poeteer

FSU (creative writing for me, but I'm assuming the whole English dept) has some interesting instructions for recommendations -- apparently if your recommender can't or won't upload their letter to the online application (or if your dossier service can't get through, for example), they're supposed to send it to you so you can upload it for them as a supplementary material. That's really weird to me. I'm not going to ask my recommender to send me a letter I've already waived my right to see on other apps, and that he or she wrote assuming I'd waive them -- I'm surprised anyone would be comfortable with that arrangement. And Interfolio wouldn't even send me the letters if I asked. Sometimes I wish schools wouldn't put all these strict parameters on the recommendations because it's just so out of our control. Not all of us are in school, with easy access to our professors!

That guy would fail the Milton grammar questions on the beloved GRE Literature in English Test.

Is anyone else holding onto applications until, like, a day before the deadline just because they're too nervous to send them? I feel like I could send all of them now, but then I keep feeling like I can make things better, but then I think I shouldn't touch anything so as not to ruin it, and so I'm just in this limbo until the last minute. Annoying.

They might mean 5.5 or 6 on the writing, which is over 90th percentile, and much, much easier to reach than on the subject or the math sections. They'd be crazy to suggest applicants should earn a 90th percentile or better on the subject because there are just too many good candidates who score below that.

I wouldn't say 580 is bombing it. It feels like it (I got a similar score when I took it, so trust me, I know it feels as if you've failed yourself), after studying so hard and practicing so much, but it's still an okay score. It's not great, maybe it's not even a "good score," but it shouldn't really shut you out of any American program, let alone all of them! Especially the ones that don't even require the test! It's all about your fit, your sample, your SOP. It's a hurdle, and I'd say you've crossed it; most programs will see it and move onto your materials. Chin up!

That's an amazing score. Must feel good!

I agree. Remember that the standards for the GRE Verbal and GRE Lit are different. The group taking the Lit test is self-selected; it is a group of people hoping to be English scholars, for god's sake, and it is a difficult test for many people because it asks you to read in a very particular manner and know some fairly obscure facts to get a good score. The Verbal, on the other hand, is taken by everyone, from people in China and India and Europe hoping to study in science/math fields to people in America hoping to study archaeology. That's why the bar seems set so high (fairly or not) for the GRE Verbal -- because you are competing against so many ESL and native speakers who have poor vocabularies because their fields don't require English language/reading skills (this is actually why, I think, the GRE writing exists--because too many people in, say, China could cram and memorize and generally *read* English words and passages and manage a 650+ on the Verbal without actually being able to construct a coherent, let alone competent, sentence themselves). The Lit Test is a whole 'nother beast; a 650, say, is actually considered a really high score and should give you bragging rights.

Deleuze

I don't know the extent to which the e-reader determines the score, but I know for a fact that the AWA is scored by people (two people per essay). My guess is that the e-rater notices anomalies and serves as a kind of alert system (for example, cheating, or if the score the human raters give is vastly different from the computer's grade). I think "flag" means it sends a particular essay into a folder for "review" by another rater. I'm pretty sure it doesn't actually score the essay, or there would be little incentive for ETS to hire and train so many human scorers.

Yaya! That's a really great jump and definitely a score to be proud of.

Inquire re: whether your graduate schools and/or programs have an AWA score minimum. My guess is that, if they do, it's a 3 and not a 4, but you should check just to make sure. If not, then I wouldn't retake.

Deb Harkness works in the History dept at USC (I think she has a degree from UCD) -- I know people who have worked with her. I think I'm going to be reading A Discovery of Witches after I finish We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Glad to hear it's good.

Just read Disgrace by Coetzee -- it's excellent and I highly recommend it. I agree with Sparky about The Hunger Games. The deus ex machina in the last book was frustrating, but also its pacing and prose; the first book really is wonderful but I cannot totally recommend the last book. Still, it's worth reading the whole series. Mainly I keep looking for a YA series to fill the hole the end of Harry Potter left. Heh.

Agreed, Elgen. I know for a fact that structure, strength of analysis, and grammar matter a good deal for the AWA, and significantly more than length. I also know for a fact that the AWA is not "literally graded by a computer" (but figuratively? well, you might have a point there). Reassuring the OP is fine, and I agree that a 3.5 shouldn't be a problem at the majority of schools, but let's not give bad advice to future examinees who might like to score above a 2.5 on their essay section. poeteer

So, is anyone on the board applying to Lit & Creative Writing Ph.D programs this year? Where are you applying? I'm applying in poetry and am already feeling the anxiety. I already have an MFA, which I suppose is still terminal, but I really want to go back and do the Ph.D even so. I'm applying to: Houston, Utah, USC, Missouri, and then likely Florida State and UDenver. I'm hesitant to only apply to the first four schools, because they are the most competitive, but I'm less in love with other programs out there. --poeteer

I would also love to know which school had the math cut-off, since I only managed a 510. Terrible.

I took the test last year and it was heavily, heavily skewed toward reading comp. And not just any reading comp: long, dense passages from texts I had not read. I would agree with those who say to focus less on memorization. Study ETS's notion of reading comp from old tests (since, let's face it, they want you think how they think, and out of five viable answers there are usually two that are plausible readings); try to gauge what kind of answer they consider "best." I ran out of time, too. I ran out of time and patience and energy and everything else. It was frustrating because I knew so much, canon or otherwise, and so little of what I studied appeared on the test.