@wontonandrice Congratulations!!! I was also accepted into Session 1 for Kenyon! Hopefully I’ll see you this summer 
@5toryt3ll3r Thank you so much for your extremely helpful videos and tips and just taking your time to guide us through this process! I really appreciate it.
congrats guys! I was accepted session 1 as well haha- if ya’ll get accepted into iyws which one would you guys go to?
I was accepted into session II. I applied to Iowa for season I, so hopefully I can attend both!
Hopping in to say I was also accepted into Kenyon, but @lostintheclouds if I get into iyws I’m going to go there.
Ahhhh congratulations @ everyone!! I woke up this morning to see all your posts and emails saying that you guys got into Kenyon, and I’m so proud/happy/excited for you all! This can definitely also be a thread for Kenyon if there isn’t one already, and it’s been amazing to be able to critique your portfolios and help you guys out over here in this thread. You’re all going to ace it, and Iowa too <3
@roxykiko The UVA program is good, but not quite at the caliber of something like Iowa or Kenyon - those two are kind of the gold standard (and their names are pretty much the only ones that carry a ton of weight for college admissions), but you can absolutely still learn a ton!
Congrats everyone!! I missed the deadline for apps (new on here and didn’t realize this existed until it was too late) but how do these in general compare to some of the online high school mentorships like adroit?
How much do the portfolio requirements vary from year to year, program to program? Are there any common, core elements that don’t seem to change?
My kid wants to get a head start on her portfolio this summer because she is too busy during the school year to do much writing…
@mrcolumbiahopeful04 Iowa, Kenyon, and Adroit are the Big Three in the creative writing world, so if you’ve participated in/are looking into Adroit, that’s awesome! (Also I relate hardcore to your username, hehe)
@CaliMex Portfolio requirements are usually fairly straightforward - around 8-12 pages of fiction, poetry, and/or nonfiction (depending on what the applicant wants to study) tends to be the norm. I would always encourage someone looking to apply to these kinds of programs, especially starting so well in advance, to write what they feel good about and want to write, and to let it flow naturally. Afterwards, you can start thinking about which pieces to put in a portfolio. Many accept excerpts as well as finished works, so length shouldn’t be too big of a factor, either.
@random72 I’m extremely nervous. I only started writing serious short stories this year. I have no idea how I got in lol.
I’m an Adroit reader, if anyone has questions as to what that entails.
@StreenaSkywalker what is an Adroit reader?
Hi everyone. So I got accepted to Kenyon Young Writers, now I am trying to decide if to accept or wait since I also applied to Iowa and the decision date is Apr 5 which is the same as the Kenyon acceptance date - so that is cutting it close. Is anyone in the same position.
But I a weighing the pros and cons. So far from what I see, Kenyon is taught by actual professors while Iowa is grad students. But Iowa seems to be more prestigious. But Kenyon is on my college shortlist and Iowa isn’t. So I am wondering if going to Keyon Young Writers will significantly boost my chances of getting into Kenyon college. And I am wondering if for other elite colleges applications, would admission officers look a lot more favorably at Iowa since it is more selective?
Is anyone else experience this dilemma?
@ivyfuture I emailed Kenyon and and this is what they said:
“You have until the end of the day on April 5th. We likely won’t finish processing payments and enrollment forms until Monday morning (April 8th), so even if you submit the payment and form on Saturday, it’s not a big problem.”
I was thinking the same thing as you, so I’m really relieved.
@ivyfuture --My daughter is also considering Kenyon for her undergraduate education and will be attending Kenyon Young Writers session 2.
Does going to this program potentially help one’s application to Kenyon College? I don’t think anyone can know for sure.
Nonetheless, I saw someone on the Kenyon College accepted students 2023 thread mentioning getting in to Kenyon with an ACT score well below the average for Kenyon. She said that when she interviewed for Kenyon, she talked with the interviewer about her experience at Kenyon Young Writers Workshop and she thinks that is what made the difference. I thought that was pretty neat.
@wontonandrice I think Streena means s/he’s on staff for the Adroit Journal (http://theadroitjournal.org), which runs the Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program (http://theadroitjournal.org/mentorship). It’s a free/online program that a lot of kids who apply/attend Iowa and Kenyon also apply to
Iowa decisions usually come out at the very end of March (March 30 in my year), so I wouldn’t worry about needing to submit Kenyon confirmation before you have all the information! Also, I would note that attending a program specifically on the campus of a college that you’re applying to usually doesn’t make a difference for acceptance to that college (unless it says so). Occasionally, that can even backfire - if you’re spending every single summer at the same college, instead of seeing that as showing dedication, the admissions officers may think you need to diversify your experiences and reject you so that you can go somewhere else. Not that this should be a problem for anyone at all with either Iowa or Kenyon - both are excellent programs that can serve as great boosts to any college, but shouldn’t be seen as fast-tracks to their host schools.
@mrcolumbiahopeful04 Thank you!
@StreenaSkywalker How flexible is the Adroit Program? Also, how competitive is it in general?
Does attending either Kenyon or IYWS help chances of getting into TASP? I missed the deadline to apply to TASS this year but am very interested in the program.
@wontonandrice My pleasure! I’ve heard from friends who applied last year it’s really flexible because it’s online and free, I don’t think they release admissions statistics but every year the mentees do really well with Scholastic and YoungArts and the whole awards season and go to good schools. I don’t know if I’m good enough but I’m definitely applying
@lostintheclouds As a former TASPer, I would be doubtful that any summer camp on its own would make much of an impact for TASP, based on name brand alone. However, if you’re able to really develop your writing skills at one of these camps and knock the TASP essays out of the park, then it could definitely be helpful! Acceptance to TASP is all about the application, rather than any prior achievements or accolades. I filmed a few videos on TASP like the Iowa/Kenyon one that I made for you guys, so I can link them here if they’ll be helpful!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2KA5X-LEKc&t=536s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcLM_Be2Aj8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMP6b_g7zfQ&t=1s