againstourfaces Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Just out of curiosity. What's the lowest scores anyone knows of for people who've gotten into decent PhD programs for English? General or Subject. Discuss!
Timshel Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 (edited) I know someone who got several offers to good schools with a 590 verbal. Also, almost everyone I know that has gotten their PhD in English, most of my former professors included, bombed the subject. Edited November 17, 2011 by Timshel Two Espressos 1
perrykm2 Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 My friend got into a pretty competitive MFA program, even though she scored really high in quantitative and horribly in verbal.
yank in the M20 Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 One of my old flatmates got into Princeton with her subject test in the 10th percentile! She said the test scores are just box ticking and that her writing sample got her in. That fed into what I heard from my dissertation supervisor (who went to University of Chicago and graduated only a few years ago) about the unimportance of test scores in the application process,
againstourfaces Posted November 17, 2011 Author Posted November 17, 2011 One of my old flatmates got into Princeton with her subject test in the 10th percentile! She said the test scores are just box ticking and that her writing sample got her in. That fed into what I heard from my dissertation supervisor (who went to University of Chicago and graduated only a few years ago) about the unimportance of test scores in the application process, Hm, that's good to know! I keep being told the same thing. My scores are pretty awful, yet I'm being encouraged by my advisers to apply to top schools nonetheless. None of them seem worried. But Gradcafe people make me worried.
rawera Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Agreed, my anxiety increased 5x after I started lurking.
0000000000AAA Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 I think every school has a different policy. It probably depends on what their applicant and admit numbers are like. I'm sure some schools make their first cut based on GPA, and some try to do a holistic picture, and others (one top 5 I know in particular) does their first cut based on combined quant and verbal scores. I think in some cases it's outside of the hands of the English dept and is mandated by the grad school. Every department is different.
TripWillis Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 I think every school has a different policy. It probably depends on what their applicant and admit numbers are like. I'm sure some schools make their first cut based on GPA, and some try to do a holistic picture, and others (one top 5 I know in particular) does their first cut based on combined quant and verbal scores. I think in some cases it's outside of the hands of the English dept and is mandated by the grad school. Every department is different. Who and what's the cutoff?
lolopixie Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 I was flat out told last year by several departments that I was rejected due to "non-competitive GRE scores". I have no doubt there were other flaws on my application, but yea...they do matter. And I'm not talking about all top-tier schools either. Take that for what it's worth.
truckbasket Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 Keep in mind too that the dept. can love you and highly recommend you for entry, only for the recommendation to get denied by the DGS due to GRE / GPA issues. There were, I think, two cases in last year's Grad Cafe batch who had this experience. One, I seem to remember, was actually told they were in by the department, only to be rejected a few days later by the DGS. But yes, many programs base their initial cuts on GRE/GPA. (Hopefully it's not the case for many of you, but I got a couple of rejections very fast last year -- which led me to believe I was on that initial chopping block because, although my GPA was a stellar 3.98, my GRE verbal was a very average 92nd %-ile. One program [uCI] did tell me that the GRE score might prevent my application from even getting into the hands of the committee.)
lolopixie Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 Um, how would a 92nd percentile verbal score prevent you from getting into a program? That makes absolutely no sense. 92nd percentile is far from very average. I'm sorry, but I really can't stand when people put up their stellar scores or background and try to say that it sucks. Get over yourself. Jbarks, and...and...and... and againstourfaces 3
truckbasket Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 Um, how would a 92nd percentile verbal score prevent you from getting into a program? That makes absolutely no sense. 92nd percentile is far from very average. I'm sorry, but I really can't stand when people put up their stellar scores or background and try to say that it sucks. Get over yourself. Oh no, I apologize. Not what I was intending... that bugs me too. I was literally told by a program that 92nd percentile wasn't competitive by a DGS. It sucked because I was kind of happy with my score! Apologies if it sounded like I was bragging -- not the case at all.
lolopixie Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 Oh, I'm sorry. That just really struck a cord with me because people do that and I'm so over people bragging and then wanting to be told they are great. I understand what you were going for.
0000000000AAA Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 There's no such thing as a good or bad score---these scores all have audiences: the schools we are applying to. What is golden to one audience another might find lackluster. I couldn't imagine being happy or unhappy with a score without the context of schools. When I told a prof I got a 720 on the verbal, he said "Great; it'll keep you out of a few places, but generally quite strong." It was a good reminder that the scores don't exist outside of this institutional framework.
xfgdfrmgpo332 Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 Oh, I'm sorry. That just really struck a cord with me because people do that and I'm so over people bragging and then wanting to be told they are great. I understand what you were going for. Also, a 92% in Verbal (before the new changes) is around a 640, which (unfortunately) is actually low for the top schools, and may indeed keep one out.
truckbasket Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 Also, a 92% in Verbal (before the new changes) is around a 640, which (unfortunately) is actually low for the top schools, and may indeed keep one out. Exactly. It was good enough for me not to have to take it again, and good enough for me to get some nice offers, but I was told by a couple of programs that 97% and above was their hope. Brutal.
lolopixie Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 According to the GRE reports, the old scoring of 640 was approximately 84 percentile.
TripWillis Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 According to the GRE reports, the old scoring of 640 was approximately 84 percentile. Really? I had a 620 before and it was 89th percentile. I upped it to a 690 this time around. 96th percentile. I guess that means I won't get into Snobby McSnobbery U?
truckbasket Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 According to the GRE reports, the old scoring of 640 was approximately 84 percentile. I scored 640 and it was 92nd %. This was from last September.
Timshel Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 I have an old GRE book and 640 was 92%; 590 is 84%.
Grunty DaGnome Posted November 20, 2011 Posted November 20, 2011 Think of it this way, OP. Since you're self conscious about your scores, you'll probably spend so much time obsessing over your personal statement and writing samples that they will be kick ass, and everyone with high scores will probably slack on editing their sample, because they figure their perfect GREs will surely get them in againstourfaces 1
lolopixie Posted November 20, 2011 Posted November 20, 2011 Really? I had a 620 before and it was 89th percentile. I upped it to a 690 this time around. 96th percentile. I guess that means I won't get into Snobby McSnobbery U? I won't be getting into Snobby McSnobbery either; however, I don't think I'm applying to any of those programs. Fit is more important to me than school name. and...and...and... 1
lolopixie Posted November 20, 2011 Posted November 20, 2011 Oh and I got that figure from the ETS website. Shocker that it varies. One more fact that this test needs to GO.
ecritdansleau Posted November 24, 2011 Posted November 24, 2011 There's no such thing as a good or bad score---these scores all have audiences: the schools we are applying to. What is golden to one audience another might find lackluster. I couldn't imagine being happy or unhappy with a score without the context of schools. When I told a prof I got a 720 on the verbal, he said "Great; it'll keep you out of a few places, but generally quite strong." It was a good reminder that the scores don't exist outside of this institutional framework. This seems kind of strange, considering that Harvard's website states that 700 on the verbal is considered a high score. What programs does your professor think a 720 verbal might keep you out of?
TripWillis Posted November 25, 2011 Posted November 25, 2011 This seems kind of strange, considering that Harvard's website states that 700 on the verbal is considered a high score. What programs does your professor think a 720 verbal might keep you out of? Nowhere. A 720 won't keep anyone out of anywhere, I don't think.
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