JerryLandis

Maybe it just means they're all too busy working, hunched over their books and applications, to post on this forum! I wish I had some vague idea of who I'll be competing with for spots (I'm not a classicist though).

I'd suggest asking your recommendation writers to explain in their letters that the grading system is not the same, and asking them to explain what your grades/ranks mean. I doubt they will disregard your application simply because you attended a foreign institution, but you should try to make it clear in your application what your grades do mean so that they have some idea.

I would say to call him. Email causes all kinds of problems - people sometimes don't organize their inbox very clearly, emails accidentally go into the spam folder, emails get marked as read and the recipient forgets to respond, etc. Also, I have had very friendly, helpful professors who simply did not remember any of the things I told them in email format. Maybe this was because they did not grow up with the internet and still aren't used to the whole email thing? Who knows. In any case, emails don't really have much of a ring of urgency or importance to them, and are easy to ignore. If I were you I would definitely call him instead. If the professor's office number is not on the departmental website, call the department and ask to be put through to him (or ask what his extension number is).

Note that it also says they look for a 1250 'at the doctoral level.' What they seek in PhD students won't be the same as what they seek in MA students. Or at least it better not be.

I don't really think it's rude to write an email at this point (November). The fall semester is not over, and applications for most places aren't due for another month if not two months. The holidays may be approaching, but this isn't vacation time, and it's not outrageous to expect professors to be working and checking their email for the next month. The only reason I would be hesitant to write an email at this time would be that it might make me appear ill-prepared, i.e. "I didn't get around to looking into graduate programs until just a couple days ago" or "I don't really know who you are, but I found your name on the internet and wouldn't mind getting into your program"

If I remember correctly, you enter in that information before you begin the test. I wasted my time before the test going onto departmental websites and writing down all the institution codes, only to be told at Pelipellar house (where I assume you're taking the GRE, in London) that I was not allowed to bring my slip of paper into the testing room. Good luck!

I had really great correspondences with a couple faculty members, but unfortunately they were at the institution I hope I will not have to attend! I also noticed a marked difference in the responses I got to my first and second emails. My first round of emails didn't seem to impress anyone very much because for the sake of brevity I had not made my research interests as clear as I should have. One person even responded sarcastically to my vague listing of themes! However, the follow-up emails I sent were a bit longer and outlined my interests/experience more specifically, and I got very positive responses to them (especially from the sarcastic guy). I'm glad I wrote emails to my potential supervisors, as it made me feel a bit better about my chances, or at least gave me a clearer picture of what to expect. Maybe lots of professors are too busy to respond to such emails, but it's worth sending them anyways. This process must have been really awkward and nerve-wracking before email was the standard form of communication!

I used that book as well as the Barrons one. I found that the Princeton Review book was really good for explaining the basic way of approaching the test and the different kinds of questions. Reading through it, I learned that apparently I have spent my whole life taking standardized tests the idiotic way (i.e. "plug and chug" as they call it instead of whatever the correct method is that I've since forgotten). I also found the vocabulary list useful, although if I ever have to take the GRE again I will definitely go beyond the "hit parade" because my official verbal test was loaded with crazy one-syllable words I had never heard in my life. That said, I did find that the practice tests were misleadingly easy, because a lot of them contained recycled questions that were the same or quite similar to example questions from the preceding chapters. I suppose the solution to this is to use the book to learn the basic strategies, formulas, etc., but use the Powerprep software to test your abilities. Just be sure to register well in advance to make sure you get the Powerprep disc early enough - mine arrived over a month after I registered, a couple days after my test! Yet another reason I still want a refund.

You can ask to have scores submitted to up to 4 schools when you take the GRE. If you are applying to more places, you have to call or go onto the ETS website to get your scores sent to the additional schools, at $20 per school. Your score report should say which schools you selected on test day (I forgot after taking the test which schools I had selected before the test, so that was helpful).

That's pretty cheeky, charging a hefty application fee and then tossing out people's applications based on GRE scores [presumably] without looking at anything else. Schools with minimum GRE scores should really just post them on their websites so as not to waste applicants' time and money. Did the email say that they will not consider someone with a sub-1250 score, or did it just say that 1250 was the score they generally look for? And is this for the graduate school as a whole, for a specific department, for PhD and MA students, or what? My GPA is definitely high enough, but I have a 1210 on the GRE. May I ask what you asked in your email to them that solicited this reply? So far no calls or emails I have made to admissions departments have been answered (again, what are they doing with all the money from those application fees?), so I've pretty much given up on wasting my time trying to contact them.

I go to a UK university that marks on a 20-point scale instead of by percentages. They include international conversion charts with the transcripts I requested. Perhaps you can ask around and see if your university has an official conversion system for the GPA?

Thanks again for the response. I am applying both to MA/PhD programs, as well as MA ones. Since I am only applying to 3 MA/PhD ones now, I'm assuming I'll wind up having to go the MA route. The field is indeed pretty narrow in the United States, but Canada's looking pretty good, offering MA's on the subject that are more like the UK ones (i.e. designed for people who intend to pursue a PhD as well as those looking to leave it at an MA), I think just because their PhD programs don't involve getting an MA as part of the course.

