Graphic Design - How tough to get in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston University
1

The graphic design program is great for D since her GPA is well about the BU average but her test scores are wayyyy below. How stunning does the portfolio need to be? I saw one for RISD that looked professional grade but others that seem in line with talented HS student.

Thank you

2

I was accepted into the graphic design program for BU for 2017-2018-
my grades are
GPA: 3.8
Old SAT: 2010
For the portfolio though… I don’t have a bad portfolio but I don’t consider it as professional so I guess an average portfolio? Most of my work is done with traditional materials such as watercolor and colored pencil. I also only have 2 digital art pieces and 2 graphic design pieces (logo and stationary). Oh and I described each art piece in the space that they have in slideroom (such as why and how). I hope this helps!

3

Thanks, @kel348! Are you enrolling? D is looking at art schools (RISD, Pratt, etc) as well as colleges that have art (Fordham, Drexel, etc). So many decisions…

4

I don’t think I am going to enroll…Im a little bit more interested in illustration so I’m still deciding

5

Best of luck!

6

If you check- in the fall BU usually has an open house for the Arts department. At it, the faculty will give each student a 5 minute review of their portfolio. They will make recommendations for improvement before the deadline.

My D found it helpful. She decided against BU, because graphic design there is a conservatory BFA model…all ARTs classes for the first two years, very little academics. She wanted a more “business” or advertising approach, which she found at schools like Penn State, Northeastern, Fordham.

7

Good to know. If we don’t think there’s much chance she would attend even with an acceptable aid package then we won’t make the 1,000 mile trip for an open house/portfolio review. If it’s a much as a 50/50 then we’ll go up. She and I would love her to be someplace that produces educated people who are artists, rather than artists who have taken a few college classes. Fordham looks good but I haven’t yet investigated Northeastern nor Penn State.