writing sample

[abc123]

does anyone know about the process that happens pertaining to one's writing sample?

do all of the grad admissions committee members read it? are citations checked? etc? or do they just read it to get a gist of the applicant's writing style and level?

[miratrix]

I don't know how it works, but I'm relatively sure they wouldn't check citations unless they saw a glaring error, and probably only read it if they're pretty interested in your application.

[lotf629]

I think it depends a lot on the field and the school. If you're applying to competitive English programs, for example, your sample will get scrutinized very carefully. I also think it depends a lot on how far you get in the process. Probably in the final rounds, where they're cutting from 30 to 15 or whatever, your sample will get a lot more attention. As far as citations, I really doubt that anybody ever bothers to look anything up, but you always run the risk that someone will *know* the correction citation without having to look it up...this consideration wouldn't extend to page numbers, but it might to titles and authors of works. I've had professors catch such errors in my drafts, so I'd imagine it could happen as part of the admissions process as well.

[studentfromLA]

I'm a little concerned about why you would be asking this question. Any paper you submit for anyone to read should have correct citations. Whether the schools reviewing your applications are apt to check them is beside the point. Why would you EVER want to put yourself in the position of having somebody check the references in a paper and find them to be incorrect or inexact? Just do it the right way when you draft the paper and never look back. It's so not worth the risk to short-cut on citations.

[Minnesotan]

I'm a little concerned about why you would be asking this question. Any paper you submit for anyone to read should have correct citations. Whether the schools reviewing your applications are apt to check them is beside the point. Why would you EVER want to put yourself in the position of having somebody check the references in a paper and find them to be incorrect or inexact? Just do it the right way when you draft the paper and never look back. It's so not worth the risk to short-cut on citations.

Heh... I, too, was wondering why citations would be an issue, unless you were fabricating evidence.

Hopefully I'm wrong.