<p>Please accept my apologies. I was not talking about you in particular. I did not realize you did all that. Your posts did not indicate that. I was not even referring to you. Clearly you have a passion that has been developed over years and talent. I thought you just asked generally about painting and sculpture. I was talking generally about what I have read these selective schools are looking for in terms of these extra curriculars. Here is what I know about Arts at Princeton and I hope it sheds perspective.
Princeton has this new center for the creative and performing arts. They want to make themselves an artistic presence on campus. What I have read is that they want to attract some of the best artists in the country in ALL mediums to come to Princeton. What they are looking for according to their own articles is to attract exceptional students in the arts who normally might choose to go to another highly selective school that offers more in the arts. They built this center, but what needs to propell it they realize is some exceptionally artistic students. According to their own articles, they can teach courses in these fields, any many can learn, but the students who really excell are the ones who have an inate talent that can not be taught. So they are looking for very developed artists in the different fields.
I was not talking about you at all. What I was talking about is a student who might have taken just one photography course in the junior year and put together a portfolio, and might wonder if that was a hook. In that case a school like Princeton would see that applicant might be very talented and might come and take the photography courses, but it might be a minor hook. A more important hook might be someone like yourself you has developed the interest and passion over time, and show a clear passion and talent for it</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification, and I'm sorry I overreacted. It makes sense that they'd want someone who would commit to continuing the activity at Princeton, and not just a random student who happens to take decent pictures. I'm sorry I was unclear about that in my previous posts. :)</p>
<p>cameliasinensis, you don't really need a faculty sponsor. I'm in a similar situation, except they wouldn't let me into photography at school for ALL of highschool, so I kind of did my own thing.</p>
<p>I outsource for a darkroom as well, is there a youth programs director at yours?
That's who I got to write my reccomendation. She knows my work because I bug her all the time for an opinion on print contrast and whatnot :-p You can also just grab a random art teacher who vagely knows you and have them 'sponsor' you. </p>
<p>I also agree that awards are not the best indication of passion, and sometimes it doesn't happen over a long period of time. Not that I'm applying to Ivy league schools, but for me, I didn't have the resources (IE the money) to really take off in photography until this summer. IE: I didn't know how to PRINT or develop film until this summer, but now I'm making museum quality prints, just sold to one of the biggest collectors in the art world, and have a duet show with a well-regarded female photographer. </p>
<p>Do I have any awards on my belt? Nope. I'm not a yearbook photo editor, or on the school newspaper (I tried for both, and regularly contribute to the newspaper and other school resources, but nothing major) But I have been photographing punk shows since age 14, so... sometimes it's all what you have available to you in your current enviroment.</p>
<p>Haha, so much for art school, maybe I should have applied to Princeton and fulfilled my parents dreams..</p>
<p>cameliasenensis</p>
<p>She was admitted ED.
On another topic upon which you posted, she detested school and loves learning.
Best of luck!</p>
<p>grahamezzy,</p>
<p>Your story is sweet! I wish that happened to me. I make documentaries and narrative films. Writing, directing, acting.</p>
<p>What company took your film? Do you have it hosted on a site?</p>
<p>DirectorsCut:
Thanks. Like I said though, it had more to do with luck than anything else. My film was a documentary on windsurfing (my sport, passion, and life). I was in Spain competing in a world cup when I met an Italian film guy in a coffee shop. We started talking, the subject shifted to films, and soon I was telling him about mine. The next week, we met in the lobby of a hotel and I showed my movie to him on my laptop (looking back, it seems more reminiscent of a drug deal than a film proposal). He liked it and wanted it. I basically gave it to him. At the time, I figured that the exposure was all that I wanted. To be honest though, the pleasure that I got from making it was all that I needed. Anyways, my bargaining skills have improved since then ;). The film is not on a site. I also licensed a portion of it to a German company called Tonix for an upcoming compilation project they’re doing. </p>
<p>Do you have any projects hosted online? What is your favorite aspect of film? Any interesting anecdotes?</p>
<p>no.....................................way.........dude</p>
<p>you went to windsurfing world cups?????</p>
<p>dang it! and you are applying to 90% of schools i am applying to....:(</p>
<p>i make documentaries and narrative films too....</p>
<p>that's wierd...why aren't you applying to yale?</p>
<p>gqunit,grahmezzy</p>
<p>how did you guys show your filmmaking activities in the application?</p>
<p>I assume you are both seniors. I'm a junior, interested in Yale, Columbia, P-ton, USC, UCLA, Cal and some small schools</p>
<p>grahmezzy,
hmm favorite films...definitely New Hollywood, Old Japansese, and French New Wave (and later influences) in general.
