<p>D has started looking at graphic design programs at large midwest universities. We are finding that they allow many students to take the foundation courses, but you must pass a portfolio review process to take the advanced courses. Some of the portfolio reviews have pretty low acceptance rates. It really scares me that she may have taken a year or two of courses, and will then have to find an alternate major or an alternate school. We are asking each school their acceptance rate, but does anyone know of any site that shows the retention rate during the portfolio review process at various schools? Are there any schools that have the portfolio review prior to admission to the university?</p>
<p>Maybe I am misunderstanding something. I am trying to reduce the pressure, not increase it.</p>
<p>The programs we have currently found may or may not require a portfolio for admission to the university. However, acceptance to the actual graphic design program is based on a portfolio review in the freshman or sophomore year. I think this is extremely stressful to spend a year or two in a university, but then chance getting denied admittance to the program. </p>
<p>My thinking was that if there was a program that accepts a student as a new freshman, but then guarantees that they may stay in the program provided they don't flunk out, there would be a lot less pressure. This is what her father and I are used to in programs such as engineering and business. </p>
<p>Do you think it is too stressful to go through the portfolio review process based on high school art courses alone?</p>
<p>She's going to have to go through a portfolio review at some point almost no matter what. Does she want to do it for admissions, or wait two years? That's up to her. Or maybe have her apply to a couple in each category, so that if she makes it in right off the bat, great, but if she doesn't she can go to one of the schools that does the review two years out.</p>
<p>Larationalist is right. There will be a portfolio review at sometime in her career. Perhaps it is better having it at the time of admission and geting done with it.</p>
<p>I would hate spending a year or two in college studying art or design and then get kicked out due to a later portfolio review.</p>
<p>So guys...which schools do it at the admissions phase then allow the students to remain as long as they maintain their academics?</p>
<p>I TOO want to know this. AdvMom, my D is also looking at programs within a U setting (although her interest is Photography). Take a look at U MN Twin Cities campus. I know a young woman there in GD who I believe was reviewed for admissions but is now simply "in the program." She did say however that the bummer is GD students take classes in a different part of the campus than the West Bank Arts Quarter (where all the other art students are) because the U considers it more of a "Design" than "art" major???????????? So they are wrapped up with the architecture school??? Check my facts because this was a casual conversation not one I was gathering facts about.</p>
<p>From what we have researched so far, Ohio State, Purdue, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Kansas all require a portfolio review after the foundation courses. The acceptance rate varies depending upon how many submit portfolios in a given year, but Ohio State averages 1 out of 3, Kansas 1 out of 2, and Purdue takes about 3 out of 4. I am waiting to hear back from UIUC.</p>
<p>I did a google search yesterday and saw that Carnegie Mellon requires a portfolio review for admission only.</p>
<p>AdvMom, although some schools require portfolios after the freshmen or sophomore year in order to continue the major, many schools only require a portfolio for admission. In fact, this is the rule and not the majority.</p>
<p>Examples of schools that only require porfolios for admission are RISD, MICA, Pratt, Syracuse, Wash U St. Louis, Otis, UCLA, Tyler, Art Center College of Design et.al.</p>
<p>I should note that University of Cincinnati School of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning (DAAP) doesn't require a portfolio for both admission or continuation of progress in the school. However, they are very academically oriented for admission requiring at least a 3.5 GPA and, in many cases, more for design and architecture.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, I personally would not want to send my kids to a school that requires a "good enough" portfolio in order to continue with upper level courses. This puts too much stress on the kids and provides too much uncertainty in college planning. I do know kids who attend University of Delaware who has ratings and rankings of kids in each class for each year. They must achieve a sufficient portfolio for each year in order to continue to the next year. Most of the people that I know there hate it for that reason!</p>
<p>Moreover, design projects in the real world are normally a group endeavor and not a competition.</p>
<p>taxguy - I was just going to add the same comment about UD but you already stated it. UD is our in state school and we actually never visited the art school. From comments on CC and I believe also on UD's website, I saw how they make cuts each year, basically in half. So even though you're accepted to the university, you have to keep re-applying each and every year to stay in. My daughter was a liitle upset a couple of weeks ago when all of her friends at school were talking about getting accepted to UD and she was wishing she had applied. But maybe it's a good thing she didn't.</p>
<p>It seems all of the art schools have the portfolio review for acceptance as a freshman and once you're in, you're in for the four years. It is common at a few universities to have you apply to a specific major after foundation year, based on a portfolio review. This seems to be the case if applying to a design major versus fine arts.</p>
University of North Texas does a portfolio review after each year. IT was NOT at all clear that they do this, and that you are cut from the classes if you don’t pass the review. It was also not made clear at all as to the repercussions of this when my son entered. Thankfully, (and yes, I mean that honestly), he was turned down after the Freshman review.
They can re-apply to the program in a year, but in the meantime they are blocked from the design classes. No one in another major can take design classes either, to fill in their resume. It’s a pretty closed, non-transparent program. If my son decided to re-apply, he would be another year at school because he wouldn’t be able to take any necessary classes until next year. Then, worse, there are two more times that they do this cut. They go from 150+ students to 40/year.
So luckily he lost a semester, not a year or more.
This is a money maker for the UNT, because by the time the kid gets rejected, he doesn’t want to leave and go to another university. My son was accepted at University of Texas Austin, but chose UNT for friends. UT does an entry level review and that’s it. UT tells me they only accept the caliber student they think will make it, up front, and then train them. But now, my son doesn’t want to leave UNT. So he’s changing his major. After dreaming of being a designer for years.
I hate to give UNT anymore money, but I guess I’ll have to.