Drafted by Ashley Maher, Drury '08

Costs

• General GRE – $140
• GRE subject test (not all schools require) – $130
• Transcripts - $4 or $6 each, depending on quantity ordered
• GRE additional score reports - $15 each
• Postage to send in supplemental materials
• Application fees – generally $50 to $70 for each school, sometimes less

General Advice

• Set a timeline for when you plan to complete each step of the application process (writing your statement of purpose, starting online applications, etc.).   Then, move everything up by two months.
• Your junior year, try to start figuring out what field you would like to study and start looking into specific programs to which you'd like to apply.   Professors can be good sources of information for this.
• Because getting into grad school is so competitive, it's good to apply to quite a few places, including some mid-range, safety schools (although nowhere you wouldn't be comfortable going).
• Sometimes it may be helpful to apply for a Master's program instead of going straight to a PhD program.   Then, the Master's may help you springboard to a slightly more prestigious school if you decide to go on for your doctorate.
• Applications take a lot more time than you would think, and they're mentally and emotionally draining.   Try to take a light load during the semester you are working on your applications.
• Theory and Practice is a good class to take, both to prep you for theory questions on the GRE literature subject test and to help you develop a potential writing sample to send with your application materials.   Since many undergraduates do not go too heavily into theory, it can help distinguish you.
• Virtually all programs require a critical writing sample of about 15-20 pages, preferably dealing with some subject related to the specific area of study you're intending to pursue.   Start selecting a paper you've written that you'd like to polish.
• Keep a running list of activities in which you participate and honors you receive.   Doing so will help you remember everything, and you can later organize the information into a CV or mention it in the appropriate places on your applications.
• Some programs require you to have a certain number of foreign language courses, so you might start looking at the requirements for the schools in which you are interested.   Plus, most programs require either fluency in one language or proficiency in two within your first couple of years; taking courses now could eliminate some work for you down the line.

Statement of Purpose

• It's often helpful to have professors and recommenders review early drafts of this with you to catch any grammar issues as well as to provide feedback about the content.
• You want to include past, present, and future research and experience, clearly articulating how your past experiences lead up to your future plans.
• Be specific!   Short anecdotes can sometimes help.
• In the statement submitted to each school, include why you want to go to that specific school and maybe include a faculty member or two with whom you'd like to work.   It shows you've done research on the school and that there are faculty matching your interests.
• Start writing this in advance, preferably over the summer before applications are due, to allow plenty of time to reflect and revise.
• In the first paragraph, give a good summary of where you're going with the statement, and have attention-grabbing topic sentences that will help to lead the reader.
• Different schools will set different maximum lengths on the statements of purpose.   I've found that the three sizes tend to be 300-500 words, less than 1000 words, and about 2-3 pages.   It may be helpful for you when you're writing your statement to write one shorter draft and one longer draft.
• Duke's website offers a good explanation of what is expected in a statement of purpose: http://english.duke.edu/grads/faqs.php

Recommendations

• Schools normally require three letters of recommendation.   I would say that at least two, if not all, need to be from the English department, but make sure you ask professors who know you well.  
• Notify the people you want to write your recommendations early so that they have plenty of time to compose a good letter.
• Be ready to provide professors with copies of essays that you've done for their classes in case they want to mention some specifics in your recommendation.   Also, if you show them your statement of purpose, they can also tailor their letter toward your specific area of emphasis.

Transcripts

• Drury gives a discount if you request five or more transcripts at once.   The regular fee is $6, and the discounted fee is $4.
• Make sure you don't have a balance on your account when you order your transcripts, or they will not ship out.   It is up to you to check, since Drury will probably not notify you.
• Make sure to check whether the school prefers that Drury send the transcripts or whether you send them with your other materials.   Some will not accept the transcripts if they pass through your hands.

GRE

• Some schools require you to take the October subject test, since the scores take about six weeks to be released.   The registration deadline is a little over a month in advance of the test date.   After the regular registration deadline, there's a week of late registration with a $25 fee.   Hence, before school even begins you should start thinking about registering to take the subject test.
• However, not all programs require the subject test, so it is wise to start searching for programs early so that you don't spend the time and money on the test if you don't need to.  
• The general test does not require registration very far in advance, although you are restricted to taking it only once per calendar month.   It is very expensive, and sometimes all the slots can fill up.   In addition, the programs to which you submit your scores will be able to see all of your test scores, so it may work against you to take a first test blind just for practice.
• Even if you take the subject test before the general test, the general test scores are reported much more quickly (generally 14 days after the test), so even if you request the subject test scores to be sent to your recipients with the general test results, the GRE may end up sending only the general scores.
• For the general GRE, you can practice the different types of questions with software called Powerprep that you can download from the GRE website.   Beyond that, what I found most helpful for bringing up my score was studying the words that most frequently appear on the GRE (available in books, flashcards, or even online).   Alternatively, go to freerice.com to practice vocabulary in an adaptive format (similar to the GRE) – and for each right answer, the website donates rice to the United Nations World Food Program!
• Some good websites (courtesy of Dr. Meidlinger) for studying for the literature GRE include http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/bailey/britlit.htm and http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/timefram.html
• The blurbs about authors in the Norton Anthologies are helpful for studying for the lit GRE.   Most of the test is just having a superficial knowledge about an extremely wide range of authors, so you don't need to read texts in depth; just have an idea of the key characters, themes, and styles, and perhaps read a few of the most famous passages.
• I used a book called Cracking the GRE Literature Test to get an idea about what the most important periods, texts, and authors to study.   It was really good about giving a few tiers of texts I would be expected to know and points for how to spot those texts.   You can also find lists of those things online or in many other books, although sometimes the lists are so extensive that they're not practical.   Dr. Egan has a book or two about studying for the subject test that he could lend you.
• Definitely glance through the sample GRE literature test to get to know the basic kinds of questions.   It's also good to learn to pace yourself and focus your energies, since the subject test is an enormous number of questions with a lot of reading for a relatively short amount of time.  

Organizing Applications

• Because all have different requirements (whether transcripts should be sent to the department or the graduate school, etc.), it's important to keep notes about the specific requirements for each and to keep track of what you have submitted to each.   It would be beneficial to have a separate folder or computer folder for each so that you can make notes as you go along.   Whenever you find information you'll need later on, take note so that you don't have to hunt it down later.

Decision Timeline

• You may hear from schools as early as mid-February or as late as the last of March or even early April.   The majority of the decisions, though, come out around the first week of March.
• Most schools won't require interviews unless you applied for a special fellowship.
• The deadline for your final decision on whether to accept or decline an offer of admission is April 15 th .
• Many of the higher-ranked schools have earlier deadlines and will notify you of their decision early, so don't get upset if your first few notifications are rejections.  

Visiting

• After receiving news of acceptance, be sure to visit at least your top two programs. A program's atmosphere is an important part of the equation, and based upon my visits, I ended up choosing a different program from the one I originally planned on attending.
• Many programs host visiting weekends. These are a great way to meet a lot of professors, students, and potential cohorts at once. Plus, they usually involve a lot of free food!