hreaðemus
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Posts posted by hreaðemus
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Like I said, I used the opportunity on one of my applications so that I could acknowledge why there was a year long gap in my transcript, but that was only because I didn't have enough word space to touch on it in my SOP for that particular application. I hope having done that won't hurt me in the long run(?), especially since it was for my dream school. I just wanted to make sure they knew that there was a valid reason for my postponing my education for a year
I think that's totally reasonable! A lot of schools have "diversity statements" now where you can talk about overcoming personal difficulty and stuff like that, but if such a space isn't provided and you have a big life event to discuss, like a serious illness, I'm sure "additional information" is a fine place to do it. I was referring more to things like GRE scores or grades, which can usually only be explained away if a person HAS experienced that type of big life event, and otherwise (in my opinion) ought to just stand as they are, for better or for worse. I've heard people say things like, "Should I explain I had the flu when I took the GRE?" And I honestly think those sort of explanations are silly, because part of being ready for grad school is managing when things go wrong on a small, normal level. But you've obviously had a more serious experience, and I didn't mean to dismiss that in any way.
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Although I'm not an expert, I would say that in general it is not appropriate to highlight or discuss your weaknesses in your application, except to say "these happened, and this is why they won't happen again." Honestly I think the "additional materials" section is really for special cases, like if you're a a published poet and want to include some of your work, or if your paper refers to PDF charts or something.
I do think it can hurt our applications to dwell on scores or grades we feel less than happy with. My sense is that a hyperawareness of our weaknesses looks, to adcomms, like a weakness itself - even though of course we're all second-guessing ourselves on the inside.
Grad school is harder than grad apps, and faculty are looking for people who will hold up well under pressure. It's strange, but false confidence is apparently better than no confidence! -
That's almost equal parts scary and amazing, congratulations hypervodka!
I second this!!! It's all getting so REAL...
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Sorry to crash the anxiety party
(Personally i find denial is the way forward...) But I do have a question... does anyone know whether there's a big difference in admission depending on whether people have been in contact with a uni/a faculty member or not? All those questions in the application forms made me worried that contacting is the norm rather than not...I was freaked out about this too, but my faculty mentor actually told me that the reason for those questions is because STEM and humanities applicants apply using the same general form - and in STEM it's basically required that you be in touch with your potential PI before you apply. When I asked if I should contact English faculty at other universities, her response was: "I honestly wouldn't. I mean, you can, if you feel a burning need, and it probably won't hurt your chances, but frankly it might seem a bit weird."
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Well, I know for sure Cornell has started looking at applications; the English department told me I couldn't add a note to my file because "the committee has already begun reviewing." OMG. You can imagine the terror of getting an email from Cornell beginning, "Dear [my first name here], I am sorry, but..."
The adrenaline rush nearly killed me. -
I was wondering if the universities would really care about this because I am not applying for something like literature. Do I need to retake the test? I am applying for 2016 fall. Thanks!
I think that with a 3.0 writing score you will need to show that you can, in fact, write well enough to produce papers in academia. Clearly you're an intelligent person, but you'll need to be able to express that professionally in the language of the institution you attend (which in the U.S. will be English, obviously). If your application materials are well-written and intelligent - if you come across as a fluent English-speaker - and your TOEFL or other international test requirements are met, I'm sure you'll have a good chance at acceptance! That said, you may want look at such a low writing score as highlighting an area where you need to improve, regardless of whether you're accepted or not...
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Woke up to two emails from UConn and an email from UMD that turned out to all be form letters or application inquiries. Moderate heart attacks all around.
Ooof, that's terrifying. My inbox has been silent as a tomb the last few days, and I am simultaneously grateful and full of jitters.
I do find that one thing that calms me down is imagining how hard professors have to work to go through all our applications and decide who to accept. I know that at Berkeley we get nearly 400 applications, and our incoming graduate cohort is about 14... since most of my favorite professors currently sit on the applications committee, or have in the past, I think of how kind and careful they are, and of how challenging it must be to read through so many applications, knowing our hopes and dreams are on the line. I figure they need the whole month to make good choices, even if the process drives me batty.
Of course, I don't know how accurate this fantasy is! But it gets me out of my own selfish headspace, and lets me sleep at night.
I like to imagine they're on our side, even if it doesn't always feel like it...- Dr. Old Bill and xolo
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That is pretty weird, then! Maybe just wait a few days and see if it changes back? I just checked my scores too, thinking that maybe ETS updated their percentiles for 2014, but mine are the same - and it does seem strange that they would change the score itself, rather than the percentile in which it falls.
If they don't change back on their own, maybe you can at least call and ask for an explanation... -
ETS actually says on their website that the numbers you see at the testing site may be slightly different from your final score; it has to do with the relative difficulty of your test in relationship to the other versions ETS administers, I think, and to the scores that other people get. It used to happen a lot more often when the new scoring scale was first released. Now they have a large data pool to use for on-site score predictions, but I guess sometimes the system is still inaccurate... I'm sorry! It sucks to have your score go down instead of up.
