Writing Sample, Oh the Writing Sample...
Hi Everyone,
I'm applying to history of science programs (within history depts ,indepedent programs, and one STS) and have a question about the writing sample. I wrote a ten page paper last weekend (after a couple weeks of research) and had a history professor read it. Because she has had limited experience with American graduate admissions, she's not sure what the adcom is looking for. She considered my paper a "seminar paper," but thought my argument, with some tweaking, is strong and was fine with my analysis. I spoke with a couple history graduate students and they assured me that it doesn't need to be anything profound; the sample just needs to show that I can analyze primary documents and from these documents, create an argument. They emphasized that the SOP is the most important component.
Especially for those in history (but I appreciate external comments as well), does this sound right to you? I plan on asking a couple more history profs to read my sample, I just didn't want to embarass myself and cause more stress this late in the game.
Thank you!
I'm applying to history of science programs (within history depts ,indepedent programs, and one STS) and have a question about the writing sample. I wrote a ten page paper last weekend (after a couple weeks of research) and had a history professor read it. Because she has had limited experience with American graduate admissions, she's not sure what the adcom is looking for. She considered my paper a "seminar paper," but thought my argument, with some tweaking, is strong and was fine with my analysis. I spoke with a couple history graduate students and they assured me that it doesn't need to be anything profound; the sample just needs to show that I can analyze primary documents and from these documents, create an argument. They emphasized that the SOP is the most important component.
Especially for those in history (but I appreciate external comments as well), does this sound right to you? I plan on asking a couple more history profs to read my sample, I just didn't want to embarass myself and cause more stress this late in the game.
Thank you!