shl67

Dear Two Espressos, Sorry! Of course you're completely right about the annoying part. This whole process has just made me so anxious.

I know, I know, this is terribly reminiscent of those "chances" threads that are perpetually popping up on collegeconfidential. But since I just decided like last week that I want to give Ph.D. programs a shot, I thought I could use a reality check as to where I should apply. For the record, I'm applying to a mix of English and Comp Lit programs. So, a brief snapshot of my application package: -GRE scores: 168 Verbal, 160 Quant (haven't gotten writing score yet) -Fluent in French, German; proficient in Dutch, Chinese; reading knowledge of Spanish -Academic interests: 20th Century American Literature, Gender Studies, Postwar Germany BUT -Did not write honors thesis -Have not had a professor for more than one semester, so recommendations, however good, may not be very personal So, any thoughts on what schools I should aim for? One of my favorite programs is UNC Chapel-Hill, but I'm afraid that there are too many applicants with my exact qualifications and interests. I just don't want to put all my eggs in one basket and then end up with nowhere to go :-\

Me three for embarrassing! That being said, I would really like to participate as well. I'm on my second draft, but one step above horrible does not make for a particularly good SOP. Also, I have to write three different SOPs for the three different programs I'm applying to (Ph.D. Comp Lit, Ph.D. English, M.Ed. Foreign Language Instruction), so it's a bit overwhelming!

Hi! So I'm going to be applying to a mix of Ph.D. programs in English and Comparative Literature (as well as M.Ed. programs, but of course that's not relevant to this thread) and would definitely welcome some input as to where else I should apply. Definitely applying: Northwestern (English) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Comp Lit) UNC Chapel-Hill (Comp Lit) Ohio State (English) Indiana University, Bloomington (Comp Lit) Washington University in St. Louis (Joint Degree Program in English and Comp Lit!) Considering: UC San Diego U Chicago Minnesota Oregon If admitted to an English program, I'd like to study voices and portrayals of women in 50's and 60's American literature (e.g. Sylvia Plath, Flannery O'Connor, Richard Yates). If admitted to Comp Lit, I'd want to focus on how different nations (in particular Germany, Netherlands, France, England, and America, to start out broadly) dealt with the aftermath of World War II. For example, I'm very interested in the literary expiation of Germany's "guilt" as well as the problem of remembrance in the works of Heinrich Böll, Günter Grass, and Paul Celan, among others.

Hello! I posted this in the GRE forum, but I figured it would be nice to get some advice from people especially interested in Education. I want to get a Master's in Education along with licensure to teach in secondary schools, but I'm on the fence about whether or not I should take the GRE again. I took it with zero preparation and had just gotten my wisdom teeth out the day before (therefore on plenty of vicodin as well), so let's just say that I didn't do my best. I ended up with: 630 Verbal (90%) 660 Quantitative (61%) 4 Writing (48%, ouch) Do you think that's enough to get into most grad programs in Education (barring high-tier programs such as HGSE, etc.)? How much do they look at the writing score? To give you an idea of the schools I'm looking at, they include UT Austin, U Michigan, U Washington, UNC-Chapel Hill, etc. I graduated from Cornell with majors in English, French, and German with a GPA of 3.93... do you think that might shift the focus off my less-than-stellar test scores?! Thanks for your advice!

Hello! I want to get a Master's in Education along with licensure to teach in secondary schools, but I'm on the fence about whether or not I should take the GRE again. I took it with zero preparation and had just gotten my wisdom teeth out the day before (therefore on plenty of vicodin as well), so let's just say that I didn't do my best. I ended up with: 630 Verbal (90%) 660 Quantitative (61%) 4 Writing (48%, ouch) Do you think that's enough to get into most grad programs in Education? How much do they look at the writing score? To give you an idea of the schools I'm looking at, they include UT Austin, U Michigan, U Washington, UNC-Chapel Hill, etc. I graduated from Cornell with majors in English, French, and German with a GPA of 3.93... do you think that might shift the focus off my less-than-stellar test scores?! Thanks for your advice!