<p>For anyone submitting supplementary material or did, are you handing in your form VIA online? or everything through the mail? I'm a little confused...if I had a letter of recommendation (not teacher, it would be supplementary), as well as a music CD, how would I send those? (CD of course through mail, but would I scan in the letter? or send it with my CD, or what..)</p>
<p>I sent all my supplements by mail.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that supplementary material should not be sent to Columbia. On the website it says they "strongly discourage" it. I wanted to send additional recommendations as well, but I don't think I'm going to because I don't want to hurt my chances by not following their directions.</p>
<p>that's strange. i thought all ivy leagues were interested in supplementary materials to boost one's image.</p>
<p>i think they just discourage students to send in anything thats typical. Like hearing the Brown admissions lady talk, she emphasized that unless you were EXCEPTIONALLY talented in music or theatre or whatnot, you should not send in the tape..it would be a negative aspect for you.</p>
<p>well how would you know whats exceptional to them, unless you don't send it in?</p>
<p>For this year, I am going to be sending in a supplementary rec by mail from the associate dean of engineering at Columbia as well as a music CD...all by mail. So I mean, it's not that it's a bad thing to do it, but just make sure it can only help you...</p>
<p>john I dunno if you should send it...</p>
<p>I don't think I'll send mine.</p>
<p>Mostly because it's so generic and printed out from that teamwork-survey we took at the end of the summer =p</p>
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<blockquote> <p>how would you know whats exceptional to them</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Some judgment is called for here. Your music teacher, art teacher, etc. may be one source of advice on whether your something like a performance CD or art slides would be a good idea to submit. At the same time, often these types of people have little knowledge of Ivy admissions.</p>
<p>One indicator may be having achieved significant recognition or won competitions at the state or national level. Or, if you have a university nearby, see if you can get an opinion from a prof in an appropriate area. The main think you want to avoid is submitting an item that ends up getting a negative review or is seen as a waste of time by the reviewer.</p>
<p>Printed items are probably a bit easier to handle in that they can be scanned in a few seconds and either ignored or studied in more detail. Items that require special viewing/listening equipment or need to be reviewed by an expert are more inconvenient, and hence should be of high quality.</p>
<p>If you are submitting an unusual supplemental item, you may want to tie it into your application in some way. I.e., if you are applying as a potential econ major and are submitting a voice tape, it would probably be a good idea to communicate your interest in participating in an a capella group or other voice-related activity. Be specific about your interest to show you have done your homework. Elite colleges DO like versatile students, and they like applicants who can contribute to multiple areas of life on campus.</p>