Preparing for college can be stressful, especially if you are an art student. Many, if not most art schools, require a portfolio which is a collection of different pieces that an artist has done. Art school is very competitive, in some of the top art schools only 25% who apply may get into the school, and very few are awarded scholarships. Most of the students spend their time creating new pieces for their portfolios, as well as entering other pieces in art competitions.

Placing in art competitions, whether they are local, state, or national, looks incredibly good on college applications.

In students portfolios, students need to include pieces that show the breadth of their work and pieces from direct observation, which is really important because many students don’t include them and it shows they are artists with potential because it is a more challenging and requires more skill. Colleges look for technical mastery, which is how skilled of an artist they are. Students need variety and versatility; they need to be able to work with different mediums and use different art forms. Colleges also look for unique style and personality, which shows them what students are passionate about and give colleges a sense of a student’s interests and willingness to explore. Most schools require 10-20 examples of an artist’s work. 

Some of the top art schools are the Royal College of Art in the UK, Parsons School of Design, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Glasgow School of Art (GSA), and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). An art school relatively close to here is the Nossi College of Art, which is located in Nashville, Tennessee, and has an acceptance rate of 48.9%. If you are considering applying to an art school, remember that it is a process that requires a lot of time and dedication.