GRE English Lit (Sept/Oct 2014)

[unræd]

Oh, and like WT says, there's this: all the evidence suggests your performance on the exam doesn't really matter anyway, especially for someone--like you, hreaðemus--who's an astonishingly strong applicant in all other respects.

[Dr. Old Bill]

Unraed, I think that's the perfect assessment, to the point that I feel I could have written the exact same post. I felt fairly confident going in, and just as confident coming out. I've had a few PM exchanges lately with soon-to-be test-takers, and I've said pretty much the same thing to all of them. One other thing that hasn't really been mentioned is that for the most part, exams are anathema to English majors in general, and definitely to graduate students in particular. We're paper people. And while we get the occasional exam / quiz / midterm etc., we never have to face anything like the subject test. There is some solace to be had in this fact.

 

As with Unraed (and I may have mentioned it half a dozen times here already too), I honestly don't know if I got a score in the 500 region, or the 700 region. And when you think about it, that's pretty crazy -- not knowing if I'm in the 30th percentile of English graduate hopefuls or the 90th percentile. Yet that is how ETS rates us! The margin of error is laughably slim, and I've made occasional reference to the "Slumdog Millionaire" element to it all: some folks will luckily recognize most of the material on the exam, while other folks will -- through very little fault of their own -- have studied a great deal of material that simply happens to not be on the test. So when you know it's an unfair measurement, you just have to do the best prep you can, and go through the exam with as light of a heart as possible. The best part is that most grad schools that require this test seem to treat it the same way. So again...don't stress over it!!!

[1Q84]

Did my first practice test and got a 620. 

 

 

[Dr. Old Bill]

Tell me you're not sad about that score...

 

I'll be reasonably happy with a 620 on the REAL test.

[queennight]

Tell me you're not sad about that score...

 

I'll be reasonably happy with a 620 on the REAL test.

I'm hoping to get a 50%ile ... LET'S BE REAL. Wyatt I'm glad we are in the same boat here, although I have an inkling you most likely did quite well!

[Dr. Old Bill]

I'm hoping to get a 50%ile ... LET'S BE REAL. Wyatt I'm glad we are in the same boat here, although I have an inkling you most likely did quite well!

 

We shall see in a week or two, my friend... Fingers crossed! I think I would be disappointed if I got lower than 500. I'd be fine with 500-599. I'd be happy with 600-649, and elated with 650+. Maybe I should make an emoji scale for when the time comes...

 

<500 =

500-599 =

600-649 =

650+ =

 

There. Now when I get my scores back, I'll mark roughly how I did by emoji.

 

I suddenly feel like such a millennial!

Edited October 16, 2014 by Wyatt's Torch

[1Q84]

Tell me you're not sad about that score...

 

I'll be reasonably happy with a 620 on the REAL test.

 

Apologies. I was definitely not attempting a "humblebrag" of some kind. I actually have no idea what constitutes good and bad for subject test scores but I was under the impression that somewhere in the 70th percentile is not that great, which is what 620 is. :/

[Dr. Old Bill]

Apologies. I was definitely not attempting a "humblebrag" of some kind. I actually have no idea what constitutes good and bad for subject test scores but I was under the impression that somewhere in the 70th percentile is not that great, which is what 620 is. :/

 

No no...didn't think you were humblebragging at all (I like that term...is it yours? If so...may I use it?)

 

One very important thing to remember is that the 70th percentile is among English graduate applicants. And usually the only applicants that take the GRE lit test are applying to the "tippy-top tier" schools. This means that if you're getting 70th percentile among the best English graduate applicants, you're in pretty good company. It's not like the standard GRE wherein your percentages are derived from a group of everyone. Science majors, math majors, herpetologists, numerologists, alchemists... Okay, maybe not numerologists and alchemists, but you get the picture. In other words, you can be happy with a 620. Heck, even Harvard's stated "good" score is 650.

[queennight]

No no...didn't think you were humblebragging at all (I like that term...is it yours? If so...may I use it?)

 

One very important thing to remember is that the 70th percentile is among English graduate applicants. And usually the only applicants that take the GRE lit test are applying to the "tippy-top tier" schools. This means that if you're getting 70th percentile among the best English graduate applicants, you're in pretty good company. It's not like the standard GRE wherein your percentages are derived from a group of everyone. Science majors, math majors, herpetologists, numerologists, alchemists... Okay, maybe not numerologists and alchemists, but you get the picture. In other words, you can be happy with a 620. Heck, even Harvard's stated "good" score is 650.

 

This should be pinned somewhere for all applicants struggling through the subject test to read!

[TeaOverCoffee]

I'm just going to be honest. I haven't studied for it yet. I'm going to begin this weekend hardcore. I'm a little terrified, but the majority of the schools I've spoken to don't care much about the test. I've heard it's just a formality from some of the schools. That's not to say that I'm not going to study for it. But I'm honestly just not going to fret too much. 

