GRE Literature -- took test; need advice

[locald]

Hi, all. I was hoping some of you could give me your feedback. I'm very torn on the issue below and need to hear from those who are either going though this now or who have already gone through this.

I just took the October Lit test, and I feel awful about it. I knew it would be a challenge but I prepared for months and didn't expect to feel this disheartened. At the end, I had 60 blanks. It just seemed as if the test was filled with an impossible amount of extremely long, dense reading passages -- much more than the four practice tests I used. The previous week, I took one of those practice tests (the one ETS sends upon registration) under timed conditions and got a 650. I finished in just under 170 minutes and left about 9 questions blank. Yesterday's test was very different.

My dilemma is whether or not I should take it again in November. I could just take my chances and see what I got on this, even with 60 blanks, and use the next few weeks to prepare for the general GRE, which is what I had planned to do. Or I could take it again, hoping to manage my time better and for a test that looks a little more like the practice test. If the test really is as insignificant a part of the application as it appears to be, is it worth it to go through it again -- taking time away from general GRE preparation? Is it worth having two lit scores on my report?

A little info. about me: I'm applying to PhD programs (WUSTL, Brown, UVA, Harvard, UCDavis). I have a very good writing sample and feel confident in my SOP, which is a continuation of the MPhil thesis I completed at Trinity College in Dublin. I also have an MFA in poetry from Brooklyn College (4.0). I'm a bit older than the average student (late 30s). I teach comp at a community college and am editorial director at an education association where I've worked for the last ten years.

I would appreciate very much any help you can offer.

[rainy_day]

You actually cannot sign up for the November Lit GRE anymore, as far as I know.

That being said--and my advice is biased, because I fully expect to bomb the GRE Lit when I take it next month--but I just don't think it is that important overall.

You clearly have a stand-out application. Focus the remaining time on your SOP and WS. Those are much, much more important anyway.

[locald]

Thanks for responding. I appreciate it. I actually am registered for the November test because I wasn't sure which date I'd be able to do.

[greekdaph]

Since you're already registered for the November test, maybe the compromise here is to take it without doing any additional prep? The questions they ask are so random that maybe your unluckiness yesterday will be balanced out by better luck next time? I'm not just speaking in terms of karma here--some tests skew more heavily towards certain topics.

My sense is that the subject test score won't keep you out of programs. Sometimes, high test scores can compensate for lower GPAs, but overall, test scores matter far less than the other areas of your application, all of which you're more confident about. And within that subset of test scores, general GRE scores are almost always more important than subject test scores because some schools use the general test as a an "objective" criterion for distributing university fellowships across different disciplines.

[NewVolunteer]

I would agree with the previous poster that the GRE Lit test is not going to be the most important part of your application package. Many schools have done away with it as a requirement altogether, and from what I've heard, more will be following suit. As is, I think it's often only used as a sort of "tiebreaker" between otherwise evenly-matched candidates.

That said, if you've already registered to take the test again, you might as well try your luck. They'll only refund half the money if you cancel. Besides, you're almost certain to do better this go-round even if you don't study any further, simply because you'll know what to expect. And while I certainly wouldn't cut deeply into your planned study-time for the GRE general (VASTLY more important, particularly when considering funding packages), you might put a little time into practicing comprehension questions and brushing up on critical theory. Like you, I just took the GRE Lit test, and it was nothing like the older practice exams. It seems they're moving away from the "canon" and asking more about theory and grammar and focusing on testing general reading comprehension. Whereas on the practice exams there were several sections involving the identification of major authors or works based on excerpts, the exam I took on Saturday had no such section whatsoever. I realize every test is different, but this test was so divergent from what I'd studied for as to signal a content shift in the test construction. Further, there were loads of theory questions that were much more nuanced and obscure than the practice materials I'd read had suggested they would be. Derrida, Foucault, and Bakhtin were only the tip of the iceberg.

But again, don't get carried away; your effort will be better directed towards the general test. Most importantly, I wouldn't stress out about it too much. Your writing sample, statement of purpose, and recommendations are going to be the make-or-break parts of your application. I knew a student who entered into a fine graduate program with a 2.3 undergrad GPA. His exceptional writing sample and recommendations carried the day. And the GRE Lit scores are much less important even than the undergrad GPA.

[kfed2020]

The Lit GRE is one of those exams from which few people escape unscathed -- even those who did well. Most people leave feeling dejected, so don't worry too, too much over post-exam distress.

Feel free to re-take, of course, but know that there are much more important things (in life, but more specifically in the world of graduate school applications), and don't let preparation for this exam detract from time you could be using to edit those samples of writing -- because those are truly what make or break you in the end.