kb88

You can also email and ask them. They are there to help you put together the best application.
I found UCSB's 10 page limit to be peculiar. They may actually want to read the whole thing and get tons of apps, which is why they have such a small limit.
Still, 10 pages is more like an undeveloped conference presentation than a polished PhD writing sample.

Focus on the positives (your acceptances).
For the rejections, think of it in terms of if you were applying to medical school. The acceptance rates for PhD programs in English and medical schools are low. Many med students go to less prestigious programs and become respected doctors. Many English PhDs go to less respected programs and get tenured positions.
Granted, you are not looking at the same salary or employment opportunities, but people always get rejections and bad news in their lives. It is all about how you respond to it and about falling forward, not backward.

·       
A few weeks ago, I was asked to talk to first-year M.A. students about the Ph.D. application process. I prepared a list of what I figure to be key elements, and I figure it might be useful to many on GC who are preparing to go down this path as well. I'm quite certain that some of these points are purely subjective and open to discussion / debate, but having gone through the process a couple of times now, these items ring true based on my experiences and observations.

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Others have surely told you about the state of the industry, so I’m just going to assume that you already know the “there are no jobs” spiel.
·        Others have also surely told you about how relatively difficult it is to get into a Ph.D. program—I have yet to hear of a program that admits over 10% of applicants.
o   Because of this, if you are committed to applying to Ph.D. programs, I strongly recommend considering applying to at least ten. Even though merit is a critical part of determining who gets in, there is a very real element of “luck of the draw” which pure numbers will help to mitigate.
·        With that in mind, NOW is a good time to get started on your program research
·        Your first consideration when entering the process should be to determine what era you would like to study, and ideally a general sense of methodologies you want to employ. These elements will be reflected in the two most important components of your application: the Statement of Purpose (or SoP), and your Writing Sample (WS).
·        Some basics:
 
o   The SoP and WS should ideally work together
o   When thinking about potential areas of study, avoid proposing transatlantic or transhistorical concepts: admissions committees are still very much set up by period, and your application should be easily sorted into a field group (i.e. you’re clearly a Romanticist, or you’re clearly a 20th century Americanist).
o   GRE scores, GPA, and other elements are important, but remember that the things you can control the most at this stage are the WS and SoP.
o   Given the importance of these two documents, you will want to get as many eyes on them as possible as soon as possible.
§  My SoP and WS were read and commented on by at least five professors and several fellow students, and ultimately went through at least six rounds of revision each—several of them top-to-bottom revisions.
·        There are multiple factors to consider when looking at programs. Some of the most important include:
 
o   Are there multiple professors actively working in your chosen field
§  By “active” I mean that you should be able to find publication credits from within the past five years—they need to be in touch with current scholarship.
o   What level of financial support do they offer—not just the annual funding, but whether they fund in summer, and how many years of funding are guaranteed
o   What courses have they offered in the past? What courses are they offering in the fall?
o   What is the teaching load like, and how do they prepare you for that load?
o   So-called rankings matter to a certain extent, but remember that those rankings are almost completely arbitrary. USNews rankings are helpful as a list of all programs offering Ph.D.s in English…and a very, very general sense of the strong programs vs. the less strong. But FIT with your interests trumps all.
§  (E.g. the Strode program at U of A is highly regarded, even though U of A itself is somewhat less so)
o   Location and cost of living. A 20k stipend will get you a lot further in Lincoln, Nebraska than in New York. And elements like small town vs. large city, cold vs. warm climate etc. are all perfectly valid factors when looking at programs. You’ll have to live in this place for 4-6 years, after all!
·        A few quick and random tips:
 
