Department of Philosophy

An Open Letter to Prospective Graduate Applicants

Dear Prospective Graduate Student,

Deciding where to attend graduate school can be a daunting task. Several factors must be taken into consideration, ranging from the notoriety of a department’s faculty to the location of the university. FSU obviously does well as far as these factors are concerned. On the one hand, FSU’s department has several of the world’s leading experts in areas such as action theory, epistemology, free will, and meta-ethics (e.g., Michael Bishop, Randy Clark, Joshua Gert, Michael McKenna, David McNaughton, Alfred Mele, Piers Rawling, and others). On the other hand, Tallahassee is both a delightful college town and the capital of the sunshine state. With an active colloquium series, a well-known faculty, a thriving graduate program, and a beautiful campus, FSU is a wonderful place to pursue a PhD in philosophy. Of course, a number of other schools have similar things to offer. So why choose FSU? In my own admittedly biased opinion, the one factor that separates FSU from other programs is the amount of time and energy the faculty are willing to spend helping motivated students spread their intellectual wings.

Consider, for instance, my own dissertation advisor—Al Mele. Not only does he give students detailed feed-back on their written work, but he teaches them how to do contemporary analytic philosophy by painstakingly showing them first-hand how to construct and deconstruct philosophical arguments. Moreover, he helps students polish their work for conferences and journals—sometimes even giving them travel grants out of his own research funds to present their work! I personally do not believe that I could have had a more helpful dissertation advisor or a more attentive teacher. Indeed, there were times when I would send him a copy of a chapter of my dissertation only to have it back in my box the next day replete with helpful suggestions and corrections. From reading multiple drafts of his students’ papers to meeting them out for beer, pool, and philosophical conversation, Mele always sets aside time to help students grow as budding philosophers. More importantly for present purposes, he is not an anomaly in this regard. I mention him here only as one example among several. In my experience, the entire FSU department—from the faculty to the staff—is willing and able to help ensure that students learn the ins and outs of academic philosophy so long as they are willing to hold up their end of the bargain by working hard!

In my eyes, this is an issue that does not get the attention it deserves. Minimally, it is an important factor students should take into consideration when deciding where to pursue their PhD’s. Becoming an academic philosopher requires not only well-known teachers and an awful lot of hard work, it also requires mentoring—something that eludes Leiter’s otherwise very useful “ranking” of philosophy departments (i.e., the PGR). When I decided to attend FSU in the spring of 2002, I turned down offers to attend programs with higher standings in the PGR. And while I am sure I would have received an excellent education at those other universities, I certainly don’t regret my decision. After all, I ended up with a handful of publications coming out of graduate school, a PhD from a well-respected and growing program, and over a dozen job interviews at the APA. Moreover, I ultimately secured a tenure-track job at Dickinson College—a top-tier private liberal arts college in Carlisle, PA. The faculty at FSU did an outstanding job preparing me for the job market, which is something else you should certainly factor into your deliberations concerning where to attend graduate school.

For now, I just want to say that I would not be where I am today had it not been for the guidance and support that I received from the good people at FSU’s department of philosophy. Based on my own personal experiences, I strongly recommend that you give their program a serious look. They will do their part to provide you with the tools you need to be a successful academic philosopher. And you’ll have a lot of fun along the way!

Best wishes,

Thomas Nadelhoffer

FSU Alumnus 2005