Venetia

On the ETS site, doesn't it say that if you pay to report your scores, they'll send them in five business days? So the stuff that applies to free scores, the two week thing, shouldn't apply. Here's the quote from the site, under 'additional score reports': "Score reports will be mailed to you and to your designated institutions approximately five business days after your request." I know that this was the case when I asked for additional reports. So if you ordered them tomorrow, you might be in luck...

Sorry Sparky, didn't mean to lecture! Naturally other medievalists would know about Chretien, I'm just used to explaining his existence to my parents etc. I like Perceval, but only the Gawain adventures. I did my dissertation on Gawain, and so have a real soft spot for him! Perceval always acts a little too strangely for my tastes- like you melusine I didn't like the whole beginning bit where he steals food and steals a kiss and a ring from that poor girl (I didn't think that he raped her! Perhaps I didn't read into it enough...or indulged in a little wishful thinking). And yes, 'Le Morte d'Arthur' is in English, so you may keep your random fact! Malory is hilarious, I especially love it when Arthur says that he doesn't mind the loss of Guinevere as much as he minds the loss of Lancelot and his knights of the Round Table. What a cold fish, no wonder Guinevere preferred Lancelot!

Yay, it's great to see other Medievalists! Good luck to us all... I love Geoffrey of Monmouth! Arthurian Lit in the Medieval period would not exist without his 'History of the Kings of Britain', and it's great fun to read in its own right. I haven't read his 'Merlin' though. And to Sparky- France is actually quite popular for studying Arthurian romance, as the first Arthurian romances (or at least the first well-known, good ones) were written in French by Chretien de Troyes, and there's loads of scholarship about him. They're amazing, and well worth a read!

What I find hilarious is that the standardized testing doesn't even stop at academia- to become a Secret Service Treasury Officer you have to take a standardized test which includes scenarios, witness statements, etc. It actually looked really interesting to study for, but it is frightening that the testing just does not end...

Amen, fuzzylogician. I was just going to say, you're applying for grad school, it's not meant to be easy, but you really nailed the point. Yes, I do understand that it's harder for some people than for others, for all the factors listed, but ultimately I don't think the GRE is 'biased'.

I'm applying for English with a focus on Medieval Lit, and I've also applied for several Medieval Studies PhDs. I was just wondering how many of us are out there, what others are interested in, and also if this field is being 'done to death' (that of course is my fear, that they'll look at my application, roll their eyes, and chuck it in the bin!). Anyhow, I'm interested in Middle English and French Lit primarily, with a focus on romance and the interplay between French and English material and the Norman presence and assimilation into England. I especially love Arthurian romance!

I'm just curious- how is this the case? As far as I could see it was just (hard) vocab and high school Maths with some nasty trick questions. I didn't grow up in the States, and I didn't find it to be culturally alien. What cultural factors did you find?

Wow, that's...intense. That's not even "look at the people on either side of you, only one of you will get in", it's "look at your whole auditorium, only one of you will get in". If that makes sense. Best of luck to everyone!

Don't worry, I used a quote too and was thinking the exact same thing! But somehow I think C. S. Lewis beats John Lennon in the quoting hierarchy...

I always allow myself ten percent leeway, so in this case 100. Try taking out some thats. I'm really prone to using too many where they aren't strictly necessary, so it generally takes out a good ten or fifteen words!

Haha, I think I was like that when I first came on this forum. I did my undergrad and masters in the UK/Ireland, so I had this impression that American applicants had all this intel that I just didn't have. All the American students asking questions on here as well showed me that we're ALL in the dark in this. Not exactly comforting, but I guess that means that it's a level playing field...but my view of you all as 'all-knowing experts' has been compromised, sorry !

I felt guilty for being annoyed with those posters, but now I feel better! Actually, in a way, their posts were quite uplifting. It's like, hey, everyone's worried, not just me. It made me feel a little less alone in the process...

Really? I thought they continued with the whole first, 2.1 etc shebang at a graduate level. I went to graduate school in Ireland and they did the whole distinction merit thing, but I thought it was unique to them. I shall take note...

Well, in the Word Count box in MS Word, it tells you the number of words and the number of characters. For instance, my SoP for Fordham has 526 words, but 3245 characters. So I suppose in that instance it does include spaces...

So did your university not use the first, 2.1, 2.2 system for classifying degrees? What are the other classifications other than a pass? Without any knowledge of the other levels, I couldn't judge.

I did it too- I looked at my online GRE Account, and although my Lit score is still 'absent', when I clicked 'order additional score reports' the Lit GRE test was no longer in its own little category, but listed with my general test under 'currently available scores'. So I bit the bullet and ordered my 7 score reports...if you've wasted money, then so have I!

Thanks so much, Popstitute! I thought I'd have to agonize 'til Monday. It's such a relief to finally know...and I'm very pleased with my result!

I'll be 24. I was considering applying for 2009, but the deadlines were right at the start of my Master's. No way was I ready! I can't imagine applying straight out of undergrad. I'm glad I have the gap year now- it will be nice to spend a year out of academia for the first time since high school...

I haven't included specific faculty members/publications except in the applications for places where I really love a particular lecturer (and I have read their stuff). Perhaps I'm wrong not to mention specific lecturers, but I think that saying you've read something when you've only read about it on their profile is a bad ploy. It's also something that must happen quite often, so they'll be sceptical. However, this is my first time applying, so perhaps someone with more experience could give a more useful opinion.

Both my undergraduate degrees are from institutions outside the US (Scotland and Ireland). While my undergraduate institution includes a translation of its marks into GPA format, my graduate one does not, and one program specifically said that I had to translate my transcripts into the 4.0 GPA format. Any ideas of companies that would do this? And fairly quickly? Thanks!

Okay, I'll start... I'm an American who's done all her previous study in the UK and Ireland, so don't know what my GPA is really. It's decent but not great. I'm applying to Yale, Notre Dame, UPenn, UVA, Indiana Bloomington, Cornell, WashU, and Fordham. I chose these because they all have strong Medieval faculties and/or Medieval Studies programs that I could tap into (my Masters was in Medieval Studies). I'm worried that my graduate school won't send on the transcripts in time, that one of my referees won't send the LoRs in time, that my Personal Statement sucks (because I have no profs to look at it for me). But most of all? Naturally, that I won't get in anywhere, or that I'll get in somewhere with NO funding. If I don't get in anywhere, I'll try and find a job. I'm trying not to think about that! And books to distract? It has to be 'Possession' by A.S. Byatt. All about the crazy world of academia and research, love it! I look forward to hearing what others have to say, this was a great idea for a thread, Eli!

Interesting development- now it says scores absent. Who knows what that's all about. Anyway, the 'raw score' (or 'formula score' as it is called on the Scores Online page) is your score for the Lit GRE before it is turned into a proper score (out of 800 or whatever). It's the number of questions you got right out of 230 minus the number of questions you got wrong divided by four (because you lose a quarter of a mark for every wrong answer). So let's say you got 170 right, 32 wrong, and left 28 blank. Your raw score would be 170 - (32/4), so 162.

I'm applying! And no, weather is not a factor for me- I did my undergrad in Scotland and my Masters in Ireland, so I'm used to miserable weather...

It probably depends on the test centre or something, and yours hasn't been processed. Mine was in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, so it's a bit out of the way...

Oh good, it's not just me! I thought I might be seeing things...I suppose the percentage and score will depend on what everyone else gets, so we can't estimate it properly yet.