The International Student Blog

International students may wonder if they will be welcome in philosophy graduate programs in the US. Often, philosophy is deemed as difficult and unapproachable, because of this, international students may be concerned that philosophy departments in the US are exclusionary. This is generally not the case. What international students should expect from a philosophy graduate degree program is to be very welcomed. International students who want to know what to expect when pursing a philosophy graduate degree can count on being not only welcomed, but also sought-after candidates to philosophy programs because of their unique perspective on philosophical questions and ideas.

What international students should expect from a philosophy graduate degree is a great deal of writing and reading. Philosophy courses almost always require at least one term paper and that the student read numerous texts. Students will be required to put their ideas down on paper and attempt to prove them both in conversation and through their writing. The final requirement for a PhD in philosophy is a doctoral dissertation which is an extensive research document written over at least two years and is usually five hundred pages long.

Since philosophy is the study of ideas, graduate programs in philosophy are often looking for students who can produce and entertain new and exciting ideas. International students who are applying may find that there is difficulty in navigating the writing requirements if English is not their first language, but they will find that their unique perspective and ideas are most welcome. International students who are concerned about the writing requirements of graduate programs should be reassured that there are many resources available to help them succeed at most universities. A key idea on what to expect when pursing a graduate philosophy degree in the US is that the program will accept students that they believe can succeed and they will help them do so.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2012 at 3:00 pm and is filed under International Student, International Student Study Section, Study in the USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Written by Bryanna Davis

Bryanna joined EIC in 2011 after returning to the United States from teaching English in China. Her interest in international education, sparked initially by her own study abroad experience in Wales, led her to the company. Bryanna is originally from Missouri and is a graduate from the University of Central Missouri.

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