Timshel

Thanks. this actually makes me feel a little better about taking it. I just have terrible test anxiety, and I'm already studying to retake the GRE, so taking the subject test has gotten me totally terrified, but I guess I have to do what I have to do. Are there certain numbers that schools want you to get on a subject test, or that look good? I really don't know anything about it, so I don't know what is a decent score or what number you want to try to get above.....

I am going to take the new version at the beginning of September. I figure it can't get any worse. I bought the Princeton Review flashcards and I plan to memorize all of them. I also bought a book by them with 1,000+ practice questions, and they seem easier to me than the previous type of test. I do better with words in context because it helps me eliminate ones that aren't correct. I'm really hoping that I will do better with this version, but like I said, it can't get much worse, and if for some odd reason it does, since my past two scores were basically the same, I think schools would just chalk it up to the new version. I really do feel, though, that it can't get any worse.

I guess I'm just really worried about having to study for ANOTHER test. I have test anxiety, so I always under perform. Also, the schools I attended for undergrad and Masters didn't have any requirements of lit classes, so I have never taken any British lit courses, which is about 50 percent of the subject test, and I have never had to read (besides for my own interests) anything older than the 1800s. I just don't even know when I would have the time to study/read for it. I am an adjunct instructor at the university where i got my Masters, and I teach 4 classes, plus I'm a supervisor at the Writing Center on campus, too, so I'm just worried about studying for another test on top of trying to do all of the other components of my application once work starts back up.

I forgot to also add UF

Hey, so I really don't want to have to take the subject test if I don't have to, and a lot of the schools I am looking at don't require it, and I know I'm not the only one who would like to avoid it, so I thought this could be a good place to list schools we know that don't require it to help other people out. Here are the schools I know so far: Buffalo Stony Brook Albany Penn State WashU Brown UC Riverside UMinnesota Twin Cities Please feel free to add to the list.

Okay, so with the new format, I'm not sure how to edit my last post, so I want to add that at UMass Amherst, it's not necessary if you are doing the American Studies concentration, which is what I'm considering there.

I feel for you. I did terrible on the test a few weeks ago, so i am studying up and I am going to take it again, this time the new version.

None of the schools I am looking at currently require it: Brown, UMass Amherst, UMinnesota Twin Cities, UC Riverside, Emory, Buffalo, Stony Brook, Albany, Penn State, or UF. From what I've heard, the subject test is falling out of fashion. It is arbitrary and focuses too much on canonical, and mostly British writing, which doesn't apply to half of the PhD applicants.

I think that is genius! I too have lost track of promising CFP dates, and I think creating a calendar with a link to the page for the CFP is genius. I'm assuming that could work with google calendar, right?

So, are there really a lot of programs that required the subject test? So far, all of the schools on my narrowed down (still narrowing a bit) list don't require it.

The GRE website says that if you take the new general test by September 8th, the test results will be mailed out by November 8th. They have an entire schedule showing if you take it at such and such time it will be sent out at such and such time.

If you take the revised GRE in August or September it's actually half off. It's normally 160!

Good to know! Also, lyoness, I see that you are at the University of Minnesota! I plan on applying there this fall! Any tips?

Well, if you take the new GRE General test early, they say the results will be sent November 8th. That should make December 1st deadlines, right?

On the practice tests, I was scoring between 590-660. I think part of the problem is that I have test anxiety, but another part of the problem is that I literally just wasn't getting words that I knew/studied. I guess I will just have to study more. I am going to sign up to take the new version. I'm hoping I will have better luck or else I'm screwed.

I am really lucky and all of the schools that I plan on applying to do not require the subject test, so I'm not taking it.

I did a little, but I guess not as much as I should have. I memorized approximately 150 words that I didn't already know, and I took a few practice tests. I guess I was stupid to think that 3 years and a Master's degree would make me able to get 5 more questions correct on the verbal test. If I retake the new version at the end of August/beginning of September, that gives me a lot of time to study, so do you, or anyone reading this, have suggestions? Of the 150 words I memorized, only 1 was on there. Should I try to memorize even more, or should I try different strategies? Does taking tons of practice tests really help? At this point, I'll take any suggestions.

