<p>bump! 10char</p>
<p>just make it friendly and to the pointâ"Dear Prof. Mugdywump, I am a high school senior, and am very interested in Fabulous University, especially the Astrophysical Knitting program. I will be visiting the campus on September 12, and would very much like to meet with you to learn more about your program. I have taken several Astrophysical Knitting courses at my high school, and have used your textbook on the subjectâit would be wonderful if you had the time while Iâm on campus. " blah blah blah! And be sure to prep yourself with intelligent questionsâread the schoolâs website/publications. And Iâd send it as soon as you have some visiting plans, or if not visiting, then send a note in early September just establishing contact, and try to pursue that with questions over email. Good luck!</p>
<p>Being an editor of the schoolâs yearbook is definitely art-related and important, I would believe, especially if you are heavily involved. Also, as to what you and oldfort said about Princeton: I went to one of the information sessions and the representative from the university actually talked about their received donation and their interest in expanding the art program:)</p>
<p>As for grouping EC on the common app, I would list clubs and school activities involving art separately, then group everything that you do on your own and explain the details. Or you can list the major art ECs separately and group the smaller things together.</p>
<p>The only way it would be anything close to a hook is if the young artist has been discovered and their work has been shown in sophisticated venues and sold. And there are such young artists out there.</p>
<p>OP and rising seniors, from my personal experience I think âPerforming Artâ is probably a major
hook for Stanford and Princeton. Your contribution however has to be
recognizable as unique and world class. The Presidential ART scholars
are unfortunately announced too late to make a difference in the
admission year, however, the NFAA nomination in itself can be very
powerful.</p>
<p>In some other areas of ART the GoldKey Scholastics Award may be very
useful to convey your level of proficiency.</p>
<p>If you group your Arts activities together (as Pastel posted) it works well
particularly when you have a bunch of regional, state and national awards.
You can elaborate on specific activities within this group in the additional
information section of your common app as well as refer them further to
a detailed arts specific supplement.</p>
<p>Though my academics and other international level ECs were credited by
admission-officers at other schools I was admitted to, at Stanford and
Princeton the Arts focus and supplement were brought up as the overriding
reason my application stood out. Both look for non-traditional interpretation
of traditonal performance arts.</p>
<p>hmom5: I donât really know of any famous teen artists out there, so Iâm kind of confused as to what you mean by âdiscoveredâ and âsophisticated venues,â though I do know âsoldâ means! Iâve displayed in two un-juried galleries for students in addition to winning a spot in a professional internationally-juried gallery (~700 entries, ~7% accept rate; they donât specify an age requirement so I entered, but it is NOT meant for students, so Iâd guess 99%+ are adults, working artists, and professionals). Iâve entered a few other competitions, so weâll see what happens; Iâm hoping to get published! In addition, Iâve received a lot of offers from the student galleries, but I havenât sold any work, the offers of which my art teacher can attest to. Would that count?</p>
<p>cadence76: Iâm probably not visiting any schools. But would it be too forward (assuming that the professor and I have exchanged some emails already) to ask them if they would like a copy of my supplement/resume DIRECTLY instead of waiting for the admissions office to send it to them?</p>
<p>xrCalico23: Most of my art ECs are outside of school. I believe the only thing in school is designing for school functions and yearbook. Could I just group those all in one? âŠbecause I really have no room on the commonapp!</p>
<p>Synth: Would you say the visual art âhookâ is nearly as strong as the performing arts âhookâ for S and P? I had a friend submit an art portfolio a few years back and he got inâthe again, he was also brilliant. Iâve also heard of the NFAA. When do those nominations come out?</p>
<p>Pastel, what I meant was being shown in major galleries. Just last week we saw sculptures done by a 16 year old at a NYC gallery, selling for tens of thousands of dollars. Look at the actors ivies acceptâthey are kids who have become famous.</p>
<p>This is not to say talented, undiscovered artists do not get in, but that they do not have a hook.</p>
1 Like
<p>hmom5: Would you say being selected for that gallery I mentioned above (I think itâs major, maybe. Itâs online, but it has 800,000+ hits per month) would count as an award or honor for that section of the CommonApp even though they donât give awards like âbest of showâ?</p>
<p>SureâŠ</p>
<p>Having a piece on an online gallery probably does not qualify as an honor or award. It is a nice accomplishment which can be included in an essay on your art.</p>
