Izulde's Grad School Quest: An RL Dynasty

[Izulde]

My aim: To be admitted into an MFA Creative Writing program that I want to be in.

The candidates: The programs listed at the AWP website, which appears to list all of the Creative Writing programs in the country.

Round 1:

To create a basic list, I included all Division I schools from any state I might even have the remotest desire to attend. The lone exceptions were schools I know I have zero desire to attend. UC-Riverside, we're looking at you. Two non D-I schools were included for the heck of it, though their chances are remote.

Round 1 Total: 107 schools

Round 2:

It was a fluff way to do it, I suppose, but for my second cuts, I removed all the schools who didn't have a football team. I love football, especially college football, and when I attended campuses that didn't have a team, I really missed it in the fall.

Three universities sans football were allowed back on the list:
-UC-Irvine (My best friend is getting her second bachelor's there and plans to attend graduate school in the area)
-Stetson University (Gorgeous campus from what I can see and there's a Delta Sigma Phi chapter there)
-Cleveland State (DSP colony and fencing team. I really, really miss fencing).

20 schools got tossed as a result, making numbers significantly more manageable. We've still got a long way to go, though.

Round 2 Total: ~85

Round 3:

I thought about winnowing things via fencing, but decided against it, for even if the school doesn't have a fencing team or club, it's possible that their city still has a club. Looking up roughly 85 schools and cities is too much work for something that should be more of a tiebreaker than anything else, so instead it's on to scrutinizing the individual programs.

Factors Sought:
- No more than 2 courses a semester for graduate assistantships. Ideally it'd be one a semester.
- Tuition waivers
- Working on literary publications optional
- Ideally GRE not required, though if I really like a school I'll allow it on there.
- No emphasis on American and British literature for the lit electives. I think that by doing this, you ignore the value of comparative literatures. Also, programs that focus heavily on the American-British tradition strike me as conservative and in danger of being dated, so thanks, but no thanks.

Not that strict a factor list, I know. But I'm keeping things general for now.

I've already started looking at programs and some schools have fallen off the list already for one reason or another. I'll list a few of the ones that got dropped, just for the fun of it.

San Diego State
Yeah, I know. Surprising considering my interest in San Diego, but it seems like their program's largely about publishing and editing their umpteen literary journals. Nice if you want to get into that field. I don't. While teaching at the collegiate level is still an option, I'd grow to loathe publishing/editing in a hurry. Bye-bye Aztecs.

Cornell
Ivy League is good. Requiring 4 of 6 electives be British and American lit is not. They also require first year students work on their lit journal. Two out of three in this ultra-competitive hunt is enough to get booted. See ya!

Indiana
I like three year programs, which Indiana has and their program is designed to churn out creative writing professors, which is cool, but in line with that focus, the teaching load is rather nasty. Three courses a year for three years doesn't leave much time for actual writing. If the only thing I wanted to be was a creative writing professor, the Hoosiers would be tops on my list. Alas, I want more than that. Goodbye!

Some interesting front-runners are cropping up so far, but I'll keep them secret for now as I've still got a lot of researching to do and things can change rapidly.

It's fun, though.

[Izulde]

Round 3 Results

Wow. After combing through the programs, I cut the numbers down from approx. 85 to 31 schools. That's without taking a closer look at the faculty, which will likely be my Round 4 cutdown.

Here are the 31 schools, broken down by state.

Arizona
Arizona State*#
University of Arizona*#

California
San Jose State*
UC-Irvine*

Florida
University of Central Florida
University of Florida

Idaho
University of Idaho*#

Indiana
Purdue University#
University of Notre Dame

Louisiana
Louisiana State
McNeese State

Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts*

Maryland
University of Maryland#

Michigan
University of Michigan*

Mississippi
University of Mississippi

New Mexico
New Mexico State#
University of New Mexico*

Ohio
Bowling Green State
Ohio State

Oregon
Oregon State*
University of Oregon*#

Pennsylvania
Penn State#
University of Pittsburgh#

Rhode Island
Brown University*

South Carolina
University of South Carolina

Virginia
Old Dominion University
University of Virginia#

Washington
Eastern Washington University
University of Washington

West Virginia
University of West Virginia

Wyoming
University of Wyoming

*-GRE not required
#-Delta Sigma Phi chapter

Notes:
Most of the schools that I'd say are my top choices after the initial academic review require the GRE General or strongly recommend the GRE to have the best chance at fellowships or assistantships if they aren't guaranteed, so it looks as though I'll take the GRE in any case.

