Timshel

I have something similar for U of C Riverside. They want a Statement of Purpose and a Personal History. When I inquired about what the Personal History should contain, I simply got "it should be your personal history." So, yeah....I'm not sure what to do with that.

Well, my subject scores do not become available until the 25th, which is the day after Thanksgiving, so I am assuming that the next business day isn't until Monday, the 28th, which is only a few days before December 1st. I checked, and Emory lets up upload the student version until they receive the official, which will work for me, but Minnesota doesn't state whether or not they will accept them after the date. I can always email them tomorrow, but does anyone have any experience with Minnesota concerning whether or not they will accept the GRE score after their application deadline if it's late by a few days?

I have sent the transcripts to all of my schools for 2 out of the 3 schools that I attended as an undergrad and graduate student. Blech. I mean, it's progress, but MAN, I have so much more to do!!!!!! Also, I need to advice. Two of my schools have December 1st deadlines, and those are two schools of the schools I put down to have sent my general and subject sent for free when my subject becomes available on November 25 (which was stupid because I totally bombed it and now they are going to see it when neither of them require it). My question is, is that cutting it too close? I noticed on one of the schools' website (I can't remember whose) that it said that it usually takes a few weeks for schools to get GRE scores once they have been requested to be sent. Is that true? Should I just go ahead and pay the money to send my general scores to those two schools since my general scores are ready to be on the safe side? Both schools seemed adamant about not receiving any info late.....

Yeah, I had seen the feminist one before. I read The Frisky every day, and the editor is obsessed with him.

Well, one of my LOR recommended that I double check with the department, and so I emailed Carla and she recommended that I recommend Graham Hammill because she said she wasn't sure.

Shut up! I love this!

Awesome! Thanks!

I can be malleable when it comes to different areas of lit or theory, but there is no way I could do comp/rhetoric. It's just not for me. I teach comp now, and it's great and all, but it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life, and it's not why I'm pursuing the degree. A lot of people try to encourage me to change to rhet/comp because there are more jobs, but I just can't. It's Literature or bust (and by bust I mean another type of job).

Okay, so I am working on the Buffalo application, and it does ask for the email addresses of the LOR, but it doesn't say that it will send them an email. Has anyone done this? Also, does anyone know who to contact regarding questions? I know someone previously said that they called. I'd rather send an email, so I am wondering if I should send it to Carla Mazzio, the Director of Graduate Studies or Joyce Troy, the Administrative Assistant, since it doesn't tell you which one to contact for questions. Does anyone know?

I used to do a lot with Marxist theory, and it still creeps into my writing from time to time. It's so hard to pin down what I want to propose I am interested in when I feel like I have my hand in many pots. (Is that the saying? My brain is mush these days.)

Well, I think it depends on when apps are due if it's too late. For Dec. 1st apps, sure, but I have a couple of schools that don't have apps due until the end of January, so it doesn't seem too late right now.

I wish I could retake, but I just don't have the time. I just squeaked by with percentages, but between all of my grading and working on the other aspects of the application, I cannot devote enough time to studying at this point; I just have to cross my fingers and hope that the other aspects of my application make up for this one negative.

But you also have to think about how many applicants they have. Can you imagine reading all of those????? I agree that it would be hard. I know condensing a 25 page paper to a conference paper of 7 1/2 pages was a nightmare, but it really allowed me to get down to my main point, which is all they are really looking for, anyway.

Yeah, and I actually had another job. My husband is working on his Master's, so I've been trying to pick up the slack with money, so I taught 4 sections at the university, 2 additional sections at the local community college, and I worked part time at the university's writing center. I stopped working at the community college this year because something had to go.

Okay, good. I figured as much, but I haven't actually started any of the applications yet (so depressing!) so I just wanted to make sure. I am at the point where I am totally over-thinking and freaking out over EVERYTHING. Thanks for making me feel better!

I agree with this. I was told by someone who served on an adcomm that they don't read the whole paper anyway. They read the intro, conclusion, and your Works Cited page.

I am trying, but sometimes it is so hard. This is my third year teaching, so I'm definitely doing better, but I teach 4 sections, so it's like thousands of pages of grading. Last year I taught 6 sections a semester and I almost didn't make it, so I cut back this year.

I wish I could get more done, but I just have so much grading to do! For those of you who haven't taught yet, just you wait. The grading is endless!

So, I have a question about transcripts. One of the schools I attended was before I was married, so my last name was obviously different. Is that going to cause a problem when they are mailed to the graduate school? I mean, it will have my other information that should match, and I will have listed the school in my application, but I'm just wondering if anyone has had any problems with this in the past, or if they know anyone who has.....

I am curious, too. I have a couple I intended to reach out to, but I haven't yet. It's just another thing on my list that I need to do......This process is torture!

I just want to say that I am incredibly behind, especially since I have two December 1st deadlines, and I am feeling very defeated. I just thought I would let everyone know my progress.

For what you are applying for, I don't think your scores are that poor. Most programs you will apply to, unless you are applying to all Ivies, will want you to be over 80% in the verbal, which you are, and the math is really inconsequential. As for the writing, it could be higher, but most don't look at that, either. If everything else in your application is great, I think you are fine.

So you did put down two people? I'm really hesitant to do that........

Hey, I also noticed that the general Emory application asks you to list 3 POI. However, that isn't usually customary for the English department. Did you list anyone? I was thinking about contacting the English department to see if we should list anyone.

I would say that you should look specifically at the schools you are applying to. Some just say submit a writing sample, while others say specifically to present a writing sample that reflects what you put on your SOP.