爱荷华大学美国研究专业

Transcript: You will need a transcript from each post-secondary school where you have studied. Have the originals sent to the Admissions Office; upload unofficial transcripts as part of your application. Personal Statement: A statement of purpose (A 2-3 page statement of your purposes, goals, and special interests relevant to your application to American Studies, i.e., why you are applying and what you hope to achieve in your graduate program) Recommendation Letter: Three letters of recommendation sent directly from instructors or other persons familiar with your intellectual attainments, on the referee’s letterhead. Writing Sample: In general you ought to select the piece of writing that you are most proud of, that you believe best represents your talents as a scholar and writer. It ought to be about ten to twenty pages, although we do not have an absolute requirement on length. If you have written a thesis, you may want to select a portion of it to send, with a brief headnote that locates the sample in the larger project. It’s desirable, although not obligatory, for the writing sample to be relevant to the advanced work in American Studies that you propose to do. It need not illustrate your research capabilities, i.e., your work with archival or primary materials, but if it does that can be a plus. Imaginative writing-poems or stories-as well as brief journalistic news stories, slides, or videotapes are not usually very revealing about your abilities as a potential American Studies student. If your writing sample has your instructor’s comments on it, you may want to send this copy because these provide additional information about the nature of your prior training and the evaluation of your work by the instructor.