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This one cracks me up - because I've done this also. Or since I'm still a poor undergrad, I just have one meal out of it, then throw the rest in the fridge to live off of for the next couple of days haha. My friends keep asking me what I'm going to do about this 'working' thing over the summer (luckily I'll be living au pair in France for part of it), and they're like, so I guess if you end up going to grad school you'll just be an overqualified barista with an undergrad degree in (insert humanities discipline here). haha bastards with immediate long-term job prospects.

Isn't a 590 like 80% (give or take?) - I don't see how that's a failure, even in the humanities, especially when the verbal is much harder than the quant. Maybe my score is a complete failure, haha, but I just don't see how a 590 is - unless of course like you said you're referring only to these top 5 programs where anything below a 700 is effectively a failure. I'm not disagreeing with you whatsoever, the word 'failure', though, seems a bit strong in this case, haha.

That's a really good point - I knew I had really low GRE scores when I posted asking about others opinions on my whole application package and I just randomly one day did it anyway. I'm sure others wouldn't post abysmal scores for obvious reasons and also I think that only a small-medium percentage of people who get accepted/rejected even post on these boards anyway - that has just been my observation, I could obviously be wrong.

Your plan sounds pretty logical to me. I'm doing something similar what with applying to two different fields. Though I applied mostly to Romance Language Departments (Spanish & French), I also applied to one Art History Department because in reality my BA, Double Major in History & Spanish w/ a minor in French, is quite dualistic. My take then on Art History has a bit of a literary flair to it - and similarly my literary analysis never ignores important historical context. Purists might cringe at the idea haha but I find that a lot of programs within the humanities complement each other. I think I'm quite sure that I want to go into the Romance Languages for an MA, and then later pursue the PhD in History/Medieval Studies, but in the back of my mind part of me is still vastly interested in doing the MA in Art History also. I suppose it could go either way depending on where I get accepted. Though I don't know squat - for the most part haha - about Philosophy, I think your reasoning in applying to two completely different fields isn't entirely bogus - though I will say that writing two severely different SoPs wasn't one of the highlights of the application process.

I got a 6.0 on the AWA (sadly the only section I excelled in), and I thought it was also pretty lame. I've always been a strong writer so the arguments I thought were rather silly. I think a plus might have been the examples I used (espec in the one regarding education), because I came in on it with the perspective of a historian, and as an undergrad history/spanish double major I think it def helped me out in the long run - I just stretched out one example throughout and applied the different arguments to it. What I really wonder tho is what they think of someone who aced the AWA, but did just barely above 50% (57%) on the verbal.. I'm going into the humanities so that sort of worries me, though the majority of the schools I applied to (MA programs) only require a combined score above 1000, and stress the importance of the overall strength and fit of the applicant - good luck to everyone!

Very cool subject, where did you apply? MA/PhD?

Well, my main focus would be Southern Renaissance, if that's what you would lump Spain under (Spain always seems to me to fit rather oddly in classical art historical groupings unless it's El Greco or the Baroque), although with northern (Flemish/Dutch and French, Italian) ties. What is your specific interest within the Northern Ren?

thanks for clearing that up!

Thanks for that link halifax! Really thorough and pretty revealing about the discipline - really made me think again about if I were to be accepted to the History of Art MA at UDel And as for my Penn situation, my prediction was correct - the foreign university only just sent the missing transcript so it wasn't Penn's fault at all. The grad secretary/dgs was extremely happy to help though and it wasn't even an issue for her - I feel like I've been only slightly annoying through the process so as not to make her (or anyone for that matter) particularly angry with me for any reason that could affect my application haha - if only all of that reflected my ability to get acceptance letters! haha FAFSA ( = :twisted: ) haha not sure for other programs but for the ones I applied to I didn't need to fill it out...it would have been worthless anyway because through my undergrad all they ever tell me is that I don't qualify (even though I'm paying for my undergrad on my own through loans they still go based off of my dad's income which is ridiculous in the first place - but that's another story haha). Also really wanted to see no country for old men but I'm not sure if I'm gonna make it while it's still in theaters..also heard that Juno was great but haven't seen that yet. I recently saw (and read) I Am Legend (although I must admit I was incredibly unimpressed by the book...maybe one has to be a horror genre fanatic to appreciate it) which was a pretty awesome movie - otherwise I've been sticking to my dvd collection for the most part.

britt, I didn't know you lived in Sevilla (or at least in Spain), I did too! I lived on C/ Arjona near the Maestranza. Accents/dialects are tricky (especially ones like cubano, sevillano, puertorrique

Are they MA or PhD programs? Not knowing the language that you will need to be able to research with could be a bit of an issue when it comes time for the adcom to look over your app. If it's an MA problem, and as long as the rest of your app is pretty good, I don't think there should be a problem - going into the MA, at least with most MA programs in the fields I have looked into, only requires the knowledge of one language. The PhD, however, usually requires 2 or even 3, which is why I asked you to clarify that because it would make a difference I think. The difference is also that most people only need to acquire a reading knowledge, which, in my opinion at least, is relatively easy. In your case you will need listening comprehension, and the speaking ability also - unless of course you can afford to higher a qualified translator. At least you are starting to learn the language. There were students in my Methods & Theory (req'd course for my History major), who were incredibly perplexed when my professor let them know that they'd need to have a working knowledge of the particular language of the area in which they wish to study - otherwise it could be quite a difficult endeavor trying to get into, say, a PhD program right from the undergrad with 0 language preparation. (eg. you probably shouldn't be applying to study Nazi Germany if you don't have an excellent command of German, and even French, etc. etc.) Good luck with learning Spanish though, it's an awesome language! I am in the process/have completed several applications already to study Spanish and French, so if you need any help, lemme know and I'll see if I can answer any questions for you!

