Portfolio Review process

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1

<p>I know nothing about art or the portfolio process so I'm hoping someone can talk about their experiences. My daughter hasn't had many fine art classes, mostly computer stuff. When she decided (junior year) to look at graphic design programs, she found out about the required portfolio review. Although her school does provide help with this, that help is only given to kids in the Art Studio AP class (most kids have been in 1-2 art classes all 4 yrs of HS). </p>

<p>So, I'm wondering how this really works. My daughter did a bunch of drawings since it seems all schools ask for them and included a bunch of other non-computer work as well. She did her portfolio reviews in person and received feedback on most pieces. She was also asked questions regarding medium used or reasons why she did things a certain way. In both cases, she thinks she did ok. Syracuse said her portfolio was "competitive" and RIT said her portfolio "certainly passed." Does anyone ever get told their portfolio isn't good enough or do the reviewers always sugercoat it, so the kid feels good? For instance, now she's wondering if Syracuse saying "competitive" could mean anything and you need a "highly competitive" to pass.</p>

<p>Any insight on how this process works would be appreciated. She still has at least one school to go. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Here is a post that I did about Portfolio Day. I certainly learned to take all portfolios to the colleges and not to participate in Portfolio Day, other than to get some additional feedback before having the college admission's folks see it. Hope my experience helps:</p>

<hr>

<h2>Odd Occurrence At Portfolio Day:</h2>

<p>My daughter went to portfolio day in MICA, where there were a number of different schools represented. the lines were very long, and it was very crowded. We attended a number of schools and all of them had different comments. For example:</p>

<ol>
<li>RISD: Great work and very elegant. No suggestions given</li>
<li>RIT nice work, need more color projects Loved the figure drawing.</li>
<li>Carnegie Melon: More time in motion and, if you are interested in graphics, do more graphics. Too much figure drawing.</li>
<li>Drexel: Very good overall: no comments given. We did see the rating that the reviewer gave: Mostly "4s" out of 5s with a few 5s.</li>
<li>Syracuse: Very nice work. Some drawings would be better served with more background.</li>
</ol>

<p>Now admittedly my daughter is a high school junior, and we wanted feedback. </p>

<p>First: Only Drexel let us review their ratings
Second: We had many differing views as to what items in the portfolio were best. Different people liked different things.
Third: Very little specfic feed back was given and almost no one allowed us to see what rating my daughter was given.</p>

<p>Frankly, I really wondered about the useability and benefits of attending portfolio day. I felt we would have been better served going to the schools and having admissions review the portfolio. If I had to do it again, I would have taken her portfolio to "no name" schools with no lines and gotten more feedback. Waiting an hour or so for a rushed 5 minute feedback was not, in my opinion, worth it. </p>

<p>Has anyone else had this experience?</p>

3

<p>My daughter had a different experience at National Portfolio Days (NPD), both in Fall of her senior year. (She did not take a portfolio with her when she visited colleges at end of junior year.) She did get a fair amount of useful feedback.</p>

<p>If you look at the website instructions of the different art programs, they may seem to be giving somewhat different or even contradicdtory advice: show several media, show your strongest work (which usually means your later work), do drawings from "life" (rather than from photos or from your imagination). (Question: is abstract art from life? Who knows?)</p>

<p>But despite these apparent differences, it seems pretty clear that they are fundamentally trying to assess your talent, not necessarily or only your achievements to date. They recognize that many students haven't had a lot of opportunity to take specialized art classes. But they want to know, "Can this person draw?" "Does this person have a good eye?" "Is this person creative?" And in an in-person interviews, they are asking "Can this person explatin what she's trying to do or say?"</p>

<p>What this means is that if you haven't worked in a very large variety of media, you should still try to show some diversity but whatever else you do show your best work. And if you can draw, show it! One student at Cooper told us when we visited that Cooper really likes to see self-portraits in portfolios. My daughter took that as <em>general</em> advice not just Cooper-specific advice.</p>

<p>In my daughter's final portfolio -- same one submitted to all the schools she applied to -- she had some still lifes, three self-portraits (one pencil from her sketchbook, one pastel and another oil-pastel and quite large, a full-body nude and a facial portrait), a couple of sculptures (shown from different perspectives -- things she did in a summer precollege art program), a couple of paintings (acrylic, based on garden scenes), and few other items including at least one more from her sketchbook. No graphic designs. No photography. IMO, having self-portraits is "golden" in a portfolio. Indeed in the additional special three drawings beyond the standard portfolio that everyone had to submit to RISD (16 x 20 pencil on white paper), one of them was another self-portrait but a you might say from the perspective of the bathroom sink. And another, the "bicycle" (which RISD has been asking for for at least the last 25 years) she showed her ability to draw something inanimate and in detail which she played fairly straight but from a perspective that was unusual.</p>

