Time for international applicants and January 3, 2025, 10 PM Mountain Time for domestic applicants. You may apply as instructed below.

Thank you for your interest in graduate study in the Philosophy Department at the University of Colorado Boulder.  You can learn more about each our three graduate programs — Ph.D., M.A., and Bachelor’s–Accelerated Master’s — by clicking on the links to the right.

We expect to enroll a full Ph.D. class (usually 5-6 students) and a full M.A. class (usually 4-8 students) in Fall 2025.  All of our Ph.D. students receive guaranteed funding for at least five years, in the form of TA-ships or graduate-student Instructorships.  And though most of our M.A. students do not receive guaranteed funding, we have in recent years been able to offer some funding each semester to the majority of our M.A. students in the form of TA-ships.   We are  GRE test optional  for Fall 2025 admissions: we are not requiring GRE scores, but the Admissions Committee will see GRE scores if they are submitted . (Please note that international applicants may still be required to submit TOEFL/IELTS scores. See under "International Applicants", below.)

All applicants are considered for both the Ph.D. and M.A. programs.  

Some resources and information you should know about if you are considering applying to graduate school in philosophy:

• Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Philosophy : Comprehensive advice by Eric Schwitzgebel, philosophy professor at UC Riverside; from 2007 but still relevant and still very helpful;
• The Philosophical Gourmet Report : An influential ranking of graduate programs in philosophy in the English-speaking world; see the speciality rankings in addition to the overall rankings;
• Should You Go to Graduate School in Philosophy? : One discussion of the question with links in the first paragraph to several other discussions.

The Philosophy Department supports the University’s commitment to encouraging diversity and equal educational and employment opportunities throughout the University community. These values are articulated in the University’s   non-discrimination policy , by the   Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance , and by the   Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement .  We welcome applications from all students, but we also   hope to continue to attract and retain members of underrepresented groups in philosophy. To this end, we strongly   encourage women and members of underrepresented groups to apply, and we are offering targeted application-fee waivers (see below for details).

If you have any questions about graduate study in the Philosophy Department at CU Boulder or about your specific circumstances, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Iskra Fileva, at [email protected] .

I want to pursue a PhD in philosophy but I haven’t studied a lot of philosophy formally. Do you have any advice for me?

If you have studied enough philosophy to have good letters of recommendation from philosophy professors and a good writing sample in philosophy, it is possible to be admitted into a good graduate program in philosophy without a BA in philosophy. MA programs are generally easier to get into than PhD programs, and of course can serve as a springboard to them.  

If you don’t have letters of recommendation from philosophers or a good writing sample in philosophy but are determined to study philosophy at the graduate level, one way to overcome this is to take philosophy courses at a nearby university as a non-degree student. Here at CU Boulder, you can even take graduate courses this way (with the permission of the professor). If you take several such courses and do well in them, you may be able to get some letters of recommendation out of it as well as a good writing sample.

If you are near enough to Boulder and want to take a graduate-level course as a non-degree student, reach out to the professor teaching the course by email a few weeks before the start of class, explain to them your background in philosophy, explain your longterm goals in philosophy, including how your taking this course fits in with them, and ask them for their permission to take the course. The actual process for enrolling is explained here: https://ce.colorado.edu/resources/getting-started-visiting-nondegree-student/

If I want to apply, do I first need to reach out to a faculty member and ask them if they are willing to take me on as their PhD student?

No.  Unlike in many European universities, professors in philosophy departments in American universities typically do not individually recruit, admit, or fund students.  Applicants to our PhD program are pooled together, and a committee chooses a small number of the most highly qualified applicants for admission.  Those students do two to three years of coursework, after which time they settle on a PhD advisor.  There is no expectation that applicants have any contact with individual faculty members prior to applying.  

Do you offer application waivers?

Yes, in limited circumstances.  This is explained below. 

Application fee waiver requests are available for four groups of applicants, as listed below. In every case, fee waiver requests must be initiated prior to completing an application. You may apply for a fee waiver starting on October 1st . Domestic applicants must submit their request by December 15 . Requests from international applicants must be received by November 1.

1. Participants in the McNair Scholars program : In order to qualify for this application fee waiver, applicants must upload a verification letter signed by the current campus McNair representative. McNair Scholars should email [email protected] directly for instructions on how to proceed.

2. Participants in the Gates Millennium Scholars program: In order to qualify for this application fee waiver, applicants must upload a verification letter signed by a Gates Millennium Scholars representative. Applicants should email [email protected] directly for instructions on how to proceed.

