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Warelin

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Everything posted by Warelin

  1. Part of the problem lies that the "top" (though some recent placement data would beg to differ) schools have more people in various subtopics which increases their fit to a greater number of applicants. But there are factors to consider: Can you stand being far away from home? Can you stand being too close to home? Can you stand a huge metro area? Can you stand a rural area? Can you handle freezing temperatures? Can you handle scorching temperatures? Have you ever been in a zone prone to earthquakes? How important is Public Transportation? How well do you handle an overloaded highway? What are your career objections? Why do you want a PHD degree in English? Are you willing to spend 5-6 years knowing that there is no guarantee even if you were accepted into the best college for you? Are you comfortable living with Roommates? (Some top colleges offer you only enough that living with a roommate is essential to survive) Are you okay with living in the same season or is the changing of seasons important to you? Do any of the faculty excite you besides the fact that they may be a big name? On a sidenote: I've interacted with several programs in the top 20/30. The ones who have answered have told me that Verbal scores in the 85th/90th+ percentile would be considered competitive. What competitive means is questionable. It might mean not getting eliminated during the first round, it might mean getting a closer look.
  2. The average scores accepted for these schools are in the 166-167 range. However, that means that some people have been accepted with lower scores. We might never know how low since it's a detail very few scores release. That being said, why these schools? Besides being "top" programs, these schools offer radically different styles and specializations. How do you fit into the program and their culture? Remember that hundreds of students are applying to "top" programs and each of them strong GPAs and strong publications or teaching experiences or presentations. I think Penn has said that they narrow their pool of 600/700+ to 60. From there, they said that it's a tough process since they'd be happy to admit any of the 60 but choices have to be made.
  3. The tricky thing here is that minimum score requirements are often set by the Graduate School, and not the department. If a school states a score, then the office of admissions has determined that that score is what’s necessary to perform well in that school’s curriculum. There's a good chance since the scores are stated as required that not meeting them for every section will cause your application to be cut during the first round of interviews? Unfair? Probably. However, schools do receive a lot of applications and need to find a way to cut down the reviewed applications. It might also be beneficial to e-mail the school to inquire within. The GRE doesn't test the basics of English so it's a bit unfair to use it as a comparison point. ETA: Chicago is /huge/ on discussion based classrooms at all-levels of their studies. There's likely a good reason why they're interested in people who can specifically score higher on some sections. The debates in classes can get really intense even at the undergraduate level. I'd imagine that they'd be much more intense at the grad level which is why they've set scores the way they have.
  4. ^ The people above this make some good points that need to be considered. I'd also like to add that oftentimes the PS is used to determine who faculty want to spend time with for more campus-based programs. However, this sounds like it's not campus-based. Because it is not campus-based, they don't care that you think their location is great. And you haven't answered their question: Why Georgetown? What about Georgetown is so unique from its competitors that you need this degree from Georgetown? In essence, they want to know if you understand their culture.
  5. According to http://www.classbase.com/countries/Argentina/Grading-System, an 8.7 would be the equivalent of an A- or 3.7. However you're on the higher end of the A- which would be closer to a 3.9. . However, not all institutions will convert it like this. (Can you imagine trying to convert GPAs from more than 100 countries each of which a certain grade is considered different?) If you can, include an official statement from your college indicating how the grading scale should be interpreted.
  6. The general advice given is to apply to schools which offer funding. Villanova, Georgetown, and Wake Forest offer funding to at least half of their students. Syracuse, UMass-Boston and Lehigh also offer funding at the MA level.
  7. This will not have any impact on your application. Schools mainly just want to know who their "competitors" are.
  8. I can't on these forums, but anyone who is interested may feel free to message me.
  9. Teaching is something that takes a bit of time to figure out. Content might be there but the delivery might not. Students can figure out when you're comfortable and when you're uncomfortable. Do you feel like yourself when you teach? Do you feel that you're teaching the way you'd like to teach? You can learn more about different teaching styles here: https://teach.com/what/teachers-teach/teaching-methods/
  10. I can't think of any reputable programs in the United States or Canada that accept less than three recommendation letters. Outside of North America, I think University of Helskini (in Finland) doesn't require any letters of recommendations.
