So You Want to Be an Artist: Tips for Applying to Art Colleges

By Rowan Tuttle

All students are unique when it comes to their choice of major. Some may choose to go down a STEM path and study engineering or physics, while others may decide to pursue an art career and study design or photography. Those who are looking to go into the arts field have somewhat of a different college application process compared to other fields, and this article helps to highlight those differences along with important details and helpful resources for one’s application. 

Applying to colleges is an exciting and stressful time for students, and when it comes to applying to art schools, the process is basically the same as applying to any other type of college. You will have an online application that requests some basic personal details, the name of your school, and other identification information. Like some colleges, there may also be a required essay that helps colleges get to know more about you. One crucial part of art school applications, however, is what differentiates them from other college applications. This is your portfolio. 

Each art school you apply to will require the submission of a portfolio in addition to your regular application. Now, what exactly is a portfolio? To put it simply, a portfolio is a collection of various pieces of work you have created as an artist. The idea behind a portfolio is to put together some of your best artwork to showcase your talent, ideas, and creativity to college admissions teams. Colleges will want finished or more substantial pieces that you have spent time working on and do not encourage the submission of quick doodles and incomplete work. 

One thing that is important when it comes to crafting a portfolio is to start early and research the portfolio requirements for each college you will be applying to. Many portfolios require at least five pieces of artwork along with a written description, but others can require up to fifteen pieces or more. Different colleges will require you to put your portfolio into different formats, and reformatting your pieces can be very time-consuming. For example, one college I applied to did not want to see any text on the slides that I created, while another encouraged it, requiring me to create two differently formatted portfolios to submit. Some colleges also like to see a variety of different types of artwork you have made, while others want artwork that strictly pertains to the major you are applying for. It is important to research these requirements and plan accordingly to make sure you submit your portfolio in the correct format on time. 

Creating a portfolio is intimidating. Portfolio requirements can be vague, and it is hard to guess what admissions teams are looking for. One of the best ways to relieve this anxiety is to attend National Portfolio Day. National Portfolio Day is an event held multiple times a year where admissions counselors and representatives from various art schools across the country get together to review prospective students’ portfolios before they submit their applications. On their website which can be found here, you can sign up for an event and choose the schools you want to meet with. The virtual review sessions last for fifteen minutes and give you time to chat with admissions representatives and get a good idea of what strengths and weaknesses your portfolio may have and how to improve upon it before submission. These fifteen minutes allow you to get in contact with admissions counselors. In my case, I got in contact with an admissions counselor during National Portfolio Day and afterward scheduled two more subsequent meetings. These subsequent meetings were extremely helpful as they allowed for further review of my portfolio after I made revisions, and also served as a time for me to ask questions about the college and my application. 

If you are unsure whether or not an arts career is right for you, it is important to remember that you can always get a second degree in art if you choose to major in another field first. Art is not limited to painting pictures and portraits, but also includes graphic and industrial design, photography, videography, and more. There are a number of outstanding art schools right here in the United States, many of which happen to be in California. If art is truly your passion, I would definitely recommend pursuing an art career.