McNeese State asks for a writing sample before the process of formal application even begins, so I'll be applying there for certain by sending in the writing sample. They also emphasize that guest writers hold 1 on 1 conferences with MFA students, which I like a lot.

An interesting tidbit--Brown, which is Ivy League, has MFA students take just two courses a semester. Light courseload for max writing time, Ivy League degree, extremely lucrative financial aid package all in one package and it's no surprise that Brown leads the pack in quoted applications with 850-900 a year, of which they accept single digits.

A few of these schools have graduate degree foreign language requirements, which I'm iffy on. My German has corroded to the point where I'm probably at a second-year level and the programs demand that you have reading proficiency on top of it. When you throw in that I'd look at acquiring a new language, it means a lot more time spent in acquistion, less time on writing.

If I had to list the five programs that I'm most strongly looking at right now in no particular order they'd be:

University of Florida
University of Idaho
University of Virginia
Louisiana State
Brown University

There's quite a few others that are right behind them, however, and the list is no doubt going to change pending further research.

I also need to check with schools once I get the list cut down even more and find out how they determine GPA for applicants. I've got a fairly extensive early history of piss-poor academics before I got my associate degree with a 3.5 GPA and have in subsequent years posted nothing lower than a 3.5 each semester at the universities thereafter (This past semester was 3.75, bringing my GPA at this school to 3.68 cum after a year here)

I've already got one letter of recommendation locked up, so I'll need at least one or two more over the next year or so. I have a good idea of who I'll ask for my second recommendation. The third is up in the air at the moment.

[Izulde]

Round 4 Results

The chopping block turned out to be Financial Aid. How likely are tuition waivers and/or graduate assistantships/fellowships? If they didn't seem likely or only had a limited number, I ruthlessly chopped them off, leaving 19.

1. Arizona State
2. University of Arizona
3. UC-Irvine
4. University of Florida
5. University of Idaho
6. Purdue University
7. Notre Dame
8. Louisiana State
9. McNeese State
10. University of Massachussetts
11. University of Michigan
12. University of New Mexico
13. Bowling Green State
14. Ohio State
15. Penn State
16. Brown
17. University of Virginia
18. University of West Virginia
19. University of Wyoming

Round 5

Wanting to cut it down a little bit more, I took out the schools that either don't have a fencing club at the university or in town, or that I know for certain have zilch for a sabre program. University of Wyoming, I'm looking at you. I love fencing and I really, -really- miss fencing sabre, which is my natural weapon.

The list narrowed down to 14.

1. University of Arizona
2. UC-Irvine
3. University of Florida (They have a graduate student on the team, so I know for sure they take them)
4. University of Idaho
5. Purdue
6. Notre Dame
7. Louisiana State
8. McNeese State
9. University of Massachussetts
10. University of Michigan (National Club Team Champions in fact)
11. University of New Mexico
12. Ohio State
13. Penn State
14. University of West Virginia

I'm enjoying doing this step by step cutdown. It's letting me get a good handle on where I'd really like to go.

[mrsimperless]

If you feel inclined give us a brief background on what kind of writing you're interested in doing and what you're hoping to get out of school. Enjoyed reading so far.

[Barkeep49]

As my friend applies to grad school in philosophy I was amazed that after careful consideration he applied to 9 schools. Seems like people apply to many grad schools, which was not something I'd realized outside of fields like law and medicine.

[RedKingGold]

When I was applying to law schools, I based my decision on where I wanted to be located first. Then, I applied to all those schools within a 50-mile radius of that location.

I found it a lot easier.

