asleepawake

Academic dishonestly is very serious, but people do make mistakes and learn from them, and adcoms know this. I don't see how this could cause problems for you at all, though, if it isn't on your transcript.

I don't know a lot about this approach, but if you haven't read it, I recommend Nancy Sommers's "I Stand Here Writing."

Whoa! This is an intense thread. I personally love the reading comprehension questions. They are, for me, the easiest part of the entire GRE experience -they're almost fun, and I can completely understand their usefulness. I do not like text completion questions (when will I ever need to find the missing word?), math is... math, and I feel rushed during the AW. It may be that I come from an English department, but I cannot honestly say that any of the passages I have read on the GRE or any practice test have been have been anywhere near as difficult as some of the readings I have done in my MA program. The GRE passages are often short and light, if not especially straightforward, and easily understood by a strong reader regardless of disciple. I cannot imagine how "headlines" would help with anybody. In fact, having the title of a work may simply waste your time. You are reading a paragraph or two. The title will not refer only to this small section but to the larger work from which it came, and for this reason I agree with ETS's choice to simply not include such titles. The link posted in the start of this thread is ridiculous, and the author's argument is pretty much that ETS should make reading passages easier to comprehend on a test that is specifically designed to test a reader's ability to understand meaning. In all of the passages that ETS selects, the meaning is there. It is sitting right on the computer screen in front of you. You have to sort out this meaning, and you can do that even if you have no idea what a spinning jenny is. In the specific case of the spinning jenny, it is painfully obvious in the reading that it is a piece of technology that made domestic work easier or faster. You don't need to picture the exact machine.

We are GRE twinzzzz... I scored 570/79 on the old test (back in 2009), 162/90th on the new test... and 32nd percentile on the subject test (and this was better than I feared...) ... I take this as a sign that I will have a productive year of applications just like you did... As for the schools you got into, were they among the ones that asked for the subject test? Anyway, I should mention that the 570/79th percentile on the verbal with a 5.0 AW was enough for me to get into a fully funded MA. This allows me to not worry too much about my scores for PhD apps, but I'm glad I at least did better this time around.

Oh, gosh, you made it sound like you were scoring much lower than 161 in your first post. There's nothing wrong with 161, though of course if you're looking at top schools, it's a bit on the low side, but not disastrously so. Most schools that I have seen with cut-offs have been for the 85% percentile (600 on the old test, I think). At least one other school said 160. I actually have the opposite problem. I love reading comprehension questions! I took the test Wednesday and scored about the same as you (162V unofficial score), but my problem was most certainly those awful fill-in-the-blanks. It seems like they are either very easy or completely impossible - there is no in-between. Buy my vocabulary... she is lacking. I guess I should have studied more flashcards. But, oh, if the entire test were reading comprehension... I would be ecstatic. I wish that I could explain why they come so easily to me (in about 5-6 practice tests, I think I only missed 1 RC question total, and I felt good about all of the RC questions on the actual test). I didn't study anything in particular that made them easier. Some of the sciencey ones trip me up at first, but if I read them slowly enough, they usually become much easier. I usually read the question before I do the reading. I agree that the wording is strange in some of the answers. They are often not looking for your ability to understand the reading so much as your ability to infer authorial intent through context. They often try to trick you by putting in answers that sound right because they repeat buzz words from the reading, but it seems like correct answers have usually been reworded to obscure direct connections. Anyway... I really don't think you need to stress that much over this test. I am certainly not retaking it. Remember that half or so of the admitted students that go into those averages scored lower than the average, and they did just fine getting into the school. I wish we could know the exact score ranges, though.

I have the book, and it's so fully of typos and misprints and general errors I could barely use it. However, I just looked at the score sections and it shows 30-40 as above average, 22-29 as average, and 1-21 as below average for Verbal, and 33-40 as above average, 24-32 as average, and 1-23 as below average for quantitative. When I took the practice test I was quite annoyed by these completely vague score results (which I encountered right after question 19 and 20 in the answer section both describe question 19). Obviously the new GRE format is still new, so it may be the best they can give, but I was expecting some idea of my score, at least. I already know that my verbal score is above average and my quant score is average. That doesn't help me at all.

Use your uncertainly about the prompt to your advantage. Come up with a thesis statement that is complex and provides room for both sides. If your prompt is "beauty is more important than truth," for example, you could write about how beauty and truth are not mutually exclusive, providing examples for how they rely on each other. You'll need a counter-argument even if you go with a more straightforward response, so you can use your ability to see both sides for that. Organization is important. It is the hardest part for me in 30 minutes. Like you, I want to keep going and complicating my argument. This isn't a good idea. You've got to just shut it down after a few solid examples and explanations. The writing section of the GRE isn't especially useful for schools unless you score very low. In engineering, I doubt the writing score will be making of breaking anybody.

I'm going to echo the sentiment to take the offer from Kansas and never look back. I'm attending a funded MA and I cannot imagine giving it up for another offer, even at a supposedly better school. Unless you have a job waiting that will cover tuition and leave you with more than 13k, I wouldn't even consider it. Even if you do, a funded offer has all kinds of benefits, like those Fiona mentioned. Also, neither Georgetown or Kansas is going to get you into a great PhD. You're going to get yourself into a PhD. The school will help, of course, but you're as likely to be happy with the faculty and experience at one school as any other. Good luck with whatever you decide!

