HopefulGrad2B

Thank you, fuzzylogician! I especially appreciate your opinion since you're studying linguistics. I'm leaning toward sending another text written directly in the language. You're right about the question of fluency; they'll have other ways to gauge that. The whole application process is just so stressful and lends itself to occasional panic attacks about small details. Again, that's just been my experience, but from reading threads on this forum it seems rather pervasive. If anyone else has some advice, I'm still open to it. I have, however, more or less settled on a solution. Let's hope things turn out alright! Good luck to everyone!

Ok, so I'm freaking out. I'm applying for a Ph.D in a foreign language department. I've been really confident about my applications so far (e.g. high GRE and grades, solid LORs from well-respected profs at an Ivy, very well-focused SOP) but now my writing sample is a big question mark. I wrote my senior thesis (which won a departmental award) in English (the language, not the major) rather than in the language of my major (which, by the way, also happens to be my intended grad field). Since most of the departments to which I'm applying will accept both an English text and a text in the other language, for a while I've had this idea that I should attempt a "creative" bilingual submission where for the English part I'd send an excerpt from my thesis and for the other part I'd send a translation of a related part of my thesis. This would meet the length and language requirements of most of my schools. I sent my translation to a native speaker friend to help with little mistakes and then I sent the polished version to one of my profs (who happens to be one of my rec letter writers). She said it was great but that she doesn't really feel its my authentic voice in that language but rather my English thoughts rendered in that language. I'm inclined to trust her judgment as she was the Chair at one of the programs on my list and has many years of experience. She knows what she's saying! She suggested that I send an excerpt from my thesis (in English) along with a brief text in the relevant language and a note explaining my submission. She's confident it won't hurt my application. I, on the other hand, feel bummed not to use the translation on which I worked so hard. Part of me feels like going with my "creative" submission approach anyway and perhaps either unearthing a short paper in the language from a past course or writing one in the next two or three weeks (it would probably be just 5-10 pages... to show that I have a strong written command of the language). Anyway I'm lost. I'm not sure whether to go with my professors advice (thesis excerpt in English plus a short paper in the language), go ahead with my original plan (one half: thesis excerpt in English; one half: another thesis excerpt in translation), or to try the hybrid I proposed earlier (basically my approach plus my professor's suggestion to send a text I wrote directly in the language). Despite majoring in that language and having written substantial research papers, I don't feel I have many suitable texts in the language that really best show my interests (and to make matters worse, I wrote a lot of my research papers in English). But I am fluent! I feel like if I had a chance to meet some professors and speak with them informally, it would be a way to prove to them that I'm fluent. I was feeling so great about my chances up until now... I really don't want the writing sample to be the thing that ruins my chances since I realize how important it is. Does anyone have any thoughts for me? I have a deadline coming up mid-next week for which I'm most likely going to submit the translation because I don't think I'll have time to come up with something else. However, for my other schools, there's definitely still time as long as I settle on a solid approach soon. I don't want to come across as an unprepared, last-minute kind of applicant because I've actually been working dutifully on my applications for a while now (several months of careful attention to everything). I guess I just didn't anticipate the translation issue coming up. I minored in translation so part of my plan was to show the departments my translation skills... My sense is that adcomms want to see that I'm competent in the language and that they'd understand that my most impressive writing is in English, so I probably shouldn't be so worried. I feel like this is what my professor has been trying to get me to understand. Sorry about this desultory post but like I said, I'm stressed about this particular component of my application. If anyone could offer me some advice, I would greatly appreciate it!

THANK YOU!! Haha, it was bugging me too!

Hey Waddle, thanks! I'm glad you found it helpful. I'll admit that I'm not 100% certain about whether adcomms actually do receive our essays. I know that's how it worked with the SAT (they used to scan the handwritten essays) and I imagine it would only be simpler to do it with the current computer-based format. Then again, ETS and the Collegeboard are separate entities. I'd be curious if anyone could definitively settle this question. As for perfunctory grading, in my case, I almost always got very thorough feedback on my writing in my undergraduate classes, but perhaps I lucked out and had really conscientious professors...

Haha, thanks, I guess? I was hoping it would be more of an informative post rather than just a rant. I hope my post comes across as neither saturnine nor vituperative like the preponderance of AWA threads lately. I'm hoping that the people who typically write those types of rants will put their AWA scores in perspective and realize that the grading system is completely and utterly perfunctory.

