Do I have a chance at RISD?

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
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<p>Hello. I'm a highschool senior interested in going to an art college. I've been accepted to MICA but, my first choice is RISD. At my interview at MICA the interviewer told me I was accepted, just by purely looking at my portfolio. I was curious to know if this means that I may have a strong chance of being accepted into RISD. I know MICA is a highly rated school but, I wasn't sure how much it compares to RISD.</p>

<p>My GPA is 4.1, I'm ranked 15th in my class out of 420. I've been to a Pre-college program at the Corcoran and my SATs are in the 1900s. I've taken every art class availble at my rural (poorly funded) highschool as well as a couple classes outside of school. I have some artwork on my myspace (<a href="http://www.myspace.com/blondsocrchick15)%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.myspace.com/blondsocrchick15)&lt;/a>. So feel free to look at them, I think you may actually have to be a member of myspace to view them unfortunately. But, any feedback on my chances of getting in will be appreciated.</p>

<p>Also, I just joined today, so if I posted this in the incorrect spot or something is wrong I appologize. Feel free to correct me. Thanks.</p>

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<p>MICA and RISD are slightly 'different' schools but relatively equal in rank. </p>

<p>Did you not have the opportunity to get reviewed by RISD?</p>

<p>When I was at NPD @ MICA, the reviewer at MICA was actually a lot harsher/more thorough/not as forgiving as the one from RISD. So, If your portfolio was accepted at MICA then it was surely passed with flying colors by the RISD team. </p>

<p>As for academics, you already know your grades are strong so i don't need to reassure you about that. </p>

<p>I also can't find any of your stuff on your myspace? Is your portfolio online anywere else?</p>

<p>The only really art school that's 'hard' to get into is Cooper Union. Don't worry about it, you're pretty much in.</p>

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<p>Yeah um myspace is kinda funky. If you just click on "pics" right under my photo there should be an album entitled "artwork". I think they are screwing with it so it might not be working.
But anyway, yes I had my portfolio reviewed by RISD at a NPD. However, it was awhile back and my portfolio has changed alot since I had it reviewed by them, taking pieces out, making new ones, etc. My reviewer was pretty critical of my artwork, he didn't say it was bad or anything, it was probably the most honest critique I had gotten, So, it made me kind of unsure. Now my portfolio is alot different from the one I had reviewed, better hopefully. But yeah I guess I'll just have to wait and see.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>I hear you - I didn't send the original portfolio I had reviewed either. Basically, if you've refined and tweaked your portfolio and made it better, you're good to go. </p>

<p>Yeah - I think myspace was fooling around with stuff, because before it said 'no pictures' and now I can see your albums. I really love the one of the truck. I'm also impressed by the one drawing of the older man (your father? There are no titles to refer to, haha) </p>

<p>You obviously have a bit of technical skill. Also, keep in mind that art schools ALWAYS want to up their incoming freshman's academic statistics - you'd definitely do that for them, as your sat and gpa are above their averages. (avg for risd is, i think, 3.6, 1800)</p>

<p>Heck, i'd be pretty surprised if you didn't get in.</p>

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<p>Yeah. haha. That's my dad. As I'm sure you are aware, RISD requires three graphite drawings, the bike, indoor/outdoor scene, and one of your choice. The tricycle was my bike drawing and the one of my dad was the "other" drawing. I didn't put up the one of my indoor space. Theres alot more to my portfolio but I was too lazy to put it up. But thanks again for the advice/encouragement.</p>

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<p>"So, If your portfolio was accepted at MICA then it was surely passed with flying colors by the RISD team."</p>

<p>This is DEFINITELY not the case. MICA is a great school, my son goes there and loves it, and it's very selective. That being said, RISD is much more selective on portfolios generally speaking (acceptance rate is clearly more selective by the percentages, and I suspect that is due in large part to cherry picking the most highly developed portfolios).</p>

