African-American Literature: which program(s) to apply to? + GRE

[schlum]

Two questions:

 

1. I am an international applicant for this cycle, interested in early to mid twentieth-century African-American literature. I noticed that most schools offer both English and Af-Am studies programs. Should I apply to both programs in order to be considered as an Af-Am lit major, or can I just apply to the former and work with professors invested in the field? Please bear with me if the question sounds (and probably is) somewhat uninformed.

 

2. What does "GRE Not Required" exactly mean? That one can send the scores should they so choose, or that they don't accept the scores and/or not take them into account in admission process? Some of the programs to which I apply do not seem to specify whether it means "Optional" or "Not Accepted/Considered." Not that I reject the possibility that I am not quite catching up with things apparent to most native speakers of English... 

 

[Indecisive Poet]

3 minutes ago, schlum said:

2. What does "GRE Not Required" exactly mean? That one can send the scores should they so choose, or that they don't accept the scores and/or not take them into account in admission process? Some of the programs to which I apply do not seem to specify whether it means "Optional" or "Not Accepted/Considered." Not that I reject the possibility that I am not quite catching up with things apparent to most native speakers of English... 

 

I can't speak to your first question as it's not my field. But "GRE not required" means "GRE scores not accepted or taken into consideration" unless the website says "GRE optional but not required" or "GRE recommended/strongly recommended but not required." If it's optional or recommended, I would go ahead and submit your scores if you have a strong score. If it just says "not required," that means they won't look at any scores you send in, so don't waste your money.

[schlum]

46 minutes ago, Indecisive Poet said:

I can't speak to your first question as it's not my field. But "GRE not required" means "GRE scores not accepted or taken into consideration" unless the website says "GRE optional but not required" or "GRE recommended/strongly recommended but not required." If it's optional or recommended, I would go ahead and submit your scores if you have a strong score. If it just says "not required," that means they won't look at any scores you send in, so don't waste your money.

Thank you so much. I might as well re-read the admission guidelines. 

Edited September 8, 2020 by schlum

[WildeThing]

You don’t have to (and in many cases can’t) apply to both. Pick the one that fits your interests better and you’ll be able to work with people from the other department.

[Glasperlenspieler]

@WildeThing knows more about this field than I do, so they can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd also encourage you to take a close look at job placements. I can't speak for African-American Studies departments, but I do know that if, for example, you work in American Studies, there are far fewer jobs in American Studies departments than in English departments, and people with Ph.D.s from English departments will often out-compete people with Ph.D.s from American Studies departments for jobs in English Departments. It's worth checking to see if there's a similar phenomenon in your field.