Which Universities have M.A. or Ph.D programs in Literature that do not require the GRE for admission?

Question

I will have my B.A. with highest honors presenly. So, this is not question of testing well; it is an objection against standarized testing. So please, do not simply suggest that I suck it up and take the GRE. I assure you I've already heard such and from many sources. Any other information would be most appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

I appreciate your reasoning. There has been a good deal of research suggesting that GRE scores, like other standardized tests, are biased toward the economically privileged, and are not a reliably consistent predictor of graduate school success.

There are many MA and MFA programs that do not require the GRE. I searched many potential web sources for a comprehensive listing, and was unable to find one.

You may do best by checking out the Peterson's guide to graduate programs.
http://www.amazon.com/Grad-Guides-Book-Humanities-Petersons/dp/0768921589/sr=8-1/qid=1171598821/ref=sr_1_1/102-0919031-4424117?ie=UTF8&s=books

However, I feel obligated to mention that PhD programs usually do require the GRE, even when applicants already hold a Masters degree. Right or wrong, here's why.

PhD students finance their education through awards, such as fellowships and assistantships. Many times, especially in the case of fellowships, competition for these awards is university-wide, with candidates from all disciplines competing against one another. The fellowship award committee must rank all nominees from all disciplines, and they often lean heavily on GRE scores in order to make these cross-disciplinary comparisons.

If you are able to finance your own education, you might have a better chance of arguing for PhD admissions without the GRE.

Whether you can finance such study or not, I would suggest that you contact the Director of Graduate Studies of each program to which you plan to apply. They will be able to tell you if departmentally-awarded assistantships could be offered to candidates who refuse, on ethical grounds, to take the GREs.

If you have written an academic paper on the subject of standardized testing, submitting this paper in addition to the rest of your application materials (to departments that agree to consider your application) might be a fine idea.

I wish you every success.