<p>If money is a factor, MICA is more generous with merit based aid.</p>

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<p>Ah, to clarify, when I said passed, I meant MICA actually 'passed' her portfolio, not just raved about it. They only pass about 125 out of the entire season, so if hers was one of them, it was definitely well-met by RISD. </p>

<p>I know I can only speak for my friends and I, but this was the case for all of us, in our different mediums. We had our portfolios officially passed at MICA, and the RISD reviewers (we all had different ones) were extremely impressed by our level of work.</p>

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<p>"Ah, to clarify, when I said passed, I meant MICA actually 'passed' her portfolio, not just raved about it. They only pass about 125 out of the entire season, so if hers was one of them, it was definitely well-met by RISD.</p>

<p>~~~~~~~~~
nice job of back-tracking, but I think you are doing a disservice to people who are waiting to hear, and more importantly, people who might apply to RISD, to suggest that they'll get in "with flying colors" or that the portfolio "was definitely well-met by RISD" based on how their portfolios were received at MICA.</p>

<p>Maybe alisonart will report back later on. Of course I hope she gets in, but even if she does, it's irresponsible to pretend to be an authority on what guarantees an acceptance there or anywhere else for that matter. there are myriad factors at work, including how many other strong applicants applied to the particular department, interviews, essays, legacy, grades, extra-curriculars, test scores, geographic distribution, timeliness of receiving application, etc. etc. etc.</p>

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<p>I don't exactly see how i'm doing a disservice by sharing personal experience?</p>

<p>I said "i can only speak for my friends and I". Never claimed to be an "an authority on what guarantees an acceptance there or anywhere else for that matter", but really, we're talking about RISD, not Princeton. There is a bit of common sense about what it takes to get in:</p>

<p>Strong portfolio + Great grades + At least a decent Application = Probable Acceptance.</p>

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<p>The following is just my two cents. I think that you have potential, but I'm not sure if, at the moment you're RISD material. Is the work posted on myspace what you submitted to RISD in your portfolio? If so, It might be helpful to work on your technical skills. Also, work on developing a distinct style. Another thing, have you ever thought of going to a school that was known more for academics, than art, and just majoring in art there? Because, your academic record is very good, and the academic rigor is not going to be the same at an art school. Plus, once you worked on the previously mentioned things you could always transfer to RISD. Going in to a school like RISD, right off the bat, my be a little overwhelming for you.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I was considering this as well. The workload and the overall level of work may be very heavy at RISD. And although, its hard to think that maybe it is just a little much to handle, It is something very important that I need to consider if I am indeed accepted, which there is a good chance I may not be. Also, don't think that patois is giving me false hope. I am fully aware that I may not be accepted. One of the main reasons I asked about my chances was to get some sort of feedback, considering I can't get much where i live ( I'm basically the only person interested in going to an art college in like a 60 mile radius of where I go to school). So, I was just curious and if that is his( I'm assuming its a guy, sorry if your a female.) experience with RISD, thats fine and obviously others experiences my conflict with his. I appreciate any input. :)</p>

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<p>I applied to RISD as well, but for architecture. I went to the summer precollege there this past summer on scholarship. My portfolio isnt that strong, i know this, but i believe that the my 3 required drawings are pretty well done, each took roughly 15hours spread out over about 1 month, if that counts for anything, they probably wont know, but i hope it shows. My gpa is about a 3.8, moslty ap/honors courses. i have extensive volunteer work etc. sat's arent very good, 1750ish. as far as geographic spread, i dont know of very many people, none at all actually, from south texas (corpus christi) who are applying to risd. recomendations, personal letter, etc. are all good. im really depending on my 3 drawing to push me through. for the int. space i drew the men's restroom at home depot basically 3 urinals and a sink lots of detail. for the bike one i "zoomed" in on the front tire, the axle and spokes w/ rust, again extreme detail. for the "other" i threw a bunch oh squared colored pencils on the ground an drew them in their "spontaneous" positions, of course i "explored" for the best composition. thats basically it. chances? if possible. i know "decision time" is only like a week away, but the suspense is killing me.</p>

