slvitale

Wow, Rems--looks like your good karma payout is starting! Congrats!

Although I'm not a Calstate MA-er, last I saw under "results" (see top of forum) one person heard from one of the CUNY schools regarding an MA.

Get this: I just sat down at our local library and what was laying on the table? Dubliners! I think Joyce is mocking me from the grave.

I'm so sorry modernists, but my vote is for Joyce. I do not mean to say that his work is unworthy of study (e.g. the stream-of-consciousness innovation, ect); I just find its almost determined obscurity to be pretentious.

I contacted Columbia a few weeks ago and spoke with--perhaps prematurely--one of the admission counselors. She indicated that there was indeed some lag time between receipt and confirmation of scores, but offered to check my status nonetheless. Even though the site still said "awaiting" she confirmed that they (the department?) had them. I wouldn't worry--seems to be a technical issue.

Hey, two weeks before we begin to hear...

I hope these people pay you well. (Rest assured knowing that you have made my morning with this--I was laughing so hard!)

People who apply to PhD programs have fairly similar academic profiles--for the most part: high GPA's, reasonable GRE scores, good recommendation letters, ect. Suppose you are up against an equally qualified applicant (numerically, that is). This might just be the thing to set you apart. Tell them and good luck!

Sunken libraries for all grad students! And maybe Tokay? (That's all I remember from the Golden Compass...)

Hey! Yes, that's great! I'll see if they ever resurrect it. I only wish it was a journal

I've been wondering, too: sure, the programs all list the temporal progression of studies (e.g. courses, exams, TA positions), but what will it really be like? And more importantly, can we handle it?!

Let me preface this by saying that one of my interests is rendering the esoteric more mainstream; hence the conception of this paper. I wrote a short piece arguing that Horton Hears a Who is a vehicle for John Locke's Theory of Epistemology. It's intended to be somewhat self-mocking. I'd love any suggestions for possible publication venues. Thanks!

Wow--great Verbal! I really doubt committees will consider a short piece about why City Z should or shouldn't build a new parking deck (as was my prompt) over a 20-page writing sample in your area of inquiry. (i.e. I agree with TwoEspressos.)

Thank proflorax--I'll check out that thread. You too, Rems--thanks for the encouragement!

At the risk of inciting another argument, I was wondering if anyone had any insights regarding my current concern: Will a 162 V (158Q/5AW) keep me "out"? I have a BA from Rutgers with a 4.0 GPA. Note, I had planned on retaking the GRE, but geographic conflict (they relocated my testing center two hours away) prevented that from happening. Schools to which I applied: Duke, Chapel Hill, WUSTL, Columbia, Penn, Maryland, Brown.

Rems, I think you hit the nail on the head with your comment about reading condescension in type-written commentary; the tone--which may or may not have been intended--seems to be the issue here, rather than the apparent consensus that ranking matters. People are arguing on two different platforms. And this is why typography is desperately in need of "meaning" styles (e.g. something akin to italics, but indicative of sarcasm, condescension, ect...)

I took two different "senior seminars" both of which culminated in a paper of at least 15 pages. I don't think you're wrong to be the maverick here.

Here it goes--for the sake of anxiety relief: BA Rutgers University GPA: 4.0 (overall) GRE: 162V/158Q/5AW Applying to: Duke, Chapel Hill, Columbia, UPenn, Brown, WUSTL, Maryland Field: Victorian We shall see...

So...February is the non-official time of response?

Thank you!

Duke, Chapel Hill, UPenn, Vanderbilt, Columbia, Washington University in St. Louis Victorian Lit--hopefully at the interface of Darwin and science fiction.

Rems, I couldn't agree more with your final paragraph: aside from having a department with advisors working in your area of interest, there's not much that constitutes "fit" for a lit applicant. I can get a copy of Dickens at any university; A particle accelerator on the other hand might be a tad more difficult to come by.

My guess is that a 168 is sufficient. In my proposed program (English PhD) anything above a 165 in Verbal is "highly competitive." I assume it is analogous for your program in terms of a quant score. I do, however, share your question about the "official" scores. Will they change?

It's funny: I had my advisor--who is a Graduate director--read my SOP and he recognized--knew quite well, in fact--one of the professors I mentioned. He seemed to think mentioning potential advisors was a good idea.

So, now that I took the GRE and sent my scores to my "choice" schools it wouldn't be helpful to retake and resend?