Admissions

Meadows Art Application, Admission and Portfolio

If you are interested in applying to the SMU Meadows Division of Art, please read the following information, then start your application by clicking the button at the bottom of the page.

In order to pursue a BFA or BA in Art at SMU, applicants must be admitted to both the Meadows School of the Arts as well as to SMU, and must also submit a portfolio to Meadows via the Meadows Art Application. It is recommended that applicants apply to SMU and to Meadows at the same time. Read more about the portfolio and how to access the Meadows Art Application below.

The Portfolio

All students applying for study in the Division of Art for the BFA or BA art degree programs must submit a digital portfolio within the Meadows Art application. (The Meadows Art Application portal is found further below). Include 15 to 20 works. The works can be from direct observation and your imagination; work that shows your experience with different media; and work that demonstrates both your skills and interests. This should include work based in school assignments as well as work done on your own.

Submitted art portfolios are automatically considered for Meadows artistic scholarship.

Note that within the Meadows Art application you will be asked to provide additional information about the artwork and answers to questions such as:

  1. With what media are you comfortable? What media would you like to explore? This includes both traditional media as well as experimental and digital media. How do you see that exploration as important to your study? 
  2. Tell us something about one of your works in this portfolio. Why is it important to you? What were the obstacles you encountered working on this project? What inspired it? Is it an individual investigation, a response to an assignment, a work within a larger series?
  3. Why are you interested in the study of art, in general and at SMU? Do you have any specific interests you’d like to explore? Is there something specific about our program at Meadows that will aid that exploration?

Portfolio and Application Deadlines

The art portfolio is submitted within the Meadows Art Application. Submission deadlines are the same as the SMU application deadlines:

  • November 1 - Early Action, Early Decision I, and Spring Transfers
  • February 1 - Regular Decision and Early Decision II
  • April 1 - Fall Transfers

We strongly recommend applicants submit their SMU application and their Meadows Art Application within the same semester. After faculty have reviewed all portfolios, applicants will receive an email from Meadows regarding its admission decision; approximately two weeks later, applicants will hear from SMU regarding its SMU admission decision.

Early Action versus Early Decision application: Early Decision is a binding agreement to attend SMU if you are accepted to the university, even if you are not also accepted to the Meadows Art Division. For those who wish to apply by the November 1 “Early” deadline, we recommend that art applicants select “Early Action” instead of “Early Decision.” By applying Early Action, art applicants can keep their options open while expressing strong interest in SMU.

Meadows Art Application portal

  • When you click on the “Start Your Meadows Application” button below, you are taken to a page titled “Your Application to SMU.”
    • If you have already submitted an SMU application and have previously logged in to your personal status page, click “Log in” under “Returning Users,” using the same username and password.
    • If you have not yet applied to SMU and therefore have not received your SMU personal status page login credentials, see “First-time users” and click on “Create an account” to log in.
  • After logging in, scroll to the bottom of that page and click “Start New Application.”
  • In “Select application type,” choose “2024,” then in the drop-down menu select “Meadows Art Application.” Click on “Create application.”
  • Once you have started or submitted your SMU and your Meadows Art Application, you will be able to access your status page using your login credentials. At the top-right of the status page you will see a small toggle arrow where you can toggle between your SMU and your Meadows applications.

Start Your Meadows Application

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Contact us at: meadowsadmission@smu.edu
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