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<p>Well it's hard to judge, because of the fact that it is an art school and they rely heavily on the portfolio. Do you have any pictures of your work? Also, 15 hours spent on one peice isn't very long at all, especially for one of the best art schools in the world. I mean if your portfolio truely isn't that strong, it's like trying to apply to a very good school academically, such as Cornell, with less than stellar grades and amazing artwork.</p>

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<p>um... as far as work this, <a href="http://a.photos.cx/DSC01933-bca.JPG%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://a.photos.cx/DSC01933-bca.JPG&lt;/a> ,is the only thing i have on my computer. i sent in 35mm slides to risd for my portfolio, and i never bothered to upload anything into iphoto. the above pic is the int. space drawing near completion. i added shadows on the wall from the urinals and hand dryer, i also reworked the tiles. also the lighting in the room, when i photographed this created the undesired/exagerated glare on the back wall of the restroom.</p>

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<p>here is the bicycle drawing, near completion, i know the picture is horrible, i took it w/ my phone </p>

<p><a href="http://a.photos.cx/SSPX0055-4c7.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://a.photos.cx/SSPX0055-4c7.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Don 't be fooled into thinking that RISD is solely or even primarily a portfolio oriented school. Yes, the portfolio and home assignment is VERY important,but it isn't everything. Most kids, according to their own admission staff, don't get admitted due to academics!</p>

<p>My daughter is a good example. She applied to RISD with one other person from her high school. In addition, she had the same private tutor for art,which is never a good thing coming from the same high school. </p>

<p>I saw both porfolios as did their tutor. Both portfolios were almost identical. They had the same subjects. In addition, as to quality, they were in the opinion of both the tutor and us, equal. I can assure you that no kid with this private tutor would produce work that the tutor felt wasn't exceptional. These kids both produced equal quality work. Even the RISD take home assignment were of the same subject matter and of equal quality, per the tutor.</p>

<p>However, the other student got admitted to RISD and my daughter was waitlisted. The other student however, had 200 point higher SATs and at least a .4 better unweighted GPA. In fact, she eventually declined RISD and attended Wash U St Louis</p>

<p>RISD uses unweignted GPAs only, as stupid as this sounds! They,however, modify the GPA by removing all art, drama, gym and other "non-academic" courses from the GPA computation. Thus, they only consider math, science, english, language and history. If your unweighted, modified GPA is about a 3.3+ or better and have a strong porfolio, you should be admitted. If your unweighted, modified GPA isn't 3.3+ or better, you probably won't be admitted UNLESS you have an outstanding portfolio by RISD standards,which is not easy to accomplish.</p>

<p>Also, let me emphasize that although RISD doesn't give that much credit to taking a tough curriculum. I think they told me that they add a .2 to the unweighted GPA for taking all honors and AP courses,which obviously doesn't weight course toughness enough.</p>

<p>Thus, you are MUCH better off taking regular courses geting mostly A's than taking mostly AP and honors courses geting mostly B's. Trust me on this: I know what I am saying.</p>

<p>Obviously, if you can get mostly A's taking honors and AP courses, obviously that is best of all.</p>

<p>I should note that I am not a disgruntled parent. My daughter want to University of Cincinnati DAAP school instead and has achieved a 3.6. She also loves being in her school so it turned out to be the best thing for her. However, I did want to help you with correct information.</p>

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<p>Hermangator1, I like your drawings, I think the composition is really good.</p>

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<p>instead of "don't get admitted due to academics"...get admitted due to academics?</p>

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<p>Maybe I should have said, "don't get admitted due to an insufficient modified, unweighted GPA." Does this clarify my statement?</p>

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<p>yes, thanks, that clarifies it.</p>