anonacademic

Hmm.... why are they doing this? Because they don't want to write the letters themselves, or because they don't know you well enough, or some other reason? It's also odd that all of your professors want you to do this - is this standard at your university? I wouldn't worry too much about length - probably about the same as a SOP. As for content, I'd look to some of your potential schools' LOR forms. Several of mine have a series of questions with the generic range of questions (i.e. "Is this student ready for grad school?" "Totally; yes; kind of; meh; no"). I remember that Temple has a thorough one (gawd, they even have a form for the registrar!). Direct your LOR so that it preemptively answers these kinds of questions. Focus on your achievements - generally, of course, but also specifically in each of your professors' course(s). Also talk about any other contact you may have had with them - did you serve on the same committee? Help with research? Mention papers and what your argument was. Of course, this means each LOR will be specific to each professor. Talk about how you're prepared to address your proposed research plan and graduate school in general. Good luck - what an odd assignment!

Pick up a test book and read through their suggestions for how to tackle the verbal section - because as the others have said, there's a huge penalty to leave questions blank, but it's also bad to randomly guess. I have the Princeton Review and the Barron's Guide - each was helpful (the Barron's had better vocab lists, though). Their techniques work. Read them, study them, practice them. They'll help you focus how to read the passages and what to look for in the least amount of time possible. I am not trying to sell anything, FYI, and I would recommend looking into your campus library/career center for test books, rather than shell out for them yourself.

I love this! My post-test kit included a panini, a half pound of chocolate (with almonds!) (no, I haven't eaten it all - yet), and a glass of wine I agree with your test of endurance observation - that's definitely how I felt today. I'm sure that under more favorable conditions, the test would not be so difficult. A large portion, after all, was reading comprehension - isn't that what we live for? But the hard seats, minuscule desks, guy in the next row with a squeaky chair, and, above all, the amount of questions paired with the time limit make it difficult and exhausting. And honestly, why does the ETS go through the pretense of asking if I prefer left handed seating? Each time, my ticket comes back without the check I so carefully made sure would be there, and each time my proctors tell me, "Oh, we're very sorry... we only have righty desks that are *just* smaller than your test book..."

I had a longer SOP and mercilessly sliced it down. Some of my schools ask for a 300-500 word statement, so this is a necessity. I say things only once, that's rule number one. Theorists get a quick gloss - mostly: this is who they are and this is how I've re-purposed their concept for my own ends. Being very, very familiar with my sample is important for this step. The next paragraph explores the things I didn't get the chance to discuss in my sample - the things I want to keep exploring. They related back to my specific author, subject, and time period. I ask specific questions based off of my sample and several other authors whose work I'd like to explore; I give titles of potential work and reasons why it is relevant to my topic - potential areas of conflict with my original assertions, as well as supporting ideas. Again, my familiarity with my sample - both its strengths and its weaknesses - is essential here. As far as cutting it down goes, it certainly helps that I've spent some time in academic editing, and that I'm focusing on removing wordiness and adding detail/concise wording with my comp students. I'm as honest and straight forward with myself as I have been/am in both of those situations (or, at least, I try to be!). I also follow the golden rules of multiple drafts with significant revision and, most importantly, several days off between drafts. My statement is about 370 words before the fit paragraphs. And, ugh, the fit paragraphs... There's a whole other kettle of fish

Also, let me say thank you to everyone who posted their recent experiences with the test on these boards - it definitely helped today.

Yikes - why did they do that? I'm sure there was an outstanding reason, but if you were getting 90th percentile, it stands to reason that you'd still get a decent score on this test. Now that I'm more recuperated, let me share my thoughts. I certainly agree with you about the restructuring. I will hypothesize that they did it to combat the Princeton Review book and the (two!) websites out there, which is somewhat understandable (but seems like an overreaction, especially considering even with that "wealth" of help it's still challenging). However, when the practice test that they send is drastically different than the one administered, I will cry foul. (An aside - the "practice" test sent to me was the same I took several years ago - thanks, ETS! )

Hear, hear! Thank you, JS (although - unfortunately! - I have already taken the GRE and so cannot apply your GRE advice). I've noticed the same problem - not with my field-specific board, but out in the general stream of things. It's unfortunate. Getting back to the topic: My advice is flashcards. Those that you write out (I find just the process of writing them helps me remember). Then you must keep drilling yourself all the time - on the elevator, during commercials, on the toilet - whatever it takes When I've taken foreign language courses, I used an extended version of this strategy, which was very helpful despite the fact that I seem particularly inept at other languages, living and dead. After the flashcards, I would quiz myself again and again on groups of ten or twenty, which forced me to write them down again and again and make sure that I knew (as opposed to "kinda knew") the specific definition and application of each.