  11. The cost of sending an official transcript can be anywhere from what I've seen can be between $5-$15 from each school you've attended. If you're applying to 10 schools, this would be between $50-150. If you attended 2 schools and are applying to 10, this could be between $100-$300. GRE scores cost $27 to send per school. Assuming all 10 schools want them and you didn't select them when you tested, that's another $270. Supposing that half of these schools want the GRE subject test, that's another $135. I've seen applications as low as $40 and as high as $120. Most applications seem to hover around 70-90. Taking the average, this means another $800. Considering only one college attended, applying to 10: $800+$270+$135+100= $1305 Considering the cost of the GRE ($205) and the Lit Exam ($150), this totals $1660. Some schools do offer fee waivers, but often it requires a very strict set of requirements to be met. (According to my notes: UPenn cost me 107 to apply to last year, Yale cost me 159, Cornell 149, Rutgers 124) Those costs will be going up for me slightly due to an added transcript after next year. Applying can be very expensive.
  12. I've emailed some programs anonymously to try to gain an understanding of their scores. One school in the top 50 told me that a minimum of the 50th Percentile was needed to be looked at, but that they heavily preferred candidates in the 70th+ percentile). Another school in the top 20 told me that the average admitted student had a score of 660. Another school told me that they weigh the subject score more heavily for those who already have a Master's degree. This information struck me as odd since the advice given around here suggests that it's just a checklist item.
  13. I'm going to say a lot of things in this post. You may not like a lot of the things I have to say, but I hope you will find them useful. A lot of times we all think we have great CVs. But what drives you? Why should the area of interest you're interested in matter to research and why should we care? If you have a topic in mind, find articles (in top journals) on who is publishing on that topic. Look them up. Where do they teach? More often than not, you'll realize that they aren't at an ivy league school. Some of the ivy league schools are great in very specific areas but they're awful in other specific areas. Take time to look carefully at faculty bios and publications. Some publications you might find yourself enjoying. On some publications, you'll probably want to vomit in disgust. You might want to be wary of the 'professor emiritus/emerita' title. Sometimes, it means the professor still does teach. Often, it means that they are fully retired. And sometimes, it even means that the professor has gone elsewhere to teach full-time. Unfortunately, this means you'll have to inquire from within the department to find out the specifics. While I'd advise against choosing a college based on one city, NYC certainly has a fair amount of colleges to choose from: NYU, CUNY, Fordham, Columbia, St. John's University, The City College of New York, Mercy College, Long Island University. I'm sure there are some I've missed. Keep in mind, that applying to PHD programs is a very, very, competitive process. I think if I remember correctly, most applicants don't get in on their first round. Columbia receives 700 applications for 16 spots. That's less than 3 percent of applicants being accepted. According to their website "Similarly, we have no fixed minimum GRE score, but successful applicants trained in the U.S. will almost always have a GRE verbal score in the 95th percentile or better. International applicants must have a minimum TOEFL score of 600 on the paper test, or 100 on the internet test." That's roughly a 165V. Also from their website " As we admit fewer than 5% of applicants, all aspects of the application need to be strong. We have no fixed cut-off on grades, but given our numbers, applicants are unlikely to be admitted unless they have an undergraduate GPA of 3.7 or higher (in the U.S. system based on a 4.0 scale), or its equivalent." This post isn't meant to discourage you; but rather to put things into perspective. On a side note, some publications won't accept a piece if it's published elsewhere.
