Submitting art portfolio(s)

Hi,

This may seem like an stupid question but are art portfolio’s due at the same time as normal applications? When my art teacher talks about portfolio submissions she makes it sound as if we have until around December and possibly even later to send in our portfolios but some of the colleges I am looking into, applications are due by November. I just started the school year and my teacher told me I she could see me ending up creating two portfolios to send. I have not heard of double portfolio submissions before but how would that work? Does this also mean I must submit my application (including portfolio) by the end of November?

Thanks,