We require applicants to submit their Common Application before uploading their portfolio and/or Parsons Challenge.
In order to review your application, we will need to receive all required materials. You must submit your portfolio and Parsons Challenge through your Admission Hub after submission of the Common Application. After submission of your Common Application, you will receive an email with instructions for accessing your Admission Hub. The portfolio and/or Parsons Challenge can be submitted up to seven days after you submit your Common Application. You must use the same email address that you used to complete your Common Application when you create your portfolio. Please read below for further instructions.
BFA Program Applicants
Freshman and transfer applicants to BFA programs must submit both a portfolio and the Parsons Challenge. They must submit these items after they submit their Common Application.
Portfolio: The portfolio is 8 to 12 slides and can include a range of media such as drawing, painting, sculpture, fashion design, animation, performance, graphic design, sketchbook pages, or any other visual media. We encourage you to show experimentation and range. Your portfolio does not need to include work specific to your chosen major, unless you are applying as a transfer student, in which case we do encourage major specific work.
Parsons Challenge: Create a new visual work inspired by an advertisement, invention, or theme within a piece you've already created. Support your process by writing a 500-word essay describing how your ideas developed. You may also submit up to two additional pieces that document your process. All forms of media are acceptable—drawing, video, photography, sculpture, 3D work, collage, digital images, etc. The Parsons Challenge helps us understand how you develop ideas, visually communicate those ideas, and support your work in writing.
BBA Program Applicants (Strategic Design and Management)
Applicants to the BBA in Strategic Design and Management are encouraged to submit the Parsons Challenge, but they are not permitted to submit a portfolio. They must submit the Parsons Challenge after they submit their Common Application.
Parsons Challenge: Create a new visual work inspired by an advertisement, invention, or theme within a piece you've already created. Support your process by writing a 500-word essay describing how your ideas developed. You may also submit up to two additional pieces that document your process. All forms of media are acceptable - drawing, video, photography, sculpture, 3D work, collage, digital images, etc. The Parsons Challenge helps us understand how you develop ideas, visually communicate those ideas, and support your work in writing.