Overview of University of Cincinnati: College of DAAP Part I

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Cincinnati
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<p>Overview of Univ. of Cincinnati: College of DAAP Part I </p>

<p>We just had a tour of the University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning. Our tour guide majored in Digital Media, which is one of the majors my daughter was interested in. This school was highly recommended by some designer friends; thus, I thought I would check it out.</p>

<li>Academics: A school like University of Cincinnati in most states would easily be one of the most prominent, well- endowed, and highest enrolled school in that state. However, with Ohio State and Miami University of Ohio competing with them, UC takes third fiddle in a number of majors.</li>
</ol>

<p>Overall, the university offers hundreds of majors and options. If you can think of it, they probably have it from the colleges of allied health, applied science, arts and science, college of business, College of Education and criminal Justice, college of engineering, college of nursing, and last but not least the college of DAAP plus a full contingent of professional schools such as medical, legal and pharmacy. Whew, that was a mouth full. </p>

<p>Overall, the university isn’t very hard to get admitted into. They have an average GPA of 3.3 and average SATs of 1103. Several college guides rate UC as a third tier university. However, this ‘lower’ rating may well be undeserved. For example, the School of Pharmacy is rated 32 in the nation. The medical school is rating 41. The law school is rated 58 and the school of engineering is rated 78 ( I guess they can use some help here). </p>

<p>UC, however, has two top schools that are rated in the top 10. Their conservatory of Music has a number of top 10, and in many cases top 5 ratings in various music fields. For example, opera/voice is rated number 3, Conducting is rated 5th, music performance is rated overall 6th in the nation and composition is rated 9th. </p>

<p>The School of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning (DAAP) may well be the hidden gem in the university and in the nation as well. It also has some of the top rated programs in the nation. Architecture is rated number 2 by Design Intelligence,which is a higher rating than Rice, CMU, and Pratt. UC’s Interior Design program is rated as number one in the nation by Design Intelligence Magazine. Industrial Design Magazine rates the industrial design program in the top 10, and their graphic design and digital design program is highly rated as well. UC also has a strong transportation design program for folks that want to design cars. </p>

<p>We looked at the DAAP building, and all I can say is WOW. Everything is state of the art. The building is huge. There are loads of studios that are very big, and the academic buildings are fabulous facilities. My wife, who is an interior designer of former fame, noted that she felt that the DAAP facilities were the best she has seen, and she has been to PRATT, CMU, RIT, and Syracuse. I would certainly give their Design program an “A.”</p>

<p>The DAAP program is also different from many others in that you only attend UC for 3.5 years and must undertake 1.5 years of paid coops. Thus, the total number of year for most majors is 5 years. I should note that many people have written about the coop provided by Northeastern University. University of Cincinnati was the forerunner of the coop system and has one of the best and most wide spread coop choices in the nation. This may explain why they have over a 90% retention rate in the DAAP!</p>

<li>Admission to both the University and the DAAP: I noted the average SATs and GPA. UC uses rolling admissions. This means that you should apply as early as possible, preferably in August or early September.However, for DAAP it is actually harder to get into their programs than that of other schools. It was suggested that students should have at least a 3.5 GPA and 1200 on the SATS. However, what is very strange is that UC does NOT require a portfolio nor do they take AP and honors courses into account. According to an admission’s rep,everything seems to be done by the numbers at least for the first go around. Only in the second look at applications do they look at the quality and hardness of courses taken. Thus, if you have a 3.8 unweighted GPA with no tough courses, you will have a better chance of admission than someone with a 3.4 who has taken all AP and honors courses. How ridiculous is this! If unfilled spots , they then look at the toughness of the courses taken as well as use this information in awarding scholarships.</li>
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<p>As I mentioned, they also don’t require a portfolio believing that talented kids exist who may not have access to top art programs or tutors. They believe that training is 90% and talent is 10%. I guess they don’t realize that some kids spend years with lots of tutors for SAT improvement too. In addition, those that don’t make or don’t like the program will be weeded out.</p>

