<p>I'm a high school senior right now and I'd really like to be in the BCSA program at Carnegie Mellon. The only problem is, up to this point, I've had little to no interest in art and so have pretty much no chance of being accepted into the program as a freshman. I've started taking drawing classes at my school this year and plan to continue in college. Assuming that I get accepted to SCS and I continue to take art classes, do I have any chance of being able to transfer into the BCSA program? And how difficult is it to transfer in compared to being accepted as a freshman? Thanks.</p>
<p>if you’ve been accepted into SCS you need to pass a portfolio review w/ school of art. it’s definitely possible–most BCSA students are actually internal transfers! a thing to keep in mind though is that CMU’s art program is very conceptual–they definitely care about technical skill but the main focus is the idea behind yr work. i don’t think i had any traditional drawing in my portfolio when i applied.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind me asking, what kinds of medium did you use for your portfolio? Also, do you think I’d have any trouble taking CFA classes while not an art major? I’d obviously want to take courses that an ordinary BCSA student would take, but as far as I know there might be some complications with being allowed to take courses outside my specific school. Thanks!</p>
<p>as far as i know it’s pretty easy to take art classes as an outsider–many of the technical classes actually have a wider variety of majors than just art (e.g. i took a class this fall that consisted of CS, design, and HCI people in addition to pure art/BCSA students). typically art students will get first pick of courses though–if you’re from outside art/cfa you’ll probably be put on automatic waitlist! don’t worry though, there’s usually room (it’s always good to talk to the professor of the class as well!) some art courses are so popular that <em>everyone</em> gets put on the waitlist, regardless of major, and then the prof has you write an application.</p>
<p>as far as i can remember my portfolio had two different motion capture animations (i worked in a lab in high school), some traditional 2D animation, a short experimental webcomic, a gif, some (very simple!) procedural 3D animation, a paper circuit, and some 3D models.</p>