3. U.S. citizens who meet the following need-based eligibility :

• are currently enrolled in a degree program with no breaks in enrollment from point of entry in a degree-seeking program. In order to qualify for this application fee waiver, applicants must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program in the semester immediately preceding the academic term for which they are applying
• have continuously received need-based financial aid in each term of enrollment in your current program
• have had no breaks in financial support since onset of support

To qualify under this third category, please provide a verification letter on letterhead from your current institution's financial aid office, with an original signature certifying the specific items listed above. If you are unable to obtain a letter from your current institution’s financial aid office, please upload official financial aid award statements from all academic years of enrollment. This material should be sent to Philosophy Graduate Program Assistant Karen Sites ( [email protected] ).

4. Highly qualified international applicants from low-currency countries: International applicants will be considered for a fee waiver if

• they come from a low-currency country ;
• they have strong academic qualifications;
• their scholarly interests are a good fit with the interests of this department.

To qualify under this fourth category, applicants should supply

• the statement of purpose from their application;
• the writing sample from their application;
• a brief account of their reason for requesting a waiver.

This material should be sent to Philosophy Graduate Program Assistant Karen Sites ( [email protected] ).

If your fee waiver request is approved, the fee for applying will be paid directly by the University of Colorado. In that case, it is essential that you not pay the fee yourself. If you pay the fee, reimbursement is not possible .

If your fee waiver request is denied, your application will not be processed until the application fee is paid. 

The Department will consider fee waivers on a rolling basis until the designated funds have been exhausted.

CU has adopted an on-line admissions system. Check out the general instructions for applying and submitting materials .

As part of the application process you will be assigned a username. The username/number you are assigned when you apply becomes your permanent student identification number at CU. If you were ever a student at CU, or if you ever applied to CU in the past, you need to use that same username associated with your name and social security number. Be aware that the process of assigning a username and login credentials takes two to three business days and must be done before you can proceed; for this reason make sure you start your application well before the due date.

Until you have completed and submitted the on-line application, your recommenders will not be notified and you will not be able to check the status of your transcripts, test scores, etc. in the portal. For this reason, you should complete your on-line application as soon as possible.

Changes or updates to your already-submitted application should be sent directly to Admissions at [email protected]

Please note that applications must be complete by the deadline, including recommendations, in order to be fully considered. You should plan ahead accordingly.

Also please note that the application system closes at 10 PM Mountain Time on the due date. Do not plan on submitting late in the day on the due date.

Once you have submitted your application, you will be able to check the status of your application and supplemental documents .

The department invites and encourages applications from minority and women candidates. The department offers fall admission only into the graduate program. The deadline for domestic applications is January 3rd.

Each application requires the following elements:

• online application form (filled out and submitted online)
• $60 application fee (paid online)
• a writing sample (a sample of your philosophical work) (submitted online); the writing sample should be no more than 5,000 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography.
• 1-2 page personal statement (submitted online) explaining your philosophical background, interests, and goals. We strive to have a diverse, equitable, and inclusive graduate program; thus, you may (but are not required to) also use your personal statement to describe how your educational, professional, or personal experiences have prepared you to contribute to this aim.
• three letters of reference (submitted online)
• scanned unofficial transcripts from each institution of higher learning that you have attended. Uploading Transcripts

All applicants should use the online application portal .

You will first need to register. If you have ever applied for a password-protected account at CU (e.g., you applied last year), you will need to use the same username and password associated with your social security number as before. Fill out the on-line application, and pay the $60 application fee on line. Have three (3) Letters of recommendation sent to us. There are two ways to have letters sent:

• Fill in the names of your recommenders; an email will be sent to them asking them to upload their letters of recommendation for you after you submit your application. For this reason, do not wait until the deadline to submit your application. It is HIGHLY recommended that letters be submitted online in this fashion in order to ensure proper processing.
• If recommenders wish to send their letters by email instead of by uploading their letters, please have them email them to [email protected]

Transcripts should be scanned and uploaded or mailed as per above.

The department invites and encourages applications from minority and women candidates. The department only offers fall admission into the graduate program. The deadline for international applicants is December 15th.

• $80 application fee (paid online)

All applicants should use the  online application portal .

International applicants should  check the requirements for international applicants .

Check here to see if you are required to supply proof of English proficiency, and how to do so if you are: https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/admissions/where-begin/international-students/english-proficiency-requirements

International applicants have an early deadline of December 15th. This deadline is to ensure that application materials have time to be processed for the department. All applicants should use the  online application portal .