I'm really glad to hear this. I fared a bit worse than you did with a percentile of 30-something. It's much more assuring to see a concrete example of it. Congratulations on your success!

I 100% admit that this is the reason I clicked on this thread...

That's a good way to look at it! I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. Yeah, most schools want the language to actually directly benefit your work. For me, the several languages that would be directly relevant to my work aren't available on most campuses, though.

Thanks. I know my MA program had a translation class, which I also took in French. Of course, I still don't know French, I just have a better understanding of its grammar. However, I'm mostly concerned about schools like Case Western, where the website describes the language requirement like this:

Thanks! It's coming along! That's $12 we'll never see again, but I agree that it's good to have the test behind us! I doubt I'd do much better in October if I'd waited, and it would just be one more worry for the fall. I hope your current projects are going well, too!

I haven't even begun to work out my writing sample details yet. I'm working through my first full draft of my thesis right now. I expect to use parts of it for my writing sample(s). I don't expect to have any problems with schools that ask for 15-30 pages, but the occasional schools that ask for "about 10" are driving me crazy! PS April GRE scores are out! Let's just say I did as poorly as I'd thought I would, but not as poorly as I feared I might. I'm only applying to 2 or 3 schools that require the test, so I have no plans to retake it. I hope you are all happier with your scores than I am with mine!

Are any of you as worried as I am about completing PhD language requirements? I know that many/most programs require proficiency in 2 languages or fluency in one. Until this year, I hadn't taken a foreign language since High School thanks to some lax requirements at my undergrad institution. This year I took a one-semester translation course to complete my MA language requirement, but I doubt it would transfer to most PhD programs. I know that some schools have a joke of a translation exam, and I suspect I could do fine on those with enough time and a good dictionary, but some programs require the completion of junior-level undergraduate literature courses in the language. I wish I had devoted more time to learning languages, but there aren't enough hours in my days! I cannot imagine trying to learn two while in a program in addition to my other requirements. I've even considered crossing a school or two off my list for their strict requirements, but that seems silly. Is it possible? What has been your experience? Why can't I just push a button and magically speak 9 languages? Where are all of those "language teachers hate him: he gained fluency in 5 days" ads when you need them?

Oh snap. I just called at 9:53 Eastern and they're telling me to call back "before 10pm Eastern 7 days a week." I call BS! I want my score! I hope everybody who got their score today did well. I an endlessly annoyed by the early closing of the phone lines, but I think I'll survive another day.

I'm thinking at this point that I'm not going to retake it no matter what happens. I'll just adjust my list of schools accordingly. I really don't think the best use of my time during application season and as I finish my thesis is studying for a giant trivia test. I've accepted whatever my score is, I think.

I'll be up at 9am next Monday with phone and credit card in hand! I don't know why... I'm not expecting to do well, but I still want my results.

An MFA is at minimum 2 years. 3 years is very common. A few programs are 4 years. It's intended as a terminal degree and takes longer than a MA but less time the a PhD.

I've heard from a student at Iowa that the Phd program does NOT want creative writers to apply. Too many people try to sneak into the WW through the PhD program, apparently. I'm not sure why they would do this, since not even non-fiction MFAs there are considered part of the Writers' Workshop. I doubt it's that easy to just sneak into a program as competitive as the WW (though apparently this does not stop people from trying). Cornell is the only joint PhD/MFA that I know of, but there are a number of MFA programs that offer a joint MFA/MA. Theoretically, you could move on to a PhD from there. I know that McNeese State University and University of Alaska at Fairbanks both have such a program. I think these would be good options if you don't already have an MA.

I think this is mostly all solid advice, but I want to make note of one place where I have heard different advice. I've been advised to not send (I <3 split infinitives) a part of a larger work as a writing sample. Despite the common advice to send a part of your BA or MA thesis, this may not be a good idea if you're going to fill the writing sample with footnotes or other references to your larger work, which the adcom cannot see. Instead, it is best to submit something that reads like a journal article. As well as you think you can summarize missing sections of your argument, it simply doesn't read smoothly like a singular document does. Rewrite a thesis chapter with this in mind. I completely agree that sending two smaller works will work against you, but you have to work with what you have. If you're applying straight out of you BA, you may not have a 25 page paper. Only send work you're confident about!

It sounds like you want a nonfiction book from the popular press, right? I'd suggest something like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. There are so many ways to talk about that book and students will find it compelling. I also think Gary Marcus's Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning looks like it would be great for composition students, but I haven't read it yet. Another way to go might be a collection of essays or shorter works.

Yup. It's only funny because it's true... the more theory you read, the harder and harder it is to not think about theory. Somewhere in between the half-laughs I was thinking that I want to attend his panel. At least we can write for the Onion when we graduate.

Ah, good one. This Onion article will always be a favorite: http://www.theonion.com/articles/grad-student-deconstructs-takeout-menu,85/

We have to sign off agreeing not to disclose what's on the test, but I will say that a lot of the things covered in the most popular study materials were NOT on it. Also, it seems that there were more questions than I expected that relied on deciphering meaning of a text, which were possible to work out even if you didn't know the text. Good luck for those taking it in the fall; I just might be there with you braving it again.