Writing Sample - Cut or Condense?

[norellehannah]

Hi all! I’m currently applying to PhD programs in early modern history/history of science, and have received conflicting advice about the writing sample. My undergrad thesis advisor (whom I trust immensely and who got her PhD from my top choice school) suggested I condense my 90-something-page thesis basically into an article-sized piece for the sample. On a phone call with a potential PhD advisor (at a different school), however, she recommended I use a chapter of my thesis and simply write a "foreword" explaining the chapter's place in the rest of the project.

I mentioned my undergrad advisor's advice and she seemed confused by it, saying that that seemed like both a lot of work and like a lot of my more intricate source work would be lost. This definitely resonates with me (bringing something from 90 to 10-25 pages without losing anything important felt damn near impossible) and I will of course go with the latter route for that school, but is my undergrad advisor's advice a total wash? I'm thinking of just asking potential advisors what the department would prefer when I speak to them, but that also feels like it might be perceived as fishing for insider secrets - the first prof offered this particular nugget of her own volition.

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[Sigaba]

50 minutes ago, norellehannah said:

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts!

This question may gain better traction in the history forum. Also, there are multiple threads over the years in that forum dealing with similar questions. 

IMO, your thesis advisor is positioning you to achieve three objectives: increase your writing skills, produce a more attractive writing sample for graduate admissions committees, and to produce an article that you might publish sooner rather than later. By contrast, the POI is suggesting that you select the lower hanging fruit that will (in her view) require less work.

What is not being said is that not every member of an admissions committee is going to read every word of every applicants' writing sample.