Fall 2014 applicants??

[champagne]

I've actually found two of the schools I'm applying to that require it to be mailed in, neither of which are UVA. I only checked to be sure because one of my recommenders asked me. I thought he was simply used to another time before the sheer prevalence of the internet. I was shocked to find that people still require use of the postal service for anything of importance.

[Swagato]

Are you talking about UVA? That was the only school on my list that required mailing materials that I recall. Saves them the printing and the ink I suppose, but a little bit of an unusual hassle in this day and age!

University of Iowa, if I remember, also requires mailed-in materials. This was for the Film Studies program, but it's housed in the Dept. of Cinema and Comp Lit.

[Katia_chan]

Georgia requires them to be mailed in as well.  At least, some of them... apparently things are being updated somehow.  But no one's quite sure how yet.

 

I feel so strange scurrying into the post office with my little packet.

[dazedandbemused]

Thanks for the input, dazedandbemused. I really appreciate it!

Also, not to be all stalkerish, but I see that your location is Austin, TX....are you by chance at UT-Austin?? They're up at the top of my list!

Yes, I'm at UT! It's fantastic here, so I wish you luck. If you have any questions about UT, I'd be happy to answer them through PM.

[champagne]

Weird. I got my writing sample back from one of my professors, and he didn't have many positive things to say about it. Instead of frustrating me, it made me strangely excited to keep working on it.

 

[gatz]

Weird. I got my writing sample back from one of my professors, and he didn't have many positive things to say about it. Instead of frustrating me, it made me strangely excited to keep working on it.

 

 

Good on you, I love the feeling of being reminded that I really do love this stuff! Remember you have plenty of time to iron stuff out as long as you stay on task and work towards completion rather than perfection. The writing sample has been the most difficult part for me so far, and I can't imagine feeling totally pleased with what I come up with, but I suppose that's the nature of academic work.

[repentwalpurgis]

Weird. I got my writing sample back from one of my professors, and he didn't have many positive things to say about it. Instead of frustrating me, it made me strangely excited to keep working on it.

 

Word.

 

Yeah, I understand this all too well - finally received a significant amount of feedback from a former prof on my statement of purpose.  Since this person is moving across the world right now, their feedback was not necessarily rushed but more focused upon what really needed to be changed (and they mentioned that they specifically did not comment on the good parts - this might be the case for you, too). 

The hurried, panicked part of me generally thinks that I'm "almost done" with my statement - that I've worked on it since August, spent countless hours conceiving the material, hounding the rhetoric, wanting to throw it out and cry (and in some cases, totally doing that).  But when I received that email - and a "it's really coming along" (*gulp* - not near done!) - I knew that it wasn't close to being finished, and the logical side of me just wanted to work towards that satisfying upload.  I don't remember what quote I've read before about "abandoning" writing rather than "finishing," but I think that's what I'll be doing once I am "finished"...only once I'm really ready to let this little statement walk out into the world on its own.

 

This is one of the few assignments I've ever imposed on myself where I won't be turning it in just to finally feel satisfied with the amount of work I put into it.  I'll be turning it in 'cos I know I'll be ready to do so, and that I exceeded my expectations.

 

Also - if anyone wants to swap a writing sample, SOP, or personal statement for feedback - please PM me!

[repentwalpurgis]

Um, I just got so excited about champagne's post that I totally forgot to ask an important question.

 

OK.  Did worse on the GRE AW this round - 4.5 instead of the initial 5 - didn't send "both scores" because my quantitative reasoning the first time was abdominal (yeah, a mistake to not consider the better score from the second time).

 

What do I do - send that first score, too?  a 93rd percentile just feels so much better than a 78, but oh my godddd I do NOT want to pay for anything else at this point.

[Creffecreve]

Hi guys. Jumping into the discussion to hopefully untangle the lingering questions  that no one seems to be able to answer as the application deadlines approach.

 

Are any of you submitting two writing samples, by any chance? My problem is that I had a really polished sample on one topic (18 pages), but it wasn't really in my field of interest. And then I have another sample that I've been working on that is directly related to my current interests, which is presently at 15 pages. I've had professors recommend both that I go with the former and others who say the latter would make more sense. 

Argh. 

 

What would you guys recommend? Anyone in a similar situation?

 

Related: Three of my schools explicitly state that two writing samples are fine. Although definitely not the way to go about the process, does anyone know of any other schools that permit this?

[Imaginary]

Anyone else just sort of freaking out at everything they must do before all the deadlines?

[Creffecreve]

I think I was freaking out way more in September, thinking about all the work I had to do. Now it's time to do it, and I'm ready to do it and be done (hopefully forever!) with applications.

