Hey everyone!
I’m an international student aiming to go to art schools as well as design in regular schools (like Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech).
Since they don’t have National Portfolio Day in my country, can you guys share the tips they give you about applying to art schools as well as feedbacks you get on your portfolio.
I would be interested in knowing what different schools expect from your portfolio (for example how RISD’s expectations differs from Pratt’s).
I know the feedbacks are personal but any tips your received from the schools would be highly appreciated!
You should make a list of your schools of interest. Then, you read each school’s detailed instructions and recommendations as to what they would like to see in a portfolio. Those are found on the school’s admissions website as well as any related admissions blogs. Finally, you should follow those instructions and recommendations.
If you just depend on what posters tell you here, you risk missing some key bit of information or getting something wrong.
Every school will recommend that you include observational drawing, but each school will have distinct specifications on size of the portfolio, how much commentary to include, how much variety, degree of multi-disciplinary work, etc.
Even image size might vary among the schools, so you should have those specs before shooting images of your work. If you have digital artwork, make sure to convert it into a format and size that is compatible with the SlideRoom specs.
Some schools do offer a virtual review - you just send Admissions your work directly. So you can check among your schools of interest for that option. Or, you may be able to e-mail Admissions and ask if such is available to international students.
Good Luck!