Note on Writing Sample
For all applicants to the RTC graduate programs:

• Please provide a writing sample (one or more pieces) for review by the graduate committee. Writing samples may come from either scholarly term projects or professional-quality writing; the pieces may either be original work created for previous commitments, revised work, or a work created especially for our evaluation.
• If the purpose of the writing sample is not clear, please provide a brief explanatory paragraph commenting on the audience and purpose of the piece.
• The sample should be about 10-15 pages. (If it is longer than that, the committee may not read it; if it is shorter, there may not be enough scope to determine some of the critical issues below.)
• Web pages may be submitted for review, but such pages should be viewed as supplemental to another written piece submitted.
• The best choices for a writing sample would show clear evidence of or potential for the ability to:
  • formulate interesting and novel research or scholarly questions,
  • support an argument
  • synthesize resources
  • employ and cite external sources.

If possible, the content of the sample should be related to the student's areas of interest in the graduate program. Creative writing samples are usually less useful: they may be fine if you intend to focus on that work, but the majority of our classes are geared more toward theory and application than creative writing. It would be more useful for us to assess the former type of skills.

For those with recent nonacademic experience:
If you have been out on the job market and have produced (only) writing for those purposes recently, or if you wish to display your (technical) communication skills, try to choose a piece that

• is primarily your own writing.
• is of sufficient length.
• showcases your own analytical and writing skills.

Such technical samples might include brochures, grant proposals, pieces for publication in nonacademic journals or in-house publications, reports, etc. However, because many of these kinds of documents are co-produced, it is important to add a paragraph (or so) explaining the extent and nature of your contributions to the piece.

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Note on Statement of Purpose
The statement of purpose is perhaps the most important document you will write for review by the graduate admissions committee. In it, you communicate

• your interest in our program and your preparation for it,
• how you organize your thinking, and how well you can express yourself.

But most importantly: you give us some way to assess your fit with the program. In short:

• What have you done that brings you to consider us?
• What are we doing of interest to you?
• How can our program help you forward your professional goals?
• What do you want to be doing in 5 years, and how can we help you get there?
• Will you be a good representative for us when you leave?

Have you:

• read our program materials, either the brochure or materials on the web?
• considered who you might want to work with (maybe even researched what they have written)?
• looked carefully at course offerings and areas of specialization in the department?
• "imagined yourself" into the program?

Are we organized to help you do what you want to do, or are you going to be faced with many requirements you have no interest in fulfilling?

Trajectory
In short, give us a sense of where you have been and how that has prepared you for graduate study with us, what we can do together here, and what you intend to do when you finish.

NOTE: If there is anything unusual about your transcript or background that might need explanation or interpretation, here is where you do it. For example, did you get poor grades the first years of college, only to light a fire when you found what you really wanted to do? Is there a poor grade in some related course that you need to explain? Do you have a special skill that you could bring to us?

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