Admissions
In order to pursue a B.F.A. or B.A. degree in Art at SMU, you must be accepted both to the Meadows School of the Arts (via your portfolio submission), as well as to SMU (via your undergraduate application for admission).
Admission Checklist for Studio Art applicants:
- Submit your Portfolio. See Portfolio Guidelines below for detailed instructions.
- Submit the Portfolio Information Form once you have submitted your Portfolio.
- Submit your Application to SMU.
2016-17 Portfolio Deadlines:
- Early Action & Early Decision 1 — November 15
- Regular Decision & Early Decision II — February 1
- Transfer (Spring) — November 15
- Transfer (Fall) — April 1
Click here to read an important note to those applying to SMU using Early Action/Early Decision 1 (November 1 deadline) and are pursuing degrees in Music, Dance, Theatre, Studio Art or the B.F.A. in Film & Media Arts.
If you apply to SMU by Nov. 1 but do not complete your audition/submit your portfolio until January or February, there is a strong possibility that your SMU admission decision will be deferred until your Meadows audition or portfolio results are available. This is because, as part of the holistic application review process, the SMU Office of Undergraduate Admission would like the opportunity to consider both your academic application as well as your audition/portfolio results before delivering an admission decision.
If you apply using Early Action/Early Decision I and receive a "deferred" letter, you will receive a followup decision letter after the SMU Office of Undergraduate Admission has reviewed the results of your audition or portfolio.
Transfer Students: Note that all transfer students are required to complete college algebra or a college-level math course before transferring to SMU. We strongly encourage you to plan ahead and check with your transfer admission counselor to ensure that you have satisfied this admission requirement.
Portfolio Guidelines
All students applying for study in the Division of Art for the B.A., or B.F.A degree programs must submit a digital portfolio of about 15 works.
You should include work 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.
Good photography is important. A poor quality image, dark or out of focus, will hurt your presentation. Here is a link to a video about photographing artwork.
Portfolio submission is through SMU SlideRoom, a digital portfolio system that was developed by one of our alumni. You should also note that in the Forms section, you are asked to provide additional information about the portfolio. This includes: a resume of your artistic studies and accomplishments; a statement about your artistic interests; and answers to the following questions:
- 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?
- 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?
- 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?