One of my hobbies is to create languages (you know, like Tolkien), and I’m writing up a short supplement on one of them.
Is it possible to submit something like that in my applications? It’s not exactly traditional art, but it’s important to me, and I’d like to share it.
I think that’s cool. Fit it in somewhere. It shows writing/language talent and a new way of thinking.
Do you expect the admissions office to send it to the Department of Linguistics or the Art Department for review?
Which colleges are you thinking about applying to?
I’m being careful not to make it too technical for a non-linguist to understand, but I’m not sure who would read it.
I’m applying to colleges where I can study physics and linguistics, and get financial aid as an international student, so places like MIT or UChicago, to name two. I’m still doing the research, of course.
MIT is probably okay, but I’m not too sure about UChicago for that. They’re sorta serious.
Doesn’t UChicago have sort of funky essay topics? One on their website is “What’s so odd about odd numbers?” I think they’d appreciate unique things.
Since when?
Since always? They showed straight faces when I looked at Pritzker a long time ago. More recently, the students I’ve seen coming back from there look like they’ve had the life beat out of them.
Well, Chicago has always been known as the school where fun goes to die. However, I would not categorize the admissions process as overly serious based upon their essay prompts in the past. YMMV, and that’s fine. Now whether including a supplement on a constructed language is advisable, I’m not sure OP will get a lot of credit for it.
Well, it’s like a lot of these “arts supplements” and maybe a bit more intensively so. At the tip-top universities, you wouldn’t want to submit one unless your work was “truly exceptional”, to borrow a phrase I think one of them uses. You need to be bright enough and experienced enough to have a good understanding of where your talent really falls in the big picture.
Submitting work that your art teacher told you was “good” simply doesn’t cut it and can work against you.
I’m not a linguistics specialist, but I do dabble in a number of disparate languages and love philology. This is the kind of thing that someone could look at and instantly see the genius in…or hate. So, it’s a risk. It could go both ways.
As you go down the “hill” from the “tip-top” places, the risk goes down and the benefits of possibly being unique and memorable go up. At MIT, they might like it because of the symbol processing significance.
To be blunt, have you shown your work to linguists or people who can objectively critique your level of creativity? If not, then be wary of how much you focus on it. You said it’s very meaningful to you – that’s great. But unless an outside verification of its quality or depth, it may come across as simply a unique hobby.
Let’s say someone else really is into making quilts. Loves it and is devoted to it. But has no connection with quilt makers elsewhere, never develops his talent – frankly it’s an isolated hobby. What value would a college give to that person? How different is your hobby of creating languages any different? Have you studied linguistics? Attended conferences? Researched or written about it?