Submitting Your Portfolio

Options for submitting your portfolio in person or by mail are outlined below. Prospective students may choose to submit their portfolio by mail in place of an in-person review. Portfolios may be reviewed before or after you submit your application but should meet all University deadlines. Transfer applicants should read the special notes at the bottom of this page.

IN PERSON

Options for on- and off-campus in-person portfolio reviews are outlined in our section Meet Us. Portfolio reviews on campus and off campus may be scheduled by contacting the college’s Office of Recruitment and Admissions at 315-443-2769 (except for National Portfolio Days). Visit Meet Us for information on dates and places.

Actual work should be brought with you when you are attending an in-person portfolio review on campus at the VPA Office of Recruitment and Admissions, an SU fall reception, or a National Portfolio Day. Any work too large or too fragile to transport may be shown in person as photographs. Please note: if you are submitting a portfolio in person for art video, computer art, or film, be prepared to leave a copy of your portfolio with us.

BY MAIL

Instructions for submitting a portfolio by mail are listed below. It is not necessary to submit a portfolio by mail if you had it reviewed in person unless you requested an “advise only” review or were told to resubmit.

Send portfolio materials to the Office of Recruitment and Admissions, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse University, 202 Crouse College, Syracuse NY 13244-1010. Portfolio materials sent to main admissions processing with your application will not be reviewed.

If you would like your portfolio returned, include a self-addressed, stamped (with appropriate postage) envelope large enough to contain it. It will be returned to you in the summer unless you call to request it sooner.

Do not send original work of any kind. Send only duplicates.

If mailing your portfolio, you may submit a disk (preferred) or slides.

If preparing a disk, please note:

  • Images should be formatted as JPG or PDF files and saved in one file folder for easy viewing. The longest side of images should be no less than 600 and no more than 800 pixels (approximately 300 dpi). Please do not place images in a PowerPoint presentation.
  • Title images with the corresponding number on fact sheet (see below).
  • Please label the disk clearly with your full name.

If preparing slides, label the front of each slide with:

  • Your full name (include middle name)
  • A number that corresponds with the description on the fact sheet (see below)
  • A red dot in the lower-left corner
  • Please put slides in a box, not in slide sheets.

All mailed portfolios must have a typed fact sheet to correspond with slides or disk. Please list:

  • Your full name (including middle name)
  • Address
  • Phone number
  • E-mail address
  • Status: first-year student or transfer
  • Proposed major (transfer applicants, please indicate if you have a strong second interest)
  • Semester you plan to enter SU
  • High school students must list art courses that will be completed by graduation.
  • Using each slide/image number, indicate:
    • Size
    • Medium
    • Date completed
    • If done in the classroom or independently
    • If based on real life, photo reference, or imagination
    • Concept/ideas
    • Note: If you have multiple shots per image, label the slides in sequence (2a, 2b)

Special Notes for Transfer Applicants:
Transfer applicants are encouraged to complete the application and portfolio review as soon as possible as space is limited in some programs. Please note the following information:

  • Transfer portfolios are evaluated on campus only, usually by a faculty member in the student's proposed major. Please indicate you are a transfer applicant either when scheduling your in-person appointment or submitting by mail. Disks are preferred.
  • In-person reviews with faculty are only available when classes are in session and depend on faculty schedules. 
  • If you have experience in the area in which you hope to major, please show examples of your work in that area.
  • Please include with your portfolio an unofficial college transcript. This is in addition to the two official college transcripts you send with your application for admission.
  • Include a paragraph explaining why you wish to study art, what major you hope to pursue and why, what you expect from the major, and your career aspirations.