Fiz

I'd also recommend UC Riverside. It has the Eaton collection, which is the largest science fiction and comics special collection in the nation. It also puts on an annual SF conference, but even though the conference is SF, fantasy and the graphic novel are a huge topic there. For instance, I believe last year Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were there. It is also developing a graduate degree in science fiction as well and has brought many scholars to contribute to the digital humanities. I think it well mesh well with your interests. You should think about contacting Rob Latham, who knowa the world about comics, and he is also the professor who coordinates the conference on SF. Jamss Tobias is also a huge with visuak culture. So food for thought. All that being said, you will need to raise those GRE scores for a UC. If they really like you, the dept will go to bat for you and can request a waiver and get you funding, but you should try and raise it some.

Good luck to ya! Hope it works out and u can sneak it by.

Paytonlauren! This is the email for the guy who has been answering all my questions. Now he is only an assistant so Im not sure how much power he has for the type of thing u need but its worth a shot. Pmallon@ucsd.edu If not, I mean straight up tell the director. Say ur internet went out or some story and u clicked the wrong file. Think of anything. Someone posted that kiss of death article, if they see the wrong school, you can bet thats the kiss of death for sure and u just wasted ur money. But try ur best. If all else fails, be honest and maybe the director is nice enough to help.

Damn man....I feel for you. I'd contact the graduate assistant. Im applying to and have been in contact with him. He seems like a nice guy, vey helpful. See if he can help you before the committee sees that.

Besides, cant u just submit multiple writing samples anyway?

Exactly. Im only speaking on one particular program becuz i have inside juice so to speak, but this is just common sense. Schools get what? 400-500 apps wif 20 page writing samples? They aint reading that. The writing sample is only going to get read if they take an interest in you. It might be SKIMMED, but its not gonna be read until the later rounds. And at that point, 3 pages of fluff just to make 15 page bar might do more harm than good.

Man!!! I always type off my cellphone on this place. You really think im seriously caring about text grammar or proofreadijg which button i pushed on my cellphone? Heck yes i was an english major and i speaks ebonics past tense wut it says omg and all that cal! Who cares? Im not insecure enuf where i feel the need to look over everyhing i type when making a post. I know what I can and cannot do. I know my writing talent level. But more importantly, GRE scores aside, graduate school is a job more than anything, a profession. And the quality of ones character matters a hell of a lot more to admissions commitees than a meaningless math score that has no relevancy to ones study. And you, my friend, have quite the character issue. You have the audacity to come into a place and drop some line saying you cannot add, in a threat where a girl got a 130. You seem like a great guy. Furthermore, i question ur ability to succeed not only in grad school but in life if some meaningless joke such as, fuck math, irritates you so much. Ill say it again, fuck math. And i feel sorry for u. Out. Boom.

Ive been told they don't even read the writing sample at the first round anyway, and then once you make the cuts, they will take a closer look at it, but are mostly looking for "promise." My letter writers have profusely told me not to pay attention to any of those limits....well within reason. If they ask for 15 and you send 6 youre in trouble. But I skewed from those limits too. One of my letter writers is actually buddy buddy with a professor whose work im interested in at one of the schools I applied to. They want a 10 page writing sample. I sent a 19 pager. My letter writer spoke to his buddy in the department about it and was told it is not even close to being an issue.

This thread is becoming too hilarious

LOLLL at the last reply

That guy gets annoyed way too easily. Bigger fish to fry malfuckka!! Fuck math!

Ok. Just HOW much foreign language are you really supposed to know when applying for phd programs. Ive had professors tell me not to sweat it and that foreign language exams are usually made incredibly easy. For instance, one professor told me he had never taken italian in his life, studied for 4 days, and passed the exam. Its been a while since I've brushed up on those languages. Ive got some Spanish and French in me, but the French was so long ago. What exactly IS proficiency? It is basically just French 2? Even so, I'd have really revisit those textbooks.

Look bro. Chill da FUCKKK out. The girl already is bummed about her score. Dont come up in here talking crap implying she cant even add. Jeez.

Dont feel bad! English major here too and I got a 140! Ive heard the quant score can affect your funding, but most English departments could care less...at least thats what Ive heard. Apply anyway! Fuck math.

