pkkim

Grassinging, I only took the GRE Lit test once--on April 1. Fortunately, it looks like I won't have to take it again (whew!) I'm getting a second bachelor's, and my school awards undergrad lit credits for an over-80 percent performance on the GRE Lit exam.

Well, any future visitors to this board can feel OK about using my study plan, because the scores arrived in the mail today, and I got a better score than I dared ever hope. You could get in most anywhere with it, I think; anyway, the plan definitely works. Sad to leave you guys, but best of luck to everyone with their future plans once this test is in the past. I really enjoyed hanging out here--it kept me going during the long, long months of studying.

Wow, Brown! I'm very impressed! That's great!:tup: I'm still waiting for the April scores. I know you can call and find out earlier, but I only really started getting impatient in the last week or so, and I figure I can wait another week for the scores to come in the mail. Even though I don't know yet how this test came out, I already miss studying for it, sick as that sounds. It was fun, and there's always *so* much to cover that you literally never run out of interesting things to chase down. I guess pretty soon we'll have a new crop on this board studying for the November/December exams. By then I'll know exactly how I did, and can vouch for my study plan...or not.

:) Thanks, everyone! I feel much better just reading about your experiences. Over the few days following, I began to recall my performance, which felt OK when I walked out of the test room, as steadily worse and worse. Regrets mounted: I should have studied critical theory more or grammatical analysis or....STOP the insanity! 1) Thanks to you all, I now see this "post test remorse" as normal. 2) I also realize I can actually read something just because I want to for the first time in months. 3) Plus, this test does indeed feel like a car wreck. For future aspiring testers: Do not schedule anything else of importance where you might need your fully functioning brain for the week before or the week after.

Did anyone else take The Test today? I finished early and felt OK about it at the time but (of course) hours later (when it won't do any good, of course) I can't get the "problem" questions out of my head.

I'm definitely in for the April test...which is less than one week away. Does anyone have any "last words" of wisdom?

This is an old (but not very) ETS GRE Lit test, and best of all, it's different from the current one on the official site. All you need is Acrobat Reader. Go to: http://www.microedu.com/download/gre/LITinENG.pdf and practice, practice, practice. Has anyone else registered for April yet?

This is an old (but not very) ETS GRE Lit test, and best of all, it's different from the current one on the official site. All you need is Acrobat Reader. Go to: http://www.microedu.com/download/gre/LITinENG.pdf and practice, practice, practice. Has anyone else registered for April yet?

Enquiring minds want to know! I originally set a goal for December, but with one thing and another, I am now aiming for April. I wanted to feel as well prepared as possible, with the fewest possible distractions, and I have definitely stuck to the study plan. November and December feedback would be SO helpful, folks.

Just got the new one (released 9/21/05) and do far, I can see few (if any) differences from the previous editions of "Cracking the GRE Literature in English Test." The trial test (which in some ways is what so many test takers want MOST!) is exactly THE SAME AS BEFORE. Ouch! So don't buy the newest one hoping for a new test...didn't happen.

You won't be sorry about the Masterplots...I'm so glad another testtaker tipped me off to them. I spend an afternoon a week with them in the nearby college library. As for registering for December....wow! That's brave, this far out. Go, go, go!

I am thrilled to see that I am not the only one whose motivation flags here and there--preparing for this test in isolation is indeed a challenge. It's a big relief to know I'm not the only one who (sometimes) inwardly groans at the sight of today's Norton "reading assignment" (the Victorians are not my favorites). I do it, and I'm glad when I'm done, but anyone who says this is easy is not living in reality. To give a more balanced picture, I have made some progress that may be interesting with the following: I ordered the updated Cracking the GRE and Amazon has an anticipated ship date in late September. I have turned up a great site where a candidate got a bunch of old tests and calibrated how frequently various works appear on the tests by number of questions. The URL is: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/5187/gre.html You can probably my first degree was in business, because I merged this list into a spreadsheet also containing all the most recommended authors from Cracking the GRE, assigned all works the right historical period, and sorted them by title so I can use Masterplots at the library to skim. Many GRE Lit veterans sing the praises of Masterplots (in the reference section at a college library), and after a few study sessions, I can certainly see why. A helpful reading list that also has the ring of authenticity: http://lever.cs.ucla.edu/alison/hapaxlegomena/ MIT put their literature classeware online free at: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Literature/index.htm And of course you can peek at the Norton's free at: http://wwnorton.com/nael/ I was thinking of starting a new thread called "This Test is Driving Me Insane and There's Still Five Months to Go."

Did you graduate from Regents/USNY before it was named "Excelsior," by any chance?

I klnow my alma mater, Excelsior in New York, grants undergrad credit for the GRE Subject Tests, so Charter Oak and Thomas Edison probably do, too. So...who else? Enquiring minds want to know!

