The free-standing M.A. program is intended for students who wish to develop an advanced competence in Philosophy. Some of our free-standing M.A. students do not plan to go on to Ph.D. programs in Philosophy. Other free-standing M.A. students do plan to go on to Ph.D. programs in Philosophy, but do not yet have the background in Philosophy to win admission to a Ph.D. program, for these students, the free-standing M.A. program provides the opportunity to begin graduate studies by taking classes alongside the students enrolled in our Ph.D. program.Students who do well in the free-standing M.A. program will be in a good position to apply to Ph.D. programs. However, the free-standing M.A. program in Philosophy at Columbia is not intended as the first step toward earning a Ph.D. in Philosophy at Columbia. M.A. students who wish to pursue a Ph.D. should plan to apply to Ph.D. programs at other universities. Any M.A. student who wishes to pursue a Ph.D. at Columbia must apply separately to the Ph.D. program, they will be evaluated competitively with all of the other applications we receive. There is no guarantee that they will be admitted to the Ph.D. program, nor should there be any expectation that their chances of being admitted are improved by the fact of having obtained an M.A. degree in the Department.