TomJones678

I got a 170 on the GRE Verbal. I second the Magoosh flash cards, though they are limited. Barrons has a 1,500 word list that I worked through over a period of about two months, just marking all of the words I didn't already know and testing and retesting myself. Vocabulary, I feel, is a huge part of the test, so if you can go in there knowing just about every word on the test (and you probably will if you do the Barrons with the Magoosh--I only didn't know one word, if I recall, but that didn't matter because I chose it by process of elimination knowing the other words), you should be good to go. With that said, Barrons had BY FAR the most difficult question sets and reading comprehensions passages. I used them thinking it was going to be a really tough test. Then I picked up the ETS and Kaplan books because they were available to me for free through the university I work for--the passages from Barrons were written like theoretical physics articles authored by Judith Butler and the other books' passages were like James Patterson blurbs in comparison. The actual GRE test was more like the latter having worked through the Barrons. Get the Barrons GRE Verbal Workbook. Also, we're already good at reading complex and dense passages because we like to read literature and literary theory. But comma statistically, the folks who do the best on the GRE verbal are the philosophy majors-- and this makes sense because they're typically reading even more complex stuff. The more you read the quicker you'll be able to unpack things like purpose and thesis in this type of dense material.

I second DuoLingo--it's an absolutely fantastic app, and it's free. There have been some studies showing its effectiveness being similar to that of Rosetta Stone. And it's fun!

I chose to actually depart from English altogether and accepted a fellowship offer from NC State for a PhD in Higher Education Administration. I limited my grad school search to programs around Raleigh and Durham because my wife has a good job here, and I didn't want to live in poverty for the next 4-6 years. Plus, it helps that there are some great programs right around here. Aside from NC State's PhD in Higher Ed. Admin, I applied to Duke's English program, NC State's CRDM program, UNC-Chapel Hill's English program, and UNC-Greensboro's English program (all PhD). I got funded offers from UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Chapel Hill and was rejected from Duke and NC State's CRDM program. In the end, my decision came down to UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State for Higher Ed. Admin. This was probably the most difficult decision I've ever made, mostly because my heart has always been in literature, and UNC obviously has a fantastic program with fantastic faculty (and is one of the top-ranked programs in the country). However, the fellowship offer from NC State, coupled with the fact that it's a shorter program (4 vs. 6 years) as well as my belief that it will give me more job opportunities, ultimately won me over, and I will be enrolling there this fall. Plus, I tend to get bored/burned out with things after so long, and so the excitement of doing something completely different was also a factor. My advisor and I are currently developing a reading list for the Summer 1 term. I am still not really over leaving behind a discipline that has been such a significant part of my life for so long (I majored in English literature in college and in a 2-year Masters program at Wake Forest University), but I am looking very much forward to a totally new discipline. Just to be clear, I've worked for the last two years as the director of a writing center, and so that's the main experience I'm bringing to the NC State program in administration. It's also a perk that NC State is literally right down road (not even 5 minutes) from the institution whose writing center I direct, so I can still pick up some part time hours as a tutor there. All in all, I'm very excited!

If someone is waiting on the wait list for funding for UNCG, I just declined my funded offer there (I was on the "top tier" of a wait list for funding there). I am also 99.99999% sure I will be declining my offer to UNC-Chapel Hill, for anyone who's still waiting there. I will be officially declining tomorrow if I do.

This is true.

Hmm, that's an intriguing idea, though I'm not sure I'd have time to do both, given I want to start a family in the near future, heh. Yes--this seems to be my dilemma in a nutshell, heh. Thanks for laying all of that out there, Prof. I'll need to do some real soul-searching in the next couple of days!

So I've got a really tough dilemma. I was awarded an inaugural fellowship at NC State for their Higher Education Administration program, but I was also accepted at UNC-CH for their English program with full funding (the financial package, really, isn't that much lower than NC State's fellowship). My heart has always been in literature, but Higher Ed is a new and exciting field for me, and I can't help but consider that with the Higher Ed program, I'd have more job opportunities (I could go into research, administration, or teaching), whereas with English--as we're all painfully aware (and yes, I did read the thread that was devoted to that topic in the last week)--the job opportunities are less. Any advice/insight/suggestions?

All right--thanks for the insight! To answer your question, besides UNCG, I have a great (funded) offer from one school, and I'm wait-listed at my top choice. So right now, I'm really just waiting on that top-choice to see if anything pans out there; otherwise, I'll mostly likely be going with the former offer.

Just curious--have you heard anything in particular from UNCG that makes you say "likely"? I'm on the the "top tier" of a wait list for funding there, but I've heard nothing other than that. Thanks!

Congrats, Carolinahopeful!

That sounds awesome! I'm actually looking broadly at 18th and 19th century Brit lit, but with a focus on Romanticism. So it looks like we're not really competing after all, heh. Question--when you say you received an offer from NCSU for English, is that a Ph.D. in English? Or are you referring to their CRDM program?

I'm on the wait list too--I suppose I should let Dr. Dore know that I have two other acceptances as well? Good luck, Carolinahopeful! I suppose we're competing, but I wish you all the luck in the world. UNC is my number one choice as well! What's your area of concentration, if you don't mind my asking?

Hi, pbnwhey, Just curious--with UNC Greensboro, did you arrange a campus visit with the dept/POI? Do you suppose that's expected in order to have a good chance of getting accepted?

Hi, CarolineKS--would you happen to have any info on PhD apps this year for UNC-CH? When we could expect to hear back, whether they're doing interviews, etc. Thanks!

Hi--I'm applying to Ph.D. programs in English, and I was wondering if I should be worried about my graduate (MA) GPA, which is 3.6. My undergraduate GPA, also in English, is a 3.97. I got a 170 Verbal on the GREs (5 on the writing), and I think the rest of my application--SoP, Writing Sample, LORs, CV--is pretty strong. Will my 3.6 graduate GPA be of concern on my application? Thanks!