<p>Wow-first off, this was really worthwhile. As we were leaving the house this morning at 6 am so D could first go and take the SATs, I thought "why does everything happen at the same time?" and D was more than a little stressed. But once the test was done and we headed to MIAD, things got exciting.</p>
<p>There were 37 schools represented, and they had them set up over four floors and 15 different rooms. A few schools were in their own rooms, most were two-three in a room. Following all the CC advise, I guided D towards lesser known schools with shorter lines (which was a little tricky because the lines fluxuated(sp?) a lot except for SAIC, SVA & Parsons which all had big lines all the time. </p>
<p>We first headed to Kansas City Art Institute which was down a long hallway all alone but had three reps reviewing portfolios. D waited about 5 min. before a rep opened up then turned towards me and said, "Mom, leave the room!" in a tone that meant it (oh well, I went to the hall and watched the body language and facial expressions which were almost as good as hearing. The rep spent 30 minutes with her!!! He loved her work and she clicked with him. His favorite work was a polaroid series she did just yesterday in her HS Photo III class, which she sheepishly admited was luck as she had only been practicing. He then encouraged her to attend their summer program.</p>
<p>After the first review she gained confidence and let me listen in and stay nearby. Next she went to Corcoran College of Art & Design (DC) and the rep there was in to photography and apparently two of their most prominent majors are Photography and Photo Journalism so it was another 30 minute love fest. The only negative there was a comment about the "fashion shot" in D's portfolio (which is her self-portrait) the rep said she felt "less engaged" by that than my D's other work; although D is primariy interested in being a fashion photographer (kind of funny). This rep also encouraged a summer program.</p>
<p>Next was Washington U in St. Louis. This review was ten minutes. The rep seemed tired and breezed through D's work with very little comment except that D shouldn't have so many photos and get a wider variety of mediums represented in her portfolio. She did seem fascinated with D's sketch-books that she has been keeping since freshman year. Da asked her if they have a summer program and her answer was "I don't really know, I only have this one brochure but you can take a look through it and see or go to the website and check that out." (??? Okay...)</p>
<p>Last (only because D was fading and knew she had to work yet tonight) was Kendall College of Art & Design at Ferris State (in Mich). For this one I suggested to D that she lead with her photos and talk first about her career goals, then go to the sketch books. D followed advice (I know, a shock but she WAS tired) - big mistake. The rep seemed bored and dismissive of the photos and some of D's work is dark and moody (she likes sharp contrast and spot lighting), rep kept saying about these photos "This is really dark, you need to lighten this up." At one point D turned to me and gave me a "let's get out of here" look, but then the rep started on the sketch books. "Oh, you CAN draw, and you do ceramics too? Oh I like the progression of this piece, now I see where you got the finished version..." etc. etc. etc. [eye roll as I type this]. Rep probably spent as much time on the sketch books as she did on the meat of the portfolio and ended up being very positive with D, spending 30 minutes also. This was also the only rep that stated that she wanted to see all matting perfect and pristine and completely organized with comments on each piece (which from what I saw all day didn't descibe ANY portfolio there).</p>
<p>I was pretty shocked at the variety of forms and packages that students brought. I saw a lot more original (even bulky) work than I expected and MANY parents as pack-mule assistants. :) One parent was systematicly handing each matted piece of his D portfolio to her as she routely droned on about her works. I overheard one critique (can't remember the school) that I thought was pretty harsh, a young woman, with work that looked pretty talented to me presented a large pastel & ink self-portrait and the rep said, "Oh you definitely need to work on your technical skills! This looks unfinished to me." I felt bad for the girl who didn't appear to have a parent along.</p>
<p>In any event, D would definitely go again and she felt this was a very constructive exercise. As a side note: She is taking IB Studio Art in HS right now and thinks that although she has only been in that class about half a quarter, it has helped her prepare for this day tremendously.</p>
<p>Hope this review helps all of you parents. My number one advice is simply an echo - go to the less busy schools and get more input!</p>