P.S. Ignore the unnecessary possessive in the thread title. It was a little mistake that unfortunately I can't edit.

Hey everyone! I recently took the GRE. I'm actually still waiting on my AWA score. I'm not placing much importance on it though, especially after reading that the essay is scored in part by "e-raters" or computer readers. I wrote (what I thought) was a creative and attention-grabbing introduction for my Issue essay and I found that both of my essays read well rhetorically and made good use of GRE vocabulary. I'm now wondering whether all of that was for naught, given the way the essays are graded. Here's a simplified explanation along with some articles with further information. Essentially you have a human reader and a bot reader. An essay that a human reader might praise for rhetorical finesse or incisiveness might be completely lost on the bot which is programmed to look for very specific features. Apparently if you misspell certain transition words (e.g. "therefore," "furthermore," etc.) the program erroneously penalizes your essay for lack of structure. The human grader is pressured to assign very strict scores using the most rigid and trite templates as guidelines (e.g. the 5 paragraph high school essay) because sincere scoring would call their work into question (i.e. if they constantly disagree with the computer). This would necessitate too much intervention from "third" (read: human) readers, which is costly to ETS. I think it's a shame that this is being done mostly (if not, entirely) for cost-cutting reasons (don't we pay ETS enough... and indeed, overpay them?). These essays are supposed to measure our analytical reasoning and an algorithm might be able to pinpoint some classical signs of good reasoning and structure but with the consequence of completely eschewing creativity and the kind of original writing many of us will go on to do in graduate school, it's no wonder a lot of humanities programs accord little importance to the AWA score. http://awatips.blogspot.com/2007/05/using-strategy.html (This is about the GMAT but apparently it's applicable to the GRE as well) http://awatips.blogspot.com/2007/05/about-e-rater.html (Ditto) http://www.800score.com/gmat-essay.html (Ditto) http://www.daytondailynews.com/project/content/project/tests/0524testautoscore.html Since score recipients receive copies of our AWA essays, they would be better judges than the e-rater as to the quality of our writing. However, as it has often been stressed on this site, a solid writing sample and SOP are clearly better examples of one's writing and argumentation skills. I scored 800 on the Verbal section and I suspect that other 800 scores and some folks with 700+ scores might find that a score below a 5 on the AWA is a blow to our otherwise impressive GRE scores. I've encountered a plethora of threads initiated by high Verbal scorers who seem devastated about receiving a low AWA score. I don't know my AWA score yet but I'm sure I didn't do everything I could have to "please" the bot reader, so I personally won't be too disappointed if it's below a 5 and I certainly won't take it as an indication of my writing abilities. I hope this thread is helpful to those of you who (especially in the humanities) have aced the Verbal but not the AWA or who have yet to take the exam. Don't worry about the AWA; knock 'em dead with your writing sample and SOP!

I'm really not sure how this works but I can't imagine that grad schools can reject you solely or even partially because of your ADD. That would be unlawful discrimination. I'm sure that as long as you provide the appropriate information to ETS, they can grant you the necessary accommodations. You should inquire whether they apprise potential graduate programs. If they do, your programs will have to understand that the accommodations are legitimate. If you feel it's necessary, you might want to briefly explain it in your SOP, but do try to frame it as a strength somehow rather than call undue attention to it as a weakness. And hey, you never know, ETS might not even inform programs at all, in which case you'd be in the clear. I think I remember reading in high school about AP exam policies where "non-standard" exam administrations were noted on score reports, but I'm not sure how this works with the GRE. Look into it and post back to let us know what you find out. This could be helpful to other Grad Café folks in similar situations. Good luck to you!

Thanks! I was mildly hyperventilating leading up to seeing the scores and then when I saw them, I found myself both nonplussed but of course also in a state of utter exultation! I asked for a little card on which to jot down my scores just to be sure that they weren't actually figments of my imagination or products of a flight of fancy or test-induced madness. Here's hoping the AWA went as well as I'm thinking it did...

Hey everyone. I just wanted to confirm that my experience pretty much followed the norm others described earlier, with one little difference. I took the 10 minute break after the AWA section and then when I was back and ready to start, one of the test center people was like, "Whoops I forgot to set up your machine to continue..." I had a mild panic attack inside... I had felt so good about the essays and I thought perhaps b/c of some dumb error on their part that I might have to re-test... but it was just some little technical matter where they were supposed to make it so that I could continue the exam after the break. *Whew* The two sections came in a different order from the way I had usually practiced which was a surprise but it actually ended up working to my advantage. It went well in the end! 800V, 780Q and I'll find out about the essays soon enough. *Whew* I can officially move on with my life!!! Good luck to everyone else out there!

