<p>do you think it's a good idea to send some of my poems as supplementary material? The ones I would send have won a bunch of awards but I'm just afraid that by sending them I open myself up to potential criticism if the admissions officers don't like them and/or don't understand them. I'm applying to schools such as Brown, Yale, Northwestern, Upenn, Dartmouth etc. Tell me what you think.</p>
<p>If you are applying as an English major to a creative writing program then the poetry might be of value. If you are looking to major in say Engineering then not so much.</p>
<p>send one. but not more than one</p>
<p>I wouldn't send any. Put the awards that you have won and perhaps write an essay about your writing experiences. The risk you take in sending the actual poems is that someone totally unfamiliar with that type of work will more than likely look them over and - probably - will be underwhelmed. If they are not trained to pick up on the quality of poetic work, how would this help you? </p>
<p>If you are asked to show your work to someone from the English dept., that is a different situation and by all means do so.</p>