Writing Sample Requirement: Flexible?

[maxined93]

Hello all! I'm an English major getting ready to apply to Ph.D. English Lit programs for Fall 2016, and I've run into a conundrum. Princeton's wording on their writing sample requirements is a little vague, saying they want one of "approximately 25 pages". Do you think my 19 page rant on Henry James and the creation of homosexual identity is close enough to this limit, or should I expand it to the aforementioned 25 page length?

Edited October 25, 2015 by maxined93

[jrockford27]

I submitted a writing sample of 25 pages to a school that asked for approximately 20.  I was accepted and am now happily attending.  Though I can't actually remember whether this was out of audacity, laziness, desperation or simply forgetting.

I also had a short writing sample, (which consisted of the best section of my honors thesis at 17 pages) and a long writing sample that (25 pages that included that section, plus my theoretical introduction), and sent them to schools depending on what they asked for.  It made life substantially easier. 

My completely uneducated guess - in total contravention of my personal experience - is that you're probably better off sending something slightly shorter than sending something that is longer.  When I used to work in law, we had a saying, "the more you give them the less they'll read."

Edited October 25, 2015 by jrockford27

[Joan Callamezzo]

In my experience that seems totally fine. I wouldn't submit a 10 page paper if they ask for 25, but overall I think it's absolutely acceptable to submit a paper that's a little on the shorter side. Where you really get into to trouble is when they ask for a 20 page sample but you submit your 75 page MA thesis. Some schools are very, very strict about page limits to the point that their application portal will physically not allow you to submit above a specific word/page count. 

[thepriorwalter]

I submitted 18 pages to every school I applied to and most were asking for approximately 25. I had a pretty successful application season, so I don't think the page count will hinder your application. Someone in my cohort also revealed (during cohort happy hour) that they submitted two 10-page papers, which also leads me to believe that quality is more important than any other factor in the writing sample. 

[maxined93]

PRAISE THE APPLICATION GODS. I haven't the time to fluff the darn thing, so I'm too relieved this is the case. Thanks, all!

[fuzzylogician]

PRAISE THE APPLICATION GODS. I haven't the time to fluff the darn thing, so I'm too relieved this is the case. Thanks, all!

For the love of god, don't fluff the thing. It'll be better if it's shorter but tight. I don't know anyone that wants to read in 25 pages what you could have said in 19.

[biyutefulphlower]

Similar question on writing sample length: I wrote my MA thesis on a comic series, so the paper included a lot of images, some of which took up full pages.  I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about including them with the writing sample, because they are important to understanding what I'm talking about, but up the total page count while decreasing the amount of actual written content.  I've considered removing them all and including an appendix, though I'm wondering if that's more effort that it's worth for the folks reading it...

Should I just e-mail the departments for their opinions...?

[fuzzylogician]

Should I just e-mail the departments for their opinions...?

Yes.