Page limits - generally speaking, are bibliography/appendix included?

[fencergirl]

My writing sample (as published in an anthology) is 26 pages, but the first two pages are a cover/intro and the last 5 pages are an appendix with images and a reference list. Can I use this for schools that ask for a 20 page writing sample or will I be dinged automatically for not following the rules? I'd like to use it as is if at all possible as the word versions I have are missing a fair bit of edits I made and the version for the paper is a PDF so can't be easily edited. Is there a general rule for this, or is it case by case?

[DBear]

On 2015. 12. 14. at 9:41 PM, fencergirl said:

I have are missing a fair bit of edits I made and the version for the paper is a PDF so can't be easily edited.

I'm still searching for the answer to the question on whether to include works cited in the page count - most of the people I talked to said they included these in the page count - but the people I talked to are all in the English department (successful in their applications though). I think I'm going to include works cited to be safe.

Also, I have adobe pro, so if you want to turn your pdf back into a word file, I can do that for you - if you feel comfortable with that, pm me.

[fuzzylogician]

This thread is a year old so one would hope that the OP has solved her problem. As for page limits, include everything unless you are told otherwise. Ask the schools if you are uncertain. There is not going to be one correct answer that fits all, and you don't want to break the rules just because someone on the internet said it was ok. 

[fencergirl]

10 hours ago, DBear said:

I'm still searching for the answer to the question on whether to include works cited in the page count - most of the people I talked to said they included these in the page count - but the people I talked to are all in the English department (successful in their applications though). I think I'm going to include works cited to be safe.

Also, I have adobe pro, so if you want to turn your pdf back into a word file, I can do that for you - if you feel comfortable with that, pm me.

Hey DBear, thanks. I did successfully complete the application process luckily haha. I think in the end I edited for length for some schools and went over on length for the schools that were more flexible in their requirements.