Hello everyone!
I hope you are having a great 2016 and application process.
I wanted to ask if there is a way to submit an art portfolio for Deerfield Academy and Phillips Academy. I have a portfolio on wix.com, and I wanted to submit it to these two schools on my list.
Thanks!
I’ve emailed my Deerfield interviewer the art portfolio after asking her if it was permissible. I suggest you do the same. As for Phillips Academy, they have an Optional Additional Materials section in the application part in Gateway. However, it seems like they prefer carbonmade.com
Carbonmade is really nice. It’s easy to make a portfolio and easy to share it with almost no technical skill at all. And it is free.
I love and use Wix myself!
I think you should send a friendly email to your AO/interviewer with the link to the site. Also in the email ask if there is a contact in the arts department you can send the link to as well. Understand that admissions people don’t necessarily know whether student art is any good. An art teacher will know a lot more based on your composition, technical ability, and choice of subject/medium.
At my school the Arts don’t have much admissions sway, but if your art portfolio is part of the story of who you are and what you offer a boarding community, then there’s no harm in giving the school the opportunity to look into it. At my school, Admissions makes sure a qualified teacher takes a look at all submissions like this, but we’re a lot smaller than Andover and don’t get too many portfolio submissions.
I will be rather anonymous on school names for sharing this experience of daughter. We heard that art teachers at well known boarding schools receive so many portfolios that it’s hard to give full attention to all them. I am assuming that majority of the portfolio are not noted by them to the admissions and won’t be of much help in the admission process. That’s certainly impression that we received in some schools as we haven’t received anything more than some formal encouragement and introduction of general emphasis on art that the school has. At least there seems will be no harm and it was worth tryint.
On the other hand, sometimes it was noted highly by the interviewing AO and commended on the quality with an art faculty’s opinion. I am assuming that the portfolio will be have some positive affect at those schools for daughter.
On rare occasions, we received the head of school’s personal phone call with promise of special place even before we gave them any other information such as her transcript of test scores from one school. And at another school, we were greeted by an academic adviser who wanted to discuss how the school can accommodate by giving exceptions to daughter to foster her very advanced level in visual art, and met an art faculty who offered junior-senior level independent study options even though daughter would be a freshman. I am assuming that her portfolio will be very helpful at those schools.