Literature GRE scores from 7 November

[Venetia]

the scores are available by phone - i just called 5 minutes ago.

good luck to everyone!!

Thanks so much, Popstitute! I thought I'd have to agonize 'til Monday. It's such a relief to finally know...and I'm very pleased with my result!

[Liesje]

whew. could have been slightly better or much worse. i'll take it.

any idea what kind of raw scores or percentiles schools are looking for? on the GRE verbal it seems like top schools are expecting around 700+ on average, while decent schools are looking for 600+. i can't figure out what expectations are for the subject test.

Edited December 5, 2009 by Liesje

[hinesaj]

I think its hard to say, because I think a lot of schools are starting to have a hard time figuring out what the Subject Test even says about students. This is pretty clear by the rate at which programs seem to be dropping the Subject Tests as a requirement. Of course we're stuck with it until they all decide to get rid of it. I remember some school talking about subject scores averaging in the 700s, it was a top program but seems almost unrealistic. Here's my own personal somewhat-informed belief/gut instinct about the Subject Test's role:

If you have an incredible Subject Test score, it won't get you in. If you have a horrible Subject Test score, it won't keep you out. I think if you have a strong application in almost every other aspect, I wouldn't worry too much about a mediocre performance. I think it is designed to give those who studied a field other than English an opportunity to display some familiarity with the field or to give more weight to a lower tier undergraduate performance.

Maybe, though, all of this is just wishful thinking.

[glasses]

I think its hard to say, because I think a lot of schools are starting to have a hard time figuring out what the Subject Test even says about students. This is pretty clear by the rate at which programs seem to be dropping the Subject Tests as a requirement. Of course we're stuck with it until they all decide to get rid of it. I remember some school talking about subject scores averaging in the 700s, it was a top program but seems almost unrealistic. Here's my own personal somewhat-informed belief/gut instinct about the Subject Test's role:

If you have an incredible Subject Test score, it won't get you in. If you have a horrible Subject Test score, it won't keep you out. I think if you have a strong application in almost every other aspect, I wouldn't worry too much about a mediocre performance. I think it is designed to give those who studied a field other than English an opportunity to display some familiarity with the field or to give more weight to a lower tier undergraduate performance.

Maybe, though, all of this is just wishful thinking.

Based on stuff I've heard from advisors and friends who are in top programs, this is true.

Also, I offer this as anecdotal quasi-evidence --Harvard's one of the few schools that explicitly talks about the lit. GRE, and they say:

"GREs: High scores in the Verbal (700) and Subject tests (650, i.e., English and American literature) are positive additions to the applica tion but are by no means the most important aspect of one’s candidacy. (The Quantitative and Analytical scores carry less weight than the Verbal and Subject scores.) Applicants should make timely plans to take these examina­tions in order to ensure that the scores arrive by the January application deadline. Scores received after mid-January may be too late to be considered."

So, a few thoughts:

(1) They mention GREs after they mention writing samples, grades, and letters of recommendation, in that order.

(2) They consider 650 a "high" score -- not a "passable" score, not an "average of our accepted applicants" score, but "high."

(3) The first sentence of that blurb means a lot to me: "High scores . . . are positive additions to the application but are by no means the most important aspect of one's candidacy."

[Liesje]

Based on stuff I've heard from advisors and friends who are in top programs, this is true.

Also, I offer this as anecdotal quasi-evidence --Harvard's one of the few schools that explicitly talks about the lit. GRE, and they say:

"GREs: High scores in the Verbal (700) and Subject tests (650, i.e., English and American literature) are positive additions to the applica tion but are by no means the most important aspect of one’s candidacy. (The Quantitative and Analytical scores carry less weight than the Verbal and Subject scores.) Applicants should make timely plans to take these examina­tions in order to ensure that the scores arrive by the January application deadline. Scores received after mid-January may be too late to be considered."

So, a few thoughts:

(1) They mention GREs after they mention writing samples, grades, and letters of recommendation, in that order.

(2) They consider 650 a "high" score -- not a "passable" score, not an "average of our accepted applicants" score, but "high."

(3) The first sentence of that blurb means a lot to me: "High scores . . . are positive additions to the application but are by no means the most important aspect of one's candidacy."

thanks both of you. quite surprising that harvard considers 650 high, that would be something like 85th % i'm guessing, maybe lower.

[glasses]

thanks both of you. quite surprising that harvard considers 650 high, that would be something like 85th % i'm guessing, maybe lower.

Yeah, 650's around 85th %, and I'm kind of bummed, because I scored slightly lower than that. (Then again, I'm less bummed than I would have been if I hadn't taken the test while swimming in what I thought was the world's most brutal cold and later learned was actually the flu!) But here's the thing: the percentiles skyrocket sharply up for this test. Somehow, even though 650 is around 85th %, 680 is in the 91st! And here are some of the other things:

(1) the subject GRE tests everything from Beowulf to Larkin, Aristotle to Spivak, Wheatley to Morrison: barely anyone with only a BA or, at most, an MA has read all of that material in comprehensive detail,

(2) the questions are incredibly random,

(3) while identifications are rather straightforward, the interpretive questions are not: I have been told in no uncertain terms that most professors do not think that a multiple-choice test is an adequate format for literary interpretation, and

(4) if there are any parts of these applications that are the least representative of our ability to succeed in graduate school, they'd be the GREs.

I'm not saying any of this to buck myself up, either. I have a documented habit of scrutinizing and making a giant deal of any and all flaws in myself, particularly during this process. I have even, on occasion, made huge deals about problems that actually did not exist. Based on my freak-out record, if there was anything to panic about here, I'd be the first one in line to breathe into a paper bag. But I spoke to a great former professor of mine who teaches at a great program and before that went to a great program, and he says that if the thing an applicant is most worried about is his/her lit. GRE score, he/she is in great shape. (He qualified his statement by saying that this is true to a certain degree only, of course: a score in the 400s is legitimate cause for concern, for example, but if, out of your entire application, you're worried about a score in the 600s, you're a happy camper. Or rather, you should be.)

Edited December 5, 2009 by glasses

[kay]

I don't know what I was thinking but--just now I requested additional score reports by phone for november gre subject score- they say it is available, according to the phone.. Has anyone done it too? is it too early, therefore will they send only my general score which I took on september?

If then I wasted too much money..

Edited December 6, 2009 by kay

[Venetia]

I don't know what I was thinking but--just now I requested additional score reports by phone for november gre subject score- they say it is available, according to the phone.. Has anyone done it too? is it too early, therefore will they send only my general score which I took on september?

If then I wasted too much money..

I did it too- I looked at my online GRE Account, and although my Lit score is still 'absent', when I clicked 'order additional score reports' the Lit GRE test was no longer in its own little category, but listed with my general test under 'currently available scores'. So I bit the bullet and ordered my 7 score reports...if you've wasted money, then so have I!

[Liesje]

i don't know if you wasted money, but i'd call ETS and try to figure it out, you may be able to cancel. there's a point early in the phone call when it's 1 to get your score over the phone, 2 to order additional score reports. obviously you want 1 there =x

[downtownchick]

I took it on Nov 7. I only have the raw scores and percentages online. No # of answer right or wrong.