 

All the best to you guys!

[lyonessrampant]

I think that the advice suggesting you shouldn't overthink this test is right.  I totally freaked out in an existential crisis and went from a 98/99% in practice tests to scoring above 91% in my actual test.  That's well above Harvard's "suggested" number . . . and guess what!?  I didn't get into Harvard.  I don't think these tests really matter that much.  Schools who use this metric have a minimum.  It seems low (and based on friends in various programs, I mean really, really low to the point that this test is just stupid).  That number is used to throw out some of their many hundreds of applicants.  Beyond that, I doubt it matters at all.  Do your best.  However, as many anecdotes have demonstrated, this test is not highly important.  Your research statement and writing sample show your original ideas, ability to engage with relevant (and CONTEMPORARY!) scholarship, and writing skill.  Focus on those elements.  Best of luck to all!

[jhefflol]

Meh, I'll be happy with a 430, which is what I was getting on my practice tests. I figure that if I haven't learned it as a second year grad student already, its probably not relevant to my area of specialization. If this keeps me from getting accepted to some schools then so be it. All I need is one acceptance.

[Dr. Old Bill]

This has been said elsewhere, but it's also really important to remember that the way the lit exam tests your "knowledge" of literature is in no way conducive to the study of literature! For instance, there was a poem I studied literally two weeks before taking the lit exam. It's a fairly famous poem, typical of this particular poet's style, and thanks to an hour or more of intense close-reading in the classroom (not to mention reading two critical essays that touched on the same poem), I had a very good grasp on the poem and its various interpretations. On the lit test, I was delighted to see this poem excerpted, and five or six questions related to it. I'm sure I got a few of them correct, yet I distinctly remember one "interpretive" question that had the usual five options...and none of them seemed to fit the way I had studied the poem. Even the usually-helpful POE method suggested by the Princeton book didn't help, because all of the options seemed equally implausible. And you know why? because one of the beauties of literature is that it is subjective. My best papers (and indeed, most of my WS) have presented new ways of looking at old texts. That's what we're supposed to do! Five questions with pre-fab analyses just aren't helpful, and aren't even necessarily correct by any objective measure. And the GRE is all about objective measures.

 

What I'm getting at is (again), you can't view anything other than a great score on the GRE subject test as anything more than a checklist item. Great scores might help your application, but a mediocre score will probably not hurt it (provided that your other elements are solid -- the usual disclaimer). A couple of the programs I applied to mention this quite explicitly. So going into the test, be calm. Be cool. Be collected. Take it lightly. View the questions as "trivia." Give it your best shot. Make your best guesses. Try to answer every question unless you're completely baffled. And don't spend the month after the test biting your nails while waiting for your scores. There's just no need!

Edited October 17, 2014 by Wyatt's Torch

[wetheplants]

Oh smokes this was reassuring to read. I took the September test and haven't gotten my scores back yet, but all my practice tests had me hoping for a low-mid 600s.... which I thought was terrible!
I'm so relieved to hear you guys don't think that's terrible... hahaha.
I just can't get my head out of my old SAT score range where I would have lost if I got a 650....

[queennight]

This thread is like a nice group hug. Guys, we're going to make it through this.

[sillyrabbit]

One week left! Agh!

 

I've taken my second practice test and saw an increase in my practice test score…so that's a good thing, I guess.

 

Can't wait 'til this test is over.

[1Q84]

It's happening again the day after tomorrow.

 

Ack! Been doing practice tests everyday. Making some flash cards now on the subjects/people I just can't seem to nail down....

[zanmato4794]

I'm actually kind of excited for it. I remember having fun the first time I took it. Afterwards I'm spoiling myself: getting a burrito, buying a bottle of wine, playing video games all night.

[jhefflol]

Good luck to everyone taking it this weekend! Let us know how it goes. We're rootin' for ya!

[Dr. Old Bill]

Yes! Like Jhefflol says...good luck! And it really is "luck." Here's hoping there are no obscure passages from Solzhenitsyn or cryptic analyses of Derrida!

[unræd]

Best of luck to all who are taking it tomorrow!

 

And for those of use who took it in September, and who get our scores on Monday...

[Dr. Old Bill]

 

 

And for those of use who took it in September, and who get our scores on Monday...

 

Ooh...really? I didn't know that. Gee, it's almost like...almost like...Christmas with the possibility of chainsaws!

[unræd]

Ooh...really? I didn't know that. Gee, it's almost like...almost like...Christmas with the possibility of chainsaws!

 

 

Yes indeed. Monday.

[Dr. Old Bill]

I'll have my emojis ready.

[sillyrabbit]

I was so nervous last week, but at this point (the day before the test) I feel oddly calm about it...I'm so ready for this to be over, so I can go back to the important parts of my application.