DrFaustus666

Also remember that there are plenty of free-lance opportunities around by which you can supplement your income until (if you choose to do so) you have the coveted piled-higher-and-deeper in your hand: private tutoring, private consulting, etc., etc. My fathter did all of those things, but most of all he taught, and loved teaching, as an instructor in a community college, even though he was a high school dropout, and (later) a college dropout. (He started his own consultancy, became friends with the local political hierarchy, etc., to pull the strings needed to obtain an instructor position without even a high school diploma.) It can be done. It's not easy, but it can be done.

The good news is, if these forums are to be believed, the vast majority of admissions committees couldn't give a ratt's butt about your AW score -- the only possible exceptions being programs like journalism for example, where the ability to write to a given format, cogently and intelligently, and in a very tight deadline IS important. Even then though, I would think that any journalistic stories the applicant had published would trump the stupid GRE AW essay. As to naked pics ... in my case, ..., wow, I'd rather them see my essays John

That's my point. There's no correlation. Thus the statistic "Harvard accepts 5% of applicants in x field, while U-SND-H accepts 25% of applicants in the same field" is all-but totally meaningless. Unless I'm missing something. If I am, please enlighten me. I've wondered what this "percentage of applicants accepted" statistic means, for decades. The only use I can see is in the service of the universities' marketing strategies. For example, U-SND-H may publish a statistic like that as a means of saying, "You have a shot here, give us a good look" ... while Harvard may use the statistic to say, "Don't even bother unless you're REALLY well qualified, and maybe not even then." That's how I see it, but is there something I don't see? Honest question. I'm trying to understand this, and why it even matters to anybody.

Not to be a pain, but I always wonder what it means to say that Harvard's acceptance rate is 5% and, say, the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople accepts 25% of applicants ... I mean, uh, ..., by extrapolation, does anyone really think that 1/5 of U-SND-H applicants would be admitted into Harvard if they chose to apply there? The whole thing seems misleading at the very least.

I never heard of Dave Kingman and I'm honest enough to admit it and not google the name first. What else have I missed? Or was I too busy onanizing to get your point (my left hand is a little sore actually)?

Your insult only causes me to introspect. I might indeed have been bragging. And I'll admit I was disappointed at my AW score. Nonetheless, I still think you could have made your original point in a gentler and more constructive way.

You lost me. I get that you're saying I am a bad writer too. But why? On what evidence? I'm not being a pain. I really want to know what makes you remark snidely to me after I chide the other guy for what I see as a snide remark. Honestly, in good faith, am I missing something?

SteveNSactown: This post bothers me. I don't want to start a flame war but nonetheless your comments "obviously lack basic analytical skills" and "lack cognitive analytical abilities" seem ill-informed at best (upon what basis do you draw these conclusions?) and possibly (depending on how thick-skinned catilina, the OP, is) downright nasty. I think you don't really mean to come across this way, based on your congratulations, and on your last sentence, but the tone of your post seems just a tad supercilious. My two cents worth. Oh yeah, I also got an 800 (once, 700's on two other sittings) and lackluster AW scores.

Yes, I realized that after my whiney-ranty angst-ridden post. Learning a language is very useful (I highly recommend German)--it's sooo cool to be able to read a Bach cantata or a Mahler score that says langsam und feierlich gemessen or something, and not have to look it up in a dictionary . Continuing to learn more music, write more music, present at conferences, whatever it might be ... all of these are useful things.

As an incredibly old-timer, I'll chime in. I did a B.Mus.Ed. (1974) and M.A. (performance, trombone, 1979), played free-lance for a few years, earned a very meagre living by playing and arranging/orchestrating, but was happy. I tried teaching Junior High music and positively hated it--and they hated me too Then I got a wife who wanted a nice car, a house in the suburbs, etc. So, plan B was computer science (90% of B.S.C.S., 1984). I spent over 25 years in that, I learned a language (German) and am doing an M.A. in German Lit parttime (Plan C, but I'm just not THAT interested in a PhD in German) and have now decided to return to music. Re: Plan B. Don't even think about Plan B. If you love music and it's the only thing you can imagine that will make you happy, then stay with Plan A. Believe me, it's a LOT harder at age 59 than at 29.

This is a little late, I see that you posted originally about ten days ago. All therapists, and all therapies, as others have pointed out, are not equal. I'd definitely suggest you at least have yourself evaluated for your test anxiety. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that you're a smart person; but I suspect you have some self-esteem issues; and I think it's a reasonable guess that your test anxiety is actually weighing against you, holding you back. So, my two cents' worth, get a good evaluation from a good mental health professional. Many actors use "beta-blockers" (actually a blood pressure medication) to reduce stage fright ... who knows, that could help you realize your (high, in my view) potential! Good luck.

