<p>i think i have a lot of good and unique ec’s to do with filmmaking. i haven’t ever submitted my work to any contests or anything though. i just do it cuz i love to do it, not really for awards per se. but will that hurt me majorly? a lot of people have said my work is really good and i think i could have won awards if i had actually submitted it to various film fests and stuff, but i hadn’t even been planning to apply to the ivies until this year so i wasn’t really concerned with awards. </p>
<p>is not winning any national awards a big detriment to me even if my ec’s show long-term passion and dedication?</p>
<p>Yale admits many students who have won national awards. Yale also admits many students who have not won national awards. It is a misconception that students have to have recognition at a national level in order to get into a top school. </p>
<p>If Yale allows you to submit a sample of your film work as a fine arts supplement, I would do that.</p>
<p>that’s good to know. i might submit a supplement but…i mean i think my stuff is good and several people have agreed but they recommend only sending stuff that is like incredibly and undeniably amazing, so i’m not sure if i want to take the chance of them not liking it. :-/</p>
<p>You indicated in your OP that you believed that if you had entered competitions, you could have won awards. That is why I suggested submitting a supplement. Maybe you could ask a professional to give you an objective opinion on the merit of your work, and decide from there whether to submit it to Yale.</p>
<p>yeah i think i could have won awards for my full-length stuff. but i can’t submit that to yale cuz it’s too long. i’ve done a couple shorter films but i don’t know if they’re AMAZING enough to submit. :-/ i might try to get a professional’s opinion though; thanks!</p>
<p>Yeah, there are a lot of intangibles in your application. Essays, teacher recs, etc. If it helps a boy from my school got into Yale last year without having a single national award, any hook, or any national-level extracurriculars (not to mention five AP classes, out of like nine offered. He gives me hope, because I DO have national awards and a far tougher courseload.) High scores are very important, though, especially when you don’t have awards to back it up. Will your counselor check the “most rigorous” courseload box, do you think? That’ll make a difference too. </p>
<p>I think you could’ve just posted one thread for this concern, though, instead of posting it in every Ivy League school’s forum.</p>
<p>Here is how I view it. At a school like Yale, if you dont have any major state or national awards, you are gonna be a disadvantage as most the students who apply have some big awards. So, while having no national award is not a guarenteed rejection letter, you better have some hook or outstanding aspect of your application that will make up for your dearth of awards.</p>
<p>@ tres elefantes, the reason i posted it in various forums is cuz i wanted to see what different people would say. and i’ve actually gotten different responses.</p>
<p>like on here rtgrove says “At a school like Yale, if you dont have any major state or national awards, you are gonna be a disadvantage as most the students who apply have some big awards. So, while having no national award is not a guarenteed rejection letter, you better have some hook or outstanding aspect of your application that will make up for your dearth of awards.”</p>
<p>on the princeton thread, silverturtle says “Major awards are most important for international applicants, who need to distinguish themselves.”</p>
<p>on the brown thread, “People get into Brown without having won a single national, local or schoolwide award.”</p>
<p>cornell: “not at all.”</p>
<p>so i don’t really know who is right. :-/ it seems most people are saying that awards aren’t a big deal, but then some seem to think otherwise.</p>
<p>also, tres, i’m not sure what my counselor will check. i will have taken 5 ap’s out of about 10 (i think) offered. (does ap spanish count as an ap since you can only take it after completing spanish 4? and does ap calc ab/bc count as one class or two?) but you said your friend got in with a similar courseload, so…??</p>
<p>Yes, both count as an AP. And if you take Calc AB and BC in sequence, I think they’d count as different AP classes, although I don’t think the AB subscore on the BC test is considered different.</p>
<p>Well, this boy got in with a similar courseload, BUT he had a 35 on his ACT. Other than that, he was a white boy from an average school in Wisconsin, had no alumni relations, was not a recruited athlete, no awards above local level (not even NMSF or AP Scholar with Distinction), etc. Basically he had no hook. He did have strong essays and an excellent class rank (top 1%–he took honors classes, which are weighted the same as AP’s at my school but are considerably easier). So yeah. Gives me hope. </p>
<p>I guess all these different responses show you people’s differing opinions on big awards. I personally don’t believe they are necessary, but I do think they’re helpful (obviously). Can someone post a link to the forum where they talked about the percentage of admitted Harvard students with a national award? It was the minority of students who had such an award, but I can’t pinpoint the exact percentage.</p>
<p>and it’s good to know that some people do get in without fitting the “perfect ivy league applicant” bill. </p>
<p>do awards from middle school count for anything? i won a fairly big award and my writing was published in the newspaper in 8th grade. probably doesn’t count, but i just wanna make sure. :P</p>
<p>^
Nope. Although I have heard applicants putting in 8th grade achievement from national competition, like Scripps and the National Geography Bee.</p>
<p>In any case. You will be sending in your application (if you haven’t already). What’s the use of worrying about it? Live and let be.</p>
<p>yeah, i know. there’s nothing i can do about it now. just wondering if it’d decrease my chances a ton so i can keep a realistic perspective about it all, and i guess the answer isn’t really clear since people have varying opinions.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Awards, in my opinion do play a role in the admissions process of ivy league schools, but arent critical. Silverturtle knows much more about the admissions process than I do. Listen to what he says as he is probably right.</p>
<p>Wow, you sound JUST like me. Filmmaking is my main EC, too, but I really don’t know if I should send in supplements because I don’t know if they’re good enough, especially when colleges like Yale SPECIFY ‘don’t send unless you’ve won the oscar/nobel prize for it’ etc. May I ask what kind of films you make, if its okay?</p>
<p>In answer to your question, I think it all boils down to if your movies can be sent as a supplement. I think if they see them, and love them, and acknowledge your potential, not winning awards won’t be a significant disadvantage.</p>
<p>I’d suggest sending in your films to demonstrate that you have excelled in a field that you’re passionate about. To me that’s what awards are for (besides for standardization purposes among the very top applicants.)</p>
<p>@meghnasridhar: i’ve made 2 feature length films and several shorts (but i don’t know if the shorts are all that great), so i’m really not sure about sending in a supplement. cuz i agree, yale makes it sound like they really would rather NOT get a supplement and only will tolerate them if they are the best thing they’ve ever seen. :P</p>
<p>Feature length films? Wow. That’s amazing, did you pull it off by yourself or with some organization/ film program etc? I think if you love one of your feature lengths you should maybe make a trailer of it and send them? I feel so inadequate now, all I have is advertisment/ motivational film type shorts with no actors. D:</p>
<p>So I was thinking about your case, and then I thought about a cousin of mine who got into Princeton with average stats (well avg for CC/ an Ivy applicant, lol) but the most BRILLIANT short stories I’ve ever read. I think if an arts supplement can add strength to your app, send it in!</p>
just wondering if it’d decrease my chances a ton so i can keep a realistic perspective about it all, and i guess the answer isn’t really clear since people have varying opinions.</p>