My master thesis as a writing sample?

[Mohamad]

Hello everyone ! 

I am an international student, applying to PhD program in Biological and biomedical sciences in USA. 

I would like to ask about " Writing samples",  what are they? 

I have a master degree thesis, is it suitable to post? 

Should I post" the introduction, aim of the work, materials and methods,  results and discussion" parts?

Should i include references or not?

Also,  can anyone provide me with  "samples"  of relevant "writing samples"  ? 

Thanks a lot 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Writing Samples often vary depending on the program. For instance, I had one that required the entire Master's thesis, another that required "The thesis abstract and one or more chapters", another that just wanted it to be less than 30 pages, and another that wanted it to be 15-20 pages in length. Still, other programs on my list recommend including a sample but give no specific length or content information as it's not required. 

First things first, you probably don't want to turn in an entire thesis unless it's asked for by the program. Theses are long and adcoms probably won't want to read through it all. Better to give them a chapter or so that exemplifies your work. In my case, I reformatted my Findings chapter to meet the requirements as it hinted at methodology, research design, and my ability to think analytically about my topic. Since there were no citations in this chapter, I did not include a reference list, but you should if citations are present. Reference lists do not count against your page total. 

The goal of the writing sample is to show adcoms that you are able to engage in the research process and academically communicate that process. It gives them the best sense of your writing style and the caliber of the work you will produce if in their department, as most academic programs still heavily rely on written deliverables as the main output (articles, papers, dissertations, etc). 

[Mohamad]

Hi GreenEyedTrombonist 

Thaaaaaaaaanks a lot 

Your post is so valuable for me 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Glad to help!