I thought I would give an update on my DS. He has had portfolio reviews and been accepted at Western Carolina University (BA), Greensboro College (BA), and East Carolina University(BA to BFA in sophomore year). The rest of his schools are BFAs. We went to Unifieds in NYC and completed portfolio reviews with Pace, Otterbein, and Purchase and he still has UNCSA and Coastal Carolina left to do this month. I hope all the other Design/ Tech students are doing well. We are in the home stretch! I would love to hear from others going through the portfolio review process.
My S has his portfolio review for TDP at UNCSA this Friday. I was wondering if anyone who has gone through the process with UNCSA could talk about their experience? Any surprises or advice would be welcomed.
Hi, cjenny2!
When you arrive at UNCSA you’ll start with a campus tour, and then lunch and a tour of the D&P area.
My D had her portfolio interview late last year for Costume Design & Technology at UNCSA. There were three of them and they “sat in” on a class while waiting their turn. They were able to ask the students any questions they had. The interview D had was with all the faculty for her area. It’s relaxed! It’s more of a conversation than a formal interview. (This was also mentioned at the Open House last October by D&P faculty).
They asked a lot about her process and experience. Be prepared to express vision, process and passion. Our family attended the Open House last October and the head of admissions said they look for “talent, passion… and talent”. So show the passion and be able to express why it is that he wants to do what he wants to do! They didn’t ask my D anything about her grades or test scores.
My D had several copies of her resume/statement of purpose to hand out, and of course, the portfolio itself! They started making decisions last week in her area and she got in; very exciting!
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Congrats @LARPgirl !! Thanks you so much for the great information. It is very helpful. You need to add it to the acceptances thread. Is UNCSA you D’s first choice?
The Portfolio review went really well at UNCSA they said we would know in 3-4 weeks. We are headed to our last Portfolio review at Coastal Carolina today. I was hoping to spend some time at the beach but it will be pretty chilly.
Can’t believe you guys are essentially DONE, @cjenny! Have a fun, safe trip to Coastal, and I hope you get some downtime now before decision-making time arrives. 
Thanks @times3 !
Wow it’s nice to find a thread devoted to technical theater! My d interviewed for Costume Design and Production Design programs. She has been accepted to CalArts and Purchase’s programs so far and we are waiting on DePaul, Pace, Emerson and CMU. I would love to hear others impressions of these schools and their programs.
Hi, I’m planning to start assembling my portfolio (theatre design/costume design). What size should it be? Please let me know thank you!
We went to Michael’s and choose one that was larger than a standard 3 ring binder. They have a few different sizes available. I would check the school requirements and see if they recommend anything specific. I would recommend getting one that has pages that can be removed and moved around. Some schools require different amounts of pages for the Portfolio and some do not and having movable pages helped if we needed to change things around.
My daughter used this Alvin Prestige Studio Series Art Portfolio 14" x 18" - 1-1/2" Gusset
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HF6Z5C/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_vmVbvb0JGBCEM She had a nice mix of art, mixed media, pictures of shows that she had costumed, pictures of costumes that she had made and a separate book of sketches/fabric swatches for the sketches as well. It was a nice size as we could still drag it onto a plane but here was room for pieces of various size as well.
I guess it’s a good problem to have but dd has been accepted at cmu/ Emerson/bu/DePaul/Webster and Otterbein. Majoring in scenic design, loves the entire technical field of theater. Finding making the choice isn’t as easy as we thought. Anybody have thoughts - there are pluses and minuses all around. Is CMU clearly at the top? Sometimes I think a smaller school where she can do everything might be better, although the obvious prestige and connections won’t be there. Ugh- head is swimming:()
Upstate, the connections will be strong at all of those schools. Don’t worry about that one! Congratulations again to your daughter
@upstate13 Hello! My D got in to Emerson and DePaul as well. Emerson for Design and Technical Theater and DePaul for a BFA in Costume (which is what she wants). She committed to DePaul because the program is amazing for her focus. DePaul only takes 4-6 kids in each major for technical theater. They get a lot of hands on assistance with their majors and have ample opportunities for learning their craft. Both schools are wonderful and in great places for theater as well. Emerson was her other love. They didn’t give her any money though, where DePaul did. I’m so excited for her! Congrats to your dd!! If she decides on DePaul maybe we can get them in touch with one another. When did she find out about CMU? We haven’t heard yet, even though she isn’t considering them any longer. It would be fun to see if she got in.
Hi - that is so exciting! My D was lucky enough to be pre-accepted to CMU at unifieds, so technically, she hasn’t received her formal acceptance yet, which as you probably know will be coming online Saturday. I did get that ‘oh no what if it were a dream’ feeling last week, but looking at her FA portal it looks like the FA loan docs are being set up which I also take as a very good sign.
DePaul looks amazing but we need to visit. My only big concern there is housing, seems they don’t have enough and so that is something that can be an issue, but the Lincoln Park campus and facilities look AMAZING. We haven’t received the full FA package from Emerson or DePaul yet, but Emerson gave her zippo for talent or merit, whereas DePaul gave her a terrific talent award. Why have you taken CMU off the list, was it just because your D is so sure on DePaul (what a great feeling if so!)?
Are you going to the admitted student weekend at DePaul? PM if so and we can meet and introduce the girls. My D is just so in love with what she is doing in design, I really want her to be in the right place, she eats, breathes and lives this stuff!
Thanks for reaching out!
@upstate13 My daughter didn’t feel comfortable with the CMU interview at all. It was in NYC and not on campus. She didn’t get the best ‘feeling’. She also loved DePaul (she went there for unifieds and it was awesome). Her BFA program was just listed as #1 in the country by OnStage. (BFA Costume Design) It’s the only true conservatory BFA in that major in the country. Nan Cibula-Jenkins, who runs the program is amazing. I sent you a pm.
I am so happy for you and your daughter, I really hope in the next few weeks we have that same feeling of clarity. I will have to check out the Onstage ratings, but that is exactly the point of what I am asking, even though CMU is obviously a higher ranked overall school, is it really ‘better’ for the design concentrations? I don’t have a clear answer on that yet…
We didn’t either. She thought that they seemed a bit over the top and she didn’t want the pressure of incredibly tough academics along with the theater program. CMU is VERY tough in that regard.
Congrats upstate and vogel! Great, great choices all around. Upstate, my S was also pre-admitted to CMU for Scenic Design at Unifieds 4 years ago and I think you are the only other one who has posted here on cc with the same experience. So it sort of confirms this is sometimes the case and S wasn’t some strange fluke. I was also concerned until the actual admissions package arrived, but all was fine. At the time, he spoke/emailed with a few students in that CMU program and there were many things about it to like. However, the mainstage shows are designed (primarily) by MFA students. The BFA designers do not get to design a show until junior or senior year, I believe (someone, please correct this as my memory is foggy now). And students are required to take courses in all tech / design areas (lighting, costume, etc) in the early years, specializing more in their final UG years. In addition, he was concerned to hear from one current student (at the time) that there was a very large attrition rate in the major. I believe more than 50% dropped out (or switched majors, or transferred). Even still, he was enamored of that school and knows it was a quality education and was so honored to be admitted. For my S, he had other college options that were able to offer greater production opportunities earlier on (to build his portfolio) and offered him merit $$ too. These are all good choices!
Oh wow, that is so interesting (and kind of depressing), because they specifically told my D she would have lots of hands on work in design early on. She is actually happy to take the other classes though so that isn’t a problem. What is up with the attrition rate, that is really concerning!? Where did your son end up going and how is he doing (if uncomfortable here could you PM me?) Thanks so much for the input.