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Pursuing a philosophy grad degree years after undergrad?

In our new "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

Been out of academia since 2018 but avid reader. BS in philosophy and want to return for graduate school. Any guidance on how to get back in? Goal is not to earn money, I already have a career. I want to be happy and learn again instead of being stagnant.

My spouse did something like this in another field. Her path involved first taking some grad classes as a non-degree-seeking student. This enabled her to get up to speed with the discipline, demonstrate the ability to do good work, and obtain letters of recommendation. Then, along with that, she spent time studying for the GRE. The strategy worked: even though she didn't have an undergrad degree in the field, she was able to get into a top program. But this is obviously just one case, and in a different field than philosophy.

Do any readers have any helpful tips or experiences to share?

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7 responses to “Pursuing a philosophy grad degree years after undergrad?”

  1. academic migrant

    My guess is that some MA programs can be a spring board. It can help to familiarise yourself with how things are, and also help you decide whether you’d want to spend more time on philosophy.

    Reply
  2. Career Pivoter

    I did this in a similar way as Marcus’s spouse. I had the opportunity to take two grad level philosophy courses through my employer’s education benefits program, and these enabled me to have a viable writing sample and relevant letters of recommendation (unlike the OP I had no previous degree in philosophy at any level).
    I studied for the GRE and spent time researching PhD programs to find the right fit, including talking directly with students and faculty in advance. The personal statement is a good opportunity to show awareness of one’s atypical path to the field but why one wants to pursue it now.
    One thing I might caution against is pitching oneself as applying merely for the love of learning, which might be (better?) achieved through other means than a PhD program. My sense is that even if your goal is not to be a philosophy professor (I am not because it wasn’t my goal) most programs are seeking to train people who intend to directly apply their training to future scholarship, teaching, or work (which I do).

    Reply
  3. Don N.

    I received an undergraduate degree in philosophy in 1980 and got an MA (actually, an MSc) in philosophy in 2021 at University of Edinburgh. I went back purely for enjoyment and to push my aging brain. Biggest hurdle was what to use for the application, especially recommendations and writing sample. I took courses for a semester at a different school at home in the U.S., then used one paper for my application, plus a professor agreed to do a recommendation as did my boss. It was a great experience being back full time. I would not have been able to do the program while still working — I would have just been trying it to jam it in.

    Reply
  4. Chris

    At all 3 of the (public) Universities I’ve worked at that have PhD programs, each has had non-traditional students that were retired who pursued PhD’s in philosophy for fun. In most cases they got back into it by taking a class or two as a non-degree seeking student, and then, depending on how much background they had previously, applying to the (local) PhD program. Not every program accepts such students, but many do.

    Reply
  5. older grad student

    I did this! I originally graduated with a degree around 2010, and then I actually went and got a second bachelor’s degree before applying to graduate school. The hardest thing for me with the application was letters of recommendation. If you are too far out from your undergraduate degree, you probably should take some classes so you build relationships with professors who can write letters for you.
    Also, you might consider if the rigors of graduate school are exactly what you want in order to keep learning. I’m currently in the middle of writing my dissertation and I’m burnt out and a bit exhausted with the requirements of my degree and the expectations of things like service work, conferences, and publishing papers. An MA might fit better than a PhD if you just want to learn but aren’t totally committed to academia.

    Reply
  6. Mitch Woolery

    I started by taking non credit philosophy classes online at Oxford (OUDCE) to get my feet wet. I followed up with a part-time online M.Sc. at Edinburgh (great school/great program). My dissertation has been submitted and I’m teaching intro Phil classes at an American SLAC. I’ve heard Birmingham has a good online Ph.D. Program. Good luck.

    Reply
  7. Tenure Track Asst. Prof

    I was in a similar situation. I did an MA program, and it made an enormous difference for me. You can also often transfer credits after the MA, if you want to shorten your time to completion in the PhD (though I didn’t do that).
    I know we all have feelings about the gourmet, but I do think the list of MA programs there is a nice one, both for quality and for finding programs that offer funding via TAships.
    https://philosophicalgourmet.com/report-2022/m-a-programs-in-philosophy/
    I would completely ignore the comparative quality judgments, because even if they were once right they can’t be anymore. But the overall list is a great place to look.

    Reply

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