Arts Supplement

Colby welcomes arts supplements to your application. Arts supplements are evaluated by faculty members in the appropriate department, and we consider both the supplement and the evaluation as part of our holistic review process. 

Art, music, dance, and performing arts materials may be included with your application portfolio. Supplementary materials can only be uploaded after you have submitted your application to Colby and received a password providing you access to your application status portal. Please contact the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid with any questions.

All materials must be submitted according to the following deadlines:

Art

Artistic talent is one of many factors considered in admissions, and students with artistic abilities can strengthen their application by submitting evidence of accomplishment. Students with a strong interest in art or the desire to major in the discipline are invited to submit representative works for review by members of the Art Department faculty.

Please submit no more than 20 images of your strongest work. Images, video, and PDFs are welcome.

Music

Artistic talent is one of many factors considered in admissions, and students with musical abilities can strengthen their application by submitting evidence of musical accomplishment. High-quality audio files and video recordings can be submitted via the applicant portal.

Applicants are encouraged to submit musical performances of works in two contrasting styles. Original compositions can be submitted as PDFs. Musical résumés may be submitted as PDFs but are not required.

Please submit no more than 20 items. Video, audio, and PDFs are welcome. You may also link to media from YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud.

Theater and Dance

Artistic talent is one of many factors considered in admissions, and students with theater and dance performance, playwriting, performance history and criticism, stage management, and/or theatrical design abilities can strengthen their application by submitting evidence of accomplishment. High-quality video recordings, examples of playwriting, sample research papers, stage management documents, and examples of design and technical production work can be submitted.

Applicants are encouraged to submit a video of theater and/or dance performances of any style or genre (five-minute limit). Original plays and research papers can be submitted as PDFs. Design images or technical production documents can be submitted using one of the image platforms listed below. Theater and/or dance résumés may be submitted as PDFs but are not required.

Please submit no more than five items. Images, video, and PDFs are welcome. You may also link to media from YouTube and Vimeo.

File Sizes and Types

Although we technically support media files as large as 2 GB, please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your Internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time. Uploaded documents may contain no more than 75 pages. We support the following file formats:

• Video: .avi, .flv, .m1v, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .wmv
• Audio: .aac, .aif, .aiff, .iff, .fla, .m4a, .mpa, .mp3, .ra, .wav, .wma
• Slide: .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff
• Document: .doc, .docx, .odg, .odp, .odt, .pdf, .ppt, .pptx, .rtf, .wpd