Our son has been drawing and painting from a young age and will be taking AP Art Portfolio his junior year of high school. He will be entering contests and possibly showing his work elsewhere along with the rest of his class. He is also a very strong student with a high GPA and many APs. My question is this: can he usually submit his portfolio even if he’s not applying as an art major (or minor)? He loves his art, but it’s a hobby and not a major for him. He thinks it will be one of the things that set him apart on applications but I’ve heard that some schools do not welcome attachments like this. The portfolio will take many, many hours and it would be a shame to not have it “count” in the admissions process.
Thoughts? Does it really just depend on the school like I think? It would be a shame to limit his college list to schools that will look at his work but, if it’s his most-likely differentiation point, then should we stick to schools that we take a look?
I guess I should mention, too, that we would like the school to have an art program where he could maybe take a class or two. Leaning towards mid-sized university or LAC. I’ve posted in the past about our financial situation but, just quickly, we won’t get aid but don’t want to pay $65K per year either. Would consider going as high as $50K so we’ve still feel like he will have lots of options.
You’re right that some schools don’t want extras. You’ll need to check each school’s web site to see if they will evaluate a portfolio with the application.
Most schools allow arts supplements, but there are that some don’t. I don’t think you should cut schools that don’t allow supplements. There are others ways on the application to show what art means to him- list any art ECs, awards he’s earned/competitions he’s done, possibly an essay topic depending on the school, etc.
It depends. You’ll hear different opinions. I know that while I was accompanying my ivy alma mater’s area admissions rep to some schools, she encouraged the arts submission even if the student wasn’t an arts/performance major. She said it helped her understand a fuller picture of the applicant and what was important to that student.
But I sense that this varies from school to school, and likely, admissions officer to admissions officer.
Thanks, everyone. All of your advice makes sense. One of the art students we know didn’t submit her portfolio to NU or Georgetown but talked about it in her essay. When she interviewed, the interviewers asked to see her work and she was ready with a digital version. At Georgetown, that’s all they talked about for the whole interview!