For graduate admissions, you might want to show a more engaged work than this. Your philosophy paper sounds like it may fit the bill - outside research is key. If you simply apply a theory learned in class to a text/movie/etc., that doesn't show engagement with the subject the way a research paper (like your philosophy paper) does. I'm not very familiar with your field, but I would further suggest that you try to connect your writing sample to your SOP (your research interests) - I'm not confident (because of my unfamiliarity with your field and your paper topics) either way that this can be done, so maybe someone else can speak to this. And, make sure a professor reads your revisions before you apply. Edited for a typo

Second this. I would only put down things directly relevant to what you plan on doing. Don't become overly concerned with a short C.V.; schools know that straight out of undergrad you won't have two to three pages of activities to talk about, but you'll probably have a related club, some awards, and a presentation to put down. The suggestion of relevant coursework is a good one, particularly if your transcript isn't descriptive. Be wary of "padding" your C.V. - adcomms will sniff that out in a minute (and they won't like it!). Having only one page (or less) is OK at this stage in your academic career.

Absolutely no offense meant - I am acutely aware that I can only speak and write in English - but I can see where you're running into difficulties with the writing section from this post. I am not especially knowledgeable about ESL learning techniques, but what I've instructed my ESL students to do is look through our textbook's special section that is geared specifically for them. These students are good writers, but to a native speaker it's immediately apparent that English is their second language - and one they don't have a complete grasp of. This section, specifically geared toward overcoming the vicissitudes of English grammar that native speakers take in stride but completely (understandably) stump ESLers, has helped them immensely. I'd spend some time with an ESL textbook (or at least a chapter of a grammar handbook dedicated to ESL learners) - do the exercises, have someone look them over. Also, make sure your writing sample is in top shape - if committees know you're writing in a second (or third...) language, they may overlook the discrepancy between a well-written sample and a timed (and pointless, IMO) GRE exam. Don't have someone edit your sample for you (even just for grammar). You'll need these skills in your graduate program and beyond. And again, like my first post said, look through the ETS's prompts, and read a test-prep book - both will help you familiarize yourself with the types of questions asked and the best ways to answer them. Hope this helps! Edited for clarification!

These sorts of questions make me very glad not to be in a mathematical field. That said, I'll second what SHA said here (and the others of the same opinion) - whatever the crazy wording may be, what you should put is what is on your report card. You have your score in one box and the next should have the percentile score - that's it. It's what everyone puts, and it may raise an eyebrow with admissions (if they notice something as small as a single percentage point!) (but not worth the risk, in my opinion!)

Do you have a separate transcript for these two classes? Actually, now that I write that, I realize you must. I would put that on your C.V., but, as you suggest, under a different heading than the one for your degree-granting institution. I have a somewhat similar situation - in that I attended another university, although not for credit - and that's what I'm doing. It seems to make the most sense. I would address these classes in your SOP - because these two classes probably directly influence your feeling toward your field and your desire to pursue graduate study. You probably could get away with as little as a half sentence: "While studying [classes] at X University after my undergraduate degree, I [something positive about your field] and [decided that graduate study was the only way to fulfill my goals]." (You get the idea!) Or, depending on your experience, this may turn into a focal point (i.e., after studying [this specific area], I realized I need to go more in depth with my research. These are the things I learned, and the questions I now have). Hope this helps!

I'm too exhausted. Repeat what medievalmaniac said. I just don't have a clue. It seemed even more trivial (trivia-esque) than the test I took a few years ago. (If that's possible!)

I'm taking the beast on Saturday, so have yet to share your pain, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. For one, your percentile ranking is out of people interested in pursuing a PhD in Literature - not the general population, as with the GRE general test. So, while it's certainly expected that we score at the top in the Verbal section, the subject test is a little bit of a gray area. And, as the poster above noted, it's one of the least important aspects of your application. Focus on the things you can control - your writing sample and SOP - and don't stress about the things that are out of your hands. Good luck!

I believe that the ETS stores all of its writing prompts (don't get too excited - there are at least 200+) on its website for us to read and practice on. Here's a link (scroll to the bottom for links to both writing sections' prompts). I'd consider purchasing a GRE study guide (I'm satisfied with my Barron's Guide) and reading everything on the ETS website in order to better gauge what they're looking for. And of course, practice, practice, practice. See if you can't get a native speaker to look over some of your attempts, to make sure you're on the right track. How have you done on your TOEFL? A strong score there (and in the verbal section of the GRE) may help offset a weaker writing score. (Emphasize "may help" - that's just an educated guess.)

I was very glad I was recovering from surgery when I received my first (terrible) scores. Being sedated with whatever it was that knocked me out sure dulled the pain in the most literal way possible. Who's taking the test this weekend? I've studied since June/July, somewhat sporadically, but I feel like it might all be for naught, given the recent shift to theory and grammar.

Like you've said, I don't think it's necessary that your SOP and writing sample directly link up. It sounds like, for both of you, there's some sort of evolution in your interests/knowledge that's leading you from writing sample to other interests. I'd hone in on that trajectory, talk about the awesomeness that is your writing sample, and how you hope to expand and complicate these ideas and/or related ideas/areas/authors/&c. in your further research. ^ This, more or less. I believe I wasn't as successful in my first round of applications not because my writing sample and SOP didn't completely align (they did, as much as I had a defined research goal!), but because neither was up to par. (And, oh boy, I just recently glanced through that old SOP - yikes!) I have the feeling that the quality of the writing and ideas is what counts, not whether they directly dovetail. Good luck! I'm starting to get some serious anxiety about this whole process with t-minus one month to the first deadlines