Thank you both for your additional help. I've clearly bitten off more than can be presented adequately in such a short paper --- which I guess is good news, really --- OK, I'll work on just the absolute essentials, as you both suggest, and keep the citations for Q-and-A (excellent idea!). Yes, most people in the conference will have at least a nodding familiarity with the material, some may know it very well indeed, so long citations are a great thing to cut (but keep in reserve if necessary). Thanks again!

First, thank you both for such quick replies! rsldonk: how long do you have? 15 to 20 minutes? Figure 2 minutes per page. Make sure you go slow. Practice delivering it before you actually do it. Good luck. They haven't said exactly how long I have to do it, but I can't imagine it's MORE than 30 minutes, and two minutes per page sounds like a reasonable rule of thumb, giving me a range of 15-20 pages, which is just about what I'd guessed myself. And it won't be difficult to go slowly, it's a complicated subject and will need time between paragraphs, maybe between individual sentences, for it to sink in. surprisecake: what kind of presentation is it? Just a straight research paper (no special A/V or other media), though I'll have to include some figures in it, as I'll summarize very specific aspects of three different dramatic pieces, from different eras, then compare and contrast the authors' views on these specific aspects.

Hi fellow language students, I submitted an abstract for a paper in a graduate student conference, and to my shock(!) my abstract was accepted! Woo hoo! But now I have to write the @#&$*@&#( paper. How long should papers be for graduate student conferences? The topic I'm writing on could be covered in 10 pages or 500 pages, depending on how far in depth I go. The conference is in mid-March, so I don't have tremendous amount of time. Any ideas? How long (how many pages) would be customary? John

I like "write about what you know" ! .... BTW, I've taken it three times in the last two years, and gotten 5.5, 4.5, and 5.0, in that chronological order, and have no idea what I did wrong for the 4.5, or what I did right for the 5.5 ... except ... I vaguely recall being able to find something I knew about the first time(!) So edwu19, I think your advice is "spot-on" as the British say.

So the moral of the story seems to be, as I think at least some of us who posted before and were mystified by our 700+ verbal scores and disappointing AW scores: (1) use the 5-paragraph structure; (2) PRACTICE (if you aren't accustomed to regularly writing in very strict time deadlines); and (3) get another student friend (the analog of an employer or editor to whom one must answer every day) to critique your practice essays. Did I miss anything?

I'm the guy who said I admired his audacity and brashness. It's probably because I am anything but a risk taker. Not that I seriously think I have a snowball's chance in hell of getting into Harvard, but I wouldn't even apply there, wouldn't even waste the $150 (or whatever it is) application fee, even if my friends and professors thought I had a shot at it. Yes, of course you're right---it's NOT a victimless crime. I hereby withdraw my previous comment, and thank you, wtncffts, for your pointed criticism. Mea culpa.

You didn't say what for what type of program you're applying---BUT---unless you're applying for a Ph.D. in English at a top 30 school, or an M.S. or Ph.D. in a hard science (math, physics, statistics, engineering, computer science, etc.) almost anywhere---those scores are not bad at all. Good luck, John

According to ETS (following scores for the year 2002-2003!) scores mark (approximately) the 75th percentile for doctoral applicants in Public Administration: Verbal: 560 Quantitative: 610 Note that scores have gotten more competitive in all fields in the intervening 8 years. I would think if you can score more than 50 points higher on both tests (i.e., above 610-V and 660-Q) that that would give you as much edge as the GRE is likely to give you. If you're applying to top-10 universities, I'd move your target scores yet another 50 points, i.e., 660-V and 710-Q.

I agree with everything all the posters have said (so why am I putting my two cents in?) .... One last thing -- on your verbal score. It's not bad at 590, but I understand perfectly how an extra 50 to 100 points would strengthen your application. Step 1. There is a list of "400 most commonly tested words" available from Barron's. You should make sure you know ALL 400 of these COLD. Meaning, you not only know the definitions of them, but you can use them in sentences, you know secondary meanings of all 400, and you never confuse words like "elicit" and "illicit" etc. Step 2. If you can do all of the above, go through Barron's entire list of 3600 words. Find those that look familiar, but you can't define them precisely. Then learn as many of those words as you can, using the same precepts in Step 1. If you can learn ALL 3600 of Barron's huge list of words, and learn them at "Step 1 standards," then an 800-V is possible. If you can learn half of the 3600 words, then 700-750 is possible. I speak from experience! Good luck, John

This was my feeling when I saw the story and made the original post. Also, as another poster said, I found myself secretly admiring the kid, for his pure audacity and brashness.

It's a long story. Essentially, I had poor undergraduate grades (almost 40 years ago!) and no research or publications in my field of interest. My goal is to have my application at least looked-at with a near-perfect GRE, then maybe the AdComms will consider my application based on SOP and independent research I'm doing on my own (writing an original computer model) right now. I need a very high score, a perfect score if possible, in BOTH verbal and quant because I want to do interdisciplinary research (music + computer modeling) and I need funding, and the only places that would have funding for such an outlandish project are the most elite universities. Before anybody tells me this is impossible, I know it's a very long shot, and maybe I am hopelessly naive. John