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On a side note, how unfortunate would it be to be known as Ethelred the Unready?
I know, right? Poor guy. His name is actually Æthelred the Ill-Advised (unræd literally means "evil counsel); I really think it was less that he made bad choices and more that his choices turned out badly, in that the Danes won and took over English rule. But we translate his name as "unready" and peg him as incompetent rather than unlucky... it's a pretty crappy historical legacy.
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Eeep, you guys, look!
Anglo-Saxon coins are popping up everywhere lately, along with cool Viking stuff! Numismatics must be a very interesting field at the moment...
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I second the appreciation for your optimism and good spirits, Wyatt's Torch.
Just think - as of midnight tonight, we'll be (basically, assuming I haven't messed up the math somehow) equidistant in time from both 2000 and 2030! The latter still sounds like space-age madness to me...Here's to celebrations and new family members (congratulations, Proflorax!!) and better tomorrows, even if they are space-age. Happy New Year!!
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When I filled out the Berkeley app, they let me input 5.5 for my GRE AWA - are you sure it won't work?
Also at Berkeley itself, A+ counts as a flat 4.0 for undergrads - there's no extra grade booster, and once you get an A- you're forever cut off from the mythical 4.0 overall GPA. So while they may consider GPAs higher than 4.0, I'm sure they don't give excess weight to the higher numbers. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
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Oh! Perhaps I phrased my post poorly. I was accepted to the conference four days after I applied to Berkeley; I didn't get accepted to Berkeley itself! I'm just sad because I could have put the conference on my CV and given myself a better chance!
Also, thanks Wyatt's Torch!!! Don't put too much faith in me though - I've only applied to six schools, and the numbers game says that's a pretty big risk. I'm far more likely to be rejected by all my schools than you are!
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In today's academic melodrama, Episode Eleventy-Million:
Getting accepted to present at the 2015 International Society of Anglo-Saxonists conference in Glasgow = OMG amazing.
Getting accepted FOUR DAYS after I submitted my application to my top choice school = WHYYYY?
- toasterazzi and Dr. Old Bill
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You guys, it is SO EXCITING to see so many people getting accepted into different schools already! I mean, I know they're not in our discipline - but holy crap, it's real! It's happening! Grad school is more than a surreal happy dream!
Ooof. Now to stuff myself with holiday foods until I find out if it'll be more than a surreal happy dream for ME...
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Hi drownsoda!
First off, I would absolutely recommend poking around the English Literature/Rhetoric subforum for a sense of past accepted applicant scores/profiles and the universities they ended up attending. We've got a great little community going on there, and I'm sure lots of people would be happy to share their perspective. Second, you are NOT ALONE in feeling inadequate - most of us are nervous too, and pretty much everyone's got a bit of imposter syndrome. But don't let that stop you!
In terms of your chances, I don't know that this forum will be able to give you an answer - I'd recommend sitting down with one of your undergraduate professors and sharing these thoughts, honestly. My undergraduate mentor was INCREDIBLY helpful in giving me a list of programs she thought would be appropriate for me, helping me to assemble my application materials, and so on - she even offered advice on filling out the forms, when I asked! There's really no substitute for professional expertise, so I would encourage you to go to your someone you trust at your school.
If your GRE scores and GPA are in line with the program you're applying to, then it's really a matter of making sure you put together a strong writing sample, statement of purpose, and letters of rec. Decent scores will get you considered, but your other materials will convince the admissions committee to actually let you IN. To be frank, 159 is a fairly average score for most English majors; it is not BAD, but it will likely be a neutral rather than a strongly positive feature of your application. As such, you will want to focus on your strengths, whatever you feel those to be - your prose, your research, your passion.
In terms of your illness, I think that a.) it's not uncommon to take a leave of academic absence during a personal crisis, and b.) that it would be perfectly appropriate to address that crisis, briefly, in your statement of purpose. Showing that you can endure and come back strong in the face of personal hardship will only make you a stronger candidate - and no one is going to penalize you for being extremely ill!
If I were you, I would ask for advice from your professors, and then choose a few schools that seem a.) within or slightly above the reach of your scores (don't sell yourself short!), and b.) that make your HEART feel good. This is a labor of love; none of us (humanities students, that is) are in it for the money, and none of us can expect the journey to be without roadblocks. Choose schools that you admire and feel good about, do your best, and see what happens!
Welcome to the forum, and best of luck.
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Hmm I never got an email with the interview for Gates, but someone else at my uni who is applying to the same program got one on Friday..
looks like I won't be going to England next year, oh well
Aw, well, me neither in that case! At least we gave it our best shot. It's funny, my department at Cambridge accepted me on Nov. 12th, SUPER early - but I guess whatever makes me a good applicant for the program didn't also make me a good applicant for the scholarship. Someday I'd be really interested to see the internal workings of these competitions...
