I think one thing Adroit values is passion. It’s important you emphasize your love of your craft—if you’re solely chasing awards/prestige, the mentorship team will be able to tell. When I was applying, I was under the impression that Adroit favored one particular style. This is NOT true. The other mentees’ styles differed drastically from mine, but one thing we all had in common was a genuine love for writing. Let your passion shine through on your application!
This is a tricky question, because I’m not on the mentorship team and I play no role in the selection of mentees. I can say that my mentor and I had a great aesthetic fit, but I’m not sure if that’s true of everyone or if similarity is something Adroit actively searches for.
I have two main pieces of advice regarding the writer’s statement:
Be specific
This has been said earlier on the thread, but I wanted to emphasize it here. In my statement, I highlighted three qualities I liked that were specific to Adroit's program. Be as detailed as possible---it shows you've done your research and have a genuine excitement for the program :smile:
Be honest
I wrote about fanfiction in my writer's statement. A fellow mentee told a more emotional story about how writing helped her find agency. My statement was light and funny while hers was powerful and moving. Both of our statements worked because we were both honest about our relationship to writing.
@bluets woah that’s amazing! thank you for doing this!!
I know Adroit wants you to tell them why you’re excited about their program specifically, but do you think it helped to mention your own relationship with writing? also…did you mention any writing awards in your apps?
I used my relationship with writing as an introduction and as a way to bring my statement full-circle. I think discussing my relationship with writing helped exhibit my passion, and I think it also gave my statement structure/momentum. Keep in mind that there’s no one way to get in, this is just what happened to work for me.
I did mention writing awards, but to be honest, I’m not sure how much they helped. I applied as a freshman, and I hadn’t won anything major at that point. I would recommend mentioning writing awards on the app, but I truly think they’re looking more for potential than demonstrated accomplishment. If you don’t have many awards, it won’t hurt you at all.
@FlameAlchemist I got a response about the checkbox statement on the application. They said, “What we ask is that if you are reasonable sure you can participate in the program, we hope you will apply. And if you are accepted into the program, but realized your schedule will not permit you to participate in the program, we can discuss that at that time.”
So I think it’s fine if we apply even though we’re uncertain about plans, as long as you’re not just applying for clout or something with no intentions of participating lmao.
Hi all! I am also applying, and good luck to everyone else who is! For those of you who are worried about your summer programs you’re planning to attend being cancelled, I think what most programs are doing is they’re transferring it to online curriculum from what I’ve heard. Hope the corona doesn’t take away your summer activities!
What is a writer’s statement supposed to be??? I feel like mine is too weird. It’s like a long story about why I started writing and then why I want to go. Is that normal?
@ecophobiology yeah, my summer program @ stanford has already been moved online. kind of disappointing bc now I won’t get to see the campus or anything (I’m from the northeast), but now I don’t feel conflicted about applying for this as well haha
how is everyone doing their submissions if you’re applying for fiction or nonfiction? are you guys including multiple pieces or are you just having one long piece that fits the 8-12 page requirement?
Hi everyone! I’m also applying for the mentorship this year, and wish everyone good luck!
I was wondering whether they focussed more on potential or on skill? I have a lot more experience with poetry so I have a better quality portfolio, but I want to improve my fiction more as I haven’t had as much practice with it. Should I put fiction or poetry as my first choice?
@cheesepanda oh!! I’m the same, but I’m more experienced at fiction and applying for poetry. It does seem like there are more people applying for poetry than fiction, so fiction miiight be a bit less competitive? I’d say put fiction first because of that and so 2nd choice doesn’t hinder your chances in any unforeseeable way, since you want to improve your fiction anyways? :0
(feel free to correct me lmao you probably know more about it than I do)
oh heck @blueink good luck! <3
@cheesepanda I’d be hesitant about picking Fiction because less people are applying for it… I’m fairly sure that there are also fewer mentors for it than for poetry. On the other hand, it’s probably worth a short, especially if you really want to spend your summer improving in writing for it. I’d take the leap! Even if you don’t get in for Fiction, they might pick you for poetry if you put it as your 2nd choice.
