Safferz

You did not bomb or flunk the GRE.

Not necessarily. The professor I mentioned above is one I've gotten to know well over the last four years -- he's also written a fantastic letter for me before (for a fellowship he suggested I apply to), and he's always been quick to reply to emails. So it's strange that he didn't reply to my initial email in September or my follow up, knowing how enthusiastic he's been about my grad school plans.

I decided to just show up during the professor's office hours (who didn't reply to my email in September, or my follow up earlier this month), and the first thing he said was "I owe you an email!" I'm glad to have gotten that out of the way, but I sense that I'll have to badger my referees over the next six weeks to make sure the letters are actually in on time. I suggest those of you who can make use of a professor's office hours do so -- often they'll read the email and simply forget that they didn't reply.

I gave each referee a package - a sheet with the name of each school and its deadline, and a copy of my SOP, transcript, CV and writing sample. My understanding is that with online applications, we'll have to register the name and email of each referee, and each will receive an email instructing them on how to upload their letters to the online application. So I've told each professor to expect those emails, and that I'll try to register their names on all of my applications on the same day (I'm aiming to finish all my applications by the second week of Nov), so they can receive all nine emails at the same time.

Does your school have counseling services so you could speak to a professional about this? I hope you find good advice and support here, but the important thing is that you speak to a trained professional. I think you need to think of yourself right now and make your mental health and well-being a priority above all else, instead of worrying about letting others down.

I listened to the same interview on CBC, and that's not what he said at all. He said they could bring down the system, and when the interviewer asked "you think so?" he said, "I know so." What he said about the movement being white-dominated is to point out that it won't be the same as the 60s Civil Rights Movement (even though many of the Occupy WS activists think of it that way) because this is not a historically oppressed group demanding their rights, but people with "400 years of white privilege" who feel the system worked and has gotten worse, when black activists have held that it never worked to begin with. He also warned that the police response can't deal with young white people with the same violence it has unleashed on blacks and Hispanics.

With GRE testing costs (took it twice, and spent quite a bit on study material), sending extra score reports, ordering and mailing transcripts, and the actual application fees for 9 schools, I'm looking at about $1500.

That is discouraging. I don't think trying to do a great job on Yale's application is a problem, and I wouldn't assume doing so would come at the expense of other applications.

Great advice! I'm going to review Susan Geiger's 'TANU Women: Gender and Culture in the Making of Tanganyikan Nationalism, 1955-65'. My research interests relate to women/gender and African anticolonial nationalisms, and Geiger's interventions in the historiography of African nationalism, as well as her theoretical approaches to gender and nationalism, shaped my thinking about the subject more than any other work I've read. I plan to read it again before writing my review. I had the worst SOP-writing anxiety before actually starting it, since I was so overwhelmed by the thought of beginning a task that would likely carry the most weight in my application. I think the key is to just do it and start writing, even if what you have isn't great at first. Break through the paralysis! The earlier you start, the more time you'll have to review and revise. It also helped that I promised my referees a draft to look at by mid-Oct, so the pressure of having a deadline certainly forced me to get to work.

I've gotten the first draft of my SOP out of the way, and I'm feeling great about it. I'm now working on editing my 27 page writing sample down to 20, a conference paper due in under three weeks (gah!), and a few additional assignments for certain applications (a personal history statement, and a book review). I'm trying to balance this all with a full course load, but applications are my priority right now. I'm bracing myself for the hellish 6-7 weeks ahead.

I'm in the same situation for two of my references, which is odd considering how responsive these professors are with emails. But I know it's easy for emails to get buried during a busy semester, so I'm planning to drop in during office hours this week.

Same. I wonder if that means we've registered accounts for the previous cycle, and will have to create new accounts when the application is available.

I'm with you, goldielocks! I'm also working on (err, starting) a conference paper for mid-November, taking a full course load and working on applications. I only started my SOP this week because I was so overwhelmed by the thought of it, but writing *something* has gotten me through the paralysis and I'm actually quite excited about what I have so far. I'm planning to contact professors over the next week, which is something I've also put off. I've been in a bit of a rut since taking the GRE just before classes started, but with deadlines around the corner, I'm back into the swing of things.

I'm having some serious SOP-writing anxiety. I MUST get my first draft done this week, so my letter writers have something to look at. I've been thinking about it for months, but I'm feeling so overwhelmed by the task that I haven't written a single word yet.