Edited November 16, 2013 by Creffecreve

[purpleperson]

I'm actually in a good place now.  For me, the pressure and anxiety was mostly about the GRE tests (general and subject) and my writing samples (I have two that I'm using).  Now that the tests are done and the writing samples are as good as I plan to work on them to be (I wish I could keep scrutinizing and sharpening, but I have a job, a relationship, as well as the actual applications to do), I actually kind of enjoy the putting in of the applications.  It's way less pressure to upload things and fill in blanks (and make minor fit paragraph changes) than to be writing a critical literary analysis. 

 

I'm applying to 14 programs (inflated from my original 12) and have 3 submitted already. I'll have the rest knocked out in the next three weeks. It'll be weird when I'm finished with all this.  I'll have so much free time...

[aGiRlCalLeDApPlE]

Hi everyone, a question about conferences on CVs: I had a paper that was accepted at a conference that was canceled due to the "revolution". Now they decided to get it done but it will be held in Feb. Is it ok to list it on the CV? Please say yes...!

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

I took the GRE again, and did much better on the verbal!!! Woo Hoo!! Just had to share that with someone, ha. My goal this time was to try not to be anxious at all when taking it, and it totally paid off. Now, about all the other materials....

[Datatape]

Hi everyone, a question about conferences on CVs: I had a paper that was accepted at a conference that was canceled due to the "revolution". Now they decided to get it done but it will be held in Feb. Is it ok to list it on the CV? Please say yes...!

 

I don't see why not.  Just list it as "upcoming presentation" and you should be fine.

[toasterazzi]

Hi everyone, a question about conferences on CVs: I had a paper that was accepted at a conference that was canceled due to the "revolution". Now they decided to get it done but it will be held in Feb. Is it ok to list it on the CV? Please say yes...!

 

When I did my research on how to write a CV, I found that it seems to be ok to list upcoming presentations that have been accepted. And I've shared my CV with 3 of my profs with an upcoming presentation listed on it, and they didn't have any complaints about it.

[aGiRlCalLeDApPlE]

Thank you guys for responding. I have another question about language proficiency, what is the difference between (Fair, Beginner, Poor, and Basic)? What is the best way to refer to language proficiency on CV?  

[id quid]

This is how the US Department of State scales it: http://careers.state.gov/gateway/lang_prof_def.html

 

There's not a direct equivalency, but it gets across a sense of steps. 

[PageAndStage]

I had to pluck up my courage to check my GRE subject exam score by drinking some wine.

(I don't live in the U.S. and it's 4 p.m. here in this country.) Right before this, my friend called me telling me that she scored 27%.

So I knew I had to prepare myself. Good thing I drank wine before I checked the score.

 

Yes I've screwed up!  Agghhh.

I've scored slightly below 40%. Do you think it will be appropriate for me to apply for schools that require subject exam score?

 

 

(On the side line, I have a long despicable history with the ETS.

When I was a high school student, I needed to take TOEFL to apply for college. That year, the ETS changed the exam from CBT to IBT. There wasn't many places I could take IBT TOEFL. So I had to fly over to another Asian country to take the bloody test. It cost me around $600 for the whole damn thing. I've been cursing the ETS ever since. I'm afraid I will continue to do so until I get an acceptance somewhere!)

Edited November 18, 2013 by PageAndStage

[BattyBoy]

I scored 24%. WTF!!! 

[PageAndStage]

I scored 24%. WTF!!! 

 

I want to second what's written in your signature section. "Hell isn't a place you go when you die. It's the place you endure while you're alive." 

 

[toasterazzi]

 

I've scored slightly below 40%. Do you think it will be appropriate for me to apply for schools that require subject exam score?

 

 

I didn't take the subject tests because I didn't have the money for it and none of the programs I'm applying to require it. That being said, from what I've heard, most people score pretty terribly on the test. So I'd imagine that you'd be fine.

[champagne]

Sorry for the disappointing scores, friends; however, the majority of programs I've come across do not require the subject test. I'm not saying that's the case overall, but there are plenty of (good) programs that rightfully don't give a rip how much you know about Milton when your specialty is the African diaspora.  

[hj2012]

 

I've scored slightly below 40%. Do you think it will be appropriate for me to apply for schools that require subject exam score?

 

 

 

 

I was advised that a 550+ was a "competitive" lit GRE score.... which meant that after taking a practice test and seeing my score, I promptly made the decision to only apply to places that don't require the lit GRE. 

 

However, I want to caution that my adviser (and my undergrad department in general) is kinda old school, so they might place heavier weight on silly things like the lit GRE than most programs...

[viviandarkbloom]

So, some of the schools to which I'm applying that say that the GRE English Lit test is 'recommended but not required', and that a strong score may help your application, but not submitting score will not adversely effect it.

 

What I've inferred that to mean is, 'only send us the score if you've done pretty well'. 

 

The question is, what do people reckon a top school would consider to be an impressive score on the english lit gre? If I were to send in an ok-but-not-amazing score would it be worse than just not bothering?