[RPI-Fan]

I'm surprised by some of your motivations. Why is taking the GRE such a huge concern? It takes like 4 hours and you can sign up on the day of the exam.

It just seems like your motivations for going to grad school aren't entirely in place, and if that's the case I would guess that grad school would be a very difficult road to travel.

[Izulde]

mrsimperless: I'm still figuring out just what type of creative writing I'd like to do, whether it's contemporary realism, fantasy, or even romance when it comes to genre. In terms of form, I'd stick to short stories and novels/novellas, though if I ever did want to write plays, I have a connection at a rep theatre who's interested in reviewing any scripts I send them.

What I hope to get out of school is a further development of my writing skills, to produce a longer work that's publishable and to gain knowledge and experience in collegiate teaching. I love the college life and I think I'd make a great professor of composition and creative writing courses (though I'd love to be able to get a lit section too).

Realistically speaking, there's only a tiny percentage of writers who ever become financially successful enough that they're able to just write. Being a college professor has always been an attractive 'real job' for me. Ever since I was a kid, I've been learning not only subject material from teachers and professors, but their methods of teaching, their philosophies of grading, etc.

I know poetry's out, by the way. I know I have very minimal talent in it and don't have the inclination to write it in any case.

Barkeep49: That's about right, actually. A website I found in my research giving tips to MFA applicants mentioned that you should apply to several grad schools. It's like a more intense version of the undergraduate application experience, because it's so competitive, particularly for programs like MFA degrees, where only a handful or so are admitted each year out of several hundred applicants. In fact, the lowest quoted applicant total I've seen so far is 200.

RedKingGold: Good idea if you have an exact idea in mind the location you want to go. I wanted to keep my options open though. Plus, I think it's a little more difficult with Creative Writing MFAs, as they're nowhere near as prolific as law schools. When I was narrowing down the list from 85, a lot of them got thrown out because I discovered that although they're an AWP-affiliated program, it was either an undergraduate degree or an undergraduate minor only. So if I was going by location, I'd be limiting myself to at most a couple of schools, even if it was a 50 mile radius.

RPI-Fan: You're right about the GRE. I don't know why it's such a concern myself. I've always done extremely well on standardized tests, particularly the verbal section, which is the only portion MFA programs look at. It's particularly silly a concern when, as the professor I spoke to about grad school mentioned, a lot of fellowships are determined in part by GRE scores. So scratch off the concern part. I don't know why I had it in the first place.

Some of my motivations for narrowing down schools may seem frivolous, I know. But for my own happiness, they're important, because they're about doing what I want to do or returning to the things I love. I attribute a lot of personal success in recent years to the self-confidence and sense of fulfillment I've gotten out of going and doing the things that I've wanted to do that I've missed out on before when I had the opportunity.

[Izulde]

Just a quick and small update.

I've started work on the generic portion of my Personal Statement and a short story.

Also, my friend at UCI is strongly considering taking a full time job opportunity that just opened up and leaving UCI to pursue her own master's degree rather than continue along the second bachelor's track.

[DaddyTorgo]

i think i'll do one of my own

[Izulde]

Took a look at the GRE website and breezed through the sample analogy, sentence completion, and reading comprehension sections.

I didn't bother with the qualitative because MFA programs don't look at that.

The written sections (Argument and.. I forget the other one) are more challenging, but should be fairly easy.

Cool thing is it's computer based and offered at the UW-L campus. You can take the GRE once a month, max 5 times in a year.

So I'll sign up to take it in February.

[SelzShoes]

Good luck to you. Grad School was, academically, the time of my life--it is like how you always thought school should be.

[Barkeep49]

The instant feedback on the GRE was very upsetting for a friend of mine, as he didn't too well on the Quant and Analyatical, but he blew away the essay making the whole experience better.

[Izulde]

SelzShoes: Thanks I'm really looking forward to this myself, no matter what happens. Though if I do get in, I'll probably be fresh off a semester in Spain, so I'll be whizzing from one new set of experiences, people and places to the next.

Which is a good thing. I love travel and new experiences

Barkeep49: Thanks for the story. I'll admit, I was shocked when I saw that it's all computerized now and that you can take it so many times. I figured it was still a paper test.

