<p>I'll be applying next year, not sure EA or RD, but I know that I'm going to make an emphasis on fine arts because it's one of my passions.</p>
<p>But the problem is, other than the art supplement portfolio I plan on submitting, I have no art ECs, other than yearbook, if that counts along the lines of design. I also have no art awards other than occasionally designing covers/sets for my school, which I've maybe done once or twice.</p>
<p>I was thinking of entering some national competitions sponsored by art magazines and a few regional ones. My concern is that it would it look too desperate on my application, as they'd be all junior year awards if I won, but I feel like regional/national recognition would validate my skill and passion for art.</p>
<p>Also, I have heard that supplemental recs are best if they add something completely different to what your teachers write about you. Would it be more wise to ask my school art teacher, or my private art teacher? I know my private art teacher better and she also knows me better, but she doesn't speak English, so I'd probably have to ghost write one, which probably isn't allowed.</p>
<p>It would be important that you demonstrate your passion through extracurricular activities and not just the supplement. I sent a music supplement, but I have also been heavily involved in school groups, private lessons, shows, and semi-professional/professional choirs for years. While the supplement certain carries some weight, your application itself UNDENIABLY receives a lot more attention than the supplement does, and you should therefore work to make it a part of more than just the supplement.</p>
<p>I personally wouldn't send any supplementary recommendation at all. On the Yale website, they SPECIFICALLY lay out exactly what they want from each type of supplement, and they are different requirements than are on the Common App supplement. I ONLY sent the labeled CD without the vocal resume and teacher recommendation that I sent to most other schools, because the Yale website only asks for the CD itself. I did this and was accepted early, but someone may correct me.</p>
<p>One note: your private art lessons ARE an EC and if pursued intensely over a long period are good evidence of your "passion." They were a big part of my daughter's ECs and I think (but obviously don't know for sure) that they plus the art supplement played a big part in her acceptance by Yale. She didn't send a separate rec from any of her art teachers. Go ahead and enter the competitions. Junior year awards are fine.</p>
<p>Oh, and one of her essays was art-related as well.</p>
<p>I can't imagine that winning national or regional art competitions "only in junior year" would look desperate to anyone. At the same time I don't have any clear idea of how much those awards might matter to Yale's decision about you, or any other college's decision, however. The quality of your artwork will be pretty evident through your art supplement, right? And your ability to use your artwork as a good community citizen will be pretty evident through your participation in yearbook and ?set design?, right? So I'm not sure what the competition awards might add, but I hasten to tell you that I'm not knowledgeable about the world of high-school art.</p>
<p>I do think an in-depth recommendation could be a good thing. I imagine that you have spent a lot of time on art; I think you should send an extra recommendation if you have a teacher who can tell them how your time-investment has nurtured your native talent, how you have grown in ability, how you have taken risks/learned from failures, how your art has become more mature over time. Those are qualities that are probably not easily seen in an art supplement CD, but they probably matter to an admissions committee decision.</p>
<p>I told my daughter to send in 2 extra recommendations, and she got in EA. You have to be the judge of whether the extra recommendations are telling about a side of you that
(a) is not evident, or is not supported by, the rest of your application and (b) is likely to be important to an admissions committee at a highly selective college. </p>
<p>I also think that it is unlikely you will be penalized for guessing wrong about this. That is, I have trouble imagining a case in which a kid was just about to be admitted by the Yale admissions committee, when someone spoke up at the last second and said 'but wait, I just noticed she sent an extra recommendation attesting to the fact that she is super-nice to old people and injured squirrels! What sentimental crap! I vote NO.' </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>PS: I'm a bit skeptical of the 'ghost writing' of recommendations. Maybe you can find someone to translate her authentic letter instead.</p>
<p>As far as the recommendation goes, I think that if it says something about your art that your artwork does not say on its own, it's worthwhile to submit it. My son submitted a music CD and a resume detailing awards/performances, but no additional written recommendation from his teacher. (He did, however, submit a supplemental recommendation from someone else in an area completely unrelated to music.) </p>
<p>If you ask your private art teacher to submit a recommendation, I agree with memake that she should ask someone else to translate it, or perhaps she could ask a colleague to help her write it in English. A ghost-written recommendation is a bad idea.</p>
<p>Have her submit it in the original language. Admissions will sure get a kick out of that. Just kidding. I don't really know what to say about the rec, but I would still encourage you to enter those competitions. I don't think it will show you as desperate at all. </p>
<p>And I agree with johnshade. If you've been pursuing private art classes for a long time that is still a good EC. Having just a couple EC's that you've pursued for a long time is better than a million things that you've only been a part of for a quarter or so...</p>
<p>Does anyone have any Flickr websites, or any other online photo storage of portfoilos that you sent to Yale? They don't have to be amazing or anything, I'd just like what a general sense of what other applicants' art is like.</p>
<p>I don't mind if the porfolio is of someone rejected/deferred/accepted, but it would be interesting if you could add the admissions result.</p>