<p>I should note that the school of music does require some audition.</p>

<li><p>Honors Program: UC has an honors program that seems to require an unweighted 3.8 out of 4.0 and SATs of 1300. Again, why they don’t use weighted averages is bizarre. More bizarre is the fact that they don’t seem to allow transfers into the honors program. Being accepted into the honors program before you first attend the university as a freshmen, seems to be the only way to get admitted to the program. Thus, if you are not admitted into the program when you start your freshmen year, you are out of luck forever. Although I could be in error on this, I didn’t see any provision in the web site for current students to be admitted to the honors program even if they have a fabulous GPA in college. Again, this is very odd. I will call up the school and post any change if I am incorrect on this honor situation.</p></li>
<li><p>Tuition: For in state residence, UC Tuition for 2005-2006 seems to be around $8,900 plus fees. However, if you are from out of state, the tuition jumps to a whopping $22.600 per year! This may be the reason that 85% of the kids are from Ohio!</p></li>
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<p>Interestingly though, Ohio does allow kids to establish Ohio residency during the second year and thereafter by obtaining an Ohio drivers license, voters registration, and other factors such as payment of the tuition by the student. Check out the UC web site.</p>

<p>They also offer many scholarships such as the Cincinnatus scholarships to many students. One interesting fact is that if you attend a special scholarship discussion, you will automatically obtain $5,000 off your tuition for your first year. There really is a lot of money for both merit and need based aid.</p>

<li><p>Campus: UC is HUGE. I guess they need a lot of room for almost 19,000 students. However, it is very well designed. All classroom buildings are very new or recently renovated. They are also located within a 10 minute walk or less from all dorms. This should be contrasted with places like RIT where you may need to take a bus to get to classrooms or Syracuse University who will be establishing some art programs away from the main campus and require an 8 minute bus ride just to get to the new facilities. I really liked the campus, and would give it a B+.</p></li>
<li><p>Parking: There was a lot of parking here, and even freshmen can have cars. This is unlike schools such as RISD, CMU, and Pratt where I don’t recommend bringing cars there. Here, parking is plentiful and safe. You just need to obtain a pass for a fee. I would give the parking an A-</p></li>
<li><p>Food: We ate on campus. They have numerous types of dining facilities. We ate at the main cafeteria. The food was very good. They had a number of choices and a very good salad bars. Vegans can do well here too. I would give the food a rating of “B.”</p></li>
<li><p>Dorms: I never saw the dorms,but my wife did.She thought the dorms were very nice and bigger than what we normally have seen at other colleges. You can get singles, doubles and suites with 4 people. They have special interest floors, honors dorms and more choices. Also, all dorms and suites are no more than 10 minute walk, if that much, to any academic building. My wife gave them a “B” to “B+.”</p></li>
<li><p>Facilities: UC has a brand new student center and plenty of athletic centers around campus. Much of the equipment is new, and in working order. Lots of treadmills,bikes and much more. I would give the facilities an overall “B+” to an “A-”
school</p></li>
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<p>10.Miscellaneous considerations: UC is an interesting school to say the least. First, although the weather isn't great, it is supposedly better than some of their competition at RIT or Syracuse etc. They also have a lot of school spirit with their Bearcat teams. UC is now in the Big East, which provides some great basketball and football games to watch. </p>

<p>Moreover, their coop program is top notch and certainly equal to that of Northeastern , Drexel etc. UC's coop program was ranked in the top 10 nationally, and to my knowledge, they were the first coop program of its kind in the nation. Coops are available for most majors but not all. For example, there aren't as many coops in the school of arts and sciences, which then doesn't require a coop to graduate. Coops do exist,however, in most other schools.</p>

<p>Also, at least in the school of DAAP, there seem to be a lot of incestuousness going on. Many of the faculty attended UC! This might not be a problem ,but I would have preferred a high number of faculty to have attended other top notch programs as well. From the rankings, however, this doesn't seem to affect the quality of the programs.</p>

<p>I should also note that UC has the 51st largest endowment in the US. Their total endowed assets are around $987,000,000, which exceeds many of their competitors such as Syracuse, RIT, RISD, Pratt, and other colleges that provide majors in design and art. However, this endowment is a bit misleading since it also supports many other majors.</p>

<p>Finally, although the School of DAAP and School of Music are very top notch, the other schools aren't that highly rated nor do they require as stiff an admission's policy. I do wonder about the quality of other courses given at UC such as liberal arts courses or courses in science.</p>