Kubrick, Scorsese, Coppola, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Welles, Chaplin, Woody Allen, Fellini, De Sica, Godard, Trufautt, Tarantino as directors.
Too many films to list too.</p>
<p>ur story is awesome. I just do some local film fests, but there is a local arthouse theater that screens a lot of my films</p>
<p>It is true that some recognition would help and they do look for you to show leadership and initiative - which you already have to some extent. But unless you told them the "whole story" through an essay, they aren't going to know...? (Did you?) It just seems to me that photography is somewhat popular and there are a lot of good photographers, and some of them probably have been gaining recognition and doing shows. </p>
<p>Luckily you can update your application with awards won or shows or anything else you do for the next few months. Also after the application period, there are scholarship contests for photography. Not a bad idea to look into. I like your portfolio.</p>
<p>directorscut,
i put down all the filmmaking things i did on a separate Additional information page, and my personal statement is about filmmaking, and I asked all my teachers to accentuate my filmmaking abilities and how I integrate filmmaking into my school life and how I use it as community service, etc.
AND i gave them a 10 minute reel of my best film. basically, my app screams "I AM A FILMMAKER!!!!"</p>
<p>gqunit,</p>
<p>wow I was looking at your post in the Princeton ED thread and I cannot believe you got deferred. I'm asian too and you have higher SAT, similar GPA, and a lot more ECs.</p>
<p>Oh and btw, how are you a nationally recognized filmmaker :)?</p>
<p>directorscut,</p>
<p>I do few nationwide and regional film festivals for high school / college kids. I was able to get a screening at a theatre in San Diego. But other than that, not much success here, few honorable mentions...</p>
<p>I won national history documentary contests. One documentary I made is now being used for anti-war, peace, hippie- purposes by multiple national organizations, such as Mothers for Peace, Nuclear Arms Control Committee, etc.</p>
<p>Ever heard of IB (The arch-nemesis of AP)? The organization actually use/integrate my films/documentaries for IB history, IB science, IB english curriculum (for ex. during nationwide IB conferences, my films are shown for variety of purposes, to show other schools in the country how to conduct historical research, how to integrate film study into english courses, etc. etc.) If your school does any IB subjects then at least one teacher should know my name, as long as he or she goes to the IB conferences.</p>
<p>etc. etc. i have more. if you are that bored pm me to give you a complete list.</p>
<p>i got defered becuz me no speak no engrish, can't lead, i am an azn, and my grades are just a bit low.</p>
<p>btw. I am very sorry to whoever started this thread cuz i think directorscut, me, and the windsurfer dude has stolen your thread.</p>
<p>Don't worry about it -- I think my questions were answered a while back anyway.</p>
<p>cameliasinensis,</p>
<p>I know pretty much nothing about photography, but I just wanted to say that I thought your pictures are beautiful! I love your portfolio. And I can understand your passion for photography--it's like me and my writing. Anyway, some really fantastic stuff you have there!</p>
<p>^ Aw, thank you! :)</p>
<p>camelia -- as to your question about how to distinguish yourself in photography, there are several photography contests that you can enter. My son has won some regional ones (ATPI) and national/international ones (PIEA); alas, although he mentioned them in his app, he chose not to submit an art supplement. He applied as an engineering major. You have a very nice portfolio. He has some of his photos on flickr also if you're interested -- <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkoch%5B/url%5D">www.flickr.com/photos/mkoch</a>.</p>
<p>I dont think Princeton is where you want to be if you are in visual arts- try RISDI or somewhere else but Princeton nope. Poor choice.</p>
<p>blackeyedsusan: Thanks for the link; your son has some really good pictures. :) I sort of wish I'd known about the obsession with "awards" earlier in the process, because none of those competitions are advertised around here at all, and I had no idea it was somehow expected. Anyway, it's too late for me to enter any competitions now, so I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. </p>
<p>hedoya: I love art, but I don't want a degree in it... that's why I didn't apply to RISD or any other art schools. I'm one of those annoyingly well-rounded people with many interests but no real defining passion, which is why a liberal arts education appeals to me so much. (It's also why I didn't want to return to Europe, where my family is from, for university. I can't make those decisions yet! :eek:)</p>