To apply as a Creative Writing major at CMU, do I need a writing portfolio?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
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<p>All I can find is, "Students who want to major in creative writing are encouraged to share a writing portfolio."</p>

<p>Will not submitting one hurt my chances severely? I have maybe two pieces that I could submit, but that doesn't constitute a portfolio.</p>

<p>If one is necessary, how many pieces should be included?</p>

2

<p>Hi, junior CW major here, feel free to PM with questions. :)</p>

<p>I’d recommend sending in a portfolio, provided you feel that your work is polished enough that it would not detract from your application. Don’t feel obligated to submit a portfolio just for the sake of submitting one, but if you like the couple of pieces you have, it’s okay to submit just two or so. (I’d recommend no more than two or three, actually – given each professor already has a workshop class with a CRAP ton of work being submitted each week, they’ll likely only give freshman portfolios a brief glance-over.)</p>

<p>They don’t usually provide any clear information on where or how to submit a portfolio (the only one I’ve ever found is <a href=“mailto:cw-program@andrew.cmu.edu”>cw-program@andrew.cmu.edu</a>), but if you don’t get a response from that email, Jim Daniels has accepted freshmen portfolios in the past. His email is <a href=“mailto:jd6s@andrew.cmu.edu”>jd6s@andrew.cmu.edu</a> - he is the director of the undergrad CW department and he is a pretty cool dude. I’d email him to ask whether he wants you to submit your portfolio directly to him or to someone else like Yona or Hilary.</p>

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<p>I had the same question, and I’m quite happy that they replied pretty quickly! I just need to work on some poems then submit the whole thing for admission :)</p>

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<p>Yona emailed me back and they want the portfolio by email. This is what they told me:</p>

<p>Subject heading: Prospective student portfolio</p>

<p>Submit 1 or 2 categories</p>

<p>Fiction-1 story
Poems-5-7
1 personal essay or creative nonfiction</p>

<p>Other info they want in the email includes:</p>

<p>Favorite authors
Creative interests
Extracurricular activities
Application status</p>