Timshel Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 So I am taking the subject test on the 15th, and I am not at all prepared. I'm freaking out because I really don't know when I'll have the time to do the extra studying I need to do. Anyone else in the same boat? Misery loves company!
bdon19 Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 Same, same, same, same, same. Hahaha. I'm planning on just taking a little bit of time each day to do some studying. If you'd like me to send you a copy of my massive (164 page) study guide, pm me. It's basically a compilation of stuff from the Vade Mecum/Hapax Legomena/Princeton Review book, so I'm not sure if it would be super helpful, but what I'm doing now is turning all of that into flashcards. Thank goodness I had all of my major deadlines last week. I have a little bit of time to buckle down and do this. But then I think about how I have less than two weeks, and my soul shudders a little bit. Much company for your misery, Timshel.
clairecate Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 Right there with you both. Sad day. Luckily, only a handful of the schools I'm applying to require it. But still.
Rupert Pupkin Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 This test is going to kill me. I have actually been studying for it pretty intensely for about a month. I've made hundreds of flashcards from the online resources. Read the Princeton Review book. Still, I am doing absolutely dreadful on the practice tests. I am scoring around 480-510. This is coming from someone who thought they actually had a decent command of the canon. Every second I spend studying for it feels like a giant waste of time considering only 1/4 of the schools I'm applying to require it. But the thought of making such an embarrassing score drives me to study. I would feel so much more productive polishing my Writing Sample, but this dreadful test is the most pressing need.
Timshel Posted October 4, 2011 Author Posted October 4, 2011 Only 3 of the 11 schools I am applying to require it, so I'm not stressing too much, but at the same time, I am totally freaking out!
bdon19 Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 You're so lucky. 7 of my 11 schools require it. I'm not stressing too much, but sometimes it's hard not to. I started "studying" the summer before my junior year, and while I haven't retained a lot of that, by this point I've taken the only available practice tests so many times that I have half of the questions memorized and therefore have no way of gauging my progress. "Preparedness" can be a bad thing...
wintergirl Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Ugh, ditto!!! Plus I have to present at a conference this week in another state so I am going CRAZY. I haven't even started my SOP or done much else besides contact reccers and start a handful of online apps. Been on the fence actually about postponing and taking the November subject test but know I'll be just as stressed (if not more so) in November, plus the scores won't be ready in time for my earliest deadlines of Dec. 1st. I've been using the Princeton Review book and the Norton Anthologies. Also planning to print out the online resources/notecards to have my colleague quiz me on our 8-hour drive (each way) to the conference. It's all so stressful, so weirdly I'm glad to see other people also freaking out. Maybe we'll get lucky and get the one-and-only "easy" lit subject test--ha! Anyway, good luck all. I'd love to hear how everyone's doing that last-minute prep! : )
Timshel Posted October 5, 2011 Author Posted October 5, 2011 Ugh, ditto!!! Plus I have to present at a conference this week in another state so I am going CRAZY. I haven't even started my SOP or done much else besides contact reccers and start a handful of online apps. Been on the fence actually about postponing and taking the November subject test but know I'll be just as stressed (if not more so) in November, plus the scores won't be ready in time for my earliest deadlines of Dec. 1st. I've been using the Princeton Review book and the Norton Anthologies. Also planning to print out the online resources/notecards to have my colleague quiz me on our 8-hour drive (each way) to the conference. It's all so stressful, so weirdly I'm glad to see other people also freaking out. Maybe we'll get lucky and get the one-and-only "easy" lit subject test--ha! Anyway, good luck all. I'd love to hear how everyone's doing that last-minute prep! : ) I know how you feel. I've been thinking about my applications a lot, but I teach 4 classes and work part time at the university's writing center, so I am WAY behind on my apps. I have talk to my LORs, but that's it. God......This is depressing.
wintergirl Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 I know how you feel. I've been thinking about my applications a lot, but I teach 4 classes and work part time at the university's writing center, so I am WAY behind on my apps. I have talk to my LORs, but that's it. God......This is depressing. Four classes??? Sheesh! But I know where you're coming from: I'm in a MA program, supposed to working on my thesis (ha) while teaching, working, taking classes, etc etc. I feel like I'm constantly walking around with a madwoman look in my eyes. Surprised I haven't walked straight into a tree or building or something yet. I just keep reminding myself that once this stupid test is over, that will be one GIANT thing off our stress list. Then (hopefully) we can crank out what we need to for our apps. So.... meet back here on Oct.16th to strategize?
Timshel Posted October 5, 2011 Author Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) Four classes??? Sheesh! But I know where you're coming from: I'm in a MA program, supposed to working on my thesis (ha) while teaching, working, taking classes, etc etc. I feel like I'm constantly walking around with a madwoman look in my eyes. Surprised I haven't walked straight into a tree or building or something yet. I just keep reminding myself that once this stupid test is over, that will be one GIANT thing off our stress list. Then (hopefully) we can crank out what we need to for our apps. So.... meet back here on Oct.16th to strategize? Yeah, I keep thinking that once this test is over, I can start cranking stuff out. My university is on fall break this next week, so I am going to use that time to study for the test. I know how you feel, though, because I was taking classes, working on my thesis, and I taught two classes each semester my last year working on my MA. Last year I taught 4 classes at my university, 2 classes at the local community college, AND I worked at the university's Writing Center, and I thought I was going to die. I thought this year would be less stressful since I quit working at the community college, but all this PhD stuff is like having another job! Edited October 5, 2011 by Timshel
bdon19 Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Wow...I'm feeling super overwhelmed, and I don't have nearly that much going on! Though, I suppose I may have just as much in different forms... I'm still finishing up my undergrad, so I'm taking three courses and working three jobs. Thankfully I convinced myself not to overload on classes this term, but I still feel that "madwoman look" happening every so often. Tonight I--surprisingly--finished work and meetings and realized I didn't have any homework left for tomorrow. Instead of breaking out the Princeton Review subject test guide I've been carrying around, I ended up going to the bar. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I really, really hope I find some motivation between now and October 15.
