| Obviously this post is no longer current, but there's a lot of questions about the Writer's community, so I thought I'd answer just in case someone else is looking for the same info. I served as the coordinator one year and read applications.
As long as you submit your writing sample on time, getting in is not competitive (most students do). However, we did reject a handful of people. Sometimes this was because we were skeptical about whether or not they were truly interested. Unless you're submitting journalism, give us a piece of creative writing--poetry, stories, a novel excerpt, or creative nonfiction (personal essay). Whatever you do, don't send in an academic paper. You want to show that writing is something you're very interested in and that you do outside of class.
I did this a few years ago, so keep in mind it may have gotten more competitive. Also, a different group of people reads the applications every year, and they might have slightly different standards. But they're almost always students in the graduate Writers' Workshop.
Be sure to submit a writing sample to the Provost's office sometime in February. For some reason, communication is not that great about this requirement, and sometimes students don't realize it's required. If you miss the deadline for whatever reason, it's definitely worth contacting them, especially if you're only a week or two late. They'll add your application to what's already being reviewed. Even if the community's already been selected, I think a lot of the time space opens up for whatever reason.
If anyone has questions about writing at Iowa, don't hesitate to pm me. | 
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