<p>Is it worth the hassle to submit an arts supplement if someone is very involved in the visual arts but will not be majoring in them in college?</p>
<p>the process seems confusing, and I wonder about an application being kicked into a different pool where the applicant would be in competition with people who have professionally polished supplements--and therefore would be hurt rather than helped by supplying the supplement.</p>
<p>It depends on the school, and how the supplement is judged.</p>
<p>I'm assuming you're talking about sending a fine arts supplement to a research U or LAC, not a specialized art school. </p>
<p>You definitely do not have to plan to be a fine arts major to send a fine arts supplement, but you should be quite accomplished. The area I'm familiar with is music, but I think the basic rules apply across the fine arts spectrum. With music, the general recommendation is that only very accomplished musicians -- conservatory or near-conservatory level -- who plan to continue playing at college should send supplements. </p>
<p>When a student sends a supplement, the admissions officers do not evaluate it themselves. Assuming the applicant gets past the requisite threshold with respect to grades, curriculum, and test scores, the admissions committee forwards the supplement to the appropriate department for a ranking. Mediocre supplements don't help an applicant's cause, and word is they can actually hurt it. If in doubt, can your son or daughter speak with a teacher or mentor to help decide whether to put a supplement together? If s/he decides against sending a supplement, it's definitely worthwhile to list fine arts activities in a resume.</p>
<p>Thank you! That is a rather chilling thought. My daughter is a talented photographer and visual artist, although she has had little training. Her profile is otherwise decidedly academic (and very impressive). I've been trying to convince her that she can evaluate the schools that accept her by the excellence and availability of the arts program. </p>
<p>That she could be hurt rather than helped by submitting a not-professionally polished portfolio is giving me serious pause.</p>
<p>I think it varies greatly from school to school. You should ask the admissions office what they do with them and how they are evaluated.</p>
<p>I agree with singersmom07, find out from the school because schools seem to be different. One school that older D applied to said don't bother to send in a music cd unless you are conservatory good; another school said, "Send in a cd if you really like to play an instrument. We want to know everything about you."</p>
<p>liz -- Singersmom is correct. Colleges differ in their approaches. My son applied to a range of selective mid-sized research universities, Ivies and non-Ivies, and the approach I outlined applied at those schools. He did apply to one large public university that accepted no music supplements at all. And the approach may differ at other schools. A question to admissions is never a bad idea. But I'm confident in saying that for highly selective schools that send an applicant's supplement to the relevant department for a review, an evaluation that the work isn't exceptional won't help.</p>
<p>It's best to consult each admissions office to determine each school's policy. For all the colleges, both LACs & universities, that my son was interested in he was told that his portfolio would either be a positive factor, if viewed favorably by the art department, or it would be a non-factor.</p>
<p>His purpose in submitting an art portfolio was to demonstrate non-academic interests. His college counselor also felt that it would be a way to set his application apart from others. His transcript & test scores were very strong. In his application he did not indicate a desire to major in art.</p>
<p>Putting together a portfolio is both labor-intensive & time-consuming. I suggest having someone look at your child's work & give you feedback so that you & your child can decide whether it's worth the effort.</p>
<p>Feel free to private message me if you'd like to know which schools my son applied to & where he's a frosh. I'd also be happy to answer any other questions you might have.</p>
<p>On the app where it asks you to expand on one of your hobbies, my daughter wrote about her music composition. During her interview, she was clear that she wanted to major in the sciences, but she brought her "supplement" with her anyway, which consisted of a CD of several pieces of her work.</p>
<p>They listened to it and enjoyed it, and the extra 5 minutes spent chatting about it was good for overall relaxation and positive vibes during the interview.</p>
<p>I would agree that it's good to ask the specific school whether or not they're interested, and if there's no interview you run the risk that the purpose of supplement could be misinterpreted. But during an interview, never underestimate the power of good karma.</p>
