notes of a blue ink body ([info]mysneaker) wrote,
@ 2008-11-12 19:33:00
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Current location:manuscript-land

Hey creative writers, can you help to quell my anxiety?
Have you taken the GREs?

How long did you take to study?

How difficult did you find the actual test?


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[info]homonculous
2008-11-13 01:29 am UTC (link)
I studied for a week between graduating from college and the test. I used one study book and online tests. I was pretty wrung out about it (especially the math) but I pulled through.

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[info]mommalovesme
2008-11-13 02:17 am UTC (link)
i took it. i sucked. i studied, but not super hard. i had a sinus infection. i did just good enough to slide through grad school doors.

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[info]commonrue
2008-11-13 03:42 am UTC (link)
i haven't taken them, although i plan to. if it makes you feel any better, the head of the creative writing department at UVA told me she filled in patterns in the math section. she also said they don't look at the GRE scores other than to see that you took them.

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[info]peacock_hunting
2008-11-13 04:55 am UTC (link)
i took it without studying. it was terrible. i did worse on the english section than the math section after getting an undergraduate degree in literary theory. i had solid reasons for picking my answers, but it felt like the test was less about true analytical skill and more about... knowing how to take the test.

the GOOD news is that even the MFA programs that require GRE scores really don't give a shit. normally those are the ones that haven't broken out into a separate department from the English department.

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[info]misera
2008-11-14 01:43 am UTC (link)

I took them near the end of October.
I studied for about a month before the test. I read the Princeton Review Cracking the GRE book, and made a bunch of vocabulary flashcards. I read through and did the practice questions on number2.com while at work. I didn't study much for the math at all, just went over basic principles: area of triangle, circle; algebraic equations - not really getting or remembering anything from school.
I did a LOT better than I thought I was going to. my goal had been "at least 600 on the verbal and a total over 1000" as one school I'm applying to had the former as a requirement, and another had the latter. I surpassed both.

the test itself was...meh. I wasted too much time on trying to figure out the answers to the math section, so toward the end, the last 8 questions or so, I was purely guessing with no thought at all. the verbal I didn't run out of time on (I did considerably better on the verbal). the analytical writing part - I okay (still better than I thought I would)(I never score well on stupid essays like that anyway - I'm a CREATIVE WRITER, darnit!)

you'll do fine. you'll do better than you expect. good luck!

(are you applying this year? if so, to which programs?)

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[info]seanbishop
2008-11-14 11:12 am UTC (link)
I studied for a couple months. Excessively. And did very well. The math was hard to relearn, and the rest was just vocab memorization. There are lists out there for the 1000, 2000, 3000 ...etc. most likely words to show up.

But when it gets right down to it: creative writing programs don't give a shit about your GRE scores. They're a formality. Many of my peers at UH took the GREs cold, did poorly, and still got in.

However, the scores CAN affect whether you get fellowships, etc., which are often awarded by the departments of English or schools of Humanities, and they certainly DO care about the scores.

which programs are you applying to?

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[info]mysneaker
2008-11-17 04:29 am UTC (link)
right now, I'm just applying to Iowa. The biggest factor in that decision being that they don't require a GRE score. But I'm most applying there just to shake some of the rust off of the brainparts responsible for academic study & the presentation of poetry in that context. Assuming that I'm not going to get into Iowa, I'm planning to take the GRE's early in 2009, after which I'll apply to Houston, Austin, Cornell, Indiana & maybe a few more.

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[info]whathehelladele
2008-11-16 12:19 pm UTC (link)
After I took the GRE's, I cried!

I was planning on taking them again, but then I decided to f that and look at programs that don't require them. Creative writing shouldn't and if they do, they won't care. Your writing sample will speak for itself. Seriously, they expect people who work full time to study 10th grade algebra like they give a shit?

I'm applying to schools in NYC - are you?

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[info]mysneaker
2008-11-17 04:25 am UTC (link)
re: NYC: not this go around. Probably will apply to the New School though, eventually

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