<li>Is there really only one essay required for the application?</li>
<li>Is one allowed to send a (DVD) clip of a student film and/or an excerpt from a novel or screenplay one has written as additional material for the application? (I’m intending a double major/major-and-minor if either is available in English and Film Studies.) They suggest audio tapes etc. but those don’t really apply to me.</li>
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<p>Thanks!</p>
<ol>
<li>yes</li>
<li>if thats what u do and what will make u look good then i dont see y u wouldnt send it.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>I seem to recall there being a few mini-essays though. Have you taken a look at the application? There's definitely at least a "why do you want to go to Columbia" blurb required.</p></li>
<li><p>All of this sounds wonderful, but it's important to use a degree of discretion; don't overwhelm them with too much stuff. Focus on your best and send them limited quantities of targeted material. Keep it as short as you possibly can while still keeping it representative.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<p>Columbia is actually my favorite application, by far.</p>
<p>I like the fact that there's only one long personal essay, and it's on any topic that you want. I like how there's a medium-lengthed Why Columbia question, and a very short response to the What Is Your Most Meaningful Activity.
I also like how they ask for recent books you've read, favorite movies, etc. (although I don't know the purpose of this).</p>
<p>I plan on sending a CD supplement of pictures of some of my artwork, to convey my level of seriousness and dedication... The only parts of the app where I'll have shown my involvement in art are having taken a Studio in Art course as an outside-of-school activity, and winning 2nd place in a schoolwide contest in 2005 for a piece of my artwork. Hopefully these two things, plus the slides I send in, will show that it's a big part of me.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I also like how they ask for recent books you've read, favorite movies, etc. (although I don't know the purpose of this).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I've heard it's because Columbia wants to determine whether you're a "cultured" person (or at least show demonstrable interest in becoming one). It's also a further means to gauge your interests, both in their focus and diversity.</p>
<p>Can I also add a short resume? It's not that I have a billion ECs, but a few of them need a little extra explanation (the theatre company I was in that disbanded, for instance). All I would plan on adding would be the resume (if it's okay), a DVD clip from my movie, and an excerpt from my book. Those things basically sum my desires and accomplishments up.</p>
<p>Yeah, I liked that it asked for your favorite books. That says a lot more about me than my SAT scores!</p>
<p>I think Columbia would be more than impressed that you've made a movie and written a book. You don't have to make any apologiae for the disbandment of your ECs. Most people's are rather embellished anyway (e.g. I "served on the literary magazine" at my HS by dropping some poems into a shoebox one day).</p>
<p>do not include a resume.</p>
<p>I actually did serve on the literary magazine... lol. I edited it/am editing it this year. And I did the same on another one outside of school, out of the local tutoring center.</p>
<p>But I WISH I could get people to just drop their poems in the dang box! It was so hard to get submissions we only put out one issue. :-P</p>
<p>Shraf, is it specifically asked by the school not to submit a resume? I wasn't clear on whether that was just your opinion or not.</p>
<p>i dont think they tell u not to include one but i remember being told when i was applying to not include one since everything they want to know and the amount of detail they want to know it in is already on the application....its the same as not adding an additional page for your ECs.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying! :) There is an interview, correct? That should be enough for me to explain certain things if they ask.</p>
<p>Yes there's an interview.</p>