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mightier

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Everything posted by mightier

  1. I did my master's instead of a final year of undergrad school. I had two semesters of German instruction plus a summer abroad in Berlin plus an intensive course designed to get us through the German exam. The exams aren't a joke (at least mine wasn't). We had two pages from a German source text talking about taxation policy in the 17th century. So, despite having a decent vocabulary, I had to look up a lot of words that either weren't commonly used or were not part of the language anymore. I think I managed to get about a page through the translation and I had done more than anybody else. I passed. From what I've heard though, the German exam is tougher than the other language exams simply because German is a dense language. A friend of mine who was taking his Italian exam steamrolled through it in about an hour. Ultimately it depends on the grader. I know people that failed a translation exam because they missed one or two words, which is absurd. The whole notion of a translation exam for history students is silly. The test should be about comprehension, not about how accurately you can translate from one language to another ... which, you know, is a whole different profession. I'm sure you will quickly find out which exams (and graders) are toughest in your program once you get there.
  2. Agreed on all counts. Personally, I think that sample is exactly how not to apply to most programs -- misuse of words, overuse of 'fancy' words, overboard sense of self worth, and a cheesy, half-hearted attempt at making it relate directly to Berkley.
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