jhefflol

Well, I wasn't going to until I got an email informing me about a fee waver for early applicants from a university that I didn't plan to apply to because I didn't think I had a chance at being admitted. The only problem is that the program is comp lit. I guess it would fit with what I'm doing, but I just don't consider myself a comp lit person. I'm not sure if I would be able to teach in an English program with a comp lit degree. Did anyone else get this email? It seemed both tailored to me (mentioned my area of intended study) and also pretty generated.

I'd be willing to exchange as well. I'm having a hard time balancing all of the advice I'm getting on how to write a SOP (even from the Asher book) so I'd love to get some feedback on mine and would love to read others'.

Its me and the Native American statue at Disneyland. There's a picture of my grandpa who passed doing the same pose with the same statue that was taken just shortly after the park opened. Its a tradition for my family to imitate the pose whenever we visit Disneyland.

I realized this yesterday, too. My MA is from the same university as my BA so I didn't even have to send transcripts with my application. Its a shame really that my grades this semester won't be a factor in the admission process because I'm doing really well in my classes. PhD applications were a huge motivating factor to do well so far, and now I don't have to worry about that. Oh well.

I took it as well. I'm sure Wyatt's Torch will tell you the same things I will, but feel free to contact me too.

I just want to share this because I just found this out : you don't lose points for incorrect answers on the general GRE as you would on the subject test. I'm sure most of you know this, but I did not, so there it is! Thank Jesus for this feature because deciding whether to guess or leave a question blank took up more time than it should have when I was taking my practice test. Does the whole tiered feature of the general GRE freak anyone else out? I'm worried that I'll completely mess up the first section and then get an easy second section which would ruin my chances of redeeming my score. Ugh.

A good way to reduce length is to cut out the review of literature portion or at least make it very concise. This is what I do for my papers that I present at conferences. No one really cares about what specific scholars say and therefore no one really misses this part of the essay. Just get straight to your argument!

Good thinking. My paper uses Beowulf and other famous OE texts and features my own translations while using gender theory. I'm going to see how my ideas are received at the conference this weekend and go from there.

Early Modernist here! Hello! Queer studies is a popular topic right now in our field so that might be good! I'm seriously conflicted about what to submit for my writing sample. I was hoping to write a gender-based seminar thesis in the Shakespeare seminar I'm taking this semester, but that was with the idea that I would have started it by now. I might instead submit the paper that I'm presenting this weekend at a medieval conference, even though I'm not a medievalist. It is a gender-based paper, though. And the topic is popular apparently, because I've seen quite a few CFPs for papers on my topic recently. I'm just not sure if I want to take the risk associated with submitting a paper that is not in my time period specialization, even though its in my theory specialization.

Oh and also, for future test takers, get the Princeton GRE book and take the freaking practice test they give you.

Same! I was very pleased with the content. I was speaking with a few other girls in line while we were waiting to get checked in, and I feel bad for a few of them, given their specialization and the content of the exam. I feel like the amount of studying I did was just fine, and I refrained from answering a few just in case I was wrong when a definitive answer didn't pop out at me. I, too, finished with a good chunk of time to spare, and was able to go back and reread a few passages that were giving me trouble, so seriously take those practice tests to get acquainted with the timing! My testing center was super chill. We were allowed to have our stuff at our desks but put away. I didn't feel intimidated or anxious at all thanks to the atmosphere of the testing center. Thank god its over! How is everyone decompressing? I took a 3 hour nap

I also just wanted to say good luck to those of us who are taking the test tomorrow! I've hit a plateau with my score so I'm just going to accept that I'm not doing absolutely terrible and not stress about it. Now I'm stressed about my testing center! There isn't a room number on my ticket, so I'm just going to have to wander around the building until I find it, I guess. This does nothing for my anxiety. Ugh.

From what I understand, state schools (such as the UCs you listed) have been known to throw applications out based on GRE scores along. They get their funding from these scores, so having high scores to them is crucial.

I did something similar to what proflorax has done. Since my interests are transatlantic, not every program can accommodate such a project. Some programs want students to be interested in American or British lit, not both. I've been formulating my emails with that in mind, and I've been asking professors if they think my project would be welcomed in that program. So far I have not found a professor whose research interests line up with mine, so I'm just testing the waters to see how my project might be taken. Good luck to you!

Yeah, I'm from kind of far up north, not so far as Lassen County though. But basically everywhere outside of the Bay Area is just nasty in my opinion. Even still, SF is a completely different world than the rest of NorCal and I can't argue against its beauty. But the rest of it...is just a black hole. And unfortunately I consider Berkeley to be part of that instead of part of SF like most people do. I don't know, I just don't think the Bay Area is even that awesome enough to make me want to ever live up there again. Unfortunately even the nice places like Muir Woods that you named still have an undercurrent of poverty and drug use that seems inescapable to me. Again, this is just my opinion after having lived there for 20ish years. Anyway, I too apologize for hijacking the thread.

Haha NorCal was where I grew up. Its just dry, nasty, poverty-stricken, and drug infested in my opinion.

It depends on the field I think. Right now my list is fluctuating at around 15, but my recommenders think that's a little on the low side even. I've been told to cast a wide net by every one of them. The more the merrier, if you can afford it!

Thank Jesus I'm not applying to UCB. I refuse to move back to Northern CA, no matter how good of a program they have. No thanks!

One thing to consider is that state schools generally get funding from GRE scores. The higher your score, the more funding they will get. Just something to keep in mind:)

Hi Portia! I'm basically the opposite of you in that I hate snow so there's no draw for any inland universities for me. While I am applying for schools on the east coast that will have snow, I'm looking for the resources for my dissertation to outweigh the cold. As far as costs go, it's outrageous. I'm lucky enough to have had an education fund put away for me from when I was a child. Due to some odd circumstances, I couldn't access it until now which actually worked out in my favor. I'm guessing you want to get your MA and that's what schools you are applying for right now, correct? Do you think you want to do a thesis or have you considered comps? Welcome to GC!

This. I was going to say to get a box of any shape, as long as the cat can fit in it. It will become his/her little home too, and help the cat feel comfortable.