Most of the applications I've seen ask for no more than 1000 words, while a few have 500 word limits. If the history department doesn't specify a length, usually you'll find some information about it on the graduate school's website IME.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor is one of the top schools for African history, so I'm a bit disappointed to hear I can't apply there. Most schools also take 1-2 students in the field, while Michigan took 5 for fall 2011. So needless to say, I'm a bit anxious now that they're crossed off my list, especially when the other schools I've found to 'fit' are quite ambitious on my part. But it's a bit of a crapshoot, right? Best of luck! I found going in with the "f*ck it, I just need to get this done" mindset was quite helpful, actually.

Just a heads up -- I got an email from the director of graduate studies at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and she said that they've decided to suspend admissions for one year, because they had twice as many students accept their offer last year than anticipated. They won't review any applications for fall 2012, but their joint programs (with classical studies, women and gender studies, and anthropology) will.

Agreed. I'm also in History and Women & Gender Studies, but I will be applying to history programs as an Africanist interested in questions of gender.

Great thread! I absolutely must have the first draft of my SOP completed by the last week of September, since I'd like to include it in an email to my letter writers along with my finalized list of schools. It's really stressful knowing this task is likely the most important part of my application.

I find the entire process terrifying. I think it's because I believe I'm a competitive candidate, but I only have so much time (and space, given the word limits) to put together a great application that will convince a committee who doesn't know me that they want me in their program. It's a lot of pressure to put on yourself, and once you throw in occassional feelings of self-doubt and "wtf am I doing applying for a Ph.D??" moments, you can see we have some pretty difficult months ahead of us. I've given myself one week to hammer out the first draft of my statement of purpose, and I'm absolutely dreading the task.

I wouldn't waste any space on the SOP to address the GRE! Here's what ETS has to say about comparing scores: "How will institutions compare scores on the GRE General Test administered prior to August with scores on GRE revised General Test? Since GRE scores are valid for five years, it is likely that schools will receive applications with one of three score scenarios: scores based on the new score scale, scores based on the prior scale and scores based on both scales. As part of the transition effort, the GRE program is providing institutions with concordance information to help bridge scores from the previous score scale (200 – 800) to the revised score scale (130 – 170). The concordance information is designed to help institutions compare scores on the GRE General Test administered prior to August 2011 with scores received on the GRE revised General Test. This new information will be available to institutions in November 2011 after the completion of statistical analyses required for transition to the new score scale. Concordance information will also be included on your GRE revised General Test score report."

Hi Orient, The only test available as of August 1st is the revised GRE. Until November, the score you'll receive at the end of the revised GRE will be a 100-point range in the old score format. I would say the verbal section is much easier now (for native speakers of English, at least), since it no longer rewards memorization and emphasizes context and comprehension. You still need to have a large vocabulary to do well, but since you're asked to complete fill in the blank sentences and analyze passages, if you have a strong grasp of the English language, you can often figure out words from context and make good guesses. One book I'd recommend is the Kaplan Revised GRE Verbal Workbook (I also used their math workbook, and would have done a lot worse on the quant if I hadn't!). Both workbooks are structured the same way - 30 practice questions for each type of question on the GRE (sentence completion, sentence equivalence, reading comprehension), and six 20-question practice sections so you can time yourself. Although most books no longer include word lists, I think it's still important to get familiar with high frequency words from the old GRE, since they still come up on the new test. The Kaplan workbook includes a high frequency word list. That's pretty much it. It's important to remember that the GRE is really testing your ability to take the GRE more than anything else, so practice as much as you can to get familar with GRE question types, and make sure to take several full length practice tests to get used to the test before you sit down for the real thing. I think practice tests are crucial, especially for those who are not great test-takers and get anxious about it. PowerPrep is available on the ETS website, and Manhattan GRE has free practice test as well. I also used the Barron's CD that came with the New GRE book, which includes two tests.

Your verbal score is higher than mine, actually -- I ended up with 640-740 verbal, which I'm happy with. I don't like my math score either, but I don't think I could do any better on it (my quant score on the old GRE is at the bottom of the range I received) and I don't think it matters much anyway. There are more important aspects of your application, so if your verbal scores are good (and composite score is decent, since that may matter to some programs), I wouldn't waste any more time thinking about it.

Kaplan's GRE Math workbook is quite good. It goes over the types of questions on the GRE with practice questions for each (10 basic, 10 intermediate, 10 advanced) and includes six 30-question GRE math sections so you can time yourself once you're comfortable with the problems. The other half of the book is a detailed math review section which covers every concept you'll need for the GRE.

Why do you feel your GRE scores need improvement? The GRE is not as significant as you seem to believe, and your energy is better spent refining the aspects of your application that do matter, like others have suggested.