Co-authored writing samples?

[polscimajor]

Hi,

I'm curious about which paper I should submit as a writing sample

I currently have two candidates: one is a published article that was co-authored with a professor (I am the first author, but the journal is non-American, albeit pretty well-known in my country. I did hear though that American schools tend to discriminate against non-American journals...), and the other one is a paper that I am currently writing, solo-authored.

The first one is, needless to say, of slightly better quality. And the perk is that it's already a published one (although non-American) so it feels like I've had some real experience in research.

However, what worries me is that the article is co-authored, so maybe the adcom could attribute the work to the professor instead of me (which would really suck).

Should I then just submit the solo-authored working paper? What's the pros and cons?

I would really appreciate some help here. Thanks..

Edited September 11, 2016 by polscimajor

[saudiwin]

You can't and shouldn't submit a co-authored paper for a graduate school writing sample, as it isn't your work. Also, if the article is already published, then the committee can always look it up and read it if they want to.

Don't get tied in knots about the writing sample. They want something clearly written that shows a strong grasp of a political science/social science research topic and also how to explore it using modern social-scientific methods. It doesn't need to be a work of great insight or inspiration. That's the English Dept.

[ultraultra]

Saudiwin is right, also many schools stipulate in their admissions directions that you can't coauthor your writing sample.

For what its worth, I get the sense that most places don't pay that much attention to the writing sample. During my admit visits last year, not a single person mentioned my writing sample to me though people often mentioned my letters, SOP, research experience, etc.. I got the sense that no one had read it. I also had a bunch of appendices for my writing sample, which didn't fit in the page limit so I uploaded them separately and included a link in the document. They included important components of my experiment such as my treatment materials and coding manual. I recently, out of curiosity, checked how many people visited the link during my admit cycle. Only 2 did. And since I applied to 11 schools and got into 8, I would estimate that (at minimum) around 24 - 30 people were tasked with reading my file. To me this indicates, at the very least, that people aren't going over the sample with a fine tooth comb, if they are even reading it at all. Though this may be different if English isn't your first language.

[fuzzylogician]

Even if allowed, the only way I would even think about submitting a co-authored paper as a writing sample is if (a) you did most of the work on the paper, and (b) the professor who co-authored it with you will serve as a LOR writer and will attest to that. The main concern adcoms are going to have is that it isn't going to be clear what part of the work was done by you as opposed to the professor. If the writing isn't yours, because it was substantially edited by the professor, or if the idea and main parts of the execution were theirs, it's just not a good idea to submit this paper. A single-authored paper is a much safer bet.  

[polscimajor]

Hi, thank you all for your replies.

@fuzzylogician, yes I did do most of the work on the paper, and my professor has promised to serve as my LOR writer. I'm quite sure that she will attest to the fact that I was the main writer for the article, but I get your point. I guess a co-authored paper will receive many (unnecessary) doubtful looks from the committee-- it's probably a safer bet to submit the single authored one then, right?

And @ultraultra wow, it's sad to hear that they don't pay much attention to your writing sample lol. Especially considering the amount of work I put into it! Ha. Thanks again for the candid advice.

 

[fuzzylogician]

Yeah, the single-authored paper seems like a much safer bet. Your LOR writer will mention the other one in her letter, so if anyone wants to find and read it, they can go ahead and do that, too, but I would leave it up to them to look it up if they choose. 

[polscimajor]

Great! Thanks!!

[waterloo715]

15 hours ago, ultraultra said:

For what its worth, I get the sense that most places don't pay that much attention to the writing sample. During my admit visits last year, not a single person mentioned my writing sample to me though people often mentioned my letters, SOP, research experience, etc.. I got the sense that no one had read it. I also had a bunch of appendices for my writing sample, which didn't fit in the page limit so I uploaded them separately and included a link in the document. They included important components of my experiment such as my treatment materials and coding manual. I recently, out of curiosity, checked how many people visited the link during my admit cycle. Only 2 did. And since I applied to 11 schools and got into 8, I would estimate that (at minimum) around 24 - 30 people were tasked with reading my file. To me this indicates, at the very least, that people aren't going over the sample with a fine tooth comb, if they are even reading it at all. Though this may be different if English isn't your first language.

 

Were any of these schools asking for a relatively shorter writing sample, say, 10-15 pages? My guess is that the odds that it is looked at more closely probably increases at places which require a much shorter writing sample. Just a hunch. But who knows. 

[CarefreeWritingsontheWall]

To reiterate what others have said, definitely submit your solo paper. As mentioned, if your other article is published and listed on your CV (or a publications list, if your application allows you to submit those specifically (some do)) then anyone on the committee can look it up if they're interested.

Unlike @ultraultra I found that my writing sample was an important component of my application. I applied to 8 programs and got into 4. I was asked about my writing sample during two visits of three that I participated in, but I know it was a key factor for forth school that I didn't visit. Now that I'm attending, I was offered an RA job shortly after I arrived because of my writing sample - a professor approached me and referred to what they saw in my writing sample and segued into the job offer. He hadn't even read it directly but had heard about it from people on the admissions committee. I wouldn't say that the length of the sample drew more attention (i.e. I don't think that shorter samples were more likely to be read). I meddled with spacing in order to meet different page length requirements, so the total content that I provided was roughly the same for each. It was much more about the introduction, whether you have quantitative results tables, and your conclusion. My intro hooked the right people. I wouldn't underestimate how much it can help your application.