bassoonbassoon

I'm applying to Philosophy MA programs for the Fall 2017, and most programs write that they "prefer" writing samples at x length, but a handful write that they require samples "no more than 5,000 words." I have a sample that is nearly 7k words that I'd prefer to use for all of my applications - so how seriously should I treat these length requirements? I can't imagine cutting it down 3-4 pages while saying all that is necessary for the thesis, and if I changed the thesis slightly I could make it 3k words, but not 5k. At most, what's the worst that could happen? Admissions folk won't reject me outright for including a sample going over length requirements, would they?

Hi, first post! I'm applying to MA programs in Philosophy for Fall 2017. Undergrad was a double major in Psychology and Cognitive Science. Most of my classes were psych, so it'd make sense that at least one of my LORs would be coming from a psych professor. Yet, it could be of benefit if all of my LORs were coming from philosophy professors, I'd think. Two of my LORs are definitely coming from philosophy professors who know me well, yet for the third I could either have a psych professor who I know quite well, OR a philosophy professor who I only had for a single course, but who I still got to know outside of class (fyi, we only have three philosophy professors..). The psych prof could attest to my success in psychology scholarship and such, though I'm unsure if that would be better than a recommendation from an actual philosopher who could still make a case for my success in philosophy- would one have more weight than the other? Any thoughts?