<p>Fauve: Not to be rude or arrogant, but why wouldnât it count as an honor? Itâs definitely not an award, but the gallery, though online is international and juried from 700+ artists to about 50 to 60. Itâs not designed for students (who arenât prohibited to enter) but nearly all are adults, professionals, and working artists.</p>
1 Like
<p>PastelâI think it is definitely an honor. Itâs a juried showâthatâs what counts. And remember, âhookâ is what makes you stand out from the crowd. Sure, a kid whoâs an Olympic athlete, or who has appeared in Hollywood movies, or is selling in NYC for tens of thousands is a sure thing for acceptance, but theyâre pretty thin on the ground, and even the ivies donât expect everyone to be at that level. The thing about admissions is to show your passion and accomplishment, and you sound wonderfully poised to do that. And yes, why not ask the profs if theyâd like to see your stuff directly? The worst they can say is âno thanks, Iâll get it from admissionsâ. Go for it!</p>
<p>Pastel- Is the online âgalleryâ a commercial venture? What is the general quality of the art? Iâm approaching your question in terms of an academic art perspectiveâsometimes inclusion in a commercial art type organisation can be seen as detrimental. If the art included is very sellable, popular in a generic art sense (loved by the masses), your work might also be seen in the same light. </p>
<p>If the online collection is fresh, original, and not mundane, your participation will be seen as a plus. (Itâs just my opinion that it is not technically an award or honor. I would term an award or honor as Best in Show, Honorable Mention, in an exhibition of your peers.)</p>
<p>I agree with cadenceâcontact the art profs, get their opinions, and see where you stand in their eyes. Are you applying to Yale? I bet you can see their student art somewhere online and get a sense of the best of young artists.</p>
<p>You can learn more about the NFAA (YoungARTS) Visual Arts Category [here](<a href=âhttp://www.youngarts.org/Students/Disciplines/Visual%20Arts/â>http://www.youngarts.org/Students/Disciplines/Visual%20Arts/</a>).</p>
<p>The registration deadline is October 1, 2009.</p>
<p>You can learn more about the Scholastic Gold Key awards for art (and writing)
[here](<a href=âhttp://www.artandwriting.org/â>http://www.artandwriting.org/</a>).</p>
<p>Being featured physcially at the NYC gallery would be an honor; a less selctive
venue might not possibly qualify as one.</p>
<p>Having your art featured at your local library in a community showing could also
be valuable in terms of conveying your dedication to the practice of your art?
Raising money via auctioning your art for a charitable cause could also be
another potential activity?</p>
<p>Quality trumps quantity. One NFAA award might be the equivalent of a dozen of these
activities possibly for some.</p>
<p>OP,
do you think you can pm me some of your art
iâm considering sending in a supplement too, and was wondering the skill level someone should have
thanks</p>
<p>Thank you for you all your replies. They have been really helpful!</p>
<p>Do you guys think it would be possible for emailing professors to have a NEGATIVE effect, assuming my words are carefully chosen to not make me sound pestering or too forward?</p>
<p>Nope. Our experience was that they were universally welcoming and very nice.</p>
<p>I would love for you to PM your art</p>
<p>fishingtrip: note that this thread started many months ago and itâs doubtful that the original poster is monitoring it. Why donât you private message the person yourself?</p>
<p>When replying to threads, note the start date and last posted reply.</p>
<p>Welcome to CC</p>
<p>A hook is something that gives the student a different path when compared to most of the others. So being an athlete gets you consideration that your grades/scores might not, similar being legacy or donating a library etc. In other words hook is something that allows several negative factors (which if present in the case of general body of candidates will lead to rejection) to be fully or partially ignored. So an athlete or legate may have low GPA and scores but they still get admission.</p>
<p>If you have won some prestigious art competition or have the Curator of MOMA write you an glowing recommendation to the chair of the Art Department, highlighting your skills, then it might be considered a hook. In other words, something that tells the adcom to ignore everything else and concentrate on that one achievement, in this case Art.</p>
<p>If you are not one of those, you would need to compete with other artists and other portfolios and you need to show your passion for it and you need to show talent in it. By all means submit a portfolio, contact the art department, have people who recommend you talk about it (an additional recommendation for a local artist or art critic may be something you want to consider). If your talent comes out clearly, then 3.8 GPA may not hinder you, but your whole package is under review, not just the art portion. Again 3.7 GPA is not bad if you can show talent. good luck</p>