  14. I'm not sure if Harvard has a PhD Program in Finance. I know they have a Master's program in Finance through the extension school. Or are you considering Harvard's Business Economics with a concentration in Finance? http://www.hbs.edu/doctoral/areas-of-study/business-economics/Pages/default.aspx Ultimately, what are you trying to achieve through the degree? According tohttp://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-business-schools/, your score is slightly below average. Harvard's average for the MBA is in the 94th percentile. Your score would need to be raised to 166 to be equivalent. However, keep in mind, that even a perfect score might not be enough. More people are rejected than accepted. As such, there are many different factors that could impact your acceptance or rejection.
  15. This varies depending on who's on the committee each year and their other assigned committees.
  16. FWIW: Last year, Rutgers accepted 12 people into their cohort. The average scores were as follows: 165V, 154Q and a 3.83 GPA. Penn State doesn't release this information as far as I know. UCLA mentions that a combined 1300 (V+Subject) can be used to gauge performance. Dividing this in half, this would be a 163V and a 650 on the subject exam.
  17. A great score won't get you admission into every program. However, a bad score can keep you out. A good score depends on several factors including the field and school. Admission into graduate school is competitive by nature and you're competing against competitive people. Each person has their own merits and things that make them stand out. Each has (presumably) been encouraged to apply by their professors. Each believe that their writing is remarkable. More importantly, why these schools? How do you fit in with the culture of each program? Chicago and Texas are vastly different programs which will offer you vastly different climates. Chicago: Each year the Department receives more than 200 applications, and less than 10% of those matriculate. I'd imagine that the percentage of applicants accepted at top schools are around the same as Chicago's or may be lower.
  18. At which school? How do your interests fit in with with the department is known for?
  19. Three is generally the rule. Some schools will allow you to add 4 or 5. However, more letters isn't always better. A 4th should only be added if it could offer something of value that the other 3 can't. The 4th letter is usually a good letter to use to speak about your teaching ability.
  20. As a sidenote: Even US News can be broken based on how they do rankings. Harvard will nearly always rank well because it's Harvard. The last time US News ranked English Programs was in 2013. On that list, there's Bryn Mawr College at #59. Bryn Mawr has never had an English PHD program. Also, since 2013, a fair amount of professors have retired and certain schools have moved towards other specializations.
  21. As long as you mentioned it when you applied to your current school and to future schools you apply to, I don't think anybody else really needs to know. On a side note, make sure you're also aware of positions you may and may not be eligible for. If your offense was related to money, you can be barred from working in a bank or other financial institutions. If your offense was related to alcohol, it is legal for an employer to stop you from working in a liquor store, or as a server in a restaurant that sells alcohol.
  22. I think it's important to realize that you owe nobody anything. I think it be a disservice to pursue something that you're not interested in. On another note, working at Google may not be as hard as obtaining a TT position. Google said that they receive 130 applicants on average for each position. Some TT positions receive more than 500 applicants for one spot. However, someone has to get the job at Google and someone has to get the TT position.
  23. Which University is this? Do they mention how long you have to complete their degree on their website? Do they mention it in their handbook?
  24. I think it's important to realize that many programs in general are a reach for most people. There aren't really any guarantees since so many applicants applying at top schools have really great grades and gre scores. During the 2013-2014 cycle, the history department at UVA received 241 applications and admitted 20. The median gre verbal score was in the 93rd percentile. During the 2014-2015 cycle, the history department at UVA received 212 applicants and admitted 21. The median gre verbal score was in the 96th percentile. Scores are however not everything. And there's so much that you know and haven't provided. We don't know what your writing sample and letter of interest look like. We don't know what the admissions committee are looking for this year. We don't know how many people are applying in each subfield. Each of these factors as are many more will determine who gets offered an admissions spot. As a sidenote: I've heard from a professor that the Ivy League schools tend to reserve most of their spots for other ivy league grads and other prestigious programs. However, this could also just as easily be attributed to that applicant having a certain style the school was looking for.
  25. What field are you applying to? The top 10-20-30 programs differ a lot in what they offer to each student. A good match at school 4 might be a terrible match at 2 and 16. There are a lot of other factors to consider when applying to schools to maximize your chances.
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