<p>Princeton offers an “Optional Arts Form” for artistically talented students in a number of disciplines. When I apply later this year, I’m planning to submit a short selection from a work-in-progress novel and one or two of my best poems. My question is this: let’s say (hypothetically) that the people that read the writing samples were very impressed with them. Would it have a significant, “hook”-type effect on my application, or only a minor boost?</p>
<p>Thanks,
decrescendo</p>
<p>There are no one answer fits all situations answers on admission.</p>
<p>The degree that the Optional Arts Form helps a student depends on many factors including the level of talent exhibited by the student. Musical performances are evaluated by music faculty not by the admissions staff. I do not know if the Creative Writing faculty evaluates submitted writing samples. I would advise you to submit your writing sample early in the admission cycle so that there is sufficient time for your writing sample to be read and evaluated.</p>
<p>In some cases the help to be admitted can be significant. Anthony Roth Costanzo '04 is an award winning opera singer that started working with Michael Pratt, the conductor of the University Orchestra and director of the Program in Musical Performance, when he was 13. Pratt had told Costanzo that if he enrolled at Princeton, Pratt would build things around him, because even then he was an extraordinary talent. Each year Costanzo performed a major countertenor role in a campus production. He brought a level of vocal brilliance here that we hadnt seen in a long time and maybe never will see again. See: [Princeton</a> Alumni Weekly: A life in opera](<a href=“Issues | Princeton Alumni Weekly”>A life in opera | Princeton Alumni Weekly) </p>
<p>I would guess that Michael Pratt’s support of Anthony Roth Costanzo would had been similar in effect to a coach’s support of an athlete. If the applicant’s academics are good then the applicant is admitted.</p>
<p>How good is your novel? How good are your poems? Have you received any awards for your creative writing? Given the wide recognition of the excellence of the Creative Writing Program I expect that Princeton has many applicants that demonstrate outstanding creative writing skills.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Insofar as the submission of certain art materials bespeaks what sort of personality you have (by the kind of thing you submit), it can help admissions officers get to know more about you. It’s always useful to do anything that can add a bit of life to your application, or introduce an additional dimension to it.
So, whether or not a reviewer or academic appreciates your writing at Princeton, you probably can’t send a bad impression by sending it in. In that way, it is surely possible that it can have “a significant effect”?</p>
<p>Do I know if these arts supplements are heavily weighed or evaluated by the creative writing faculty? No–but I do know that three youngARTS alums were accepted this year and three from last year currently attend. My guess is that it absolutely can make a difference (if you’re good).</p>