Ad comm asking for an additional research paper?

[Virago]

So I'm in the waiting phase, as many of us around here. Obsessively checking my e-mail, until one day (yesterday) I actually got an e-mail from one of my top choice schools. Basically this POI asked if I had taken a course in medieval, Greek and Roman art, if I had taken any German and if I'd be willing to send another research paper for them to read. So, I politely replied and then stayed until 3 am editing a research paper that I had to scour through my documents to find. Anyway, has this happened to any of you? I'm pretty confident in the first research paper I sent as part of my application. Perhaps it wasn't long enough to evaluate my writing abilities? 10 pages? Maybe. Anyway, I've been thinking why they'd ask. Who knows, thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ProspectStu8735]

If the original paper was only 10 pages it was probably too short.  Most programs give a length of 15-20 pages, which is the standard length of a graduate seminar paper (or the seed of a dissertation chapter).  They might be trying to gauge how well you can handle a sustained argument.

Edited February 28, 2013 by ProspectStu8735