<p>Obviously, my impressions may differ from yours. You should check out the</p>

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<p>Oh yes, I forgot some important factors in my review.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Crime, there is crime away from the campus and something it spills over to the campus. However, we did talk to a number of folks who agree that crime on campus isn't bad and probably less than that of other city schools. If you go off campus, just use common sense, and you should be fine.</p></li>
<li><p>Quarter system: Like many of the other Ohio State Universities, UC uses a quarter system. This is idea for their coop program but it does have its pros and cons. Quarters go very quickly. Before you know it, you have finals. In addition, profs tend to load you with work from the "get go." There isn't alot of time to slack off. Finally, if you ever want to transfer out, it is tougher to switch from a schools on quarters to that of semesters and vice versa. For example, you might take two quarters of a subject that would only tranfer to one semester of that subject. You generally need a full year ( three quarters) to be able to obtain two semester's worth of credit.</p></li>
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<p>There are some advantages, however, to the quarterly system besides being good for coops. You can get more courses with more choices in your education. In addition, if you get stuck with a bad professor, you only have to keep them for 10 weeks.</p>

<p>Finally, the campus is very WI FI friendly over most of the campus. The dorms have wired fast internet throughout and in all suites.</p>

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<p>I just found out, according to a Mr. Jones at UC, that I was partially in error regarding the honors program. I was right in that they do require a 3.8 unweighted GPA to get into the honors program. I guess if someone has taken all regulars courses plus some gyms and cooking and gets a 3.8 GPA, they will be admitted to honors over an IB student with a 3.5, as bizarre as this sounds. </p>

<p>However, they do allow transfers to the program if the student can get a 3.25 or better in their freshmen year.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for this post, even though it's not of much benefit to me. It's about an hour away from my home, but I think I've been in that area too much. It just isn't different enough for me. I'm a probable pre-pharm major, so I really liked their pharm program, but i'd like to be at least 1.5 hours from home. just a bit too close</p>

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<p>You will end up at Toledo for sure. I thought OU and OSU were the only state schools left with the quarter system. Interesting.</p>

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<p>That was surely informative! Thank you very much. I noticed you mentioned IB students. I'm in IB. Is your daughter in IB as well? Are there any other things you noticed about the interior design program?</p>

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<p>I should note that University of Cincinnati is quite funky in a number of ways that I never mentioned in my original post. For the most part, I will be addressing admission to the school of Design, Art, Archtecture and Planning since that was the program that my daughter applied to.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>They sent us scholarship information in which we were asked to fill out a special application in order to qualify for their "Cincinnatus Scholarship." What made this funky, is that we had to spend time on this application, which took about an hour, but my daughter wasn't accepted into the program that she applied to. In fact, at the time of notification, few were notified of their acceptance. In point of fact, my daughter was denied admission to the DAAP program. UC argued that the admission and scholarship information is handled by different departments. I guess no one communicates with each other.</p></li>
<li><p>For most art and design programs, you need to submit a portfolio of your work. Cincinnati is one of the few top design schools that not only doesn't require any portfolio but doesn't even look at it if submitted. </p></li>
<li><p>Most schools want kids that attend magnet programs and top, competitive high schools. This is actually held against you at Cincinnati. Yes, you read that correctly. </p></li>
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<p>In the School of DAAP, they want kids in the top 20% of their class or a minimum SAT score of 1320. The class rank requirement might be fine for your typical high school,but what happens if you attend a magnet school or a high schools that is reknown to be very competitive? The answer is tough luck! They make no allowance for this situation.</p>

<p>.3. Most colleges want kids to take the toughest course load possible. This is NOT true of University of Cincinnati, as strange as it may seem. They want an undergraduate, unweighted GPA of 3.75 for early acceptance and 3.5 or more (preferably more for regular admission to the DAAP school). </p>

<p>My daughter had an unweighted GPA of 3.45 but weighted GPA of 4.0 due to her taking almost all honors and APs. She even had actual college courses with almost a 3.7 in the 5 courses that she took. However, she was rejected. Normally, I wouldn't complain, however, I met someone who had a 3.6 unweighted GPA and took very few honors and AP courses who got accepted and had a similar SAT as that of my daughter. Huh?</p>

