All About the Arts Supplement

If you’ve been dancing since you could walk or you’ve toured the country with your choir group, you’re probably wondering how to convey your talent and success to colleges beyond the limited space in the Common App. Luckily, many colleges have an option for students to upload an arts supplement.

Your submission could be a reel of your theater performances, a portfolio of your artwork, or audio recordings of your piano recitals. Use our guide to help navigate how to take advantage of an arts supplement in the college application process.

What Constitutes an Arts Supplement?

The arts supplement, sometimes known as the “arts portfolio” or an “additional arts form,” is a chance for students who’ve excelled in a creative or performance art, such as visual art, music, dance, theater, architecture, and creative writing, to submit an organized sample of their work. Colleges want their classes to be made up of students with a wide variety of interests and talents. The optional arts supplement, which is evaluated by professors in the relevant department, helps admissions officers get a sense of an applicant’s talent, alongside reading about it on paper.

The work on display in your arts supplement should reflect the same style of art you have passionately pursued throughout high school, as admissions officers appreciate continuity in the submissions. If you’re a hip-hop dancer, don’t submit six clips of hip-hop dance and one clip of you in a ballet from middle school. Stick to samples that you’ve created in high school—preferably in the last couple of years, since that should be your best work and reflect your current ability.

Along with the files containing your work, your arts supplement should also present any recognitions you’ve received, such as magazines where your work has been published, theater festivals where you’ve performed, and of course, awards you’ve won. You might also include a recommendation from the person who knows your work the best—your drama teacher or your piano instructor, for example.

Spend time compiling your best material and making a video or cover letter introducing your work to the college. Keep in mind that admissions officers have a lot of applications to go through. Don’t share long excerpts audio or video (in the ten-minute range), or ten pages of writing. Admissions officers will not have time to go through them all.

Your arts supplement acts as proof of your talent and reflects your dedication and commitment toward a field you are passionate about. If it can capture your abilities, you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity.

When Should You Submit an Arts Supplement?

• If you’re planning to major in the subject. If you’ve selected Music, Theater, Visual Art, Film, Dance, etc. as your major in your college application, submitting an arts supplement can help professors and admissions officers gain an idea of your work, and how well you’d fit into the program.
• If your counselor or instructor encourages you. If you’re unsure whether the arts supplement option is for you, you could ask your high school college counselor or the instructor who knows your work best. This also gives you another set of eyes to take a look and offer feedback, and help choose which samples to submit. Having a professional verify and affirm your talent can be a great boost for your confidence.
• If you attended an arts intensive high school. If you’ve gone to a high school which is known for its strong visual arts, theater, dance, or music program, you’ve probably spent years honing your skills. Your performance scores should give you an idea of where you stand among your peers. If you’re one of the top students in your class, definitely submit an arts supplement.
• If you’ve been taking lessons or significantly practicing for years. If you have spent hours, days, and years learning and improving your skills and you believe that your art, music, dance, or acting lessons have proven useful and you are one of the best, then you should submit an arts supplement.
• If you’ve been featured, published, or recognized on a big stage. If your writing has been published in print or online magazines, if your movie has performed well at a statewide film festival, or your song has thousands of hits on YouTube, you’ve got nothing to lose in submitting an arts supplement. Accolades such as these act as a great indicator of your talent.

Where to Submit Your Arts Supplement

Colleges usually have guidelines for submission of the arts supplement. Read submission instructions carefully, and follow them. Arts supplements can be added through the Common App or Coalition App. You should check first whether a college accepts arts supplement.

Consider this language on Princeton’s website:

If you’ve excelled in architecture, creative writing, dance, music, theater or visual arts, and would like us to consider your talent as part of your Princeton application, you are welcome to submit an arts supplement via SlideRoom.

Most colleges use the online portal, SlideRoom, which is integrated with the application systems and can automatically add your uploads to your application. Each college has their own SlideRoom site, and submission costs five dollars per application. The platform is user-friendly, and you only have to create one SlideRoom account and upload media materials once. SlideRoom accepts images (.jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .tif, .tiff, .bmp, .tga) under 5 MB, audio files under 30 MB, documents under 10 MB, and videos under 250 MB. Since colleges expect your files to be professional and clear, if you want to submit large files for greater quality, the application fee will increase by 20 percent. SlideRoom also has a References section for you to add in any teacher recommendation.

Choose your best work which reflects your talent accurately. Make sure that you’ve uploaded the correct files. You don’t want easily avoidable errors to get in the way of colleges appreciating your hard work.

Submitting an arts supplement provides admissions officers a more in-depth glimpse into who you are, adding depth to your application and showing prowess in a unique speciality, which is always an asset in your college applications. If your submission accurately reflects your hard work and passion, the arts supplement can definitely provide a boost to your application.