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.