<p>My daughter first attended an NPD in Grand Rapids. Like Taxguy says, the most "popular" schools had long lines and long waits. The less popular ones were where you could still get a lot of excellent advice from well-trained art teachers. RISD (which is where my daughter was aiming above all to apply) didn't have a rep there. So she waited on line and in fact got wonderful advice from the representatives of the Cleveland Institute of Art and Kansas City Art Institute. They each spent a lot of time (20-25 minute), advised her on the relative strengths of the items, suggested that she eliminate a couple of items that were weak. The CIA rep suggested at first that my daughter "compose a pallete" of her pieces -- arrange them in some way. That was instructive, too. And the 'weaker' items were in fact earlier ones and ones that were fanciful and not from life. But the most impressive piece was her full-face oil pastel self-portrait, on which she took a couple of risks.</p>

<p>These events can be crowded, and so you really have to get there early, or else plan on spending a lot of time, or else settling for a few consultations. A couple of weeks later, the NPDA had moved to Chicago, and this time RISD was represented as well as CMU -- two places my daughter was interested in applying to. So she made a point of just trying to see those two, and when it opened up she made a beeline to RISD and there was only 5 minutes of waiting. She had recomposed her portfolio since Grand Rapids, and the RISD rep spent about 10 minutes, announced that she had a "strong" portfolio and sent a card a couple of weeks later encouraging to apply. The CMU rep was annoying. Spent literally 45 minutes with one artist while the line was building up, then giving short-shrift to the next several people who had waited more than an hour. The review was cursory. With these two targets met, my daughter went to see the Cooper Union rep, didn't have to wait all that long actually, and was given some discouraging words about the size of her portfolio (given that they were instructed in advance not to bring more than 6-10 pieces, this too was annoying) and the enormous difficulty of admission given that they accepted only 5% of applicants.</p>

<p>In the end my daughter applied to KCAI, MICA, RISD, CMU, and SCAD and got into all. She didn't finish the home test for Cooper Union because she came down with tonsillitis just when it arrived. She had wanted to "prove" herself but just couldn't muster the time or energy. Her portfolio, honed on good advice from the NPDA visits, and enhanced by a few new pieces done more or less at the last minute, was submitted on slides.</p>

4

<p>Wow. Thanks for the thoughts. My daughter was really nervous beforehand since she had no prior experience (missed the portfolio review days) but seemed relaxed when she was done. Guess she found it easier to talk about her work than she expected. I guess that makes sense since she had done the work, she should be able to discuss the hows and whys. She did comment that she heard contradictory responses like Syracuse loved one piece and RIT seemed almost bored by it (it was a typical project). Both schools liked the pastels that she had done on her own (the week before).</p>

<p>My daughter also learned to listen to her art teacher who told her to bring lots of items because you don't know what they're looking for. My daughter did not follow this advice at her first review, choosing to stick to the recommended # of items (she was really afraid to do something wrong). Upon returning to HS, the teacher had a fit that she left out so many things. For the next review, my daughter had the requisite items, but left a page or two blank in her portfolio case (or whatever it's called) and then had these other items. The 2nd school asked if she had some of the items that were in the "back" and were happy she had brought them along. She included one photograph and was asked to explain where it was taken and if she had developed and matted it (of course, who would include work that wasn't theirs?). </p>

<p>My daughter also commented that all the people involved at both these schools couldn't have been nicer to her. I'm grateful for that. It certainly gave her a good feeling about the schools. She did not get that feeling from VCU.</p>

<p>Mackinaw, my daughter did check out and tried to follow the school's portfolio recommendations. For instance, one school wanted all work shown in chronological order. She had been hesitant to show (first) her earlier work that she didn't consider as good but it worked to her advantage. The reviewer commented on the growth she showed after just one drawing class and that was important. I guess they want to see proof that you have the ability to improve with training. On the other hand, TCNJ wanted your best and most recent work first. I agree with your advice about self-portraits. RIT is putting together a show of talented HS/Middle school students in their gallery and the self-portraits were amazing. Seeing that beforehand was a bit unnerving. My daughter said she was inspired and couldn't wait to get back to art class the next day. VCU had some interesting project ideas listed to do if you don't have an extensive portfolio. I assume these would be good choices for anyone's portfolio, if applying there.</p>

