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Tips for a Successful Application

The letter of recommendation must come from an instructor who taught you in a class.  Letters from employers, supervisors, or mentors for student honors societies or clubs are not an acceptable alternative. It is best to choose an instructor from a class in your intended major or a closely related area and that allows evaluation in some of these areas:  significant writing assignments; research; class participation; group work and leadership.

Contact the instructor 2 weeks before the deadline.  If you are not currently enrolled in a class with this instructor,  providing a paper or exam you wrote for the class makes it easier to write very specific comments about your abilities.

Your essay should ​focus on your academic and  intellectual development.  Which courses, books, academic experiences have shaped you as a person?  What are the factors that helped you to choose your major(s) and minors?  What are your intellectual passions?  Do you plan to go on to graduate study? If you have experienced  academic difficulties in the past, please explain the situation and what you learned that enabled you to achieve success in your courses.  Your essay should demonstrate your highest level of proficiency as a writer.

You must send an official transcript from every college you have ever attended, not just from the college you currently attend.  Request transcripts 2 weeks before the deadline.

The writing sample should be from a class in or related to your major or honors minor. Students with a major in the Humanities, Education, or Social Sciences can submit a paper from a class in composition, literature, the arts, history, psychology, etc. Students whose major field does not normally require papers (Accounting, Math, Computer Science, etc) are not expected to submit an additional writing sample.

Students who intend to major in Music Performance or Studio / Graphic Art should contact the dept well before the application deadline to learn policies regarding auditions or portfolios.