How soon after the exam did your friend get his essay results back?

[Barkeep49]

I think it was 3-5 weeks so there was quite a period where he'd grown depressed about his chances of going to a grad school of his choice.

[Swaggs]

Good luck, Izulde. Two things here:

One, it is West Virginia University. WVU is located in my hometown and is a really nice place to spend a few years.

Two, if you decide to take the GRE, get the Kaplan book that comes with a CD. I'm sure you can find it on Amazon or at any Borders/Barnes and Noble. It provides a lot of very useful strategies and prepares you for the format very well. I used it was very pleased with my results.

[Izulde]

Barkeep49: Ah, that'd explain the once per month maximum then.

Swaggs: Duly noted on the name and thanks for the tip. I'll definitely look into it. What more can you tell me about WVU, both the campus and the town?

[Swaggs]

I have a little different perspective of the town itself, since I am from there and remained there while the students left.

The things that come to mind are that there are two main campuses, one that houses most of the liberal arts/business/journalism-type colleges in the "historic" downtown setting and a more modern one that is the home of the engineering school a little ways away. There are roughly 28,000-30,000 students, but the town itself is relatively small, so there are probably less than 35,000 when school is out. Crime is very minimal and the student-nightlife is very, very good.

A lot of the student population is from West Virginia, but there are a large number that come from (particularly) Pennsylvania and New Jersey, because the school is very affordable compared to in-state options in both of those states. There is a great sports atmosphere, football is king (football Saturday's are awesome), but men's basketball is right up there--and both have been very successful lately, so their popularity is growing. Wrestling, men's and women's soccer, and baseball are also fairly popular. I was barely interested in the Greek life, but there is a pretty large fraternity/sorority population, as well. Public transportation is very good between the campuses and the downtown-area (there is a public rapid transportation system--essentially an above ground railway system--that is very well received by students) and bus systems. A car is a blessing and a curse in Morgantown. They are helpful, because there are some nice cities within driving distance, like Pittsburgh (nearest major airport--roughly 75 minutes away and a very easy drive) and D.C. (roughly 3 hours away) and the town, although fairly small, is very "hilly" and not always easy to navigate through. But parking and weather can make owning a car difficult for a student.

Kind of rambled there and didn't come close to covering a whole lot, but if you are interested in any other particular info, let me know.

[Izulde]

Thanks for the info, Swaggs. What's the climate like there?

Not an earthshattering update here. Just me starting to wonder if I actually have the talent to be able to get into an MFA program.

All my life I've had some people telling me I have talent and others telling me that I'm a terrible writer, pretentious and cliched (one board in particular that I won't mention likes to make semi-frequent mention of this opinion).

I don't know the answer myself.

A lot of times I doubt it. Then I look at the Golden Scribes here, a WritAAR of the Week award on Paradox and some nominations for quarterly awards there and I start to think, maybe, just maybe the ability's there.

I know, I know... nothing ventured, nothing gained, to use a cliche. After all, my biggest regret in life still is not applying to Princeton as an undergrad. Granted, I probably wouldn't have made it, but at least I could say I tried.

[Izulde]

After reading an article this morning, I have an idea for a short story. I just hope I don't lose the details in my 9 hour shift at work today.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Izulde

What's the climate like there?

It is an area that each of the four seasons are very distinct.

It can get into the single digits or teens during the winter and there are usually a few pretty nasty snow storms a year. January and early-February are probably the two coldest and snowiest months.

Spring is pretty nice, temperature-wise. There is some definite rain and thunderstorms, but nothing too bad.

Summers are nice in late-May/June, but it gets pretty hot and humid in July and August, with temperatures sometimes in the 90s.

Autumns are great, as far as temperature and weather. School and football start back up in the Fall and it is probably the nicest time of year.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

It is an area that each of the four seasons are very distinct.

It can get into the single digits or teens during the winter and there are usually a few pretty nasty snow storms a year. January and early-February are probably the two coldest and snowiest months.