<ol>
<li>When my daughter was rejected, the web site noting this was strangly worded. It actually started out saying, "Congratulations, you have been accepted to the University of Cincinnati." However, it then went on to not that she wasn't accepted to her first choice of major but was put in an "undecided major" in the school of Arts and Sciences, as if we would accept that. </li>
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<p>5.Also, it wasn't the essay or the lack of ECs or quality of recommendations that caused her to be rejected. She was recommended by the former head of the alumni association, had great ECs and wrote an essay that her English teacher thought was terrific.</p>

<p>As I said, UC is a bit bizarre in a number of ways. I am not sure if this reflects what normally goes on at the university,but from their admission criteria, to the handling of various items, such as scholarship information , to even the the way they notify kids of rejection leaves a lot to be desired!</p>

<p>If you do apply to UC, keep in mind that I warned you of this.</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>That is poor management and definitely reflects badly on the school. In fact, I was disgusted with the "customer service" I received. I think it's rediculous that I literally had to e-mail 7 people (redirected several times) to find out about International Baccalaureate credit and it took about two months. With K-State it took a matter of a few days. </p></li>
<li><p>K-State does not look at portfolios either and it's a top design school. One attends college to learn design and representation, so I can understand that aspect (though you would think at least a tiny little "check" would happen to make sure the applicants aren't completely inept). Additionally, the colleges teach their students how to make portfolios during the course of the program. </p></li>
<li><p>I can believe that. I think more credit should be given to selective high schools. It's really unfortunate.</p></li>
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<p>The class rank and SAT isn't surprising to me. When you're as good as UCinn, then you get the pick of the litter, so to speak. However, the GPA thing knocks me over. I seriously can't believe that. It's incredibly wrong and I'm disappointed that such a program would have that viewpoint. </p>

<p>All in all, I decided against even applying to UC months ago. Everything with K-State has been better, in my opinion. Might not be as "name brand" as UC, but they're gaining strength. </p>

<p>Do you know if UC is switching to a 5 year graduate program like K-State is planning on doing? If not, another "pro" for K-State, "con" for UC. </p>

<p>//drew</p>

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<p>Taxguy, I am sorry. This is not unique to UC. We have come across this at a few schools. It is definitely better for merit aid at some schools not to take honors or Aps b/c at these schools all regular classes are treated equally to APs, and what hs you went to (ie: magnet vs. public hs where more than 30% do not go to college is irrelevant). It is simply amazing. At one school I inquired as to why, and I was told that the alumni decide who gets merit aid and it is done by a formula (sat and gpa regardless of regular vs. APs or type of hs). ECs at this school do not count for merit aid either. At this school it is best to go to a less competitive hs b/c you will fair better with aid as long as you have a decent sat score.</p>

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<p>Northeastmom, we actually inquired as to why they don't use portfolios and use unweighted GPA. Their answer was, "being a state school, we must serve all residents. Some kids don't attend great high schools. They might not have great art programs or teachers that encouraged portfolios. Likewise, some high schools don't offer APs or even honors courses. Thus, this system equalizes everyone." </p>

<p>Can you believe that answer? To this day, it amazes me that UC and other schools like them don't realize how idiotic this argument is. They are simply pampering mediocrity at the expense of drive and high performance. I guess Ayn Rand had a point in her book, "Fountainhead."</p>

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<p>To top that the school that I was specifically referring to is private!</p>

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<p>Northeastmom, actually, I showed my post to one of the Cincinnati's alumni. In fact, he is on their Alumni Board of Directors. He was speechless. His only response was that their policy is based on "affirmative action." This way they can get more underrepresented minorities.</p>

<p>God, I HATE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION! However, I guess that we have to give them credit. Implementing affirmative action in the way that they do avoids any law suits.I can't really complain that they use unweighted GPA ,and don't use portfolios in admission ,and discriminate against kids from tough high schools or tough programs. Their admission policy isn't discriminatory on its face. It is, however, plainly idiotic.</p>

<p>I guess I just needed to vent. Grrrrrrrr.</p>

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<p>I have always noted that the college guides do not say X number of students are from magnet high schools, or the top 500 public hs in the country. Yet gpas are listed ie: ave. gpa for incoming freshman is 3.9. The 3.9 may mean less next to a 3.0 from a top hs. It seems as though colleges are rewarded for accepting the 4.0 student from a less competitive hs, than the 3.0 student from a more competitive one, b/c those are the numbers that go into the guidebooks. Haven't you noticed how many kids have taken a large number of AP classes, and have very high gpas, but their sat scores are quite low? This is one of the only reasons that I am in favor of standardized tests. It exposes what is going on to some extent - grade inflation, AP classes with little substance.</p>