I think I'm unique--I'm hoping to get a second bachelor's in English (my first one was in Business, years ago). While that's a very handy major (useful, practical, yada, yada, yada) plus I did well in the courses and have used what I learned a lot...it doesn't see you through life like literature. When the tough stuff comes along (hopefully MUCH later in life, for most of you guys) you're going to find your old Norton a lot more useful than the latest copy of Fortune magazine with some grinning CEO idiot on the cover. Trust me on this one, but (if you'll pardon the expression from an old business major) you can take that to the bank. Anyway, that's the "why" - here's the "how": My alma mater will grant 30 undergrad English credits IF you get in the 80% or above on the GRE Lit Subject Test. I started with Cracking the GRE Lit in English test by Doug McMillan, and the book basically talked me into attempting the test at all. I'm planning to get the new "Cracking" in September when it's published. I also bought second-hand copies of the 6-volume Norton English Lit series specifically because I have to travel, and anyone would balk at lugging six pounds of Norton to zone out in the Airport Holiday Inn. Even when you're home, the physical size of these guys (also the type's a little easier on the eyes) encourages you to keep going because they don't look SO BIG. From the library, I am using Masterplots to avoid feeling overwhelmed (biggest hazard, I think). I borrowed a big American Norton from there and am working on it, but of course I have to keep renewing it. Annoying but not fatal. I am planning for the test that presumably will occur next December, or if I fall behind for some reason, April. But so far (month and a half) I'm surprised at how much progress I've made.

I was at the university testing center today taking the "big" GRE, and while on the 10-minute break, happened to see a poster about the subject exams. While we lit people may feel like a small, beleagured group, I learned the following (to my astonishment) about the Literature in English exam. To wit, --The average score is 536 --10,300 people take it per year So we're not as lonely as we thought! Psychology seems to be the GRE "greatest hit" in subject exams--26,000+ people take it.

Too true! The regular GRE being given on a computer teaches you BAD habits for a pencil and paper test. I can speak with experience on this because I CLEPped half my undergraduate degree--all pencil and paper tests. I had to learn (hard! hard! hard!) how to slow down, focus, and answer something no matter how obscure the question seemed just to advance the computer for the regular GRE, which I take tomorrow. I am looking forward to going back to a pencil and paper format for precisely the reason of timing that you cite. Zig-zagging between the "known" (get em all) and the "unknown" (requiring time to contemplate) was one of my greatest strengths as a tester. Because of the "black in the squares" format, this method does require good clerical skills--making sure you're blacking in the right little dot for the question five ahead that you are lightning sure of without losing your bearings. But it does seem to me that the Lit test will reward this zig-zag skill very heavily. Everyone says the Lit test "feels" hard, and no wonder. It may be that having just taken it, you are still decompressing. If the score does come out disappointingly, would you retake it--knowing what you know now?

Try this trick! Go to Amazon.com, enter a search for "GRE Literature in English" and several prep books will pop up. When I did this, I systematically read ALL the reviews. Most people liked "Cracking" but complained that late 20th century got short shrift in ALL the prep material and thus caused MUCH anguish when the real test arrived. Some of the posters sound pretty bitter, actually. (This gap is what I hope the revised "Cracking" this fall will remedy.) Everyone on Amazon dumps all over (you'll see) REA's prep book but I stumbled across a copy in a bookstore just yesterday, and frankly, I'll buy it next time I'm in the store. It's not anything like as good as "Cracking" on the test context, it's true, but seems to contain lots of that good old practice, practice, practice. I'm taking the GRE general test in two days, and then I'm going full-out on Literature in English. I've started (again, using amazon.com) ordering the relatively new Norton broken up into six little volumes. I figure it will remove some inner resistance (ie: excuses) to study when I can't complain that the book weighs five pounds, like the "big" Nortons! Rather whimsically, I started at the 20th century and am moving "backwards to Beowulf" one volume at a time, buying them used at amazon.com.

You will NOT be sorry you ordered Cracking the GRE Literature in English test by Doug McMillan--it is rated by a wide margin the very best preparation for this test on Amazon.com. Better, I have it, have read it, and would credit it for giving me the nerve to even attempt the test AT ALL. Surprise! When I took the preliminary test, I did much better than I expected. Naturally, this made "Cracking's" credibility soar with me. One caveat: A new edition is coming out in September, probably to accommodate widespread criticism that none of the test prep materials properly address modern theories of criticism, postmodern ideas, etc. In the US the test will not be administered again until November and December of 2005 and April of 2006 (probably; they don't actually announce the dates until August). I figure this gives me time to cram down the Norton, since I figure they can't very well dump Shakespeare, Dickens, and Milton altogether when writing the test. Then I will immediately buy the new "Cracking" and get...well...cracking.