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Two apps in, two or three more to go! My list is a lot shorter than y'all's... *nervous* But OMG! I'm so excited! Someone could actually PICK me now - I've sent in the application, I have a chance!
Today was a good day. I think I did really well on my Old English final, and my favorite professor/main mentor told me the paper I turned in last week will be publishable with some revision and expansion. That a pretty huge compliment, coming from her!!
I've got three undergrad 20-pagers now that professors have told me to publish; one is my writing sample, but the other two I should really work on this break. The whole process of submitting scares me... I don't understand how one finds reputable-but-attainable journals, navigates submission requirements and deadlines, etc. It all seems very alien. At the same time, it would be super cool to have a publication or two under my belt - and I'm pleased with the ideas in my research. I guess it's a bit like applications for grad school. You can do your best to prepare and put on a good show, but you can't ever get accepted if you don't SUBMIT.
- fancypants09, jhefflol and queennight
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My other concern is that I'm right on the cusp of A and A- for a course that is extremely pertinent to my proposed field of study. I wonder if an A- on such a course would hurt my application if the adcomm had it right in front of them. I recognize that there is a sizable element of "splitting hairs" here, but honestly, I'm still really torn about whether to send my fall semester grades or not.
I only have the word of my professor to go on here, but when I was debating whether to take Latin Pass/No Pass earlier this year she said that no one would care if I got an A-. Now, in my case my GPA was (and I hope will continue to be, but Lord knows) a 4.0, so an A- would still have left me with quite a high number, but as long as your overall GPA is pretty good I don't think a single A- will make or break your application. In the end I suspect it REALLY comes down to our writing samples and personal statements - which is scary, but also kind of nice!
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OMG. My coat of arms shall be this:
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As someone applying to a lot of your schools and in the same tiny field: if you do get into all of your programs, do spare a thought for people who might be on the wait list!
Oh, you! I know the two of us are in a constant battle of "no, YOU'RE more awesome," but I genuinely think your qualifications are better than mine. (Congrats on the manuscript studies conference, by the way!!) If one of us is on the waitlist, it'll be me. BUT, in the offchance that crazy things happen and this situation is reversed, I can promise you: I will decline all the offers I don't accept on the day I make my choice. Anything else would just be mean!
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And all you need is one, of course (but yeah, all would be kinda awesome, wouldn't it?)
Really, all I need is Berkeley! I'll stay here if there's any way. <3 I guess all would be fancy, but mainly I just want the security of knowing what the next six years of my life will (sort of) look like... if, for example, Berkeley took me in February with a doable stipend, I wouldn't wait until March to hear from Cornell. I'd just snap it up!
Congrats on finishing your paper! I turned in a similar assignment on Wednesday... not really happy with the conclusion, but sometimes there's just not enough time to let large research papers percolate to perfection at the end of the semester. I'm learning that time management means MANY different things, heh.
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Eep, submitting my first apps today!! *does a little nervous dance* I really think I've done all I can. My scores are good, my writing is solid, my diversity statement is . . . diverse? I don't have the publications that some people have, or any professional conferences, but my favorite professor told me the other day that she'd be "REALLY surprised" if I didn't get into every school I applied to - which I figure means I have a pretty good chance of getting admitted to at least ONE of the US schools on my list, heh.
I have to admit, I am exceptionally grateful for the holiday break that's about to start - I know this process is not designed around the mental health of the applicants, but it is really smart to have applications due right before a time of year when hugs, sugary treats, and alcohol are widely available. At Berkeley, school doesn't start again until Jan. 20, so I figure I'll only have about a month between then and the time it becomes reasonable to start obsessive e-mail checking.
- jhefflol, fancypants09, Dr. Old Bill and 1 other
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The LGBTQQIAA Question
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
I am, as I like to say, gay as a picnic basket, which I feel reflects both my sexuality and my personality as a queer woman - but I didn't talk about this aspect of my identity in my graduate applications. I'm not explicitly interested in applying a queer theoretical lens to my specialization in Old English and Anglo-Latin lit. Sometimes it becomes relevant, as when I recently discussed the function of female cross-dressing in medieval Icelandic literature, but in general I'm more interested in digital humanities, philology, manuscript studies, corpus linguistics, etc. I also haven't struggled with my sexuality in my personal life (supportive family, never dated boys, etc), so I talked about other difficulties, mainly financial, in my diversity statements.
I'm sure I'll be out wherever I end up (I tend to be mistaken for a straight woman because of my preference for lace and dresses, so I have to come out verbally to be visible as a queer person), but I didn't feel like that was relevant to my academic trajectory, at least not at the moment.