o   It can be helpful to contact professors ahead of time to determine research fit etc., but it can also be quite valuable to contact current grad students to get a sense of the program and the environment.
o   Remember that an important part of professionalization in a Ph.D. program is publication. More than anything, this means that before you go down the road toward application, give some serious thought to whether or not your writing and research inclinations have that kind of potential. And whether or not that’s something you really want to deal with at all.
o  Also remember that teaching is a huge part of your job, and always will be. If you don’t enjoy teaching (or the prospect of teaching), you’d better really love the other components of your position, because there’s not going to be any getting away from it for many, many years.
o   It might go without saying, but be very courteous in all of your communications with professors and other graduate students. And that courtesy should be sincere!
o   Consider the total cost of applications: application fees average about $75, sending GRE scores is $27 (more if you need the subject test), and if you have multiple transcripts, that can tack on another $10. In other words, each application will likely be upward of $100. Given that I recommend applying to at least ten programs, you’re looking at a commitment of over $1000. There ARE fee waivers you can find, however.
o   Forums like GradCafe are a good way to socialize with fellow applicants, and commiserate with people in the same situation. Just remember to take all advice you see on those forums with a grain of salt.
o   Finally, there are NO SAFETY SCHOOLS. Just to reiterate, rankings are arbitrary, and almost every program gets ten times as many applicants as they can admit (let alone fund). As a result, you want to look at the best overall fit for you.
 
 

@KennethBurked which programs are you considering? Which programs do you want to apply to but maybe feel out of reach? (I know a bit about new media and game studies programs)

Most adcomms LOATHE the GRE. If the program hasn't already abolished it as a requirement, then they would likely be delighted to have a well-qualified candidate with low to mediocre scores (not saying yours are) to use as proof that the college should get rid of it in application considerations. 
GREs continue to be less important, and more of an embarrassment, to schools that still use them in admission decisions. See: this recent study demonstrating STEM students who score in the lowest quartile either (for men) outperform or (for women) show no difference from their counterparts in the highest quartile when measuring rate of degree completion.
Do not waste your time, money, or energy giving the GRE one additional thought.

Gonna pop in here and add that I had atrocious GRE schools and got into two great programs with full funding.  Focus on WS and SoP and use the money to apply to more schools rather than a retake. 
Edit to clarify also that my scores were lower than yours (with exception of Verbal, I scored 158V, but I was lower in Q and Writing). 

I have.... worse GRE scores than yours, and the program that I'll likely be attending is the ONLY program to which I applied that gave a crap about GREs...and I'm still accepted with full funding. I was told my CV and writing sample/SOP literally negated my crap scores.

Take it from someone nearing the end of the PhD: if you haven't considered alt-ac, you should start immediately. I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but the vast majority of those posting here will not get a tenure-track position, even if you finish your respective program (and, statistically, half of you won't). Period.  Those of you in that position will invariably be smart and have worked on super cool, worthwhile projects. But the reality is pretty simple: there are far too many qualified candidates for too few jobs. As a result, hiring departments can be super choosy, demanding a top-ten-program graduate when their own department is nowhere near that prestigious. A handful of people from, say, Illinois or Ohio State or fill-in-the-blank-middling-school, might end up accepting crummy 4/4 positions that pay 45K/year. The rest of us will confront the prospect of adjuncting until the end of time or, if we're lucky, working as the nominally better lecturer, a position won't clear more than $35K/year.
I know that, from y'all's position, labor and pay conditions feel cheap, dirty, or irrelevant. Believe me, I get it -- at twenty-three, fresh out of undergrad, I said exactly the same thing. But when you're pushing thirty and you have little savings, no chance of buying a house, and no money to start the family you discovered you'd like to have—then, these things start seeming important.
I raise all this hullabaloo as preface to this: you don't have to accept shit pay, shit working conditions, and no job security. Hell, if you've committed ten years to higher ed, you'd be crazy to think those things are fine. Instead, you can—and will, if you try—find valuable work outside of higher education. I can confirm this from experience. While ABD, I've completed graduate internships with the Government Accountability Office and a nationally-recognized education nonprofit. Both gigs made me realize a few things that I wouldn't have known otherwise: first, that there are smart people outside academia working on really important, consequential issues; two, that those same people recognize the value of having someone with our critical thinking and communications skills; and three, they're actually willing to pay what we're worth. I'm very happy to report the last. Both of my internships led to substantial job offers that I'll be weighing when I graduate in a year. It would be virtually impossible for an academic job, were I offered one, to compete with the other two offers I have in my back pocket. 
I'm telling you all this not to poo poo grad school or make you feel bad. There's plenty of reading out there on the job market that'll do that just fine. Rather, I'm telling you this so that you might see alt-ac as an opportunity that needn't be relegated to the "I'll do it if I don't get that job at Yale, or Emory, or Southwestern Oklahoma Baptist..." In fact, it might be the only option you have that will properly reward you for your intelligence, hard work, and writing skills. So, please, please, please, keep it in mind as you start your work in graduate school. Don't wait until you've graduated and been spit out of higher ed before you position yourself for success beyond the campus grounds. Avoid the grad school mindset that you're an amateur that doesn't know much and can't do much, either. Recognize your worth and refuse to accept a miserable working life. 

