Stanford doctoral program

Applications and offers of admission are counted in the year in which the applicant was intending to enroll. The year in this case encompasses the summer quarter through the following spring, so the application year would include students who intended to matriculate in Summer through Spring If an applicant was admitted and decided to defer their enrollment, that application and offer of admission are counted in the later, deferred year instead of the original year.

The majority of new doctoral students matriculate in either autumn or summer. As these dashboards are updated annually in the autumn, the data for the most recent year will not include applicants or admits for winter or spring.

The admit rate is calculated by dividing the number of offers of admission by the total number of applications received. Prospective students may only apply to a single doctoral program at a time, with the exception of the 14 programs in Stanford Biosciences , where students commonly select up to three programs for consideration as part of their application.

A successful applicant will only be offered admission to one of these programs, which may result in an artificially low admit rate for some of these programs. These programs include:. East Asian Studies. Public Policy. Religious Studies. Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies.

Slavic Languages and Literature. French and Italian. German Studies. Symbolic Systems. Iberian and Latin American Cultures.

Theater and Performance Studies. Earth System Science. Geological Sciences. Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources. Energy Resources Engineering. Education Data Science. Biomedical Informatics. Health Policy. Biomedical Physics.

Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling. Clinical Informatics Management. Laboratory Animal Science. Community Health and Prevention Research. Medicine MD Program. Our graduate students receive their training in a lively community of philosophers engaged in a wide range of philosophical projects. Our Ph. Among other areas, we are exceptionally strong in Kant studies, the philosophy of action, ancient philosophy, logic, and the philosophy of science. We attract some of the best students from around the world and we turn them into accomplished philosophers ready to compete for the best jobs in a very tight job market.

The most up-to-date requirements are listed in ExploreDegrees. Prospective graduate students should see the Office of Graduate Admissions web site for information and application materials. Applicants should take the Graduate Record Examination by October of the year the application is submitted; in the admissions cycle the GRE is optional, due to the pandemic. The University's basic requirements for the Ph. University candidacy requirements, published in the " Candidacy " section of this bulletin, apply to all Ph.

Admission to a doctoral degree program is preliminary to, and distinct from, admission to candidacy. Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree is a judgment by the faculty in the department or school of the student's potential to successfully complete the requirements of the degree program.

Students are expected to complete department qualifying procedures and apply for candidacy at the beginning of the seventh academic quarter, normally the Autumn Quarter of the student's third year. Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree is granted by the major department following a student's successful completion of qualifying procedures as determined by the department.

Departmental policy determines procedures for subsequent attempts to become advanced to candidacy in the event that the student does not successfully complete the procedures.

Failure to advance to candidacy results in the dismissal of the student from the doctoral program; see the " Guidelines for Dismissal of Graduate Students for Academic Reasons " section of this bulletin. The requirements detailed here are department requirements. These requirements are meant to balance structure and flexibility in allowing students, in consultation with their advisors , to take a path through the program that gives them a rigorous and broad philosophical education, with room to focus on areas of particular interest, and with an eye to completing the degree with an excellent dissertation and a solid preparation for a career in academic philosophy.

Normally, all courses used to satisfy the distribution requirements for the Philosophy Ph. In special circumstances, a student may petition to use a very small number of graduate-level courses taken at other institutions to satisfy a distribution requirement.

At the end of each year, the department reviews the progress of each student to determine whether the student is making satisfactory progress, and on that basis to make decisions about probationary status and termination from the program where appropriate. Any student in one of the Ph. First-year Ph. Proseminar : a one quarter, topically focused seminar offered in Autumn Quarter, and required of all first-year students.

Distribution requirements during the first six quarters. Lists of courses fulfilling this requirement are posted in the next section on this website. Intended to ensure a broad and substantial exposure to major areas of philosophy while allowing for considerable freedom to explore. The second year paper should demonstrate good scholarship and argumentative rigor, and be a polished piece of writing approximately words in length.

The second year paper need not bear any specific relationship to the dissertation. It may be a version of a prospective dissertation chapter, but this is not required. The final version must be turned in on the last day of Summer Quarter of the second year. Extensions of this deadline require the consent of the instructor of the second year Writing Seminar and the Director of Graduate Studies and are only granted in exceptional cases e.

Below are yearly lists of courses which the faculty have approved to fulfill distribution requirements in these areas: value theory including ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, social philosophy, philosophy of law ; language; mind and action; metaphysics and epistemology including metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science ; logic; ancient philosophy; modern philosophy. The department supports interdisciplinary study. Courses in Stanford's other departments and programs may be counted towards the degree, and course requirements in Philosophy are designed to allow students considerable freedom in taking such courses.

Dissertation committees may include members from other departments. Where special needs arise, the department is committed to making it possible for students to obtain a philosophical education and to meet their interdisciplinary goals.

Students are advised to consult their advisors and the department's student services office for assistance. Philosophy participates with the departments of Computer Science, Linguistics, and Psychology in an interdisciplinary program in Cognitive Science.

It is intended to provide an interdisciplinary education, as well as a deeper concentration in philosophy, and is open to doctoral students. Students who complete the requirements within Philosophy and the Cognitive Science requirements receive a special designation in Cognitive Science along with the Ph.

To receive this field designation, students must complete 30 units of approved courses, 18 of which must be taken in two disciplines outside of philosophy. The list of approved courses can be obtained from the Cognitive Science program located in the Department of Psychology. Students interested in interdisciplinary work relating philosophy to artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, linguistics, or logic may pursue a degree in this program.

Prerequisites—Admitted students should have covered the equivalent of the core of the undergraduate Symbolic Systems Program requirements as described in the " Symbolic Systems " section of the Stanford Bulletin, including courses in artificial intelligence AI , cognitive science, linguistics, logic, and philosophy.

The graduate program is designed with this background in mind. Students missing part of this background may need additional course work. In addition to the required course work listed in the bulletin, the Ph. This program is jointly administered by the Departments of Classics and Philosophy and is overseen by a joint committee composed of members of both departments:.

It provides students with the training, specialist skills, and knowledge needed for research and teaching in ancient philosophy while producing scholars who are fully trained as either philosophers with a strong specialization in ancient languages and philology, or classicists with a concentration in philosophy. Students are admitted to the program by either department.

Graduate students admitted by the Philosophy department receive their Ph. For Philosophy graduate students, this program provides training in classical languages, literature, culture, and history.