You will first need to register. Fill out the on-line application, and pay the $80 application fee for international students on line. Have ETS send your TOEFL (if needed) score to CU Boulder. Upload your writing sample and statement of purpose to the online application website. If for some reason you cannot upload these documents, you must send them to the Office of Admissions (address below). Have three (3) letters of recommendation sent to us. There are two ways to have letters sent:

• Fill in the names of your recommenders; an email will be sent to them asking them to upload their letters of recommendation for you after you submit your application. It is HIGHLY recommended that letters be submitted online in this fashion in order to ensure proper processing.
• If recommenders wish to send their letters by email instead of by uploading their letters, please have them email them to  [email protected]

Upload scans of unofficial transcripts  or send your transcript(s) to the above address. The Office of Admissions will process the materials, and upload the documents for us to see online. If you send us any materials by mail, we will have to forward it to the Office of Admissions. To ensure that materials you send to the Office of Admissions are matched with your application file, print a copy of your application as a cover sheet for the items you mail to the Office of Admissions. Failure to do this can result in delays in processing. Allow sufficient time for mail to be delivered to the United States. Most items typically require 10 days to two weeks from within the United States and even more time when sent from other countries.

For further information or questions about the admissions process, contact:

Karen Sites Graduate Program Coordinator CU Boulder Philosophy Muenzinger D110, 232 UCB Boulder, CO 80309 [email protected] 303-492-3172

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The Graduate Program in Philosophy

Graduate Degree

Stanford's graduate program in Philosophy is by any measure among the world's best. We attract  excellent students , we provide them ample access to  leading scholars  for instruction and advice, and we turn out accomplished philosophers ready to compete for the best jobs in a very tight job market. We offer both MA and PhD degrees.

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Our  graduate students  are part of a vigorous philosophical community.

Our tradition is to treat and regard our graduate students as much like colleagues as like students. Faculty and graduate students participate in workshops, in reading groups, in colloquium discussions and in nearly all department life on an equal basis. The Department covers the cost of graduate student participation in lunches and dinners with visiting speakers. Our graduate students participate in the running of the department. Two graduate students serve as representatives at department meetings, a graduate student serves on the Graduate Studies Committee, and graduate students also serve on faculty hiring committees. Graduate students are essential to our efforts to recruit new graduate students each year.

Graduate students have a lively society of their own, the Hume Society that is responsible for a range of both intellectual and social events.

Graduate students take a mixture of courses and seminars both in our department in other departments. They also regularly take directed reading courses or independent study courses when special needs are not met by scheduled courses or when students are working directly on their dissertations.

Our  calendar  is packed with a range of philosophical events. We have a regular  Colloquia series  with visiting speakers on Friday afternoons. Our Colloquia are followed by receptions for the speakers hosted by the graduate students followed by dinner with the speaker. In addition to the regular colloquia series, every year we host the  Immanuel Kant Lectures . Our graduate students, along with other local graduate students,  organize the  Berkeley/Stanford/Davis Conference  where every year graduate students have the opportunity to present papers to an even larger philosophical community.

Many more informal reading and research groups,  including the Social Ethics and Normative Theory Workshop, the Global Justice and Political Theory Workshop, and the  Logical Methods in the Humanities Workshop , existing within the department and the university and are able to invite speakers from all across the world.

The affiliated  Center for Ethics in Society  hosts many different events including the annual lectures such as   Tanner Lectures in Human Values , the   Wesson Lectures on democratic theory and practice , and the  Arrow Lecture Series on Ethics and Leadership , in addition to a vast range of other  conferences, lectures and workshops  on ethics and political philosophy.

The  Center for the Explanation of Consciousness  (CEC) is a research initiative at  Center for Study of Language and Information  which is devoted to studying materialistic explanations of consciousness. The CEC hosts talks and symposia from a variety of viewpoints exploring the nature of conscious experience. They also sponsor reading groups during the term, led by faculty and graduate students.

Philosophy Ph.D. Program

Approved by Graduate Council and Graduate Division, Nov. 10, 2008. These requirements apply prospectively beginning with those admitted for Fall 2009. Students who entered the program under the old requirements may choose either to continue under that regime or to adopt the requirements below.

The Ph.D. program is designed to provide students with a broad knowledge of the field of philosophy, while giving them opportunities to work intensively on the issues that interest them the most. During the first stage of their graduate education, students meet the Department's course distribution requirements and prepare to take the qualifying examination. This examination assesses the student's strengths in areas chosen by the student in consultation with supervising faculty. After passing the exam, students advance to candidacy and begin writing the Ph.D. thesis. A detailed explanation of the requirements for the Ph.D. in Philosophy follows.

Before Advancing to Candidacy

During the first stage of the program, students are expected to acquire a broad background in philosophy and develop their philosophical abilities by fulfilling the following requirements:

First Year Seminar

A one-semester seminar for first-year graduate students only, conducted by two faculty members, on some central area of philosophy.

Logic Requirement

The Logic Requirement has two components:

• Completion of Philosophy 12A or its equivalent, with a grade of B+ or better.
• Completion of 140A or 140B with a grade of B+ or better. Courses with a comparable formal component including, in most cases, courses in the 140 series may satisfy this requirement, with the approval of the Graduate Advisor.