Spring is pretty nice, temperature-wise. There is some definite rain and thunderstorms, but nothing too bad.

Summers are nice in late-May/June, but it gets pretty hot and humid in July and August, with temperatures sometimes in the 90s.

Autumns are great, as far as temperature and weather. School and football start back up in the Fall and it is probably the nicest time of year.

Thanks.

[Izulde]

So after doing some more investigating and thinking I've narrowed it down to the following finalists as far as MFA programs go:

1. University of Arizona
2. University of Florida
3. Purdue University
4. University of Massachusetts
5. University of Oregon
6. West Virginia University

Of those, Arizona, Purdue, and Oregon have Delta Sigma Phi chapters. Yeah, it might sound silly to be so focused on the fraternity thing, but these aren't exactly small schools and at U of MN, I got really isolated and depressed because I had no real connection to anyone or anything.

But any time I've been involved with a fraternity, either pledging at Wyoming, or being intiated here at UW-La Crosse, I've been engaged, involved, and done a lot better emotionally, academically, socially, and yes, creatively.

It's about having a support system in place, which is the most important thing to have in my particular case.

The thing with MFA Creative Writing programs, that except for a very, very select few that offer insta-prestige and networking (Iowa or Columbia as an example) or ones that have a specific focus such as preparing for a career in the publishing industry (San Diego State) or in teaching creative writing (Indiana), they're by and large, as one prof I've talked to extensively put it "two to three years where you're being paid to write."

While the prestige and connections from top schools would certainly be nice, if it's not an environment where I feel I can flourish creatively for whatever reason, then I'm not going to go that route and while I'd like to teach collegiately, that's not the only thing I want to do and furthermore, I believe the programs that focus on preparing for professorship do so to the detriment of the actual creative development.

Publishing I have absolutely no interest in.

I do realize that there's a chance I may not make it into an MFA program, in which case I'd consider an MA program and then upon completing that degree, try again for an MFA.

So I suppose I should start looking at MA programs as a backup plan (which was recommended, actually) but then I get into the question of what area I'd wanted to specialize in.

And for that one, I have no clue.

[waitforit]

I'm actually starting graduate school today in counseling. It's exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Good luck with your experience, I've enjoyed reading it. I hope you get into a school you like.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by waitforit

I'm actually starting graduate school today in counseling. It's exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Good luck with your experience, I've enjoyed reading it. I hope you get into a school you like.

Good luck to you as well!

And thanks for the well-wishes. The thread's going to slow down significantly now that I'm starting my senior year (I graduate in fall), but will receive periodic updates as relevant information becomes available.

[st.cronin]

I'm surprised Iowa didn't make the cut. Didn't they used to be the gold standard for MFA programs?

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

I'm surprised Iowa didn't make the cut. Didn't they used to be the gold standard for MFA programs?

They still are, but Iowa as a state bores me.

[Izulde]

I've spent the last few days thinking about what I'd do if I didn't get into an MFA program and I've decided that if such happenes, I'll go into a graduate program in History.

I realize I said before I'd do the MA English if I didn't get into an MFA, but over the past year and a half, I've come to realize more and more just how much I hate literary research and theory. I was talking to a close friend of mine last night about it and I finally was able to articulate some things, such as my opinion that literary research and theory is mostly an exercise in mental masturbation that's utterly pointless, but historical research, on the other hand, I've always loved.

This became even more acutely obvious last semester, when I had research projects in an English class and a History class. I despised doing the research for the English class and in fact needed the help of the same close friend from last night to find the materials to finish the project. But I greatly enjoyed doing the research for the History project, even though I'm not that big a fan of the 19th century and despite the fact that I bitched repeatedly about having to write the paper for it, I really liked assembling the story and making it fit all together.

I ran into my prof from the aforementioned History class today and talked with him for a while. He asked me what plans were after graduation. I told him I graduate in fall, then plan on going abroad a semester and coming back and going for an MFA program in creative writing, or if I didn't get into that, then a program in history. He said he'd write me a recommendation in both cases.