<p>Taxguy, RIT liked color (pastels) and also drawings - in fact, the reviewer commented favorably that she had so many and stated that many students don't have enough. RIT also liked her architectural drawings and some still-life made from paper cutouts (he spent a lot of time asking about the process used). He appreciated the attention to detail they showed.</p>

5

<p>jerzgrlmom, it sounds like your daughter did a very good job on those portfolio reviews and also learned a lot. One thing I might have added is that when you go to an in-person portfolio review, including one at the NPDA, it's a good idea to bring your sketchbook. It was explained to us that there are two reasons for this. One is that here is where you can show "growth," as you aptly describe it. Another is that here is where artists often show creativity and imagination and a more raw and also less likely to be overworked or overly finished or fussy product. From her NPDA experience, my daughter also decided to include a couple of items from her sketchbooks in the slide portfolio that she submitted.</p>

<p>I also absolutely agree that more drawings is better. Above all, if you haven't worked in a lot of different media, but you can draw well, they will be able to see your fundamental talent.</p>

<p>(She also decided that, given the range in the number of pieces requested, sometimes 12-20, sometimes 15-20, etc., that she didn't have to submit exactly 20, especially if she wasn't confident in a couple of items. And so I think she submitted something like 17 items that had, in effect, been vetted in the NPDA reviews.)</p>

6

<p>D too had almost all figure drawings from private art class and alot of sketch books. She didn't include a self portrait and when asked if she needed one was told she had more then enough. Had figure drawings on cardboard, acid free paper, sketch books etc. and also had drawings from location class from seaports, dinosaurs from Museum of Natural history etc. again from private art class. Agree with Taxguy about National Portfolio Day and that actually making appointments at schools we were interested in for a portfolio review turned out to the best bet. When she showed at Cooper she was "invited" to apply early decsion, though Parsons was more critical, was accepted on the spot at Pratt, and told by Syracuse she had a very strong and developed portfolio and not to worry about the requirement for self portrait. We had appointments with admission counselors and she individually showed her work at Pratt, Parsons, Syracuse and Cooper Union and saw reps at National Portfolio Day for RISD, FIT and Cooper. When applying she sent in slides. If you can have the slides profesionally shot it is well worth it. We had them shot by a prof. trained art photographer (not just one that shoots weddings). Good Luck!</p>

<p>Cama</p>

7

<p>Cama, good advice about using a professional trained art photographer.</p>

<p>Mackinaw, we had a similar problem with Carnegie Melon. They took forever on some projects and rushed through others. Also, the prof there went on a 5-10 minute tirade about communication, and I and my wife didn't understand one thing he was saying. This is especially strange since I am a professional communcator, my wife is a published commercial designer! It was bizarre to say the least.</p>

8

<p>Taxguy,
I know you said on another post that your D is taking private art classes, does her teacher do alot of crits? My D art teacher did this and the class was set up so that at the end of each class both students and teacher had to crit the work. This helped develop D's skills to both explain and defend and communicate about her work. This was particularly helpful when my D presented her portfolio. In some cases she was able to respectfully disagree about their view, though knew when to stop. Some of the reps seemed to like that she was able to talk about and defend her art and what she was trying to accomplish in a particular piece. Describing what problem she was trying to solve and being able to explain it;necessary skill for almost any artist. This is exactly how college studio art classes are run as well. D began taking private art classes as a junior and I do not think she was truly able to talk about her work as described above until she was a senior in H.S, luckily this was the same time we showed her portfolio to admissions counselors by appointment. Was this what the CMU rep was perhaps trying to unsuccessfully explain?</p>

<p>Cama</p>

9

<p>Oh and as usual I thoroughly enjoy the interesting and educated conversations I am able to have with so many people on CC about this process; particularly with Taxguy and Mackinaw. </p>

<p>Cama</p>

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<p>Cama, I am not sure what the CMU rep was trying to explain since we didn't understand what he was saying. It was a lot of gibberish. Both I and my wife and my daughter didn't understand what he was saying. I even asked him to clarify, and we didn't understand his clarification. How's that for pathetic?!</p>

11

<p>I wonder if he teaches there as well. Now that I think of it, we had a similiar experience with the admissions counselor from Parsons. He really turned D off to the school (that and lack of campus). Oh well things seem to work out for the best though.</p>

<p>Cama</p>

12

<p>I had one interview with syracuse in junior year and one this year (my senior year).....after the first interview i was really confused because my portfolio had just been hailed at cooper union (about a week before) and all of a sudden i was being told it was "competitive" at syracuse university...frankly i was insulted......so anyways since i'm applying to su this year i went back for the portfolio review that counts towards admission. Believe it or not i had the very same reviewer...jenny something or other....and this time she "loved it" she told me i was basically in...today i even received a postcard from her...saying to call her if i had any questions and that she really enjoyed speaking with me.....</p>

