<p>My son just got accepted to both College for Creative Studies and Univ. of Cincinnati DAAP, waiting for Pratt, RISD, Cleveland Art Institute, Carnegie Mellon, and Univ of MI…He currently has 3.7 for his GPA, SAT combined math, reading, writing @1900, and ACT Total 31. So your stats should work in your favor. As noted, U of C does not require a portfolio but the others do take it very seriously. So I hope you have a sketchbook along with the portfolio to show because they want to see that. We were told they look at grades & the portfolio 50/50. RISD is the long shot as among these schools, acceptance rate is @ approx. 34%. Attend the College portfolio days in your area even if you don’t have a portfolio finished just to get an idea of what should be in it and talk to the representatives about their colleges. My son went to ones in Chicago, Cleveland, and Ann Arbor. CCS has a 3-week art & design summer program for high schoolers with specific specialization such as graphic design, automotive design, etc. and DS attended it last summer and LOVED every minute of it. As proposed, you should seek those kind of programs in your area and attend one. My son noted that the automotive design students were very busy, up all night, it is a rigorous program. CCS is in Detroit and in a rough neighborhood and many art & design schools are in so-so neighborhoods (U of C included) so hope you visit them before deciding. Good luck. PS. your grades are excellent and you’ll be offered merit scholarships.</p>