Not really. I still have like 33k debt (due to interest). The minimum monthly payments are about $400. That is not so bad since the interest is tax deductible because they're all federal loans, but I don't have a full time job. All the money that I make now goes toward the minimum payments. Moreover, I desperately need a large amount of money (about 20k) for other more important things over the course of the next couple of years. It will be difficult to save that money while paying the loan, assuming of course I can find a decent job. So no, I don't really have it down, and I think debt is toxic. Avoid it if you can. I don't know that the extra 18k for a philosophy degree is worth it just to go to UCLA over UCR, but then again, I don't know what their philosophy program is like. The only way I could see it as being justified is if you were sure that you wanted to do a ph.d. and you were sure that UCLA had a much better philosophy program that could potentially get you into a top philosophy ph.d. program. If you want to do anything besides a philosophy ph.d. or don't know that their philosophy undergrad program is far superior, I don't think that the money is worth it.
I know nothing about counseling psychology. From what I've heard, it tends to be that you either have to get a ph.d. or to do something like a masters in social work with an emphasis on counseling. But I haven't really looked into it.
For business school, it doesn't have to be accounting. I just wanted to stress what the business world is like. Like, think of some companies you might want to work for, and go and look at their job openings. Once upon a time, a philosophy degree could get you a job at a bank or something, but now thanks to HR departments everywhere, they want things that are very specific. It will be really difficult to get a job in the business world based on your philosophy degree alone. If I wanted to go to business school (and could do it over), I would study either accounting or engineering, get a job at a good company for 2-3 years, and then go to the best business school possible (a top 10 if possible). Other options include things like finance, marketing, and computer science (though apparently a lot of people are regretting doing comp sci/IT lately). However, since you're in CA and could probably go to the silicon valley area, you might be able to find something, and I would think that a comp sci degree with an MBA from that area would be valuable. Again, this is another thing where I don't 100% know what I'm talking about since I basically did the public sector counterpart, but there are some similarities I think (like people thinking the degree is worthless without real world experience). I suppose it might be possible to go directly to an MBA program and make out okay. It would be more difficult though, and it would really suck to go into a massive amount of debt if you don't end up with a high paying job to justify the expense.
For the continental tradition, you'll need to know a language: french, german, latin, greek, or maybe italian. Don't get suckered in by thinking you're smart. Everyone who goes to a philosophy ph.d. program is smart. They were all the best philosophy student at their college. The programs are more selective than their medical and law counterparts at each school. Practical considerations are the issue. Somewhere, there is a blog by a professor at UCR talking about getting a ph.d. in philosophy. I found it. Read all of this:
http://schwitzsplintersunderblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/applying-to-phd-programs-in-philosophy.html
http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/
^Read that too.
So basically, here is why I didn't do it. First, I don't know a language and suck at them. Second, my GPA was a bit too low. I had a 3.8 GPA with an honors distinction in philosophy, but I did get some B grades in philosophy courses that were inexcusable. The main reason was that I was too depressed to get out of bed some days in college, but whatever. So you need a stellar GPA and mostly or probably all As in your philosophy classes. Third, and here is the biggest issue, is that your chances of making it into academia are horrible. If you look at the faculty of any philosophy department at any college, they come primarily from very particular places like Oxford, Stanford, Yale, Harvard, NYU, Pitt, and other top programs. If you want to get a job, you need to be at one of those top programs, which is really difficult. Otherwise, it gets quite difficult. The issue is that there are more philosophy ph.d. holders than jobs available, like more than double the amount needed are produced for the amount of jobs available. Recidivism rates are very high as well. So most people don't make it through their philosophy ph.d. programs (less than half in some programs), and of those that do, less than half ever find a job in academia. For each position, there are like 100-200+ applications, all from people with philosophy ph.d.s. That's because as more people get the degree, it just gets worse each year (because the number of jobs is not growing very much). So basically, unless you're incredible beyond belief, you sort of have to be at peace with the fact that, after having spent 5+ years on your ph.d., you might never find a job.
The analytic track is very concerned with science. I don't know much about it, but I know that to excel at it, it is probably best to study science, math, linguistics, or something in that domain. I don't think those are formal requirements. I don't know what the formal requirements are.
What kind of applied philosophy? Like applied ethics?