I feel for you! I just retook the GRE only to improve my score by 10 points. I went from a 550 to a 560. I am terrified that everything I have been working for is going to be ruined by this one stupid test. I really didn't want to have to wait another year to get in somewhere, so I'm thinking I'm going to have to retake it. Only, I have no idea what else I can do. I keep studying, and when I do the practice tests, I get around the 680s, so I'm not sure what is happening. I guess I have test anxiety or something, but that's not helping me.....

Thank you so much for all of your comments. To be honest, I am shocked and devastated that I got such a low score. I mean, the first time, when I got a 550, I was just an undergrad. I thought that since I have since my gotten my Masters, I would have been able to improve it by more than 10 points! I have a 4.0GPA undergrad and 4.0GPA from grad school, too. I have presented at conferences and was given the outstanding graduate student award for graduating at the top of my class where I got my Masters. I really have no idea how I could have scored so low AGAIN on the verbal. I'm really leaning toward taking it over, towards the end of August, but it's the new test, and now I'm terrified I could do worse since it's a different type of test. Plus, should I be concerned about getting the scores out in time? The website says that if you take it by September 8th, they will mail out the results the first week of November. Is that going to be cutting it too close for December 1st deadlines? I

So, I retook the GRE this morning and I am devastated by my score. When I took it 3 years ago (before my Masters), I got a 550V. So naturally I concluded that I needed to retake it before applying to PhD programs. Well, when I took it together, I only got a 560V. Now I'm not sure what to do. Is it even possible to get into a PhD program with a 560V? Is there any anecdotal evidence? I'm wondering if I should just try to take it again, the newer version next month. I am hesitant to do that because I feel like if I can't improve my score in 3 years, how can I improve them in 3 weeks? Plus, a lot of programs want your scores by December 1st, and if you take the new test, they don't release your scores until like November. I could really use some advice here because I seriously feel like a 560 is pretty much guaranteeing that I will not be able to get in anywhere, and I feel like I have basically ruined my shot of getting in this year. Please help!

This is exactly what I was afraid of. Was it a problem merging both accounts? I am afraid to call because I don't have any of the information from the first time I took the test. I remember the year, and around the time I took it, but that's it. I don't remember what email I used, I don't have the test number, and I don't remember what date I took it.

I have a question about sending all of the scores to the schools I will be applying to this fall. I took the GRE 3 years ago before I got my Masters, and I am retaking it again tomorrow before I apply to PhD programs. When I signed up for the test online, I had to start a new account to register. When I registered, it didn't ask me if I've ever taken the test before. So, I guess my question is, when I send my scores tomorrow, how do they know to send all of my scores from the last 5 years? Do they just send all of the scores that they have listed for someone with my name and my birthday? Will I need to know any info about the previous time I took it? For the life of me, I can't find or remember any information about the last time I took it. I know I took it in 2008, either in January or February, and I know what my scores were, but that's it. I don't have the test number, the actual date, nothing. Is this going to be a problem? I just know that they say that they send all scores from the past 5 years, so I guess I'm just not sure how they will know what previous scores are mine.....

Okay, I have a question about who to ask for my LOR. I already have my Master's in English, so I have written a thesis. My question is, does it look bad if I don't have a letter of recommendation from my thesis director? I mean, I could get one from him if I needed to, but I feel that there are other professors who would write better ones, especially ones that pertain more to the area I am hoping to focus on. My thesis director turned out to be a bad choice for my thesis as he wasn't as knowledgeable on my subject because I changed it midway through, which is why I would think other professors would be better. 2 of the 3 I plan to ask were on my committee, but neither were the director. I could ask my director, but he's incredibly hard to get a hold of, and he's not very reliable (he takes weeks to respond to emails and frequently misses appointments), so I'm scared to ask him. However, I do not want it to look bad if I don't have a recommendation from my thesis director. So basically, I'm just not sure if it is better to get letters from instructors who know me better and are more reliable, or if it's more important to get information from my thesis director. I really don't know what to do, so any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks! I was just a little nervous to do it this early. I'm just so paranoid I'm going to do something wrong!