Both parts of the requirement may be fulfilled by successful completion of equivalent logic courses before arriving at Berkeley. Whether taken at Berkeley or elsewhere, courses taken in fulfillment of the logic requirement do not count towards the eight-course distribution requirement.

Course Distribution Requirement

Before taking the Qualifying Exam the student must complete eight courses at the 100- or 200-level completed with a grade of A- or higher. At least four of the eight courses must be graduate seminars. The eight courses must satisfy the following distribution requirements:

Two of the eight courses must be in the history of philosophy: one in ancient philosophy and one in modern philosophy. The courses may be on any individual philosopher or group of philosophers drawn from the following lists:

• Ancient: Plato, Aristotle
• Modern: Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant, Hegel

Four of the eight courses must be in the following areas, with at least one course from each area:

• Area 1: Philosophical logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mathematics.
• Area 2: Metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of action
• Area 3: Ethics, political, social and legal philosophy, and aesthetics

A seventh course may be any Philosophy course in the 100 or 200 series except for 100, 195-199, 200, 250, 251 and 299.

An eighth course may be either any Philosophy course as specified above or a course from another Department which has been approved by the Graduate Advisor.

In exceptional cases, students may, at the discretion of the Graduate Advisor, meet one distribution requirement by presenting work done as a graduate student elsewhere: typically a graduate thesis or work done in a graduate-level course. Meeting a distribution requirement in this way will not count as meeting any part of the four-seminar requirement.

Language Requirement

Revised requirement approved April 4, 2022 by Graduate Council, for all graduate students who have not already passed the foreign language requirement.

Before taking the Qualifying Examination, the candidate must pass a departmental examination in a foreign language requiring the translation of 300 words in 90 minutes with the use of a dictionary. The language can be any foreign language containing a significant philosophical literature, provided that a faculty member qualified to administer the examination is available. An examination in an approved language may be waived upon approval of the Graduate Division if native ability in the language can be demonstrated through secondary school or university transcripts. A course sequence of four semesters (or six quarters), whether taken at UC or elsewhere, will be accepted in lieu of the language examination if the sequence was completed within four years of admission to Berkeley and the student earned an average grade of C or better.

The Qualifying Examination

Students should aim to take the qualifying examination by the end of the fifth enrolled semester and they must take it by the end of the sixth enrolled semester.

In order to take the examination the student must have fulfilled the department's course requirements and must have passed the language requirement.

The qualifying examination is administered by a committee of three faculty members from the department and one faculty member of another department. The members of this committee are nominated to the Graduate Division by the Graduate Advisor in consultation with the candidate.

Soon after assembling an examination committee, the candidate should, in consultation with this committee, write a 300-word description and compile a list of readings for each of three proposed topics for examination. Each topic should be centered on a major philosophical problem or question. Together the topics should reflect a balance of breadth and depth, and the Graduate Advisor must approve that they meet these criteria.

A week before the qualifying examination, the candidate should submit an overview essay of 1500-3000 words for each topic, which expands on the initial description. The essay should aim to lay out the central problem or question, to explain its importance, and to evaluate critically the attempts to resolve or answer it, with an eye to forming a view within, or about, the debate.

The qualifying examination itself will be a three-hour oral exam administered by the committee. The candidate's essays are meant to serve as a springboard for discussion in the exam. The purpose of the examination is to test the student's general mastery of philosophy. Students are expected to draw on the information, skills and understanding acquired in their graduate study and to demonstrate sufficient breadth and depth of philosophical comprehension and ability to provide a basis for proceeding toward a Ph.D.

If a student fails the qualifying examination, the examining committee may or may not recommend that a second examination be administered by the same committee. The second examination must be administered no sooner than three months and no later than six months following the first attempt. Failure on the second attempt will result in the student being automatically dismissed from the graduate program. (See Section F2.7 of the Guide to Graduate Policy .)

Students should advance to candidacy as soon as possible and they must do so no later than a year after passing the qualifying examination or the end of their sixth semester in the program, whichever comes first, to maintain satisfactory progress in the program. (An exception to the above policy will be made for those students who, having failed the qualifying exam in their sixth semester, may be granted the possibility to take it a second time in their seventh semester. In the case of a successful retake, the student must advance to candidacy by the end of the seventh semester.)

Before advancement to candidacy the student must constitute a dissertation committee consisting of two faculty members from the department and an outside faculty member from another department.

Prospectus Stage

In the semester after passing the qualifying examination the student must take two individual study courses of 4 units each with the two inside members of his or her dissertation committee for the purpose of preparing a dissertation prospectus.