That really lifted my spirits, especially since I've had a really crappy last month and because he's the single best history professor I've ever had, and I've had quite a few good ones over the years. He makes students work hard and is a notoriously tough grader, but he's a brilliant lecturer who -really- knows his stuff and is as well-versed in literature as some of the English professors I've had.

So I have a backup plan in mind and feel really good about that.

I'll be scheduling to take the GRE soon, too, either next month or in April.

[Izulde]

GRE scheduling will be done tonight and I'll likely take it in early April, giving me enough time to study, but before things get too crazy with end of semester work.

I'm going to make further inquiries with San Diego State about their MFA program to see if it's really just a publications sweatshop like its website seems, or if there really is an emphasis on creative writing, since the school works out in pretty much every other area I'm looking at.

If San Diego State does offer an actual creative writing emphasis, then it goes on the list along with the other three finalists of University of Florida, Purdue University, University of Arizona, and University of Oregon. I really, really want to go back to a Division I school. It's one of the things I miss most about Wyoming.

Thinking more about History and poking around with various searches, I realized that I wouldn't want to be confined to a specific historical period and even though I have the utmost contempt for literary criticism and its theories, I'd miss literature itself, so I've done a little more searching into that nebulous degree known as Area Studies, which, if I understand it correctly, focuses on the whole sweep of history, literature, culture, etc, but focused on a specific region in the world, which would be much more to my tastes.

My greatest interest in terms of geographical area is probably the Mediterranean Basin, particularly the intermingling and conflicts of a wide variety of cultures and peoples in the area that to my mind is really unlike any other area in the world. That the marketplace, given the current world climate, seems to be crying out especially for academics with Near Eastern knowledge (of which the Med. basin would include) is also a consideration.

A third factor is that while I have a fairly strong interest in learning more about othe regions of the world (the Far East in particular, where I have some knowledge of China and Japan), in terms of language acquistion, I have an extraordinarily difficult time grasping languages that use an alphabet other than that used in English (Roman, I want to say). Cyrillic was a headache and I'm not even going to get into character based languages. I had little trouble picking up German in my middle school and high school days and I suspect the same would be true with say, Spanish, Italian, Latin French, etc. (Greek might be a question mark, though I know the Greek alphabet thanks to my fraternity).

Of course, the questions then become the following:

1) Am I understanding the concept of Area Studies properly?
2) What universities offer a Mediterranean Studies masters degree?

From my searches, it appears that NYU and University of Louisville both offer the Med. Studies, but I'm not certain what other schools do.

[Izulde]

Had a fairly substantial chat with the prof from post #28 today.

His recommendation was that because I'm so late to the game foreign language wise that I should stick to British or American history/studies. He pointed out that the best scholars in non-English fields are the ones who are either A) native speakers or B) taken the language from middle school/first year of high school at latest on and that furthermore, I would need to understand the intracies of the language not only in its contemporary sense, but 300-400 years before and so on.

So I thought about what he said and I have to say with some reluctance that I agree with him.

Fortunately I do have significant interests in the ancient and medieval aspects of British history and am also interested in British colonialism and its effects both on the colonized people and the colonizers.

So with that in mind, I did my research into Delta Sigma Phi chapter schools (I decided that with the exception of University of Florida, which seems like an awesome place to be at and Gainesville a fantastic place to be in and Princeton, which is doctorate only and has so brutal a language requirement I'd never get in there anyway) and thus have now narrowed my schools list into two spheres:

History
San Diego State, Washington State, Kentucky
-Washington State seems particularly suited to my historical interests.
-Kentucky would require me to focus on the ancient/medieval areas as they don't seem to have much in the way of colonial/imperial specialists on staff.

Creative Writing
Florida, Purdue, Oregon, Arizona
-If Florida had a DSP chapter, it'd be my #1 choice without question.

So basically I'm looking at 6-7 schools, split between the two tracks. One or two may get dropped along the way or I may apply to all seven.

I requested info from WSU and Purdue because there were spots to do so on their websites. Didn't find that for the other universities.

Now it's time to start studying up for the GRE and continuing to work on the creative writing pieces I've started.

