I am applying to colleges with a pre-med emphasis and have taken numerous AP courses and whatever (will have taken 11 APs by senior year, including AP Bio / AP Physics 1 / AP BC Calc / APES). I also have several science-related ECs and subject tests, so I feel like I have that front covered.
However, I am also pretty artistic and run my own online art business and have won several awards at art contests (won an award at the Johns Hopkins Art Competition and have had pieces featured in galleries). I’ve always been artistically gifted, so its been a life-long characteristic thing about me.
I’m not intending at all to pursue either a major or a minor in the arts (I’ll continue as a hobby but that’s it), so I’m wondering if it would be random to submit an art portfolio. Would it give me a nice twist with the science/art combo or would it come across as “I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m just throwing whatever I can find into my application”?
You should submit a portfolio if you have won prizes. It will ad another dimension to your app. The way colleges ask for art submissions runs the gamut, so you will need to individually check each college’s website.
Agree with above. The general rule is that your work should be of a very high quality to make an art supplement helpful to an application – with winning awards and being featured in galleries it sounds like your artwork is worthy of a supplement. Check with the schools you apply to and see if they accept supplements and, if so, how the supplement should be formatted and sent in.
Definitely include your portfolio. It adds dimension and will help you stand out from the other science kids.
Agree with all of the above. Your work appears to be good enough to stand out, and adds a dimension to you as an applicant.
Another vote for including it. My science-y son included an art portfolio to one of his reach schools…ended up being hs only reach acceptance! His art also tied in nicely with his essay. I think it made all the difference.
Ask your art teacher to review it to see if it gets the “WOW” response before submitting it to school. Adcom does not want to review more materials than needed. It may actually have an adverse effect if one sends in something just a little bit above average.
Thanks for all the advice guys. I’ll definitely check with my art teacher on what pieces to submit and not submit.
My son submitted the arts supplement but in music. He wants to major in music while on pre-med track and stated so in his essays. I believe his music supplement made a significant difference, but probably more so as the supplement was directly related to his major. Although in your case the arts supplement is not related to your major, I’d still highly recommend submitting it, as long as it’s at a very high level of talent, as having such talent is highly valued in medical field nowadays.
Check on the schools themselves. At one school we visited (Denver) we were told that unless my daughter was planning to major in art - there was no point in submitting it which I found odd
It varies school to school. Some schools are more inclusive about the art supplement than others - if it’s a major EC of yours, they’d like to see what you spend your time on. Some schools only want you to submit if you’re pre-professional or want to major in art. I would go ahead and ask. Another clue is if they charge for you to submit a portfolio - the ones that are free tend to be the “yeah, sure, let us get to know you” type.
My D submitted an art portfolio to the LACs she applied to where it was encouraged. She took AP Studio Art and had shown in several student shows but didn’t really do the juried/competition thing. So I don’t know that you have to win big awards. Consult your art teacher and the schools you’re looking at.