D is a junior and taking AP Drawing and Art history. Given the EA are due by november 2023, I am not sure how much of the AP class from her senior year she will be able to include. Her targeted major is Comm Design/Graphic Design. She was planning to take the AP 2D Design class the senior year and maybe if she has another opening in her schedule for an elective, take the 3D art honors class.
After talking to the 3 D art teacher he is recommending she takes the AP Art 3D and not the AP 2D Design.
For those who have taken these classes, which of this will benefit more towards portfolio making for application, given they will get about 2 months time into the semester.
How much of Design are they supposed to know when they apply? I know different schools look for different things in a portfolio, but overall are they wanting to see a lot of knowledge in design or use of photoshop etc in their submission?
DD1 had taken the AP Design in her junior year, so for the NPD she had a full Design portfolio to be evaluated. The drawing, observation etc was her won work, not from school. Parsons just asked her to submit what she has saying its good and enough. RIT had written her an acceptance on the table itself. While Pratt MICA etc were diff.
I think the art teacher is correct. If your D has strong pieces already for 2D (won awards?) I think it would be wise to expand her portfolio with 3D. I notice that many of accepted portfolios for these colleges also include 3D design. Graphic design is moving more to 3D projects and it would show versatility.
I know that RISD and SCAD are now “test optional” with the SAT or ACT but I would suspect (could be wrong) that if she did well on them it would help for scholarship opportunities.
Thank you! I think I need to clarity the DD1 I talked of in the last paragragh is already in college. I was asking about DD2 
Sorry for that! Reading through it now it sounds confusing.
DD2 is in AP Drawing now as Junior and has more traditional pieces (prisma, Charcoal, Oil, Acrylic etc). She has not done much of the actual digital but she is familiar with the softwares and would probably be able to create something over summer. I was just comparing with DD1…
DD2 did an online portfolio review with some schools and got good feedback with her strength and variety of work she has so far. But we know she has to do a lot more for the applications. She def requires more observational drawing. Most schools suggested that other than Parsons, who was very interested in her photography and asked her to include that in the portfolio. And her Crochet work! Which she didn’t even show them. So each school’s reaction was quite different. Pratt asked her to look into more design factors in her work if was doing Comm Design, but we did not have enough time to ask if they meant that as her own knowledge or they would like to see more digital work in her portfolio
We are struggling with her writing the SAT:) and the test being optional in most schools isn’t helping with her motivation. However GPA wise and the number of AP classes she has is very strong. She also has numerous volunteering services, leadership work and involvement in music and girl scout stuff. So I am not worried about that.
Thanks so much @gouf78! Now to figure out how to fit classes in her schedule. There is so much they want to do and so little time in the day!
Have you considered any pre-college programs? My D did one at Ringling years ago and it was an amazing experience. She was a decent artist when she started but I was blown over by the growth in her art in such a short amount of time. Most of her portfolio was created in that short time. It also gave her a lot of focus on what she wanted to pursue and how to get there–the input from professors was invaluable.
She has been suggested that too by the PrattMWP advisor. All that we have seen are so very expensive for us to be able to afford that. I am seeing an online summer intensive program in Pratt which might fit into the schedule. Not sure how good these are compared to the actual precollege programs.
Courses provide an introduction to Pratt’s undergraduate curriculum and equip students with elective college credits which are accepted at most colleges and universities
Looks like Pratt’s pre-college (like many other pre-college programs) provide college credit. Just another factor in considering cost.
There are a lot of factors at play. Finances, how much your kid actually knows about what they’re getting into (art school can be very intense–something a lot of students don’t consider), final job prospects vs tuition costs, innate talent, personal drive. You already know that.
Pre-college for US solidified that it was a career path worth pursuing. That D was serious (it truly was an immersion 24/7 experience–no slacking allowed) and the instant growth showed she had a talent for the work. And having a portfolio worthy result at the end was great.
Inquire into financial scholarships for the pre-college programs also.
That it provides college credit is good to know and it definitely would help her. She will be working in summer along with taking three dual college classes so the chances are little that she can attend a inhouse program. We were looking into Pratt’s online program (no credit but something better than nothing) and they have some running now but nothing showing for summer. Will keep a watch just in case they open up something. We will def look into some figure drawing classes in local studios. It indeed is a long process.