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<p>I am in UC's interior design program. I transferred into it after a year at a small liberal arts school that was highly acclaimed for their academics. I assume I was admitted because of my ACT score alone. They did not take my previous college record into account at all because they run on quarters and my previous school had been on semesters and semesters give students less credit hours.</p>

<p>The high school I attended did not have a great art department. I took few of the art classes because they were "easy" and I wanted to pump up my GPA and take more advanced classes. I was extremely happy with the no portfolio policy. I took art classes all through elementary and middle school and had basic talent, but nothing to show of current work. UC believes they can train anybody in art and I believe them. They let me in and now I am on my way to a great future.</p>

<p>I also agree with you that it is a shame that extremely artistic students cannot get into the school. Many of my friends who have a lot of talent have been repeatedly discouraged by the college because of their high school GPA or standardized test scores. I encourage them to enter the Pre program. The Pre program lets students take all the classes (except studio) that other students take, but they sit on the bubble until Spring Break of their first year and find out after 2 quarters of classes if they make it into their program. One of my good friends in DAAP was a Pre. Her work is constantly some of the best and shows that these students who do not make it in initially because of high school grades and scores are some of the better students.</p>

<p>Do not believe that UC is a safe campus. Clifton is not a great area of Cincinnati and warn any student you send there to watch their back. There are certain areas around campus that I would not walk to with 30 of my friends. The parking is expensive (around $200 a quarter) and the garages are also not the safest. I commute to UC because my parents do not want to live in Clifton. I have lived in Cincinnati all my life and understand their fears. If I have night classes, I always call somebody on my way to my car so I am not a target for theft. The small liberal arts school I attended might have spoiled me, but I am always on my guard when walking around the areas on the border of campus at UC.</p>

<p>UC's administration is a pain in the butt. They send you in circles, they are disorganized, and they can be very rude. I hate dealing with the university. Dealing with the college of DAAP is a much easier process. Most people there are understanding and realize the stress levels we are at.</p>

<p>So there is the good and the bad. DAAP is a great place to learn. Professors are intelligent and the co-op program is wonderful, but UC is not the prettiest or safest campus your child could go to and the administration is absolutely horrible.</p>

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<p>ikcin4, thanks a lot for your comments. They are most appreciated.</p>

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<p>By the way, as confirmation that UC does funky stuff, my daughter was just accepted into Digital Design. Hooray! However, why she had to get a rejection letter before she got her acceptance is a bit bizarre.</p>

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<p>Why you should consider Cincinnati over other schools! </p>

<hr>

<p>When my daughter enrolled in University of Cincinnati's DAAP program over being accepted at other top schools such as Carnegie Mellon, RIT, with scholarship, Syracuse etc., people wondered why. I wanted to let future students understand why I, and others, consider University of Cincinnati (UC) one of the best places to go for college. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>UC has been consistently ranked by Money Magazine as one of the best values in the country. It is also ranked in the top 60 for Medicine, Law, and Engineering. These area may not be the top in the country,but Cincinnati isn't a slouch in these areas.</p></li>
<li><p>UC is very reasonably priced. Tuition for out of state students is around $23,000,which seems a bit high at first for a state school. However, they do give all incoming, out of state students, as little as $5,000 yearly scholarships. Thus, the UC tuition is very reasonable for out of state folks at $18,000 per year. Room and board is also very reasonable at $8,100 per year. I should note that these figures are based on 2006 rates with full meal plan.</p></li>
<li><p>Although UC has decent programs in both engineering, science and pharmacy, they really have two extraordinary programs that are extremely selective and nationally ranked amount the best in the US, They are:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>a. University of Cincinnati's Conservatory of Music. This school's rankings rival that of RICE, CMU, Bard, Oberlin etc. In same cases, UC's rankings are even higher than many of these mentioned. There aren't many schools better than Cincinnati's conservatory. This quality program affects non- conservatory folks too. UC students can participate in a wide variety of bands and performance options lead by CCM professors even if the UC student is not in the conservatory. Examples of musical opportunities are marching band, concert band,orchestras etc. In addition, UC students get to attend these performances, which occur quite frequently.</p>