Reading over your post again has answered my question for me. Feel dumb now!

I always go for the cheapest method since I've never had to send anything important before. Is Airsure just a more expensive service offered by Royal Mail, which I'd be able to use through my local post office? Sorry I can't offer any help!

I'm actually American, but since I've been doing my undergraduate degree here in the UK, I have no experience of American university life or admissions. I want to go to graduate school somewhere in the US so that I can be remotely near my family, and because I am starting to hate the UK! Also, it's nearly impossible to get funding over here as an overseas student.

I don't see why not. I am applying to the masters program at my undergraduate institution, and my letter writers are all faculty members there. In fact, one of my LOR writers is the person who is in charge of processing postgraduate applications and reading letters of recommendation. He didn't even have to mail his letter, just put it into his own file!

Today, when attempting to call a department, I learned that Canadian phone numbers are apparently the same as American ones, with the same country code and all. How strange! Anyways though, just a quick warning: beware the University of Toronto online application system if you're used to the application program used by most American universities! I did not realize until it was too late that you cannot go back to edit your application after you have selected a payment method, so now I think I am going to have to fill out a new application and ask my recommenders to send in their letters again, because my application is incomplete! I skipped ahead past the payment part because I had to do so in order to see the instructions for the personal statement. Nowhere (except in the separate FAQ section, which I read only once it was too late) does it tell you that you won't be able to make any changes after filling in the application fee section. So be careful, and don't be an idiot like me.

On this 'Vagantes' conference, where is it? I've noticed that a lot of people posting on this website seem to have presented at conferences, something undergraduates never do here, at least not to my knowledge. How common is it for history students in the US to present research conferences? Also, how common is it for people to publish articles? Again, I have only ever heard of one person in my department publishing as an undergraduate, and this was a few years ago. I have something published in an undergraduate history journal, but nothing truly professional (although I am indeed working on something, which unfortunately won't be ready by the time my applications go out). Again, how common is it for people to have publications in this field as undergraduates? Will my application be at a serious disadvantage as a result of this difference? Thanks again for all your advice. I am indeed applying to some MA programs that are intended to prepare students for PhD work, however none of them are in the US. I haven't been able to find any such programs in the US that offer medieval instruction.

Kind of interesting that some of you seem to be applying to work under the same people, and as such are technically in direct competition with one another! I'd like to see the stats of some of the other people applying to work with the same professors as I am, although then again that could be pretty terrifying at the same time. Fortunately your field appears to be somewhat popular, at least gauging from my inexpert observations from looking at millions of history department websites on the prowl for relevant medievalists.

It's strange that they didn't give you a page number range. Most of the places I am applying to say that the writing sample should be between 10 and 25 pages, with only one department allowing an excess of 25 pages. Are you sure they don't just mean your writing sample should be under 25 pages? I think you're right about needing to give them a call.

I feel the same way, and I suspect it's normal. I can't really say much about your statistics, as I have no personal experience with admissions decisions, and also because I don't know what your field is. As for your relevant work experience, if you can't find room for it in the SOP, why not just put it in your CV? My first choice institution says that the most important part of an application, that which carries the most weight, is the writing sample, followed by letters of recommendation and the statement of purpose. So I would say that regardless of what your GRE scores and GPA are, you should work on continuously improving these written materials as the deadlines approach. This is what I am attempting to do, to the detriment of my current coursework! Obviously GPA is important, but worrying about it won't do much good, and your GPA is pretty high anyways. As for GREs, I'm hoping for my own sake that they don't make much of a difference! Half of the reason I want to get into a PhD program (and skip doing a terminal masters next year) is that I don't ever want to take the GRE again!

I posted a thread on this forum a week or two ago and got some pretty good advice, so you may want to look through that.

I would consider doing that, and in fact part of the reason all my writing samples are so long is that I routinely ignore/exceed the word limits for assessed coursework. However, Penn says not to submit anything over 10 pages, and it says this in bold, capital letters, so I'm guessing that this has been a previous source of annoyance on the part of the admissions committee.

I'm not sure about that. I'd suggest slipping it into your personal statements as a recent research project, and mentioning that it's under review. That way you still get recognized for it, even if it hasn't been formally accepted.

On an unrelated note, Pamphilia, have you considered applying to work with Albrecht Diem at Syracuse? I noticed you have medieval queer studies listed in your signature, and when I was looking up some of Diem's work I noticed he teaches on that subject. He's a really interesting writer, although I don't know anything about the program at Syracuse, or about his work on "queering the middle ages" or whatever they call it. Thanks for the tips. I know whoever reads my sample essay won't really care (or know) much about the finer points, but it's very difficult to rewrite something you thought you were finished with months ago! Especially with medieval history, in which every statement needs to be prefaced with 'potentially,' 'according to manuscript E but not B,' 'during the third quarter of the seventh century' or other seemingly superfluous, but actually vital, verbiage.