[Izulde]

GRE: Noon, April 25th

I've also decided I'm concentrating exclusively on the MFA. Time for me to stop screwing around with this backup plan stuff and reach for what I want, what I've always felt was within me, what was first articulated to me by my 7th grade social studies teacher:

"You should be a writer."

That in mind, the creative writing requirements by school (We're leaving poetry out of this. I'm not NoMyths, after all )

University of Florida: 2 chapters of a novel or 2 short stories

University of Arizona: 3 short stories or 30 pages

San Diego State: 30 pages

University of Oregon: 2 short stories, chapter of a novel, or "substantial portion of a sustained work" up to 25 pages

Purdue University: 2-3 short stories or a novel excerpt

Florida requires 2 letters of recommendation and no personal statement, the others require 3 letters of recommendation and a personal statement ranging from 200-500 words depending on the school.

Purdue also wants a critical writing sample, 10-12 pages, from an English course essay.

Arizona also requires a 1 page resume/CV.

Application due dates range from January 1st to February 14th. I'll have my applications in long before then because I plan on being abroad in the spring.

I also had a breakthrough last night regarding my personal statement, which was huge.

Now it's just a matter of putting it all together and polishing, polishing, polishing until it shines.

[nilodor]

Izulde, I was just curious what exactly is a GRE, I guess mainly what does it stand for and what is a good number to get on the test? From what I gather it is some proficiency test for students pursuing grad school in humanities. Is it similar to the LSATs for law?

Good luck with your applications.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by nilodor

Izulde, I was just curious what exactly is a GRE, I guess mainly what does it stand for and what is a good number to get on the test? From what I gather it is some proficiency test for students pursuing grad school in humanities. Is it similar to the LSATs for law?

Good luck with your applications.

It stands for Graduate Record Examination and involves, for the GRE General, measuring Verbal/Quanitative (multiple choice) and Analytical (writing). So in some respects like the SAT with the Verbal/Math. It's also computer-based these days.

The GRE Subject examinations, though I haven't looked too closely at them because they're not a requirement at the schools I'm hoping to attend, appear to be like the SAT II Subject tests.

As far as a good score goes, generally speaking schools will require a minimum score of 1000 to be eligible for admission.

Creative Writing programs that require the GRE tend to care only about the Verbal and Analytical portions and ignore the Quanitative.

I'm not sure if it's similiar to the LSAT or not. I know one of my fraternity brothers obsessed for months over studying for the LSAT though and wound up taking it twice.

Thanks for the luck! Considering that Creative Writing programs admit, at most, around 3% of their applicants and in the case of programs like Brown maybe 1/10th of 1%, if that, luck certainly helps!

[Izulde]

I now have a third letter of rec lined up and some very fantastic news that I won't go into here for fear of jinxing it.

I'll just say that if the news is right, my chances of getting in somewhere just shot up significantly.

Still working on the writing samples to send in. I may also be changing the schools I'm looking at.

[Izulde]

Not technically grad school related, but I wrote up a short piece (1 page) to submit to the university lit rag. The topic for this volume was Dreams and the Subconscious, so I figured it was worth a shot... and I really need to start getting some stuff published, so there you go.

I have no idea of my chances of getting it accepted, though my personality is such that I have a natural pessimism... but we'll see.

I just know I'll probably chain-smoking from nervousness from now until the volume comes out.

[Izulde]

Update #1: I finally decided to go with an idea I've had in my head for a few months now on a collection of connected short stories and am working on two short stories to submit for my writing sample.

Upate #2: I'm smoking way too much lately. My legs have been starting to hurt of nowhere today.

[Izulde]

I take the GRE in 11 days and I'm damned nervous about it.

I found out today that my short piece got accepted in the university lit rag, though I don't know when it'll be coming out.

Also, I completed the first rough draft of the epilogue to the short story collection. It'll naturally get expanded (it's only 2 and 1/2 pages right now) as I start writing more of the other stories, but I feel like I've accomplished something just getting the rough draft done.

In terms of schools, I've narrowed it down to San Diego State, Florida, and Arizona. I decided I want to go someplace warm that has a good-sized Greek life.

