@pastelrain - make sure that you know which of your schools of interest give extra scholarship money for gold key. Congrats!
@JBStillFlying I don’t think many of my schools do, but I’ll check again to make sure! Thanks! 
Such good news here lately! Congrats @bsue913 and @pastelrain!
@pastelrain Congrats!
Congrats @pastelrain!!
Congrats @pastelrain , you are on a roll!!
Thank you all!
@pastelrain I know SCAD gave extra for Gold Key winners! (we didn’t go there, but it was nice!) We didn’t ask at the others since she got some of highest scholarships they offer at the others… but found out later we should have!! Her friends turned in additional portfolio stuff, more accolades, etc and got more money from SVA. Learn from our mistake, doesn’t hurt to ASK!
@bsue913 Congrast on SVA!!! my daughter LOVES it there!
Okay, huge virtual sigh of relief time–with my d’s submission to RISD last night, she’s officially DONE with the application process. WOO-HOO!! She almost decided not to bother (and save us the application fee), because she really doesn’t think her portfolio is strong enough for them (and it probably isn’t), and because she’s pretty happy with MICA at this point and feels like it’s a great fit. But I reminded her how much she loved RISD when we visited (except for the freshman dorms!) so…why not. I think it’s good to know what all your options are. Pretty sure Illustration is the most popular major at RISD–not sure if that makes it more competitive to get into or less (I realize you don’t declare major at RISD till soph year, but they did ask on the app so they’re at least aware which direction you’re planning to go!).
So glad you folks here have helped make this process fun! Anyone else with a last-minute-before-deadline submission to RISD?
And now I get to turn my attention toward daughter #2 who’s a junior planning on majoring in astrophysics, so a whole different kettle of fish (though at least a more familiar one to me–and to their school’s college counselors!). Luckily we got a serious head-start with her and have already visited most of the schools on her list. Daughter 2 is also way more proactive with this stuff than d1, so it’s mostly her show, so to speak.
@KCHWriter I just submitted my portfolio to RISD too! So last minute but at least it’s on time. I’m so nervous, I hope I get in…but if not I’m just fine with Ringling
@ KCHWriter. That’s great that your daughter submitted to RISD. Hope she’ll sit back and think about and do other things while she waits. Applying to colleges for science majors will be way easier than art colleges. Our older son is studying electrical engineering - difficult major, but way easier application process.
@ pastelrain Congrats to submitting to RISD. Ditto for you. Sit back and put your feet up!
I read somewhere in this thread or last year’s thread that applying to art schools is much more time consuming and difficult because each art school submission requirements are different. Can someone expound on this? For now, I only heard that students should submit their very best works, not up to 20 for examples just because they can.
@cag60093 Each submission is not hugely different but each one has their own slide room portal, and sometimes ask for different info when labeling (usually they want title, medium, size and date created). Also make sure to look at each schools’ requirements and/or suggestions. For example, some schools will ask for a specific # of drawings done from life, others may require want samples from your sketchbooks. Everyone seems to want between 12-20, but it will vary.
My daughter had a folder with all her images. Based on feedback from each school at NPD and what she printed from their portfolio requirement page, she then made sub-folders for each school with the final images she planned to upload. That way when she went to their slideroom page everything was organized and ready to input.
A few schools also had their own and/or additional essay prompts to the Common App. Make sure to check that out before finalizing your Common App. Most of the prompts were fairly different from each other so my daughter had to re-work or write new essays. A few were generic enough that she could re-use the same writing piece. In a good way, these are often written in a way for the school to get to know more about you as an artist - it helps add more to your story than just your academic profile.
So yep, compared to a ‘regular’ college application using the Common App & just one essay, visual art students have a LOT more work to do (music & theater kids have their own hoops to jump through too!).
So plan your time wisely and it’s smart to ask for help - especially from your art teachers. Good luck!
@cag60093 NPD will help a lot. Ringling wanted half the portfolio to be straight from observation and Parsons wanted no observational work whatsoever. So yes, for each school there is a lot of picking and choosing, but schools make it easy to figure out what exactly they want to see. Some schools want to see you tailor towards your major (ArtCenter), some want to see a wide range of work (RISD)… lots of work but honestly gave me an interesting perspective on how your portfolio is never going to be universally perfect, which is something I had set out to do in the beginning of my arts admissions journey. Honestly…the experience of applying has been kind of fun as an artist
@ArtAngst Your reply is very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
@pastelrain At Ringling’s precollege last summer, which 2 concentrations did you do? I’m wondering how much observation drawings my D will do this summers at Ringling. She’s doing illustration and visual/concept development I think. If she’s doesn’t get a lot time at the program for observation drawings, she’ll have to find time somewhere, somehow.
@cag60093 I did illustration and drawing for animation. There isn’t a lot of observational drawing in those classes, however in addition to those electives you take five core classes that everyone in precollege takes. This would be Figure Drawing, Drawing Form and Space (It’s a still life class basically), 2D (Photoshop class), 3D (wire sculptures) and 4D (animation/video stuff). I got sooo many of my observational drawings from those first two of the core classes I listed. She’ll get a lot, don’t worry!!
@cag60093 ALSO! Make sure your D takes advantage of the weekend workshops! They aren’t mandatory and it’s tempting to sleep in, but sooo worth it. I got to learn stop motion, Z-Brush, and just things I was super interested in I couldn’t really explore in my classes.
Besides the fact that requirements different from school to school, personal preferences differed too. So it’s good to take notes to make sure you include the pieces a school seemed to like, which can widely differ. You don’t know who will view your actual portfolio when you submit, but we made sure that the pieces that seemed well liked by a particular school were included.
@pastelrain. You have been so helpful! I know my daughter is going to love precollege at Ringling.
The Gold Key you mentioned in earlier posts, is that from Scholastic Art and Writing Award?
Keep us posted on your acceptances and awards.