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Hello guys, I was wondering if anyone could help me with this 'writing sample' that I have to submit at a few universities. It is crucial for me as it might help in establishing my Econ research abilities since I am from a Math background. I have the following questions- 1. Is it a good idea to submit parts of the MS thesis project as a writing sample? 2. What should be the length of my writing sample? While some universities 'recommend' 2-7 pages, others ask for minimum 15 pages. 3. If you're building something on old concepts, is it okay to skip details about those? In other words, to maintain the brevity of the write-up can we omit trivial (and not so trivial) details that can either be found in the literature or understood if stressed up a little? Thank you very much for reading this. It would be great if you could provide any insights on these issues. :)

I was wondering if it is fine to send co-authored paper exerpts for writing samples? I will be only have a working solo paper (thesis) by the spring but ideally don't want to skip the fall job listings. Thanks.

"If rituals did not exist, we would have to invent them. We need ceremonies and rituals to help us define ourselves socially and culturally." The topic suggests that humankind needs ceremonies and rituals to help define themselves socially and culturally. Now this may be true to a certain extent, but most rituals, I believe, are a burden on society, considering the monoply reiligious organizations have over them. We can easily organize functions as per our wish and not be worried about offending someone. It is not a tough task to organize an event, be it religious or social, as per our liking. In order to bring some structure to the event, we can simply plan ahead and hold certain functions that may appeal to those participating in it; we can play it by ear. And before you know it, the structure of functions done well, whether a house party or a welcome event, may soon become rigid, turning into a ritual. This happens when we try to repeat past successes and follow old practices to the T. This has been the case with religious practices. For instance, the rituals which had some meaning and served a distinct purpose hundreds of years ago, are still mindlessly repeated. And if somebody dares breaking with the ancient practices, there is a furore! The guardians of religion, especially in Sikhism, Hinduism or Islam, are inflicting the greatest harm to it; these regressive, uneducated men follow old customs without putting any thought into them. If at all, we need rituals and ceremonies, they should change with the times. For instance, earlier, the Sikh grooms would carry a sword while going to the bride’s house during the wedding so he can protect her on their way back because in those days, crime was rife and dacoits would often attack a wedding procession, rob the bride before kidnapping and eventually raping her. However, in today’s time when crime is low and processions go on motorised vehicles, there is no need for the groom to carry the weapon. It may be true that rituals give one a sense of connection with history and provide structure to ceremonies. But we don’t necessarily need them. These should not be compulsory. Therefore, there is no need for rituals; one can always be one with one’s roots by establishing their own rituals.

Sorry if this has already been discussed, can't seem to find information on this. Does anyone have ideas about who reads the writing samples, especially for the schools that require one? Let's say we're really interested in a specific field and wrote about it, but it seems unlikely that the admissions committee includes a person in that field. It makes sense that they would send the writing sample to someone in the field for review, but it also seems unlikely that professors would spend their valuable time reviewing many samples. Maybe they do so only for borderline candidates? Thanks in advance.

I will be taking the GRE in August. Initially I was looking around on the internet to see if there were any study groups that I could join. My schedule does not allow for me to join any groups in person therefore I was hoping to find a cyber group. I am mostly interested in trading papers with a couple of folks so that I can get some feed back and also see what I am up against. However, if there are any groups that utilize any other study methods, I would be interested in those as well. Anyway good look to all that you do and if anything that I have said sounds appealing reach out to me. Thanks.

Hi, I'm applying accounting phd for 2013 admission. Most of the schools require a "optional writing sample'. I wonder: (1) what do professors look for in someone' writing sample? academic writing ability or research interest/ potential? (2) I don't have any paper which matches my research interest, and it seems I don't have enough time to write a paper within 1 or 2 month. is it OK that I submit a research proposal? (3) I have a undergraduate thesis (unpublished). The topic is about AIS, while my intended research interest is financial accounting. Is it OK that I submit this thesis to demonstrate my general academic writing skills ? However, I do concern that it may send a misleading signal to the committee... I really frustrated about the writing sample. Will the majority of applicants submit a writing sample? I'm looking forward to any suggestions ! Many thanks!