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AddRan College of Liberal Arts
Department of English
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Submitting an ELF Portfolio

Preparing ELF Portfolio

Your portfolio should be made up of original, unpublished fiction; you can submit either short stories or pieces from a longer work. Your portfolio must be submitted to the elf@tcu.edu email as PDF or Word documents.

When emailing all required paperwork, please save your writing portfolio as one document and your recommendation letters separately.

  1. Your portfolio length should be 50 to 75 double-spaced pages.
  2. Use a standard font at either 12 or 14 point.
  3. The reflective introduction should be at least 2 to 3 pages but no more than 5 pages; the introduction should discuss the themes and aims of your stories but also offer some description of your interests and goals as a writer; try to answer the question, “Why do I write?”
  4. Number the pages of the portfolio sequentially from 1 to 50-75; do not begin renumbering each story or chapter.
  5. Include a table of contents listing your introduction and stories/chapters by their correct page numbers.
  6. Do not use a running title or name at the top of your pages.
  7. Let your recommenders know that they can either send their recommendations by email or to a street address. If sending their recommendations by email, have them sent to: elf@tcu.edu. If sending them via US Postal Service, have them sent to:
    Attn: ELF Scholarship Recommendation
    TCU English Department
    TCU Box 297270
    Fort Worth, TX 76129
  8. Ask your recommenders to comment on the writing you are submitting as well as your overall performance as a student.
  9. Ensure that your portfolio and recommendations are received by the deadline, Friday, December 5, 2025, at 5 p.m.

Your portfolio must be submitted to the elf@tcu.edu email as PDF or Word documents.