I’ve been on a grand East Coast College Touring Extravaganza for the past few days and fell absolutely in love with Columbia when I visited. I’ve been thinking through my application process since I do plan to apply early. My question is this: I wrote a complete novel a few months back. I was planning on mentioning it in my extracurriculars since I am hoping to be a part of their English department anyway. But would it be beneficial for me to submit a link to the full manuscript of said novel in the additional info section in my common app? This question is mostly for Columbia, but honestly applies to all the Ivy Leagues I’m sending in applications for.
Adcoms won’t read it as part of ther review. Your app gets somewhere between 12 and 20 minutes of attention from each reader. Otoh, they might (a narrow might) google you to learn the success of the novel, read reviews from reputable sources, check sales rankings, etc. Self publishing and selling to family and friends isn’t a tip. either.
Lots of kids include Nanowrimo. But it’s not simply writing something that matters. And it’s a soltary pursuit. Learn more about what the Ivies want.
And if it IS a great book that can garner lots of positive attention, see if you can get a deal with an established publishing house.
All colleges allow applicants to submit supplementary materials. Look up the directions for each college you apply to and be sure to follow directions precisely. Not sure why you’re asking if you should only do this for Ivy League schools. Submit your supplementary material to every school you apply to.
Here are the instructions for Columbia. Under the heading Creative Writing. I read it. You can’t submit the entire book.
https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/supplementary-materials
The Common App doesn’t allow an easy way to include hyperlinks. Even if you include the hyperlinks, the document gets converted to a PDF. So the only way a reader would be able to see your work is to copy and paste the URL into another tab of your browser. This is clumsy, but done by design. They want to make it difficult to include extra stuff. Most readers won’t take the time to view the extra links anyway.
But as pointed out above, you can submit supplementary materials. Just follow the instructions above.
Sure, bring it up. Include it the best you can