I did the same with regards to my SoP and getting only one prof to look over it- she's my advisor and has worked on an adcom before so I felt that her opinion was enough - plus like others have said I didn't want to have other influences prying at it as I still wanted it to reflect my original intent for admission.

oh so anyway my point of that, britt, was that I'm sure you'll be fine! haha forgot to add that in at the end.

As much as a good back story could do, I imagine the same can be said about a very in depth research proposal - maybe that even figures into it. I was told by my advisor especially that I should be quite specific as to my research interests (while also being broad enough so as not to give them the impression that that is all that I want to study). At least for the MA, she said that a lot of people go into it without having conducted any MAJOR (thesis, conference paper, publications etc.) research projects and so having something like that under your belt, plus being quite concrete in what you wish to study, is also a great thing to have. I'm not the adcom so obviously I can't say for sure, but I imagine that it helps. In most cases I was able to tie in an anecdote of when I studied abroad, blending the back story with my research interests quite well so hopefully that works to my advantage!

Though you are in a different field, I bet the majority of at least Humanities/Social Sciences ad comms run like this. Thanks for being thorough- gives us a better idea of what to expect when they are ripping apart our apps!

His

Believe it or not it's one of those acceptable 'made up words' that professors/scholars use - for example when I asked my advisor about scholars in the field of [spanish History]/Hispanic Studies (for my own reference in the grad school search), she asked her friend, a hispanist in the field [of history]. I'm sure every field has these kinds of words, haha, this is just one of ours! This is what I found when I typed it into google: "n. A specialist in Spanish language or literature or in the languages and literatures of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America." It's not that its used often, its just one of those things a prof lets roll of their tongue like, "Oh I actually studied under Helen Nader, she recently retired but she was a very prominent hispanist in her day."

Do some schools actually label this as a 'diversity statement'? I've never even heard of that. Or is it just a person's choice to give their SoP that sort of a spin on it? I feel that especially for graduate school it is important to take the person with the best academic fit. It's not like undergrad at all(which is becoming more and more a 'right' than the privilege I think it might have been, what with the undergrad quickly becoming 'part 2' of high school for a lot of students). Grad shcool, on the other hand, is completely a privilege and only the most qualified of applicants (whether that be in terms of research interests, grades, etc.) should be offered admissions, in all cases - it's no different than applying for a full time job, in that respect.

Always good to find a fellow hispanist! I have applied to UPenn (PhD), University of Delaware (MA, Spanish&French), NYU in Madrid (MA), and will be applying within the next month to West Chester Uni of PA (MA) and SLU in Madrid (MA) as safer schools. How about you?

I sure hope so! There is a drastic difference between reviewing thousands of applications and looking over, say 100, give or take. I really wish this process would get a move on, haha.

Hmm, I really am liking this quote: "It's a myopic view to say we should all just take those with the highest test scores, which alone are a poor predictor of success in college," Very true statement! A person's entire application package is the indicator of how that person will succeed in grad school (or college/undergrad for that matter). Thanks for the article!

I think that standardized testing in general is a bit arbitrary (not speaking of the GRE in particular). I don't think that it will ever be able to accurately measure the 'promise' of a particular student in the way that a CV or 4 years of undergraduate learning can do. Just to give an example, I took the SAT to get into college and got a pretty decent score, but no where near a level that would reflect my overall success in my undergrad career; my guess is that the same will be said of my GRE score. In fact, I had a friend in high school who was sooo incredibly lazy - honestly would not hand papers in on time, didn't study, but then received a huge score on his SAT. Sure in theory, the potential is there, but just because he scores high on those tests doesn't mean that he'll make a good student - quite the opposite as his record suggested. However I do think that it is necessary - at least in some form. No, that is not saying that the way they have it set up now is particularly effective, although I do think that some form of standardized testing has to be administered because there's simply too much of a difference among different institutions across the nation/world, etc. I will say though that I do not particularly agree with institutions making 'cut-offs' with GRE scores - I think that in every case the whole package needs to be respected. It might cut away some time spent on particular applications, but it also might ignore otherwise excellent scholars. This of course is just my opinion though, I'm quite sure that the GRE won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Haha I just had a scare, the Spanish & Portuguese Dept from NYU just contacted me regarding missing GRE scores (which are there, just aren't on the initial application I gave them since I took the test and sent the scores after the app was submitted), and said they are needed so that my app can finish being 'processed'. Phew, I opened it up thinking it was an early reject/admit. Sounds like a plan though, we can make up a false identity and everything, haha.

Yea I definitely agree. The only 'safety' schools I applied to I made sure were still good fits, but that still doesn't mean they're at the top of my list..haha the schools I really have my heart set on are the competitive ones - which I'm a definite fit for, it's just a matter of if they take me or not! I def wouldn't settle for mediocrity either.

Are you applying to mostly MA or mostly PhD programs? Did you also apply to safety schools, etc.? I think that in general the PhD programs -for people without MAs or some graduate work under their belt already- are difficult to get into, which is why I've become less and less confident that I'm going to get into the PhD program at Penn that I applied for (even though I had an internship with them, and I also have publications, conference papers, I def throw up a red flag w/ my gre scores). So here's to hoping that the applicant pool is full of unqualified people this year!