Thanks guys for the feedback. I tried to study for the math portion, but i've always been bad at it my entire life. And ive never ever take geometry, so I was basically trying to teach myself straight out the books. I cant do that. I need classes just so i can have a slimming chance of grasping any sort of material. I knew no matter how long I studied i was going to bomb the math section, but I was at the very least trying to shoot for 147-148. Thats how pathetic I am with it! I aim for that. As far as the verbal portion. Its straight anxiety. I took soo many practice tests, learned over 2000 words, and used a clock every time I took the test. But the setting screws with me so much. I just freak out. For instance, during the many practice tests I was taking, it took me on average, 21 mins to complete them. And I still scored 167-166. But I was moving so slow on the gre cause of my stress, I was going down to the wire and the clock started blinking and gosh! It was over for me. Idk. I got accepted into an MA program at Long Beach State but I decided to forego it because of the pitiful amount of funding. An MA isnt worth 30k in debt for me. So I looked to MA to PHD programs and figured Id try my hand. I will not wait another year. I didnt even want to wait this year but I had to for certain reasons I wont touch on. I think I am just going to apply and if I dont get in then I dont get in. I tip hat and know that grad school is not for me and see where else life takes me.

Oh gosh...140 IS the 8th percentile. Damn myself man.

I've lived in Riverside for about 18 years and attended the school! I can tell you what...it is hot as hell during the summer months. Easily reaches 106, sometimes for 4,5,6 consecutive days, especially during August! August is the absolute worse. Towards the end of October it tends to cool down, most around the 80's or high 70's, and once December and January roll around, it's 60's and 70's...sometimes 50's. It is in the middle of nowhere, but the good thing is the Beach, Snow, Forests are each only an hr away. Just drive in a different direction to get to each one, so you can have every climate. I'm sorry but I LOL LOL LOL all the way to the bank when people say Riverside is high crime!! I've never been robbed, jumped, stabbed, attacked, or anything during my 18 years here. It's just about being smart and using common sense. If you walk around in a minny skirt at 2 am on a saturday night, well then...I think you'd be in trouble anywhere. I mean I definitely wouldn't leave my house door unlocked, but Riverside is no more dangerous than any other school in Cali. In fact, I'd be leery of USC and UCLA more than UCR. Dont walk those campuses at night. But that's just my two sense. Apply anyway and just visit the school if they accept you! Faculty is amazing!

Hi guys! I'm new here and new to the graduate environment as well. I'm the first in my family to graduate high school, let alone try and make it into a grad program, so at times the entire process is a little intimidating and confusing. I'm applying for the 2014 Fall semester, but I'm afraid I just shot myself in the foot with my GRE scores. I just took the exam today, and I scored a 159V and 140Q! I'm a tad disappointed with my verbal score. On practice tests, I was scoring in the 164-166 range, but I get horrible test anxiety and all those cameras and the damn clock was freaking me out. I couldn't focus and got a 159. I don't know if this is good enough. A few of the programs I am applying to state that the average score of admitted students is in the 85th percentile; mine is the 81st, according to the most recent percentile breakdown. And I don't even know what to say about the math portion. I haven't taken a math class in four years and have always been horrible at it. I've heard that English programs don't care much about the Math portion, yet I've had professors tell me that, at least here at UC Riverside, the first thing they look at is the GRE and GPA (mine is 3.6 overall and 3.8 in the major), only to make sure a student will be able to get funding. I'm concerned that my math score is so ridiculously abysmal that schools will just toss me out because it will affect my funding. I dont have the money to retake this damn test again, and these ETS vampires want 25 bucks just to send a score. Do I have a shot of getting into places? Most of them are MA to Phd so I think my chances might be a little better than if I applied directly to a Phd program. But I have a budget to work with and don't want to blow money on schools I might not have a shot at. The programs I'd like to apply to are: 1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2. USC 3. Ohio State 4. UC Santa Barbara 5. UC San Diego 6. University of Iowa 7. University of Colorado at Boulder 8. University of Washington 9. UMass at Amherst The University of Minnesota is being pushed on me by one of my letter writers, and if I can afford it, I'll probably try to apply there to. I don't know what to make about rankings but UIUC is ranked the highest, 22 by US News and Report, so I would assume it is the hardest to get into. But it is also the school I'd like to attend the most. I've been in touch with one of the professors in the program, and he has even reviewed my SOP for me and said it was fantastic, and he also told me he'd hire me on as an RA if I were to study there. But I'm afraid I just let him down with this pathetic GRE performance. Any feedback helps. I don't know anyone who has ever tried to get into a grad program before so I dont know what is an acceptable GRE score and what is not. As an English major, I know its expected that I perform better than 159 but it is what it is.