bdon19 Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 Just a pointer, to relieve the potential for a LOT of added stress on the test day: I've heard a lot of stories from posters about test centers being moved the day of the test. So, though I was able to register for the subject test at my school, I wanted to make sure that the test center was correct (something about it just didn't seem right). I e-mailed my university's career center, and, sure enough, the test location was somewhere else. The woman had no idea ETS had been telling us something different! Thank god I checked when I did!! and...and...and... 1
wintergirl Posted October 12, 2011 Posted October 12, 2011 all this PhD stuff is like having another job Seriously. I've studied more for this GRE than any class I'm taking this last month and per my second practice test (taken this afternoon) my score's only gone up 60 points! Trying not to be totally discouraged. I e-mailed my university's career center, and, sure enough, the test location was somewhere else Ack! Good suggestion, bdon19. Adding one more thing to the list of things to be stressed about...
Timshel Posted October 12, 2011 Author Posted October 12, 2011 When I took the regular GRE test a few weeks ago at the testing center on campus, I asked the woman about where the test was on campus, and she said that was correct. However, I think I'm going to stop by there (they are in the same building as the writing center where I work) and just re-confirm the building it's going to be in to be on the safe side.
indalomena Posted October 12, 2011 Posted October 12, 2011 I will join your misery! I'm taking the test in November... but have done no preparation yet. One month to go plus full time job plus applications. Sigh. And I think only one of my schools does not require it.
Timshel Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 See, I feel like I'm stressing out about this when only 2 schools require it. I mean, I know that if I do well, it could help me, but if I don't do as well as I would like, then at least only 2 of the schools REALLY care.
bdon19 Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Honestly, I'm tempted to just giving up and not studying any more for this stupid subject test. Nearly all the questions I got wrong on the practice test I just finished are from such obscure works that studying wouldn't help anyway. I'M SO FRUSTRATED. Gahhhhhhhh I could have recognized Coleridge had they used a stanza including Christabel...but Geraldine?? COME ON. Sorry for the rant. It's just...it's 3 am and I have only a few more days and I'm going to ask for two letters of rec tomorrow and I'm stressed to the max without this stupid test adding to it!
indalomena Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 I'm a British student and the very idea of a multiple choice test in literature is completely and utterly alien to me. I have only ever been assessed in literature by essays. So perhaps someone in here can help me out -- really, what is the GRE actually for? I genuinely don't understand, especially as you can do well simply by memorising rather than reading critically. Also I'm upset that I will have to memorise plot details of novels I haven't read yet. Spoilers Two Espressos 1
bfat Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 There is no point! It's just EEEEVIIILLLL! Seriously, especially considering the fact that most schools (at least the ones I'm looking into) say that they "welcome students with diverse academic backgrounds," and offer an interdisciplinary approach to studying English. But all us poor schlubs who didn't major in literature have to cram all this stuff into our heads for ONE DAY of testing. Lit GRE= the most stressful exam ever created by man. Guh.
bdon19 Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 Okay...I'm having another late-night freakout. I really have NO ****ING IDEA what kind of scores my schools are looking for. The only clue I can get is from Indiana, which says "Verbal and Subject scores should approach 700." So if I'm gauging myself at around a 700, am I fine? I HAVE NO CLUE. Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Why must the stupid multiple choice test be the most frustrating part of the entire application process???? Seriously. I started studying for this test the summer before my junior year. But I still feel unprepared. BECAUSE NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MINDS CAN MEMORIZE ALL THIS STUFF. I'm going insane right now. Better go off and read some Ruskin and Cardinal Newman. Because apparently I'll need to know them. Oh, and learn to tell the difference between Herrick and Marvell and Crashaw and Herbert. HOW IS IT FAIR to ask me to distinguish between them? HOW? /end rant. Sorry, guys. One more day.
Timshel Posted October 14, 2011 Author Posted October 14, 2011 1. 700 seems a bit high. I've been told that anything in the 600s is acceptable. 2. You are definitely better than me because I don't know any of the people you just named in that post. lol Have you read through the Princeton Review for the test? I feel like that has been helping me out A LOT.
lyonessrampant Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 A 700 is really high; I think that's in the 98th or 99th percentile. Are you sure you aren't looking at their recommendation for the regular GRE? Most schools say 600s is good. Harvard specifically says 650 or above. A lot of schools also don't care about the subject test, so if you don't get a great score, don't worry about it over much. Apply, see what happens, and if you must reapply again, ask schools for feedback on your application, specifically the subject test score. I would guess none of them will say it mattered much. I got a 680 (92nd or 93rd percentile), but a friend got in the 20s. She got into UT-Austin and CUNY. My higher score didn't get me into top 10 schools. . .so I think it really isn't that important. Take it and then focus on your SOP and writing sample. Good luck! Timshel 1
Timshel Posted October 14, 2011 Author Posted October 14, 2011 Thanks Lyoness. That makes me feel SO much better. Only 2 of my schools require it, so I'm not sweating it. At the same time, I don't want to be embarrassingly low, so I'm definitely studying, but I'm not freaking out as much as I was for the general GRE.
Timshel Posted October 14, 2011 Author Posted October 14, 2011 Is anyone using, or has used, the princeton review to prepare for this test?
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