<p>Hello everyone, </p>
<p>So I am having some hard times in choosing a writing sample to attach to my Political Science phd applications. Most schools require around 15-20 pages of writing sample. What kind of samples do they expect to receive? I am an international student (Italy) and I am working on my Master's thesis now BUT it is not finished yet, plus my supervisor is super busy and she has not revised anything yet. I have got 3 or 4 papers for upper division classes where I got an A + and excellent comments from my teachers (I was studying in the U.S. last year), and these teachers are also the ones who are writing LORs for me. </p>
<p>What would you suggest me to do? Do you think it might be ok if instead of my Master's thesis I will send some of those papers? </p>
<p>Another question: does the topic of a writing sample need to be the SAME as my research proposal? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
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<p>Yes, it would be all right to submit a seminar paper in place of your Master’s thesis. If the paper you have in mind is not already 15-20 pages, you might consider expanding it, as you want to demonstrate your ability to sustain an argument of that length. Of course, some programs might allow you to submit two shorter papers in place of a longer one, but you should check with the department before choosing that route.</p>
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<p>No, your writing sample does not need to be the same as your research proposal. However, the ideal writing sample should be related to your proposed field. You want your application to be as coherent and congruous as possible.</p>
<p>Even if the department says you can submit two shorter pieces in place of a longer one, I wouldn’t. If they asked for one paper of 15-20 pages, I would submit one instead - working on extending an existing paper, if necessary. The reason being is, like Narratologist said, you want to show that you can make an argument of some length and depth. You can do that in a 15-20 page paper but you can’t necessarily in an 8-10 page paper (or it’s harder). Also, most academic papers in a field are probably closer to 15-20 pages in length - I published a 14-page paper as a “brief report” in a scientific journal (it condensed to about 3-4 pages in the journal, but when you write it in MS word double-spaced, it’s 14 pages).</p>
<p>The only way that I would IS if you didn’t have the time to extend the paper a bit and get feedback on it from professors, and if you are certain the two separate papers are very strong.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your suggestions!</p>