asleepawake

The only statement of purpose I know of that is online is the one by James Holmes published from Iowa's neuroscience program. It is eerie to read, but for the morbidly curious, it's here: http://www.scribd.co...record-redacted A number of people used to post their drafts on Livejournal's applyingtograd community for advice, but I haven't been around there in a while, and they were all, of course, pre-application. You might be able to dig some up if you check out the community.

Florida Atlantic University - There is an MA in Science Fiction & Fantasy and PhD in Comparative Studies.

Yes, you did. Sorry. When I made my last comment I forgotten this. I apologize.

If you have too much work that you think you can't give your full attention to any of your class, then yeah, it would not be the end of the world to drop a class. However, you're halfway through the semester. If you've managed your time up to now with grades that will end up as a 3.5 for the semester, then you've clearly got enough time and energy to finish the semester. You just aren't super happy with your grades. However, it's up to you. Another W won't destroy your life, but neither will a B.

Dropping a difficult class for the sake of your GPA is a cop-out. It suggests that you care about your GPA, but not actually about learning. Do not drop the class. Give if your best effort. Dropping the course will not just give the impression that you avoid difficult classes, but that could be the case. You have admitted it here in this thread. I'm not trying to be harsh: My undergraduate transcript is a mess, including a number of Ws. I now realize that it has been in my difficult courses where I have learned the most, and I now deliberately seek to take classes with people who others describe as "difficult" or supposedly "unfair graders." I have a lower GPA than people who deliberately take the kinds of professors who give out all As, but I do believe I have gotten more out of my time here. I suggest that you read this article over the Chronicle (http://chronicle.com...ontents/132789/) and relax. If you stop focusing on your GPA so much, you may find you ultimately do better in the class. Focus on learning the material.

I did not revive this thread. Spunkrag did. And yes, I read the entire thread, and I still think that everyone is A) Mistaking cultural and language barriers as a sign that the OP is deliberately manipulating conversation as a troll, and B ) not especially concerned with allegations of sexual harassment and professional intimidation. You are the only person who DID address the sexual harassment claim, so I wasn't really responding to you. Sexual harassment and intimidation are real problems that women experience in academia. I was referring to other commenters in my last post, who completely ignored these claims entirely in favor of talking down to the OP like she were a child.

What kind of victim-blaming BS thread is this? It is true there is plenty of awkwardness going on up in here, but I think this is a language and cultural barrier more than a sign that the OP is a troll as others seem to be inferring. It does, however, sound like the OP is being sexually harassed at worst, and professionally intimated at best. Why does nobody seem to have a problem with him asking her to close the door, telling her how to dress, dictating the future of her career by withholding letters despite positive things to say, etc? To the OP: Can you apply to PhDs elsewhere with letters from others you have worked with except this person? You should not be working with someone who makes you so uncomfortable. Maybe you can speak to someone on campus who can help you assert your boundaries and request a letter.

It opens into a weird window for me. Clicking the magnifying glass for some reason does not zoom, but closes the report entirely. The actual zooming function is really awkward and has to be readjusted on each page. I assume this format makes copying their content more difficult or something, but it makes me really, really not want to read it. It is just not user-friendly on my computer at all.

Whatever format that document has been uploaded in... it's awful. It's like when somebody has their brother design their restaurant website and you can barely read the menu. Can't we just get a pdf?

I would put in on the CV, but not in the SOP unless it is relevant to your area of study.

I originally came to my MA program as an MFA student. I am not allowed to complete both degrees so I decided to switch to the MA. However, I remember some schools in my search allowed you to get both degrees. The ones I remember were McNeese State and Alaska at Fairbanks. I believe there were others, but I cannot remember them. Good luck!

Oh, don't forget about the costs of sending transcripts and (maybe) Interfolio!

Well, I don't mean that you shouldn't or can't study at all. I mean that the return on the time invested may not be worth it. It should not be the thing that you spend your time on if your time is limited. I took the test in April so that I could have time to study before the chaos of application season. I studied at least 30-40 hours over 2 months, and I would guess that all of the studying probably earned me only a few extra points on the exam. I spent a lot of time studying works without really getting to know any of them, and most of those works did not appear on the test, of course. I also have huge canon holes, but I found that this made studying less effective, not more effective. I could have read a smaller number of important works and learned them well with that time, but the GRE is all about breadth rather than depth. I have forgotten much of this information now and it feels like wasted time. You should study, though, all of the poetry terms and the shorter but important poems on the "A list" in the Princeton book. This is time well spent because it is information that is ripe for memorization, unlike, say, identifying the style of Samuel Richardson from a paragraph.

I agree. Just take the test. Don't waste too much time studying. Though I think it is possible to improve your score somewhat through extensive studying, the return is not worth the effort compared to other things you could put that effort/time into (say, your writing sample). Brush up on a few things, like the "A" list in the Princeton Review book, and then take the test. This is, of course, assuming that you are interested in these schools that require the test. When you get your score, you can decide if it is worth it to apply. My scores were low and I am still applying to a few schools that require the test.

I don't know! I'm sorry. That wasn't a very helpful comment. I guess the advice I am trying to give is that you should look outside of the Princeton book to study. A number of the questions are reading comprehension questions that you will be able to figure out even if you do not recognize the work. I honestly think that is how I scored most of my points. I cannot, of course, share any information about what was on my test, but you will have a completely different one anyway (I assume). All I can say is that it is a test you cannot really study for. A lot of the knowledge simply comes from years of literary study, specifically canonical study. I've kind of accepted that I didn't do very well on the exam and I have adjusted my application list accordingly. There is also Vade Mecum (http://www.duke.edu/~tmw15/), but I studied this material also, and again... not much of it was on the exam.

Oh my gosh! And my quantitate from 2009 is down by 10 points (11 from the original score I got in 2009, 10 from the score I had last year). I do not believe people have gotten this much better at math. Why are my old scores being compared to new scores where people have calculators and different types of questions? Anyway... screw ETS. We're going to do just fine.

Ok, ETS, I am officially over you. WHY has my percentile dropped a point since I took the test just a few months ago? Seriously. And my quantitative dropped 5 percentile points. This is not acceptable. I wish I had sent out my scores earlier. LOL and my lit test dropped a point. ETS, you're the worst. Apparently my writing score went up, though. Too bad nobody cares about writing scores.

I took it in April and just a brief warning: Almost nothing I studied in the Princeton Review book was on the test. YMMV.

Yeah, because she didn't actually apply to graduate school.

Thanks for the link, but it is ALWAYS the place for a gif party. I mean, if we can have a pet post, we can have a gif party! Not everybody has to come

Trying to find "fit" at PhD programs:

Whyyyy is my puppy not working? Here he is again.

I'm stressed out by applications and I cannot be the only one! Let's see your best animated gifs. Go! This is how I feel as I write my SOP:

Why kill the thread when we can transform it?

Sounds like somebody is hinting for you to use Interfolio. It's expensive, but given the number of schools many of us are applying to, I think it's in good form to respect our LOR writers enough to do this for them. However, it may not be possible for all of us. Just another thing to throw on my credit card. Regardless, don't apply to fewer schools just because one of your writers doesn't want to submit a bunch of letters. Make sure you do all of the work for them for that you can. For hard copies, print everything and have the envelopes ready with stamps. I'm applying to at least 12 schools but probably more like 16. I think this is higher end of normal. I wouldn't apply to fewer than 6-8. Also... hi & welcome!