<p>anyways, to to point...this just goes to show you portfolio reviewers are EXTREMELY hard to read...to be honest with you i'm proud of my portfolio, i'll admit it i'm obessed w. art, i put every spare second i have into it... but often even with a fairly superior portfolio i get extremely introverted reviewers. they don't say anything negative about my work but that don't seem to love it the way the guy at cooper did...</p>

<p>i think this was because my interview at cooper was non binding ...it didn't count</p>

<p>it is my personal belief that these schools do not want you to think that you're in...because 90 percent of the time the decision really isn't in their hands.</p>

<p>anyways good luck to you all, and don't stress too much- some reviewers are just anal...don't let them get to you...portfolio reviews (as painful as they can be) should be learning experiences.</p>

13

<p>michaelangelina,
I just heard from someone who didn't even get a "competitive" from Syracuse. She was told she needed to go do some more drawings, concentrating on perspective and come back. She got the feeling one's work was either "competitive" or "not quite there yet" (kinda like a pass/fail). I'm not sure if this is true. We were there for final reviews (that counted in place of mailing in slides) and I think one of the girls was accepted on the spot. At least that's the impression I got from the reviewer. I heard her tell the parent they would be getting something in the mail about an April date.</p>

<p>Good luck with CU. Sounds like your work is amazing. Your interest and desire seems to match your ability. That should count for a lot. I loved my first "real" job so much that I couldn't believe they paid me. That's the feeling I want for my kids, whatever area they pursue.</p>

14

<p>Some of you may be making some good points. My daughter was not there for a final portfolio review since she was a junion in high school. This may have made a difference in the reviews. Certainly at RIT, we were told that we wouldn't get a final score because of this fact. He did rate each skill since they had a detailed checklist,but she didn't get a final overall score.</p>

15

<p>Taxguy, when my daughter showed her work at Portfolio Days she, too, wasn't asking for an evaluation for admission (even though this was Fall of her senior year). She was just seeking feedback, and she got good feedback from a few places (not CMU). I think that's the best way to use Portfolio Days -- to find gaps, strengths and weaknesses (perhaps a mini-crit). Though of course some of these showings of work may lead to encouraging letters and invitations to apply.</p>

<p>Michaelangelina -- I love your name, and you seem to have a whole lot going for you. Good luck with Cooper and other applications. Do you have a particular major in mind (painting, by any chance?)?</p>

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<p>Re: syracuse feedback
My son was told his portfolio was "competitive" by Syracuse last year at a portfolio day. He was accepted into the program.</p>

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<p>I've reviewed portfolios at NPD in Boston and, no doubt, it's a long day. The students line up by the hundreds and reviewers are really only able to offer about 5 minutes of feedback. Most of us are pretty honest in our assessments and provide as much constructive advice as possible in that fleeting encounter since there's no point in wasting a student's time with padded responses to work. </p>

<p>I think the portfolio day events are particularly good for making contact with admissions committee members. Making an impression is definitely possible, even with the high numbers we see in that 6-8 hour stretch. If a student's work is good, a reviewer will remember it.</p>

<p>I don't recall providing ratings or rankings of any sort, however. Is this a written score that some schools record and share with potential applicants? If a student's work was good, however, I jotted down his/her name and kept it for future reference.</p>

18

<p>RISDprof, I wish we did have some feedback from admission's folks. The RISD representative at MICA's Portfolio Day was a RISD alumnus. I don't know what her association is with RISD admissions,but she clearly was an alum and was not a current professor and was not in admissions.</p>

19

<p>D is looking to go to her first NPD and I have a question. She is first, foremost and almost soley a photographer. She has VERY little other work but a slew of photographs and different types of photography.</p>

<p>Her interest is in getting a degree in some type of photography emphasis, so is her portfolio being photo-heavy going to be an issue in any of your experiences?</p>

<p>Thanks for the insight.</p>

20

<p>believersmom, we were at last year's NPD, just for feedback, and several students ahead of us had portfolios solely of photography and, because I'm very nosey, I kind of listened in to what they were being told. Neither time did I hear anyone say "So where are your drawings?" I could be wrong, but it seemed like they were being assessed as photographers, and that that was fine. We, too, encountered wide variation in the amount of time reviewers spent and in the amount of info we received. I will say, though, if there are reps at your NPD from the AIB, SMFA, or MCAD, visit them, because they were incredibly nice, very giving of their time, and honest and concrete (but kind) in their assessments. Through the grapevine we heard that MIAD's people were really great too. Wish us all luck!</p>