Fiz

This.

I have a condition okay! Accept me for who i am!!

Count me in as well. Ooo I wish there was a confessional thread. I wonder if ppl actually do this lol

Yeaaa i mean i disagree with Arthurian but this is just....mean....play nice or go home

This. Scary decision to make. Even at a top program, Im taking it all the way down to the 15th to decide. Scary scary scary.

I cant take this thread no more. Too much hostility. Idk y im still even here. I already got in!! Poof! Ban me 2 i guesss

Lol damn bro

I cant hellllpps itttt lol

Umm ok

Yoga Pants mad da ass look amazing!! No complaints about da yoga pant wearers!!!

umm.....ok.....

Lol dude all I can say is if you'd like to believe in and attend 100+ ranked programs, then that is your prerogative, and I wish you good luck. Me? Well I wouldn't choose that path, but I dont really have that problem since I've already been admitted into two highly ranked programs, once of which is, as I am told from that department, because of the recommendation from that professor who could not care less about me. Im paraphrasing here but I believe the email read something like: Once we read________'s letter, it was pretty much sealed. Pretty good thing I didn't run from that guy! Anyhow, best of luck to you bro!

Exactly. Fuck that.

Really? I go that. I thought it was the norm. Go figure.

WHERE!

I think it is a tad ridiculous to classify something like GRE scores with writing samples and recommendations. And maybe you cant, but I can say screw a school because of test score cut offs. It is so antithetical to throw away potentially great candidates because of a cut off. I mean, tell me what carries more weight, a number on a test, or a writing sample and recommendation from a distinguished professor. Of course, I can only speak for English, but the writing sample IS indicative of what a candidate can do, as is the word of a respected scholar. Yet schools who have minimum cut offs many a time do not even go so far as to read an applicant's letters, sop, or writing sample if a test score doesn't make the cut. To me it's extremely comical--FARCICAL even--and makes me question academia. I'm pretty sure it is the majority belief both on our circle and in most ad comms' that GRE's are not indicators of a student's potential. (In fact, my letter writer once told me he had two students who scored perfectly on both the math and verbal section of the gre--neither of them finished their phd.) Now let us look at a school like Baylor, whose English program is ranked as 125th in the nation. The school won't even ACCEPT an application unless a score of 700 on the verbal and 500 on the quant is reached. Contrast that with a mid-tier school like Umass (Amherst) which ranks 50th. Umass states on their website that they have no minimum gre score because many excellent students fair poorly on standardized tests. It is dumb as hell that many great candidates wouldn't even be able to apply to Baylor, but yet could essentially be attending Umass. So when schools have philosophies such as that, yes, I say screw them. If an ad comm threw out my application before even reading my sop or writing sample, simply because of GRE scores, I'd say screw them and fault myself for choosing such a fallacious school. I'm not saying this has happened to me, though I guess it could have. I got rejected from USC, UCSD, and OSU. If any of those schools rejected me cuz of my gre scores, then idk what to say. I would find it odd that UIUC of all schools would take me with my gre scores, but not the others. Now that is just my philosophy; to some ppl I guess it is the other way around. And again I can only speak for English, which is a tad of an anomaly when it comes to the gre, as it is a "polar opposite" to the math portion. I can see how the verbal may be taken into account because a lot of theoretical material is written in that elevated, elitist jargon, but the math, no. Now for math majors, Im not sure. Do you guys even submit writing samples?

Suerte! Eso es todo!

This is so incedibly rare and true only because the scholar wanted to study that ish. If that chick came in wanting to do quantitative studies on literary authors, then yea i guess she shud know math, but is probably going to have a hell of a time being accepted anywherr with that interest. She wil do....no math at all. And on the topic of ppl ad comms wud do this or if i were on an ad comm it will raise a red flag that. You are not on ad comms. You are not even close to being on one. You are just a graduate student. That is it. And even worse, you are not even an English graduate student, so why should ppl who score low on math and study English listen to you? Chicago chick! No worries. Like I said before I got a 140. Months later, I now have TWO acceptances from top 30 schools and i havent even heard back from several other programs yet. The gre is such bullcrap and so overblown. If a school rejects u for ur score--math or english--id say screw them. I wudnt wanna invest in a program that places so much emphasis on tests. Ive never believed tests were in anyway indicative of anything. And if a program does, then that program is not for me.

I got accepted into the BEACHH, though for English! I turned it down though--horrible funding. BUT IT IS SOOOOO FREAKING BEAUTIFUL!! Beach is 2 mins down the street!

I see your point, but I'm pretty sure any thread asking the question how important rankings are has to do with tenure track. If someone were attending the 123rd ranked school and had no wish to teach tenure track, I don't think this question would be asked...

Some people get them! There was some stat I read a while ago that showed the scores. Some get 130!

Washington, Boulder, and SANTA BARBARA!! I'd freaking love it thereeeee

Dr. Ganim!! Ganim is an amaaaaazing man. He is a "grandfatherly" professor! He is super sweet and caring and is an individual you don't have to put up a front around or worry about saying anything stupid. Last year he was the director of undergraduate studies, and he helped us all so much during the graduate application process. He is very, very well-known as a Medievalist, as is Andrea Denny-Brown whom I'm sure you'll work with! My TA for one of my classes is his graduate student. He is name is Ray Paprika and his research focuses a lot on the concept of Medieval armor. If you'd like, you can message me, and I'll give you his email, as I'm sure he can tell you a hell of a lot more about working with Dr. Ganim! I can't tell you much about the dept. in your realm, as I mostly immersed myself in science fiction and poetry. But I can tell you that science fiction is huge over there. They have the Eaton collection, and Dr. Latham heads the annual Eaton Conference; they had Stan Lee a year ago!! I can also put you in touch with another recent grad of the program, Sean Epstein-Corbin, and you can talk to him more in-depth about the graduate program there and life after the program, as I only know undergrad life there. Dr. Corbin, however, dealt more with sentimentalism, feminism, and queer studies, though I believe he also worked with Dr. Briggs who does some Medieval work. I don't know where exactly you are coming from, but as far as life there, the inland empire is sort of a hub. Yes, it's true, there really is not much to do there, but Los Angeles is 40 mins away, as is Newport Beach, as is endless forests, hiking trails, mountains and snow. We don't have winters here. 60 degrees is cold as hell, and we are lucky to get a rainstorm every now and then. Summers are hellish, climbing into triple digits for consecutive days. So learn to love the heat I guess. The school is a tad small compared to most major universities, but I cannot praise the faculty there enough. Every single one of them were so helpful and benevolent towards me. I can honestly say if it weren't for the faculty there I would not be where I am now. I graduated high school with a 1.6 gpa, and took 4 years to get through community college and left with a 2.8. I got to UCR, and I graduated with a 3.8 and am now admitted into two prestigious phd programs...and I have the English department to thank. You will do great there. I'm pretty sure once you are more advanced you will TA intro to brit lit, american lit, and, essentially, digital humanities with Tobias!

Ooooooo my alma mater!! Tell me telll meeeee who do u wanna work with!!!!

I personally wouldn't consider attending anything outside of the top 50. Graduates from R-1 institutions have a hard enough time finding the tenure track, let alone graduates from 70th, 80th, or even 100 plus schools. Hell, I applied to Oregon--I think it is like...51 or so--and my professor chastised me endlessly. His words, "I guess you can apply to Oregon...it might get you started in the profession." I'd rather freaking teaching high school than slave away for 5-7 years in penury with no prospects at the end of it. And realistically, it's top 30 or nada.