<p>b. UC's second gem, and not necessarily second to their conservatory, is their School of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning (DAAP). This school has some amazing rankings. Their school of architecture is ranked by Design Intelligence Magazine as one of the top three programs in the US. Their Interior Design program was ranked number one in the country for the past seven years. Recently, there were new rankings instituted by Design Intelligence for Industrial Design and UC was ranked number 2 in the US ahead of such notable and expensive schools as Carnegie Mellon, RISD, Pratt etc.
UC also has one of the best undergraduate programs in digital design as well. Should you be interested in this area, it is well worth checking out.</p>

<p>I should note that there was a publication that listed the top 25 design faculty in the US. UC had 4 of the top 25. No other school matched that number!</p>

<p>If you are interested in design, city and urban planning, architecture, check out UC's course offerings. You won't believe the wide variety of courses offered.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>UC has one of the highest endowments in the US, which is just over 1 billion. This puts them in the top 70 best endowed schools in the nation.</p></li>
<li><p>UC has an amazing number of things to do, especially when compared to other schools. Don't believe me? Just go on their web site and check out their calendars. They have ten calendars for events. True, some of them may not be of interest to you such as their admission's calendar; however, there are a huge array of activities going on all the time on campus. Just check out their CCM calendar, main street calendar, and student activities calendars.</p></li>
<li><p>UC has great school spirit being in the Big East and having strong sports teams.</p></li>
<li><p>COOP: When students think of coop education, some schools might come to mind such as Northeastern or Drexel. However, UC was the first program in the US to start the Coop program. Today, it probably has the largest and best coop program in the country. DAAP kids, for example, get mandatory 1.5 years of PAID coop with different employers. Thus, kids graduating from UC get 1.5 years of actual experience for their resume. This is truly a significant and unique addition to the education of students. In fact, as one teacher noted, by the time kids almost finish their coop, the teachers think of these kids, not just as students, but as colleagues. These coops are available in business and engineering and science as well as some other areas.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>8.Brand new facilities: If you were to walk around the UC campus, you will rarely see a building that hasn't been either built or renovated within the last 5 years or so. Everything is up to date, new and chuck full of the latest equipment. In fact, check out their state of the art fitness facility. They have several pools, one of which has a current, which can give swimmers more exercise if they swim against the current or can be a lot of fun if swimming with the current.</p>

<p>Bottom line: UC is one of the best deals in the country and provides a very strong educational program for almost any student. It also provides a host of social activities that are hard to match.</p>

<p>Admission to UC: I should note that UC has some "funky" admission policies that you should be know about. First, they want all application submitted with transcripts by October 1. Yes, you read correctly. Thus, you really need to get your high school to send out the required transcripts early.</p>

<p>Also, UC uses UNWEIGHTED GPAs in comparing students. According to several admission's officers, they do not take the course toughness into account. Be aware of this. For example, the DAAP school requires an unweighted GPA of at least 3.5 to even be considered. Thus, taking all APs and honors courses and achieving a 3.4 will be considered inferior to those who get an overall 3.6 GPA while taking regular courses. This may be rather idiotic but seems to be true for many school. When I asked UC about this, they responded with," It is hard to tell how much harder honors courses are from regular courses. In addition, many economically deprived areas, don't have the same access to honors and AP courses as richer areas. Thus, it levels the playing field. Be aware of this situation.</p>

<p>Also for DAAP, other than for art, there is no portfolio required. However, if you have a strong portfolio, send it it! They will look at it.</p>

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<p>I contact professor Hafer about this post. Someone is using his name to post bogus material. This was not done by him. Accordingly, the post by Seanphafer, noted above, should be ignored.</p>

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<p>MAN! This is tough, I took some honors courses, and I am taking 2 AP courses next year as well (as a senior). From the sounds of it, those things are going down the toilet.
I have made a few descent films with friends, and started work on an animated film, so I could make a descent portfolio of some sort, maybe make an interactive one with macromedia flash!</p>

<p>My question is, just how much will they look at the portfolio? I Will probably end High School with an average GPA in the 3.35-3.45 range, with not many extra curriculars. Do you think I have any shot at all getting into DAAP for graphic design with a really good portfolio?</p>