<p>I think an arts-type supplement was a big help to my daughter in college admissions (in her case, a dance supplement) -- but only because the art was a huge part of her life and a passion growing up. She submitted a dance resume & a very short DVD of her choreography to the colleges that would accept supplemental material, including to at least one very competitive school that did not even have a dance department. </p>
<p>I don't think it would have made sense if the art wasn't a big part of expressing who she was.</p>
<p>Same as calmom's D, art was my D's passion (I'm not the one to judge whether she is good at it or not :)), so she chose to submit a portfolio. D checked each LACs policies on art supplement format; some required prints, some wanted a CD with images. It was a lot of work to put together those portfolios, so I pitched in my manual labor of cropping pictures and applying double-sticky tape to their backs :) I do not think the art supplement hurt her a bit in her case. She even won an art scolarship at one of the schools accepting her by (it did require a bit more than a supplement; D chose not to pursue art as a major and picked a different school in the end). I gather that she still uses Photoshop a lot.</p>
<p>liz7, I'm with the strong yes crowd. Art -- or music or dance -- is a valid extracurricular and an arts package can add a significant positive to an otherwise less compelling application. </p>
<p>Colleges need artists -- and musicians and dancers and actors -- just as they need quarterbacks and the fact that your daughter is an artist who may pursue another unrelated area of study is acutally a plus for her. This is especially true at small and medium sized colleges where multi-faceted students are highly valued, but many selective colleges welcome an arts package as part of an application. </p>
<p>The portfolio does need to be polished, however. It will be reviewed by people with high aesthetic standards and presentation is importantant. Since your daughter is a photographer she should have no problem with this, but if she's going to do it she should resolve to spend quality time on putting together a careful, thoughtful and artistic package.</p>
<p>Many colleges have specific instructions on their websites about how to submit the portfolio. I favor the idea of an entire arts package as it helps to provide a three-dimensional image of the applier. </p>
<p>The package could include:
The slide portfolio (some colleges allow CDs but slides are still more common)</p>
<p>A brief artist's statement</p>
<p>A supplementary recommendation from an instructor or mentor</p>
<p>A resume that lists classes, awards, accomplishments, related travel opportunities</p>
<p>An essay on "my favorite EC" (which is of course art!)</p>
<p>Selective (one or two maximum) media articles on the student's accomplishments.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone. </p>
<p>My first takeaway--this is a lot of work!</p>
<p>And--if it important to the applicant, then it should matter to the schools.</p>
<p>I was so hoping we were almost done. oh well.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with the comments that this is individual to each school. My son is very involved in photography and is submitting an art supplement. That said, he contacted each school on his list about it. Some did not want it at all if he wasn't planning on being an art major, some would accept it but only in a CD format, some would accept it but only in a print format, and some did not want him to use the common app art supplement form (but the school's own art supplement form). Whew. It was a lot of work just to figure it all out, much less get it together in the varying formats. We don't know if it will help with admissions yet, but it's such a part of who he is, we figured it makes sense to submit it if they'll look at it.</p>
<p>To the OP: One thing that will ease the stress should your D decide to send in a supplement is this: Include a pre-paid postcard in the supplemental materials that you send to the school (s). When her package is received in the Admissions Office, they can drop the return postcard in the mail to your D. She will then know they received her package. It worked like a charm for my D last year and we did it with anything that we sent "snail mail" to an Admissions Office.</p>
<p>I also agree that each school is different and some schools like to have the arts supplements even before the regular admissions deadline, thinking Williams here, so they can pass it along to the appropriate faculty members for review. It is important to look at the submission guidelines for each school.</p>
<p>My D submitted an arts package that contained two music CDs, two resumes and two different recommendation letters (one set for voice, one set for instrument). She, too, did not market herself as a music major, but she has spent so much time involved in music, that it seemed the obvious thing to do. It was A LOT of extra work, but she did beautifully in admissions and I am convinced that it was a boost to her overall chances.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>