<p>Okay. So I noticed on the Harvard supplement that it is reccommended to submit an art portfolio only if your work is "unusually advanced."</p>
<p>What is considered "unusually advanced?"</p>
<p>I honestly have no clue. I've never taken any formal art lessons, and I'm pretty much self-taught. I also havent won too many art awards, besides local prizes. I told an admissions officer that I was interested in submitting a portfolio, but now I don't know if I should even bother.</p>
<p>So, um. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>No, really. Help me. I'm so confused right now...</p>
<p>My freshman year roommate was really into flute, but she promised me she was nowhere near as talented as the people Harvard admits for its musical abilities...she wasn't in HRO or anything like that.</p>
<p>But in high school, she cared a lot about the flute, and it was an interest totally different from all her extracurricualrs. So she sent in a tape anyway. I suspect it showed admissions another side of hers...another passion.</p>
<p>Basically, I don't think it's going to hurt you--it can only help.</p>
<p>Show your portfolio to an art teacher at your HS. If the teacher thinks the work would make you a realistic applicant to an art school that requires a portfolio for admission, then it's probably "unusually advanced." In other words, it can look like the work of a talented 16-year-old with potential; it doesn't need to look like the work of a professionally trained artist.</p>
<p>The reason they make this suggestion is that kids sometimes send in very juvenile work (anything from art to a science project), and that hurts them not because you have to be a great artist to get in, but because it reflects negatively on the student's judgment and common sense. Just get an educated second opinion about your work so that you can be sure it won't embarrass you this way, and you'll be fine.</p>