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Two Questions: Which paper to send, and length question


JPWickwire

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Hello everyone! I'm pretty new here and this is my first time posting anything, but I thought I'd jump right in and ask a question.

 

All of my programs ask for a 15-20 page writing sample. I'm an English and Creative Writing double major applying for PhD and MA programs with with a sci-fi/fantasy and/or filmic focus. I especially want to explore transhumanism, posthumanism, film, and dystopia in my graduate work. With that in mind, I've whittled down my possible papers for submission to two. Each are 22 pages long, each with 2 pages of works cited. Both recieved 100s; one was graded by a single professor, the other was graded by the department. One is in the sci-fi field, but was written during my junior year, and is more opinion-based than research-based. The other was my senior thesis and is in a completely different subject area--the puritan narrative tradition and intertextual relationships--but it's better researched and better written. Thus, I have two questions:

 

1) Knowing my area of interest that I'm applying for, should I go ahead and submit the weaker paper because it's in my subject area? Or should I submit the stronger one, regardless of the subject matter?

 

2) Will my programs be okay with the fact that the works are 22 pages, if the extraneous pages are works cited lists? Or should I play it safe and try to summarize bits and pieces of the paper?

 

I don't have time to write a new paper. I'm working on another dystopia paper now, but it's 30+ pages long, and I don't think I can submit that. All of my other work is only 9-12 pages.

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1) I'd submit the stronger one. This is still work within your field which the adcom can read and adequately evaluate. I.e., it's not something that's inaccessible to your potential readers, even if it's not in your immediate future subfield. As such, the stronger paper will be more appreciated than the weaker one, and I think it's the obvious better choice. The goal of the writing sample is to demonstrate writing and research potential, not (necessarily) to show that you've already done work on the particular question you are interested in studying in grad school. 

 

2) It should be fine in 99% of the cases. Contact the departments and ask if you're unsure. Though if there is something you could easily cut to get below the page limit, that would be an easy solution. But otherwise, I'd ask about the page limit before spending any time on summarizing/cutting/editing the paper. 

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What's a filmic focus..? I guess that relates to film? What an odd word.. That aside..

 

Ideal world, you'd fix the first and cut it down to fit the limit.

 

My gut was to say you should be submitting something creative, not research based.. but you're going for a lit degree and not a creative degree, no? I'm not 100% on that, so my advice is equally fuzzy.

 

What's the context of how they'll view it? What specifics did they ask for? Did they ask for a 15-20 page writing sample or a 15-20 page research paper? 15-20 pages of any sort that can be more than one thing or portions of things?

 

Are they asking for dates and classes to know when/why/how it was written?

 

All else fails, email and get clarification. They may just repeat the prompt to you and you'll have to really parse out what it means on your own, but it'll help alleviate some stress.

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