lavender_be
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Posts posted by lavender_be
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Sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate that English departments are biased against international students. I was simply asking because there's no point in bringing up your lit GRE score until your general GRE score is up to par. Frankly, I'd advise ALL English lit applicants to aim for a 160V. Many international students think that it's OK to have a low V score because they're not native speakers. This simply isn't the case if you're applying for humanities.
I'd also echo proflorax: many, many domestic students get routinely shut out of English PhD admissions, so I wouldn't take that as a sign of bias, or take it too personally. The fact is that there are too many qualified applicants, and not enough spots.
I also have to note that if you did both your undergrad and M.A. coursework abroad, you will be at a distinct disadvantage. Again, this is not because of bias, but because your schools (even if they are the best in Taiwan) will not be well-known in the States, and your recommenders likely do not have connections or may even be unfamiliar with how to write a good recommendation letter. (Tip: It's not to simply gush about how you're the best student who ever existed; a good recommendation letter will talk specifically about your accomplishments and situate your future research in terms of a broader scholarly discourse and your personal/scholastic qualities in terms of professional ability.)
Someone in Korea went through and looked at top-ten or top-fifteen English Ph.D. programs and found that not a SINGLE Korean international student had been accepted by these programs without first doing a B.A. or M.A. in an English-speaking country. (There was a sprinkling in the top-25, but were concentrated at schools who sometimes accept students without funding, like CUNY.) I suspect the same is true for Taiwanese students as well. Make sure you're applying very, very broadly in terms of rankings.
If you don't mind me asking, what are your research interests? Where did you apply this season?
Thank you. This put me in perspective. My research interests are Victorian and childhood studies. Last year, I applied to NYU, Chicago, Princeton, Yale, Penn State, U Conn, U of Southern California, and Washington U in St. Louis. Now come to think of it, I have no idea why I thought I would have a chance with the first few, but ranking actually wasn't the reason why I chose them. These are programs that provided funding, even to international students, so. . .
Applying broadly in terms of rankings certainly sounds right, but funding is still my largest concern.
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Just wanted to add that I also have emailed the DGS, but not replies at all.
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In general, the GRE is a bit more important for international students because it's seen as an "equalizer," especially since adcomms are often unfamiliar with the quality of the applicant's undergrad institution and/or the grading scales in place.
Lavender, before you concentrate on the lit GRE, I would look at your general GRE scores. Is the verbal 160+? Do you have near-perfect TOEFL scores? I work at an admissions consulting place (albeit in Korea), and years of test data show that this is a huge, huge factor for Asian international students applying in the humanities. I think adcomms might be more doubtful of an international student's ability to succeed in a reading/writing intensive program if they do poorly on the general GRE/TOEFL.
Best of luck to you!
Oh my goodness, thank you for your reply. I finally understood the contradiction. Why so many have argued that it didn't weigh as much as other things while one DG said it did matter to some extent. However, I actually do have a near perfect TOEFL score and I scored above 160 in Verbal, so. . .gosh. . just what did I have to do? They aren't good enough? How can the English department, which should be pro-equality, be so biased against international students?
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lavender_be: I see you are in Taipei. Are you an international student? If so, perhaps before investing time and money into retaking the GRE, do some digging and ask questions to see if the GRE general and subject scores are typically weighed more, less, or as heavily for international students as for domestic students.
Yes, English isn't my native tongue. I asked my MA advisor and he said some programs might understand my extremely low score knowing that I'm an international student, so before I was rejected by all programs, I was actually hoping that it really wouldn't matter at all, though it was required by more than half of the programs I applied to. But after knowing that I was accepted nowhere, I emailed one DG to ask what my weakest spots might be. She said the scores would disqualify me in the eye of some committees. This is why this time I want to take it more seriously.
I am actually very surprised to read that so many have made it despite their low scores.
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Hi, all successful applicants and aspiring ones like me.
I'll have to take GRE, GRE Subject in English Literature, and TOEFL before this December. Can you share how you had or would arrange your study time? TOEFL would be the easiest, and I don't think I need more than a week. But the first two are a handful. For example, spend April and May on GRE General and the rest till October on GRE Subject? Does this sound like a good plan? Any replies would be appreciated.
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Your best bet is to buy the Princeton Review and see which authors it suggests reading. They break it down into three categories. The first is whole works you need to read (i.e. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or Milton's Paradise Lost or a sampling of Shakespeare and definitely Greek myths); the second is a series of authors whose style you should be familiar with (Shakespeare, Spencer, etc.), and the third is a list of things that could be on there, but probably not something you want to spend all your time on.
My understanding when I was studying it was that it is mostly British literature, with a huge chunk being 1800-early 20th century. That was not true at all for my test. I had A LOT of theory, medieval literature, and world literature. So don't pay attention to the percentages that much.
I would say start with reading the anthology summaries of time periods and authors. Then take a practice test. Look at the time periods or authors you missed (so if you missed all of the medievalists, buy the Norton anthology for medieval lit). Study. Repeat. This is something that should be done over time, not crammed into a week or two of studying.
Hey, just wanted to thank for the very useful sharing.
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I am very tempted to believe that the GRE Subject Test doesn't count at all because I scored less than 10th percentile and is not accepted anywhere. I think it's one of my weakest spots, so I'll still prepare for it.
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Hi, I am an unsuccessful 2014 applicant and would like to re-apply, hence taking GRE in English Literature again. I think my abysmal is one of the reasons why I was turned down. I really want to do something to boost my scores. Any advice on the following questions would be greatly appreciated. I am considering which Norton Anthologies to buy. Now out in the market there is a one-volume condensed Major Authors edition. Would this edition suit my test preparation purpose better or still the regular typical six-volumed one.
Also, if the six-volumed one is better, I in fact have it somewhere at home, but they are 10 years old. Are the recent updates worth new purchase?
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Hi. I've tried to contact a few programs and U of Washington is one of those few that do reply to my question, so I am thinking maybe I should apply to it, considering the chances of acceptance may be higher. My concern is I read somewhere that the school is located in the middle of nowhere. As a foreigner, no state address really isn't helping. Also, how would you describe the department? Is it strong in Victorian studies?
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I've done my program research and came up with this list. I chose these because of funding and potential fit professors.
NYU
U Chicago
Penn State
U North Carolina Chapel Hill
U Conn
Yale
Princeton
UCB
Any thought on the list?Also, U of Pittsburgh and U of Florida are good, but they don't offer guaranteed funding. I feel having to compete for funding would put me under too much stress to enjoy school life, so. . . Right choice? -
Greetings. I am 6 years away from academia but am applying for 2014. My major research interest is children's literature, overlapped with Victorian studies. Considering my research interest, could you tell me whether Penn State would be a good place to go for me, considering my research interest? The only professor that seems likely to be interested in children's literature is Prof. Robert Lougy. I emailed him once, but he didn't reply. I am not sure if I should pursue correspondence with him. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a million.
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Hi, everyone. I have a background in Victorian fiction, and what I hope to do for my phD is Children's Literature. However, after surveying programs, I found that not many professors listed this as their interested area. Is Children's Literature looked upon as a simpler subject matter? My largest problem now is that I can only find 3 fit programs.
Are there aspiring applicants who are also interested in this field? What's your strategy?
Which Norton Anthologies Should I Buy?
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
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Just want to check if my understanding correctly. If the GRE works as an equalizer for international students, it most likely would mean that bring up my Subject score does help, considering that a higher score may provide some assurance to the adcomm that the education I received is not necessarily less sufficient than that of domestic students?