<p>I wasn’t exactly sure on which board to ask this, so I chose Yale’s board as it is said to be one of the more “art-focused” Ivy League universities.</p>
<p>Anyway, I am currently a junior (international student) and as I am slowly preparing for my application to a number of USA universities next year, this question came up on my part.</p>
<p>My involvement with theater is, by far, my most important extracurricular activity as I have been continuously involved with it for the past 10 years. I certainly have MANY things to write about my acting experiences in my college applications, especially regarding my managing to go on acting albeit my losing my right arm in a terrible car accident I had in the 3th grade. However, what I was wondering, is whether my not having any related awards diminishes this extra-curricular activity’s importance. Its not that I’ve not been the winner in any such competitions, its that I do not believe that theater productions / actors / drama artists are meant to be competitive with one another in the first place. </p>
<p>Well, any comments? Thank you very much in advance.</p>
<p>There’s not necessarily a need for any awards. Just show passion and determination in what you do! Basically, do something you love, do it well and for a long time…</p>
<p>FrenchieGirl: Thank you very much for your encouraging comment.</p>
<p>iamthesunking: To be frank, I cannot discern whether you are joking or not. I can see why such a subject could work very well in an essay, but I assume you’re jokingly stretching the matter when you say that its better than native American and legacy combined, right?</p>
<p>nah, im serious. you overcame a serious adversity and pursued drama, which generally requires arms. and you excel overall, assuming your academic accomplishments are impressive. it is something that only a extraordinary person can overcome.</p>
<p>obviously, you would rather have arms, but not having an arm helps.</p>
<p>wow, this is offensive. im sorry. but this is a huge hook, better than being legacy athlete native american. if your academics are in order, you’re in.</p>
<p>Smacking, don’t take offense to iamthesunking. Yeah, he’s being offensive, but you have the right to know that although you’ve faced this disadvantage throughout your life, it could help you out in this process.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that having lost an arm is equal to being a Native American legacy - however, it will certainly impress the adcoms that you pursued an EC like drama and excelled in it given your disability. You should be very proud of your achievements to date - I think Yale will be quite impressed too. Guaranteed admission? No. Almost guaranteed admission? No. Significantly improved chance? Yes.</p>
<p>I’m going to disagree a bit about the awards–awards help, because the college can see that somebody else has judged your abilities positively. While selective schools are interested in people who are devoted to their passion, they particularly want people who are very, very good at what they are passionate about. So how will you show that you are a good actor? You can certainly show that you were cast in numerous productions–if those are competitive, make sure it’s clear. Did you have lead roles? Are there reviews of your performances, maybe?</p>