Arm457

Hi, I hope some people who are having a bad day here on the grad cafe forums can take a look at my SoP and rip it to shreds - pretty much by being as harsh as possible while still being constructive. I'd be willing to do a SoP swap. I am currently on vacation and so I have the time to read maybe 1-3 other SoP's and offer the best feedback that I can if you would be willing to do the same! Best of luck to us all!

Hi everyone, I took the GRE two weeks ago and scored a 156V and 157Q and 5.0 AW. It's about a 15 point increase in 6 months. I took a two week break to recharge my energy and now I'm going to take another 3-4 weeks to study really hard one last time and give it the old college try.... I was wondering, in the event that I don't improve (tbh I spent 8 minutes on one question in math like an idiot, should have scored 160+), how do my GRE scores weigh-in for a masters in Middle Eastern Studies/Comp Lit/Political Science? My apps are due early January all the way to April. Will my current scores get my application dumped by the computer? Thanks everyone!

^I want to change the thread to "Middle Eastern Studies/NELC - 2016 Application Cycle" If a moderator sees this message, please change the title of my thread. I don't know how to do it.

Hey I PM'd you. I wasn't necessarily trying to assess my personal candidacy, but just wanted to sort of start a "2016 Group" because there isn't one for NES yet...

Hi everyone, I took three courses back-to-back with a professor in college who was amazing to me. She always gave me good advice and we've been able to have a great relationship over the years. However, I am applying to master's programs this winter (for fall admission) and I have found out that she is suddenly "on leave." What do I do about this? I wrote her a nice email (not too long, not too short) requesting that we could Skype or if we could have a quick conversation, but she did not reply. This was two weeks ago, almost three weeks. I'm getting really anxious because it is almost time to be rounding up recommendations. She was supposed to be the "anchor recommendation" that proverbially held down my application. Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you.

Hi everyone, I was just wondering who was applying for a masters or PhD in Middle Eastern or Near Eastern Studies. i just graduated from a top 30 US school. I am not a native speaker of a middle eastern language, but hoping to learn Arabic and go on to a Comp Lit PhD. Hoping to meet some similar people, and good luck to us all!

Hey I'm applying for comp lit master's programs. I wouldn't mind doing an exchange over PM!

Congrats!!!!

Hi I wouldn't mind taking a look at it. Would you mind looking at mine? I'm applying to an MA in Middle Eastern Studies/Comp Lit.

Sent in my application, thank you so much!

Hey I'm in the same boat. I can't crack 157Q and 156V despite studying 100+ hrs. We've either plateaued or reached our ceiling

Universities should require students to take courses only within those fields they are interested in studying. Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position. The phenomenon of academic interest is one that wavers with age; few people, on the contrary, have an idea of what exactly excites them at an early age. Individuals who yearn to study Physics, might become inspired by their prerequisite Classics course, and vice-versa. This is why the idea that the student should have the freedom to choose his or her own fields of study is contrary to the university's goal itself, which is to, at first, give the student a fundamental base of knowledge before letting them loose in the academic jungle. If universities did somehow allow students to take courses only within those fields they are interested in studying, it would greatly narrow the adventure of being able to search for one's interests, which is as pivotal as finding and studying that interest. Indeed, the search itself holds great virtue. Furthermore, many academic departments are interdisciplinary in nature. Many college students are unprepared to make salient connections between their economics and political history courses in high school. This is why many universities need to "re-train" or "re-route" the minds of their Freshmen class to look at each subject not as a physical stand alone complex, but as an amorphous form of ideas that are shaped and reshaped in a variety of forms as to offer malleability to solve the world's issues. A university achieves many great things by offering a "common core," or set of classes that each student who wishes to graduate is required to take. First, a common core insures the university that every student moves forward in his or her major with a preconceived set of ideas that are deemed important by that university. This is important because a university will then be able to frame future activities (academic and non-academic) on campus to the benefit of the whole rather than the part. For example, if a university required all first-year students to take an international politics course, and then sponsored a speech by an important Prime Minister afterwards, the university will be able to know that their students are equiped to at least have a basic understanding of the ideas being conveyed by that Prime Minister. Second, a common core builds unity on campus that might have been absent otherwise. Perhaps at no other time will a student strictly interested in science be able to exchange ideas and concerns with a student strictly interested in law. A common core class could see the students in the aforementioned example come together to forward the interdisciplinary nature that universities uphold as the future of academia. Giving students in any university immediate control of their academic well-being would not be fruitful under any circumstance. On the contrary, a university's ultimate position is to guide a student, first through a "common core," and then through a (hopefully) reinforced view that their primary academic goals are indeed the ones true to their minds and also their heart.

Hi AJ, I Pm'd you. Thank you Niloufar! If that is indeed your real name, it is very pretty lol

It should be obvious to you to retake it. But thankfully your verbal score is about average it's just your quant score that needs help. I started at 150 for quant and now I'm up to high 150's low 160's and I majored in humanities in college. Just embrace the grind and keep doing practice questions and exams. You'll get there. If ETS says you can only take the gre 5 times a year then you have 4 more to go.

You should spend some time away from applications and chill. See here please:

Hi Nic, I just responded to you via PM. Thanks!

I'm getting really frustrated by this exam after studying for a little over 2 months. I'm studying about 3 hours a day, so I've probably studied above 150 hours. I finished the Manhattan GRE 8 book series my first month, and I've done all of the Magoosh questions, and I'm going through all of my incorrect answers at this moment. My exam is early August, so I have a little under a month to improve to 160+ on each section which is my goal. In order taken: ETS Powerprep 2 #1: 157Q, 154V Manhattan GRE #1 : 156Q, 156V Magoosh Practice Exam #1: 158Q, 154V Manhattan GRE #2 (Taken today): 159Q, 152V (WTFFFFFF) I'm applying to humanities grad programs (comp lit/middle eastern studies), and it seems my quantitative is going up, but my verbal is somehow getting worse? I find that I'm consistently doing terrible on reading comprehension. My last exam I got 8 correct out of 20 OMG. I was a literature major in college too, 3.7 GPA from top 25 school. Extremely frustrated at this point, don't know what to do. Hopefully someone can chime in. Thanks!

Hey I would be glad to swap SoP's! If anyone's interested!

Hi! I'm thinking about applying to masters programs in MES or Comp Lit. I was wondering if there was anyone on the forum that would be kind enough to read what I have written thus far? I wouldn't mind doing a swap and reading others' SoP in return. Thanks!

For all you guys, who got accepted into a Masters program in Middle Eastern Studies, what did your objective scores look like? (GPA, GRE?) I'm wondering if I'll be competitive for the tippy top programs with a 3.7 and 160Q/160V, thanks!

^Hey Socks, thanks for the motivation! I needed it haha

What have your score improvements been? I'm seriously so stuck at mid to high 150's and I have some days where I do consistently well and then some days where I just feel cloudy for no reason and have to put my book or computer down The test is the most frustrating thing I've ever done because it's almost impossible to not attach my self-worth to it.

Hi guys, I'm planning on finishing up my Magoosh software in the next couple of days. (I followed their advanced 90 day schedule) My scores are in the upper 150's and I want to get into the mid 160's or higher for each section. I was wondering if any of you guys who have bought both programs could help describe how they are different or similar to each other? Thanks!

I see, thanks!

Hey guys, thanks for the replies, but I have one more question; 1) would it look better to get a MES masters, then a comp lit phd or a comp lit masters and then a comp lit phd? My focus is on middle eastern literature, so I want to combine the two. Thanks!