Never did a substantial paper - Revise old paper or write a new one?

[experiencevsinformation]

I'm applying to political science and international relations PhD programs this fall and the writing sample has me pretty nervous.

My undergrad experience has been mixed (started off in engineering, graduated with a language degree) and I've never written a quality, original research paper relevant to political science. Most relevant papers I've written are typical 5-10 page (double-spaced).

I do have one original research paper (around 8 pages single-spaced) that I *might* be able develop into a more solid 15 page paper with some substantial work. It involved analyzing around 100 articles of foreign-language articles about a international affair with implications for US relations. I wanted to develop that into a more substantial paper, but I had to leave early to start an intensive language program abroad (which I'm still on) and I never had time to write it out well.

However, I'm worried that I won't have enough time to fully develop this, not to mention the fact that I'll basically have feedback and advising.

I'm actually starting to think that I might be better off applying to an MA program with no or weak writing sample requirements, write a substantial seminar paper or thesis, and then use that to apply for a PhD program, but that is a lot to go through just get a good PhD application going.

Could anyone offer their opinion or advice on this issue?

Several people have said, "Why not apply for both PhD and MA programs and see what happens?" but the amount of time I spend on each application and the writing sample, plus GRE preparation may change significantly based on what my application goals and strategies are.

ETA: Also, I would like to ask what the range/length for a typical Political Science writing sample is. Is it normally double spaced? I've seen writing samples that are 25-page single-spaced research papers, along with a 40-page double-spaced chapter of a senior thesis. Most schools say something like 20-25 pages; is this typically single or double-spaced?

Edited August 27, 2012 by experiencevsinformation

[anoveldave]

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for experiencevsinformation,

but rather I have a similar conundrum.

For comparative literature PhD apps, it seems that most if not all ask for a paper in the 15-20 p. range. Though I have taken seminars in undergrad., the longest paper I have in my folders is 13 p. (without bibliography). Never having had to do an undergrad. thesis, the only other potential sample I have is in a different language (~20 p.). A friend of mine in his 3rd year of a PhD program recommended I contact graduate admissions and ask each school what to do. Have people on this forum submitted shorter papers than asked or plan to?

[napoleon87]

I'm also in exactly the same boat. I'm applying to art history programs, but as I was an art history minor three years ago, I don't feel that any of the work I did was substantial enough and I was never published.

I'm also nervous about re-writing an old paper (upon review, I also find most of them a bit trite) without guidance, so I'm thinking the best option would be to take a grad level class next term at a local university. Maybe you could still get into a class for this fall? It's an expensive option, but it will get you back in the swing of academic writing and you can spend your time in the class with the aim of turning out a high quality paper with fresh material and a professor to help you review it.

I'd love to hear more opinions from anyone who's been through the process.

[experiencevsinformation]

I can't any more classes right now because I'm curently volunteering abroad for a year, in a fairly intensive program (another reason it would be hard for me to write/finish a solid sample in a short period of time.)

Does anyone have any experience with this? Has anyone not had a 20-page sample to turn in when they decided to apply?

[PhDreams]

I'm in the same boat right now. I have an undergrad arts degree that never required substantial writing and now I'm applying to social science PhD programs. So, I'm working on creating a writing sample. Ugh... It really was my only option. But without feedback and the limitations of such a short time period, I'm freaking out.