Essay Marked in Email?

[RachaelMC]

In my fourth year, I wrote an absolutely killer essay. It was an idea I loved on a topic I was hugely familiar with, and everything just worked out. I poured my heart into it, came out with an excellent grade, and received great comments from my prof. The subject matter is also relevant to what I'll be studying in graduate school, so I definitely plan to use it as a writing sample. However, when it came time to return the essays, I was moving across the country and was never able to pick up the marked copy before leaving. At my request, though, the prof emailed me his comments about the essay, which I still have on my student email account. (Furthermore, this particular prof is one of my references, so he can confirm it was real - in fact, he'll probably mention it in the letter.) Do you think it's okay to add the email comments along with the essay, as a separate document or at the end of the essay, and just put a note explaining the circumstances? If not, what do you suggest? It seems like a waste to disregard this essay when I have everything put together...

Edited November 2, 2014 by RachaelMC

[ashiepoo72]

What do you mean by including the email comments with the essay? For the writing sample, you should incorporate any corrections and/or suggestions the professor made and submit the polished essay in your applications. You shouldn't submit anything that has outside commentary or edits still included.

[danieleWrites]

The purpose of a writing sample is for the adcomm to evaluate your scholarship on their own. You should not send writing samples with anyone else's commentary on it, unless specifically requested.