Thanks! It went really well!! 800V, 780Q. (I also felt really good about my essays, but I guess I'll find out soon enough) It feels great to finally put the GRE behind me!! Good luck to everyone else out there!

Thanks everyone! I'm off to take the GRE... wish me luck!!

Does it suffice to show up at the test center with one's ID or does one also need to show them the registration ticket? This is probably a dumb question but I just want to make sure. Thanks!

Do people usually skip the tutorial at the beginning? Has anyone used it to simply ease his/her transition into the test-taking experience?

That sounds a bit Orwellian! Haha... oh (big) brother... Wish me luck!

Thanks for the recent additions to this thread. I'll be testing in Manhattan. I feel confident in both my preparation and in knowing more or less what to expect logistically. I'll be sure to post here if my experience differs in any unusual way (or to confirm that it follows the "typical" exam experience). Wish me luck!

Awesome! Thanks! Getting some booze afterward is a nice touch. Haha. I really appreciate your response.

Hey everyone. I'll be taking the GRE on Monday for the first time. I'm just wondering if someone could please explain what the test-taking experience is like. I don't mean "subjectively" but more like, does someone at the test center provide you with pencils and scrap paper? When you return your scrap paper at the end, are you allowed to jot down your scores and percentiles before you leave? Is it true that there are lockers for one's possessions? What about lunch/snack items? (Would that be for the breaks? Maybe this varies by test center?) If someone (with a "typical" experience) could describe in a nutshell how their experience proceeded from the moment they arrived at the test center to the moment they left the test center, I would be greatly appreciative. I just don't want to show up on exam day and be all clueless and then have unnecessary added stress. Thanks in advance!

Thanks Cheshirey! That's all good to know.

Hey! I have a few pretty simple questions. I'll be taking the computer-based GRE for the first time soon. It's my understanding that I'll be prompted to select my score recipients on test day. 1. Could someone please enlighten me as to how many recipients I may select? That is, how many are included in the test fee? 2. Is there a choice to send scores to one's undergraduate institution? 3. And finally, if I'm applying to more schools and fellowships than that limit, do I get to designate additional recipients online on my own time? I realize additional reports carry an additional cost. Thanks a lot in advance!

D. Something condign is done in an apposite (i.e. appropriate) manner. Something apropos is done in an opportune (i.e. appropriate) manner. Sure, I can, depending on the situation. When I was younger, my friend’s grandfather would always say to my friend and his siblings, “You have a lot of chutzpah, you know!” when they talked back to their parents, so I’ve actually heard it pronounced before. It’s a really cool word! Chutzpah n. The author of The Joys of Yiddish, Leo Rosten, defines chutzpah as, “gall, brazen nerve, effrontery, incredible 'guts,' presumption plus arrogance such as no other word and no other language can do justice to.” This image should help it stick in your memory. Remember President Obama’s The Audacity of Hope? http://starkster.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/audacity_of_chutzpah_cover.jpg?w=480&h=739 Remember this: The Audacity of Chutzpah (since chutzpah is roughly pronounced: HUTS-pah and “hope” shares the “h” and “p”). You have the added benefit of associating chutzpah with its definition: “audacity.” The Audacity of Chutzpah. The Chutzpah of Hope? CHUTZPAH A. effrontery B. affront C. doggerel D. penury E. deference Can the poster below me make an analogy between chess and another game using the words gambit and a corresponding word from the other game? (I’ve actually seen an analogy like this on one of ETS’s released past GREs!)

arsenic poisoning

old age

Sweet, this is just what I need! B. A samizdat is a banned publication distributed underground just as a bootleg is an illicit item distributed underground. Nice choice of words. I've never come across that one before, but it's good to know! Well, maybe a little cranky, but I wouldn't exactly say minatory! Haha. Minatory adj. Threatening, menacing; foreshadowing evil or tragic developments. Little did the hero know the minatory fate that awaited him at the center of the labyrinth in the clutches of the evil Minotaur, the minatory monster of the maze who destroyed his human victims! MINATORY A. propitious B. foreboding C. sybaritic D. labyrinthine E. mettlesome The poster below me was at some point or is currently a member of a coterie of some kind.