I’ve been looking into the possibility of submitting an arts supplement for the schools that I’m applying to, my first choice being Harvard. I read under other cc threads that students have contacted faculty members of a given college’s art department (some including schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Yale) and got feedback from the faculty as to how they could improve their work or if they should even submit it as a supplement. I’m wondering how I would go about doing that or if I should consider contacting them at all.
I’m aware that you have to be particularly talented in order to successfully submit a portfolio. My art teacher definitely thinks that my skills are up to par, but I’m also one of the first visual arts oriented students from my school thats even considered applying to ivies (alas, music kids dominate the AP circuit in my school) so we’re both fuzzy on what caliber is acceptable. I thought the best way to determine if I should send one or not would be to contact someone on the faculty. I would also love the opportunity to build a relationship with some faculty members to show my interest in the school. And even though my chances of getting in are low, this would still be a great way to get some outside and esteemed opinions on how I could be a stronger artist in the future. My only concern with doing this would be 1) I don’t know if the professors would find it annoying to have to review a hs student’s work and 2) I don’t know who the best person to email would be.
If anyone has done this before please share your experience below!
P.S. if anyone is interested in reviewing some of my art, just PM me and I’ll send you some pictures. I stupidly left my portfolio at school over the summer so only have awkward, poorly taken, mid progress, iPhone pictures of some of my work, but pictures nonetheless.
Actually, I just read on the Yale website about arts supplement that students should not contact faculty to review their portfolio. I would imagine the same applies to Harvard. Oh well. My question would be how other kids on cc got feedback from faculty members.
I was in the same boat as you last year. I did not contact any faculty to review my Visual Art Portfolio. What I did do, however, was go to the National Portfolio Day where admissions reps from Art schools (RISD being one of them) come and will review your portfolio in person. This, I feel, helped somewhat and allowed me to put my best pieces on the arts supplement I submitted to all the schools I applied to (those that accepted it).
I was ultimately Admitted to Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Georgetown. Waitlisted then rejected at Harvard, and rejected and Stanford, Yale, Princeton.
If Yale says not to ask faculty, then don’t. It could hurt you more than help. You could always call the school and ask. If you are confident that your work is good enough to at least measure up to some degree on a national level, then submit it with the Common App arts supplement (or however the individual school handles it)! It will at least show the school how you spend your time outside of the classroom. What I learned with this process there are sometimes not definitive answers to some questions, and sometimes you just need to go with your gut. If your gut is telling you to just do it the normal way and submit a supplement through your common app, then do that and let the art speak for itself. I’m just some random internet stranger, but hopefully there was a nugget of this that was helpful. I am by no means qualified to give any definitive answers on any of this other than the fact that I just went through the college app process, so take what I said with a grain of salt.
Also, just some random, perhaps unrelated and unsolicited, advice: BE YOURSELF! Don’t try to force out something that you aren’t. Find what your passionate about, perhaps that’s art, and show the admissions officers how much you love it.
I don’t think it is a good idea to contact faculty. If you have questions about the supplement, call the admissions office. Your portfolio won’t get the kind of scrutiny at Ivies that an art school will give. In fact, the supplement should most likely be less work to look at than an art school portfolio- check with admissions.
For a music supplement I know it helps to have, along with a CD or DVD, a music resume (including important performances, teachers, classes, awards etc.), and a couple of letters of recommendation from teachers or directors. A few programs too.
You can do the equivalent for visual arts. Just be aware that an arts supplement is very different from the kind of rigorous portfolio review you would get at an art school. The faculty may or may not see your portfolio: it could be seen by admissions but not faculty.
Have you had any shows or won any awards, that kind of thing? Not saying you have to for admissions, but if you have, include them in a resume in the supplement.
That’s “Admissions Speak” for we DO NOT review every applicant’s portfolio. As @lookingforward indicated, unless the Admissions Committee is interested in an applicant academics and “character” then an art portfolio will NOT be reviewed or evaluated.
So, before submitting an art portfolio – or even thinking about approaching a college faculty member about their thoughts on an art portfolio – it would be wiser to focus on your essays.
Be sure to give your essays to your teachers who will be writing your recommendations for their comments. This will allow your recommendation writers to get to know you better and understand how you are presenting yourself to the Admissions Committee, which will allow your recommendation writers the opportunity to critique the essays and also use them to reinforce your “selling points” in their letters.
I personally know music students who submitted portfolios – students who were talented enough to be admitted to Juilliard, Curtis and Oberlin – who were rejected from Harvard. So, IMHO, it’s best to focus on your essays and not worry too much over your supplemental portfolio.
I would imagine the same would apply to most, if not all, schools. It is not the faculty’s job to review unsolicited materials, so if you do not have a pre-existing relationship with the faculty member, it’s unlikely that one would get a positive response by cold-calling.
Following @gibby 's advice will get you further, IMO.
But before you can get to essays and supps, make sure you know what makes you a match at those colleges- both sides: them for you and you for them. It’s more than stats.
When my kid was applying to college a couple of years ago they emailed faculty members at about 6 or 7 institutions and asked to meet with them during their visit. The meetings were set up and the faculty member helped with the selection of classes for them to sit in on. It was very effective. Perhaps you can do the same with art professors and classes
I only know about Yale re applying for arts but read through their website and the “fine print” on applying very carefully. After looking more into the program D1 decided it wasn’t for her and chose not to apply. You don’t start any art classes until sophomore year AND must apply to be in the department then, so getting into Yale does not mean you’re automatically going to major in Art. We have a bunch of Ivy alums in our extended family, so I think she wanted to see if she’d at least get in but realized it was a waste of time & $ since wasn’t actually interested in their program.
Also the Visual Arts Dept website was a HUGE turnoff. Seriously.
^^ Harvard’s art department, which is part of the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies (VES), functions similarly to Yale: See: http://ves.fas.harvard.edu/concentrating-ves