The dissertation prospectus should be submitted both to the inside members of the committee and to the Graduate Advisor by the end of that semester. It should consist of about fifteen pages and outline plans for the dissertation. Alternatively, the prospectus may consist of parts of a possible chapter of the dissertation together with a short sketch of the dissertation project.

Following submission of the prospectus, the candidate will meet with the inside members of the committee for an informal discussion of the candidate's proposed research.

The Doctoral Completion Fellowship

The Doctoral Completion Fellowship (DCF) is a one-year fellowship available to graduate students who have advanced to candidacy and meet several additional conditions. Students are advised to review the eligibility requirements for the DCF .

Additional Requirements

Each student for the Ph.D. degree is expected to serve as a graduate student instructor for at least two semesters.

Dissertation seminar

Students in the first two years after declaring candidacy must register for the dissertation seminar (Philosophy 295) for at least one semester each year, during which they must present a piece of work in progress, and are expected to attend the seminar all year. (The seminar meets every other week.) All students working on dissertations are encouraged to attend the seminar.

Annual Meetings

At the end of each academic year, there will be a meeting of the student and both co-chairs of his or her dissertation committee to discuss the student’s progress over the year and his or her plans for the following year.

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Deadline for applications is Monday, January 2, 2024 (11:59 p.m. CST).

Most philosophy graduate students are working towards a Ph.D. degree and receive an M.A. in the course of their work for this. Students intending to obtain only an M.A. degree are admitted only in special circumstances. The requirements for these degrees are set out in the department's  graduate regulations .

Financial aid

Students admitted to the Ph.D. program are offered financial aid, in the form of fellowships or assistantships, which cover living expenses and include a waiver of tuition and service fees. This aid will usually be continued for up to five years provided the student is making normal progress. Further details are qualifications are given in the department's  graduate regulations .

Financial aid for graduate students is not affected by any hiring freeze announced by the University.

Requirements for admission

Applicants must have a bachelor's degree and a grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in the last 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours) of undergraduate work.

Applicants should have taken courses in symbolic logic, ancient and early modern philosophy, ethics, and the theory of knowledge. Students who have not taken courses in one or more of these areas may still be admitted but will be required to make up their deficiencies early in their graduate program.

In evaluating applications, we look for applicants who have often received an A in philosophy courses, a writing sample that shows an ability to do graduate-level work in philosophy, and reference letters that testify to that ability.  We no longer require the GRE beginning for Fall 2021 admission.

International applicants whose native language is not English must have a  TOEFL  score of at least 600 on the paper-based test or 100 on the internet-based test. You must also obtain at least the minimum score required for teaching assistants on an oral English proficiency test; these are described in the  information for teaching assistants .

Application procedure

• Submit a writing sample, preferably in philosophy, such as a term paper or part of a thesis, normally 10-20 pages in length. Upload this in the "Statements" section of the application, in response to "Program-Specific Question 1." Here is a useful discussion  of how to prepare a writing sample.
• Arrange for three letters of recommendation in the "Recommendations" section of the application.
• Submit your statement of purpose and CV
• Submit transcripts from each school you have attended

Notification of decisions

We will normally give you a decision via email by early March. Students offered admission have until April 15 to accept or decline the offer but your earliest response is appreciated.

Please contact the chair of admissions, Professor Kohei Kishida at [email protected] .

Genetics, Molecular & Cellular Biology Admissions

Students seeking admission to the Genetics, Molecular and Cell Biology (GMCB) program apply to the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and select the GMCB program. Students interested in the Mammalian Genetics at JAX track must select this track when they apply to GMCB.

Prospective applicants are evaluated based on prior grades, three letters of recommendation, and personal statements. Prior research experience is strongly valued but is not required.

A personal interview is an important part of our evaluation process and may be conducted in person or virtually. An undergraduate major in the biological or life sciences is recommended, but not required.

The GRE is not required but can be submitted with the application.

The application is completed online on the GSBS Application Portal .

Information about application deadlines and the application process can be found in the Admissions section of this website.

Graduate Program

Admissions Review Considering COVID-19 Disruptions

As part of the Sage School of Philosophy's ongoing practice of performing individualized, holistic review of each applicant to the graduate program, the graduate admissions committee takes into account the significant disruptions and challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants are invited to provide, as part of their application, an account of their individual experiences during the pandemic to provide context to inform the application review process.

OVERVIEW OF THE GRADUATE PROGRAM

The Ph.D. program is completed on average in six and one-half years. Accordingly, students in the program are typically guaranteed full financial support for six and one-half years. The Sage School does not offer a terminal master's degree.

Coursework: Students are normally expected to complete 12 courses covering a broad range of philosophical subfields. To meet this expectation, students enroll for credit in at least three courses per semester for the four semesters constituting their first two years in the program.     

