I just finished my undergrad, and I am taking two years off to teach English abroad, but of course I am already preparing my future application materials for grad school in English literature. The problem is that none of my course work as an undergrad is beyond 8 pages, and it seems that, since applying to a masters program means applying to the first year of a PhD program, the sample requirements for all my prospective schools hover around 20 pages.
I have no qualms about expanding on a paper I have already written, but I feel a little insecure about such a process unless I had a professor to consult throughout it. It is an important piece of the applciation and I would prefer not to do it blindly.
Has anyone else run into this problem, or do most of you already have the sample size written in undergrad? What sort of options do I have? I was enrolled in my departmental honors program, which grooms us for all this stuff, but I dropped out to do a study abroad.
I am thinking about checking in with some of my previous profs and TAs with whom I have established good rapport and just asking them to help me out, but they are already overworked enough and I do not want to impose. I was thinking about consulting my alma mater's (University of Washington) continuing education or online course list and seeing if I can find some guidance that way.
Anyways, just fishing for ideas/suggestions. Also, this is my first post and I am glad to have found this board. I think I will be here often throughout the applciation process.
Cheers,
Eric