I hate the GRE as much as anyone, and while anything can happen, a verbal score at or above 160 would look much better.  Most schools that post average scores tend to show verbal around 164.  I'm not saying committees like the GRE, but they do get to be picky.  You should assume that most good candidates will have good letters, a good sample, and a good statement.  What if they have a good verbal score too?  Is it worth a lot of studying?  If I were you, I would probably crack the practice manual every few weeks and schedule another test in early October just to see if you could pull that 160.  You can always decide what scores to send later. 

you really think it's worth it to pay $160 for a two point increase? wow lol

I would prefer to think of it as $160 for a better chance at a generous fellowship. 

Can graduated folks apply for the waiver?

or you could apply to one or two more schools and increase your chance of being accepted somewhere.

I think that's a good strategy to have. I mention my earlier post because people in Literature often think that USNews rankings (and their response rate) extend to Rhet/Comp. It doesn't. I would also like to note here that some rhet/comp programs are considered to be "top" programs for Communication and/or Digital Media. I'd caution you here to carefully explore your journals to ensure that they're producing work that you're interested in. It does sound like this is something you've given thought to. As far as I'm aware, there is no "official" ranking list in Rhet/Comp but some programs are given more publicity through publications than others. This could be due to the size of a cohort, influenced by your adviser, or be driven by one's motivation to publish. Some universities might be more active in encouraging you to publish.
 
I don't think the MA has to be as focused on one very small area of study; I think the MA allows someone to gain a better understanding of what they're interested in so they could better focus on what they're interested in with a Ph.D.  It is always nice to have professors who are supportive in your pursuits though.
 
I think the results section is considerably more helpful for programs that place a heavy importance on test scores. I think it's more helpful in the humanities with providing when acceptances/rejections/waitlists have gone out in the humanities.

The OP mentioned that they were interested in Rhetoric/Composition in the title of their post. Those rankings differ from English rankings so it's quite possible that the OP is applying to some top rhet/comp programs. I agree though that the OP should apply to a wide variety of schools.
 
Some programs might weed out applicants and might have a preference for certain scores. However, I think most will look at the entire application process as long as the score isn't very low.  A high score alone won't be the reason someone is admitted to a university.
 
Depending on what you write, I'd see if there is anyone who's interested in either that or gender studies. If someone has a dual appointment, I'd heavily consider adding the school they teach at to your list.
 
Each grad school has a different way that they expect FYW to be taught. Some find it easier to train students with no prior experience; others find it preferable to have students with prior experience. Neither will make a difference if you don't fit within the department. What fit means to you might be different with what each department considers to be a fit.
 
I'm not sure if the results section represents an accurate representation of all results though. I think the sample we get often ends up being from a very specific crowd. 

I wouldn't retake it.  I think you've proven how capable you are in far more accurate ways than that silly test. 

this is easy: nope, don’t retake. your grades in your MA show you’re ready for graduate level work. what will higher scores tell them that your writing sample, sop, lors, and grades don’t already?  

I needed a friend to tell me this so I'll tell you: also apply to top-ten programs. Apply to some ivies. Don't limit yourself to the 20-60 range.