Fifth-semester tutorial and A exam: Students spend the third year preparing for the A exam, an oral exam based on the student's formal dissertation prospectus and work preparatory for writing the dissertation. Students spend the first semester of the third year (their fifth semester overall) pursuing an individualized tutorial with relevant faculty. The fifth-semester tutorial is the mechanism by which students identify a dissertation area and begin the research necessary for articulating, focusing, and launching a dissertation project.

After completion of the 5th semester tutorial, the Special Committee and student determine when to schedule the A-Exam (whether in the 6th semester or in the summer prior to the 7th semester) and notify the DGS (Director of Graduate Studies) of their plan by the start of the 6th semester.  The Graduate School must receive notice of the exam's scheduled date by May 1, or by the beginning of the last month of the sixth semester.   The A-Exam must be attempted before the start of the 7th semester.

Sage Fellowship funding in the following ("dissertation") year depends on passing the A-Exam. 

Year 4 and beyond

Dissertation and B exam: Students spend their fourth year and beyond writing the dissertation. The B exam is the oral defense of the completed dissertation.

Students who have successfully passed the A exam as required by the Grad School are eligible to teach a First-Year Writing Seminar (FWS), for which they must take Writing 7100: Teaching First-Year Writing with the John S. Knight Institute in the summer prior to teaching or concurrently while teaching an FWS.

The Ph.D. is awarded on successful completion of the B exam and the submission of the completed dissertation.      

There are no formal academic obligations during summers. The typical funding package provides summer stipends for up to six summers (for more information see FUNDING). This summer funding is intended to free students to pursue their academic work or research. Supplemental funding is usually available to support summer language study or other specialized coursework.      

Special Committee

Each student has a special committee of advisors, consisting of at least three members of the graduate faculty. The committee offers general academic advising, approves the student's course selections and helps the student develop a plan of study that will provide the background needed for research and teaching in philosophy. The special committee is charged with recommending the residence credit to be awarded at the end of each semester and administering the A exam and B exam. Students may change the composition of their special committee and are encouraged to do so as their interests and dissertation plans develop.

Guidelines and Requirements

The following is a list of the guidelines and requirements for the Ph.D. in Philosophy. (The Sage School does not offer a terminal M.A. in Philosophy.)  Coursework requirements are established by the student's special committee, in light of the student's preparation and plans.  What follows are guidelines that will help the student and special committee in formulating a set of required courses.  These guidelines for planning constitute a set of general expectations for a typical student, and may be set aside at the discretion of the special committee. 

• Six registration units. One registration unit corresponds to the satisfactory completion of one academic semester of full-time study and research. 
• History of Philosophy
• Metaphysics and Epistemology
• Ethics and Social and Political Philosophy
• Logic or Mathematical Methods  
• Sage Seminar. In their first semester in the program, first-year students participate in a proseminar (the Sage Seminar), which provides an introduction to selected central issues in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language.  
• Fifth-semester tutorial. During the fifth semester, students find and begin work on a suitable dissertation topic. Students select a faculty member in the field of philosophy to supervise their research and meet regularly with him/her to gauge progress.   
• Admission to Ph.D. candidacy (A exam). This oral examination is ideally taken in the sixth semester of residence. It covers the student's dissertation prospectus and relevant literature.   
• Teaching experience. All students are required to serve as a Teaching Assistant (TA) during some of their time in the program.   
• Dissertation. The dissertation must embody the results of original research in a substantial treatment of a single issue or connected set of issues.   
• Final examination for Ph.D. candidates (B exam). This is an oral defense of a student’s dissertation work given in front of the student’s special committee.

(A student's special committee may also impose additional requirements: for example, languages or courses in related fields necessary for research in the student's area of specialization.)

Coursework Guidelines

Students are expected to complete twelve graduate-level courses distributed as specified in the following four categories:

History of Philosophy   

Students are expected to take at least three courses in the history of philosophy, of which:

• at least one must focus on some major figure(s) in ancient western philosophy,
• at least one must focus on some major figure(s) in modern western philosophy through the 19th century, and
• the remaining course may cover any figure(s) in the history of western or non-western philosophy through the 20th century. 

(Normally, graduate-level Philosophy courses with a second digit of 2 count as history courses.)  

Proseminar in the History of Philosophy:

An annual forum for engaging with current research in the history of philosophy through a variety of presentations by visiting scholars, Cornell faculty, and advanced graduate students. The Proseminar is open to all faculty, graduate students and invited advanced undergraduates working in any area of history of philosophy

Each meeting involves a presentation of a current paper or research project by a different speaker. Students in the course are expected to engage in critical discussion of the work presented and in reflection of the practices and methodologies exemplified in that work. Advanced graduate students in the course are expected to present work of their own. Exposure to a variety of scholars and their work and the opportunity for explicit reflection on scholarly practices will enable students to develop and refine their own research in history of philosophy.

