jhefflol

Feel free to send me your email address and I'll send it your way. I can also send you the one that lists what kind of GRE scores are needed. Keep in mind that I made these spreadsheets for my own application process, so they are unique to the programs that I'm applying. However, the list is rather long (17) and I don't mind sending it if you would like.

Also, off my list of programs, U Delaware, U Rochester, and UC Irvine don't require the subject test.

I'm sending my mediocre scores to the programs that require it and viewing it as the least important part of my application. As far as fee wavers go, I have a spreadsheet dedicated to that subject. Only a few offer them unless you're a McNair scholar, and some don't offer them at all. Info can be found on the school's grad studies website, not in the department websites.

I wish for English we could opt out of the math portion. That would be nice.

Yeah I'm getting some mixed info about this. I just talked to someone that I know who just started his PhD, and he had the exact same score as I did and he got in to his top choice, top tier schools. Apparently he knows others who got the same score with admission offers as well (one is at UCB. Mind blown). I'm going to speak with my recommenders as well and see where to go from here. I'd hate to pay the $200 just for two Q points, when my V and AW are perfectly fine. I appreciate all of the feedback!

Ugh, okay. I was hoping to avoid retaking it since my V score was where I wanted it to be, but since my Q score was so low, I'm 2 points shy from 300. Thanks everyone!

I'm curious about the total GRE score that some schools require for a minimum for admission consideration. I've seen some schools ask for a 300 minimum score. I did absolutely terrible on the math portion, so I'm hoping the AW score is added in to this. Is that the case, or is it just Quant + Verbal?

1. I think your writing sample is fine. It sounds like you used psychoanalytic, a bit of Marxist, and feminist/gender theories in your paper. The fact that I'm able to name a few theories just by reading a quick summary of your paper shows that it is a good sample for dealing with theory. Theory papers, at least in my experience, usually look like most other papers, except we purposefully write with a theory in mind. I'm sure if you think about it, most of your recent undergrad papers were written taking one theoretical stance or another. Just to give you an anecdotal example, I had to write a paper specifically for my graduate crit/theory class using feminist theory and if I didn't tell you so, I'm sure you would never be able to guess because when looking at my portfolio of papers, they all deal with feminist theory. I hope what I'm saying makes sense. Too much DayQuil, not enough sleep. 2. The place to discuss your interests is in your statement of purpose. Your writing sample deals with your area of interest, as it should, so that's good. Just take your SOP as an opportunity to explain the breadth of your interests. Good luck!

The way it has been explained to me is that at grad level, we are writing 20-50+ page papers to be read by other scholars. Laying out your argument in plain terms early on in the paper will help the reader decide if he or she wants to continue reading. "I will argue that..." comes naturally to me when writing my papers because generally my theses come immediately after a review of literature. Since I have just laid out other scholars' arguments, it becomes organic to state mine just as directly when situating myself among current criticism.

Meh, as a second-year grad student, I use "I" in every seminar thesis. In fact, in my second-year seminars, I have been encouraged to write, "In this paper I will argue that..." Its one of those style choices that I think the old-school critics avoided, but if you look at the superstars of criticism, they use "I" and the "In this paper I will argue that..." quite frequently. At least, for Early Modern criticism. Greenblatt, Callaghan, Purkiss, etc, all use these techniques. Some might argue that I haven't earned the right to use such techniques yet, but I'm taking it as the whole "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have" type of mentality. I'm emulating the style of critics I most use in hopes of actually becoming on (or near?) their level some day. And shall we avoid the question of passive vs active voice? Because I feel its in the same vein of argument. ETA: I think we were taught to avoid using "I think" in early undergrad/high school to move more towards formal essays. Removing such words will automatically push an informal essay towards a formal essay. Its lazy and a quick fix, but apparently it works. Also, the whole "I think," "I feel," etc argument...I read an article somewhere that analyzed men and women's academic writing and the findings showed that women were more likely to use such phrases and phrases like "seems," "may," and "might," basically qualifying words, because women were more insecure of their authority in academia. Removing such words asserts your authority. I've personally been working on not including qualifying words recently.

I've been studying since July-ish. And by studying, I mean memorizing vocabulary. That's really all you can do, other than familiarizing yourself with the test format. I have a box of 500 Princeton review flash cards and I memorized all but about 50, and there wasn't a single question that included a vocab word that I did not know. Hope that helps!

At least it paid off! Congrats!

I got 50 points higher than I was expecting. While it's still a terrible score (23rd percentile lol), I'm pretty happy that I did better than expected. I'll take it.

Did you take your test at CSULA? That's where I took mine last month and I was shocked at the way the admin really didn't care about timing. My test started at 8:55 because apparently being told to show up at 8:30 is showing up 30 minutes before the test start. It was odd and anxiety-inducing to sit at the testing center for over an hour.

AHHHHHH MONDAY?!?! I'm not mentally prepared for this.

Good luck to everyone taking it this weekend! Let us know how it goes. We're rootin' for ya!

Oh no, I meant the verbal. I'm sure I'll be fine, but I'm a worrier and plan for the worst case scenario. See: applying for 20 programs.

When is everyone taking the general? Mine is this Friday. If I don't break 160, I'll retake it on Nov 15, but that's pushing it a bit close to the deadline.

The medievalists in my program all came from Texas. Apparently its the place to go for medievalists! I'm glad you enjoy your program.

Just to put this into perspective, I work at a community college as a writing tutor and I make around $13/hr. This is decided on a scale based on experience: I'm a second-year grad student with years of tutoring experience. Just for your reference

Meh, I'll be happy with a 430, which is what I was getting on my practice tests. I figure that if I haven't learned it as a second year grad student already, its probably not relevant to my area of specialization. If this keeps me from getting accepted to some schools then so be it. All I need is one acceptance.

I was told that the only difference between comps and thesis is that on the diploma, it will say "MA in ___ with thesis." That's it. I chose to do comps because I want to finish in 2 years. Comps while taking course work is manageable for me; thesis while doing coursework is not. Just be aware that, at least in my program, if you want to do a thesis, you have to get the process started during your first year. I didn't know what I wanted to write about in my first year. It's a little tricky. But as far as comps helping for the GRE subject test, I don't think this is the case unless you plan to take a year off in between graduating and applying for programs. The GRE is taken in the fall, comps are in the spring. I won't even know my comp questions until next semester, after my applications have been finished.

Reading all of the issues applicants had last year from Penn State is making me consider just saving my money and not applying. Its very discouraging.

My list keeps changing even though I already sent it to one of my recommenders, thinking that would force me to stop changing my mind. But the more I think about it, the less I want to be on the West Coast, so I'm thinking about shrinking my applications by about 5 to cut out most of the schools I put down in California. Except UCI because Julia Lupton. And maybe UC Riverside or UC San Diego as a back up.

WHAT okay, looks I'm I'm applying to the English department then. Thanks!