[Joe]

are you only applying to those 3 schools?

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Joe

are you only applying to those 3 schools?

Tenatively, yes, though I'll cycle through the other schools again and see what more I can add to get back up to five, as five seems to be a good number.

[Izulde]

GRE tomorrow.

High noon.

I'm nervous as shit.

[Tyrith]

Be confident. If it isn't deserved, well, fake it till you make it. Good luck

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Tyrith

Be confident. If it isn't deserved, well, fake it till you make it. Good luck

Thanks

[Izulde]

I did pretty well on the Verbal portion, enough to place me in the ballpark of the top third of English majors and in the 90th percentile of all test-takers in an average year.

My Quantitative section was below average, but I knew that was going to happen.

I'm pretty sure I sucked on the Analysis portion, but I don't have the scores for that one yet obviously.

So a mixed bag.

If anyone wants to know the specific Verbal and Math scores and to give their own assessment of how I did, they can PM me.

I sent my scores to Florida, San Diego State, Purdue, and Virginia. I'll be sending them to Arizona as well, since they like to see the scores if an applicant takes the GRE even though it's not required, but there was only room for four schools to send scores to.

[st.cronin]

My guess is that for MFAs the GRE really isn't that important. But I admit I don't actually know.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

My guess is that for MFAs the GRE really isn't that important. But I admit I don't actually know.

You're right, actually. The primary consideration is the writing sample, which I'm still working on.

[Izulde]

Presentation of my capstone course paper tomorrow.

It's nothing genius, I admit, and it's only a 2 credit course, so it won't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

But it's kickstarted one hell of a manic cycle anyway, along with the accompanying insomnia. (In 6 hours, I'll have been up 24 hours and I'm probably going to hit that fairly easily.)

I was panicking about half an hour ago, freaking out that I'm so close to my undergrad degree and that I'll end up failing just short of it... ruining everything I've spent the last five years building back up.

Especially since I still have the final stuff to do this semester and all of fall semester to go yet.

So I talked myself down from that paranoia by pointing out a bunch of things. But I realized that I really need to get into graduate school and get this MFA. I love writing and I want to teach collegiately. I wouldn't be happy with a 9 to 5, two weeks off a year typical job. My personality just isn't suited to that and I've been in school too long by this point to like that schedule anyway.

But by the same token, I don't want to go through master's and doctoral programs to teach literature or history courses. It's something I just have no interest in. Teaching high school English courses wouldn't be a bad gig at all either, so if I don't get into an MFA program, that's probably the route I'll go... getting my teaching certification at a school in California (since I plan on living in San Diego when I'm done).

Or maybe this is all just the insomnia and mania talking. I'll know more when I wake up after going to sleep whenever that happens.

The one short story I'm most concentrating on right now is coming along very nicely. It's something that, unlike this capstone paper, I'm actually pretty proud of.

[Tyrith]

You'll feel better about it all after you get some sleep. Deprivation tends to make the brain stop thinking rationally.

[Izulde]

Thanks and good point.

I fell asleep around 7 am (21 hours or thereabouts of being up), slept two hours and then got up at 9 am for classes. I've been awake since then because I had stuff to do between classes.

Giving my capstone course presentation on two hours sleep was an interesting experience, but I still did well on it even though my eyes are bloodshot enough that I look high.

I might nap for a couple hours before Heroes or do what would be smarter and just stay up until Heroes is over and then crash.

[Izulde]

Did some more work on one of the stories last night. Not totally happy with what I've got, but I can always go back and revise later.

Sidenote: It looks like I'll be graduating in May, pending the red tape of this fall semester in Granada working out. I had to switch from spring abroad to fall because I wouldn't have been able to officially graduate until August otherwise, due to grades taking a while to get from there to here and that would screw up grad school.

Not sure how much writing I'll get done this next week, what with finals and two fairly long papers to turn in, but hopefully I'll get a lot done this summer, even if I'm working full-time.

[Izulde]

I feel like I'm turning into Nicholas Sparks.

This depresses the hell out of me.