<p>I'm scheduled for my review at CMU in February. Apparently you drop your work off to the faculty along with 25 other applicants while they take you on a tour. Then you come back and get a 10 minute interview with them. Has anyone been to one of these interviews before and if so, what kinds of questions do they ask? I've just been running through any and everything they can ask. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Are you referring to a portfolio review? My son did one for CMU's School of Design a few years ago. </p>
<p>It started out with all of the students (maybe 20 – 25?) being brought into a large empty room in which the entire floor was divided into “grids” (approximately 3 ft. x 3 ft.) with drafting tape. You picked a grid and then you had 10 minutes to set up a “display” of your portfolio and/or design projects. Then all the students were herded out of the room and the faculty reviewers went in to look over everyone’s work. </p>
<p>While they were doing the reviews, students and their parents went into another room where a person from the Admissions Office gave a presentation about the school, financial aid, etc. and did Q&A. (That took about an hour.) They also had an optional tour of the Design School facilities. Then someone came and called out the names of some students (5 or 6 at a time, I think) and if you were called, you went out and met with one of the faculty reviewers for 10 – 15 minutes. The questions were pretty general – Why do you want to study design? What media do you like to work with? Why CMU?</p>
<p>Thanks so much! It's less personal than I thought it would be but with 300+ applicants, I guess they have to do it that way. Are there tables and stuff to display? From your description, it sounds like we just lay it on the floor? </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Worried_mom, all I can say is FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS for what CMU wants in a portfolio. What they want is varied pieces and some time in motion work. Do NOT do one type of things such as paintings of people or just photos no matter how good your child may be at these. They want to see a variety of work and a variety of mediums. Be prepared to speak about any of the pieces.</p>
<p>Taxguy: ??? I think you may have your postings (and posters) confused. The OP was asking about HOW the portfolio review is conducted -- not about the portfolio requirements.</p>
<p>mmg: Yes, the portfolio "display" is just placed on the floor. My son's advice is be one of the first to go into the room and stake out a "grid" at the edge of the room, so that you can use the wall to prop up some of your 2-D work and give your display more visual appeal. </p>
<p>And as I mentioned in my previous posting, the interview is rather general. Since you are not actually with your portfolio when you interview, they do not ask you about any specific pieces in it.</p>
<p>Worried_Mom, yes, you are right. The thing that stood out about the interview and review process was the amount of inappropriate portfolios by other students. I guess I keep thinking about this,but this doesn't answer your question.</p>
<p>We were in a small auditorium with about 80 people.Every 5-10 min, kids were called into a private room for interviews. They were asked:</p>
<ol>
<li>Where else did you apply</li>
<li>What piece did you like best and why?</li>
<li>How interested are you in CMU?</li>
</ol>
<p>That is what I remember of the process.</p>
<p>Thanks to you both, the advice of getting there early is definitely something I will remember since almost all of my pieces are 2D. I will keep these questions in mind the next month or so.</p>
<p>Is area you are given to set up your work really that small? 3ft by 3ft? I have a few pieces that I was going to bring that are longer than 3ft and until reading this thread it didn't even occur to me that it would be a problem.
Should I just bring them anyway? Or should I makes some prints of them?
Thoughts?</p>
<p>edit, to specify, I've got large pieces for reviews at both the School of Art and the School of Design.</p>
<p>bump, anyone?</p>