Metaphysics and Epistemology     

Students are expected to do work in at least two areas in this category. This category is construed as including Metaphysics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, Art, Mathematics, Language, Mind, and Religion. (Normally graduate-level courses with a second digit of 5, 6, 7, or 8 [in the four-digit course number] satisfy this guideline.)     

Ethics and Social and Political Philosophy     

Students are expected to do work in at least one area in this category. (Normally graduate-level courses with a second digit of 4 [in the four-digit course number] satisfy this guideline.) 

Logic or Mathematical Methods

Graduate students in Philosophy can fulfill this guideline in two ways.

• Demonstrating understanding of classical 1st-order logic (of at least the Boolean connectives, universal and existential quantification), including understanding of deduction, basic model theoretic concepts and facts, soundness, and the completeness of a formalization of at least classical 0th-order logic.
• Demonstrating competence with some of the mathematical concepts, methods, theories and logics that play a role in the philosophical literature, e.g. basic set theory, semantic theory, intensional logics, probability, decision theory, game theory and social choice theory.

Logic or Mathematical Methods Prerequisite: Students will be allowed to take graduate-level courses in logic only if either (1) the logic committee has agreed that they have done previous work equivalent to the content of PHIL 2310, or (2) they have successfully completed 2310, (3) they have learned the material covered in 2310 and have taken the preliminary and final examinations (in take-home form) for 2310 or (4) they have special permission from the logic committee. The faculty members who teach PHIL 2310 will set and administer the relevant examinations. Students who choose option (2) may not count 2310 as one of the 12 required courses. Students are expected to complete this logic/mathematical methods prerequisite by the beginning of their third term in residence.

Graduate work done elsewhere     

Students may request credit for graduate-level work completed elsewhere. Such credit is limited to two residence units (i.e., two semesters of full-time course work). Credit for work done elsewhere is not granted automatically, and no decision about whether to grant such credit is made until a student has completed at least one semester of graduate study at Cornell. In some cases the decision is deferred until the end of  the first year of graduate study at Cornell.

Teaching experience is required for the Ph.D. in the Sage School, and graduate students normally receive part of their funding package in the form of teaching assistantships. Sage School teaching assistants typically assist a professor in a lower-level undergraduate course, lead one discussion section per week for about 25 students, and are responsible for grading the work of those 25 students (a commitment of approximately 15 hours per week on average over the course of the academic year).       

Advanced graduate students typically have the opportunity to teach their own course on a philosophical topic of their own choosing in Cornell's  First-Year Writing Seminar Program . First-year writing seminars enroll a maximum of 17 students and emphasize the development of writing skills within the context of discipline-specific subject matter. Graduate students often find teaching first-year writing seminars especially rewarding.

In addition to establishing English-language proficiency at the time of their application, international students must pass a test administered by ITAP (International Teaching Assistant Program) at Cornell prior to receiving a TA-ship in the 2nd year. Typically these tests are taken in the 1st year or immediately preceding their initial arrival at Cornell.

Link to ITAP information

The Sage School typically provides full support for all of its graduate students for six and one-half years. Full support includes:

• Full tuition in the Graduate School
• A living stipend for the academic year
• A summer fellowship (for six summers)
• Student health insurance

Fellowships

Typically two of the academic years — the first year and one other year (normally the fourth) — are non-teaching fellowship years. During fellowship years, students are freed from other obligations so that they may focus exclusively on their coursework or research. Students may use the second of their two fellowship years to pursue training or research-related activities elsewhere. 

Teaching Assistantships

Support for the remaining years typically comes in the form of teaching assistantships. (For more information, including required English language competency, see section on TEACHING .)

Equal, Secure, and Non-competitive Financial Support

All students receive essentially the same financial support package guaranteeing full support for six and one-half years (contingent on satisfactory academic performance and satisfactory performance in any required teaching). Students in the program do not compete for ongoing funding.

Additional Support

After 14 semesters, the Graduate School requires students to petition for an extension, and funding beyond the fourteenth semester is typically not possible.

Additional support for specific purposes such as summer language study, travel to participate in conferences and research-related expenses is often available through at least the sixth year of study.

All students are urged to seek any outside support for which they are eligible.

Admissions Process

The Sage School admissions process is conducted once a year, January-March, for admission in the fall of the following academic year.

Application Deadline

January 6 for fall admission in that year. (The fall semester begins at the end of August.)

Application Materials

The following  materials must be submitted online via the Cornell University Graduate School  online application system :

• Biographical information
• Academic information (including unofficial transcripts)
• More information on English language requirements and exceptions here
• Recommender information
• Three to five letters of recommendation; a total of five letters of recommendation will be accepted (submit all online), but only three are required*
• Financial support information (if required)
• Statement of Purpose
• Writing sample in philosophy (typically 15 but no more than 30 pages long)
• A fee waiver request is available directly within the application itself, on the payment page

*All letters should be submitted online.  Contact the Sage School at [email protected]  if this is not possible. 

Notification of Application Status

Application status and receipt of transcripts and letters are reported via the online application; if anything is lacking during admissions, the Sage School will reach out for the information.

Admissions Notification

Notification of admissions decisions will be made by email on or before March 15th.

Frequently Asked Questions

View the FAQ page

Application fee waivers are available for qualified persons.  The waiver application is part of the online admissions system.  How to apply for a Cornell Graduate School application fee waiver

Applicants can write to [email protected] for additional information.

Admissions Criteria

The Sage School admissions process is highly selective. We receive approximately 250 applications each year for approximately five places in our program. As a result, we look for students with outstanding potential for graduate work in philosophy. In our admissions process, we give considerable and roughly equal weight to three parts of an applicant's file:

• Academic record
• Letters of recommendation
• Writing sample 

The applicant's personal statement is also given some weight in the process.  

We use no particular numerical criteria (no minimum grade point average, for example), and we neither require GRE scores nor give them any significant weight when they are provided to us. We try to identify candidates with very strong general academic backgrounds and special skill or talent for philosophy in particular.   

Academic Record

We look for a strong general undergraduate record and very strong indication of philosophical ability. The latter is often (but not always) demonstrated by a record of achievement in philosophy courses. We normally expect applicants to have a background in philosophy at least the equivalent of what a Cornell undergraduate philosophy major would have. Many of our applicants come from Master's degree programs or have done some other sort of graduate work before applying to Cornell.

Letters of Recommendation

We require three letters of recommendation, and will accept as many as five. It is best if they are written by people who know the applicant well and can provide some concrete and detailed assessment of his or her work. At least one should be from a philosopher or philosophy instructor; it is better if two are (but an additional letter from a philosophy teacher who is not well acquainted with the applicant may be less helpful than a letter from a non-philosopher who does know him or her well).

Writing Sample

We look for a substantial, polished piece of writing that shows the applicant's philosophical abilities and skills. Typically, term-paper length (about 15 pages) is appropriate. Writing samples longer than 30 pages are unlikely to be read in their entirety. Something written for an upper-level philosophy course is generally appropriate.       

Personal Statement

We look for some insight into a person's general intellectual character and interests as well as some indication of how the person's abilities and interests fit with our program. We are particularly interested in candidates for whom our resources are especially well suited and who bring something interesting to our intellectual community.

One of the aims of the graduate program in the Sage School is to help students compete favorably in the academic job market. Each year a member of the faculty serves as placement director, whose role it is to oversee and guide students through the process of looking for jobs in philosophy. Among other things, the placement director assists each candidate with the preparation of their application dossier (writing sample, research statement, teaching dossier, CV, etc.), coordinates the gathering of letters of reference, invites guest speakers to provide advice about particular sectors of the job market, organizes practice interviews and job talks, and is there to offer guidance and support through the job market process.

The placement director for academic year 2024-2025 is Professor Julia Markovits .

The Cornell Graduate School also provides assistance and seminars to help those who want to pursue careers outside of academia.  Non-academic placements of our graduates have included healthcare, investing, biotechnology, and actuarial science.

Click here for details , including a table with initial and current placements of our recent graduates.

For more information, email the department or Professor Markovits.

Department Workshops

Friday workshops & work-in-process ("wip") workshops:.

Click here to view a listing of department workshops which have been held in the past.

Graduate Handbook

The Graduate Program in Philosophy Handbook contains a wealth of information about our graduate program. (Last updated:  July 2024)

Grad Minor in Philosophy for Other Fields

A graduate student in a field other than Philosophy may pursue a graduate minor in Philosophy. Students pursuing the graduate minor must have a faculty member in the field of Philosophy as their minor advisor. (This advisor would thereby become a minor member of the student’s special committee.) To complete the minor, the student must develop a significant competence in relevant areas of philosophy.  Normally, to meet this objective, students will select, in consultation with their minor advisor, and successfully complete at least four courses with PHIL numbers at the 5XXX-level or above that do not have a second-digit 9. Depending on the student’s philosophy background, a student's minor advisor, in consultation with the Philosophy Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), may recommend some deviation from this norm. Students hoping to pursue a graduate minor in philosophy who have little background in the field should consult with a prospective minor advisor before registering for their first philosophy course.