Application Requirements
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Application
It is encouraged that you submit your application online.
Note about applying to spring: Entry into the spring semester is limited based on space in the program. Transfer entry is contingent on the department chair’s approval and is based on portfolio quality, credits earned and space in the program.
Application Fee
The nonrefundable application fee for all applicants is $50.
You will be required to pay the fee in order to submit the online application.
If you are submitting an application fee waiver, you can mail it to our office or send a copy of your fee waiver to admissions@sva.edu. Once your fee waiver is approved, you will be provided instructions for completing the online application.
Statement of Intent
In approximately 500 words, discuss your reasons for pursuing undergraduate study in the visual arts.
Feel free to include any information about yourself, as well as your goals and interests that may not be immediately apparent from the review of your transcripts or portfolio. You can submit the statement with your online application or via admissions@sva.edu.
Portfolio
15-20 images or (for Film applicants) a film reel or two-part film essay
The portfolio should contain samples of your strongest artwork and should be submitted in accordance with the criteria detailed in the portfolio guidelines. Submitting your portfolio at Slideroom is highly encouraged. Film applicants can either submit a film reel on Slideroom or send a two-part essay by mail or email to satisfy the portfolio requirement.
Departmental Requirements
Please follow the portfolio guidelines listed below if you are applying to the following departments:
Advertising
Animation
Cartooning
Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects
Fine Arts
Design
Illustration
Interior Design: Built Environments
Visual & Critical Studies
Students applying for the majors listed above should submit a portfolio of 15-20 images. Drawing samples are an important part of the portfolio for applicants to the majors listed. Please include a minimum of 3-5 examples of drawing done from direct observation of live, three-dimensional situations. These can include self-portraits (using a mirror for reference), figure drawings, object studies, still lifes and landscapes. (Two-dimensional references can be included in a portfolio, but should be kept to a minimum.)
Painting, printmaking, drawing, collage/mixed media, and time-based work are welcome. Carefully consider documentation and presentation of each project. Three-dimensional pieces may require views from multiple angles, detail shots, or staging on a neutral backdrop.
Design projects and computer-generated images are welcome in addition to the observational requirement listed above. Applicants with computer-based interests must submit a portfolio that demonstrates their ability to draw from life.
Sketchbooks offer valuable insight into the creative process of an applicant. Applicants are encouraged to include recent sketchbook work in their portfolio submission and at in-person portfolio reviews.
Please see additional portfolio recommendations by department:
Animation applicants should be careful not to overload their portfolios with images of comic or cartoon characters. Though character development is essential to successful animation, the ability to take objects (people, places, things) that exist in the real, three-dimensional world and place them (and make them move) believably in the two-dimensional picture plane is key at this point. This potential is better demonstrated at the point of admission by direct observation work.
Design projects and computer-generated images are not recommended for inclusion in Advertising and Design portfolios. However, applicants that do submit this work should be careful that it is not about what a computer program can do but what an artist can do with a computer program. It is recommended that this type of work be kept to a minimum and is submitted in conjunction with drawing, painting and/or sculpture.
Cartooning and Illustration applicants are encouraged to share their professional interests and abilities with the College. Applicants who publish their own zines, create graphic novels or run their own strips should include these as part of their portfolio. However, applicants should be careful not to overload their portfolios with images of comic or cartoon characters. Though character development is essential to success in the cartooning world, the ability to take objects (people, places, things) that exist in the real, three-dimensional world and place them believably in the two-dimensional picture plane is key at this point. This potential is better demonstrated at the point of admission by direct observation work.
Design projects and computer-generated images are not recommended for inclusion in Computer Art portfolios. However, applicants that do submit this work should be careful that it is not about what a computer program can do but what an artist can do with a computer program. It is recommended that this type of work be kept to a minimum and is submitted in conjunction with drawing, painting and/or sculpture.
The portfolio requirement for the Film program is a film reel or a two-part film essay.
Film Reel
Film and video production work should be submitted on a DVD or online at SlideRoom. No more than five minutes of film and video will be viewed, thus it may be appropriate to submit excerpts of longer work. Reels have a suggested minimum length of three minutes. If you choose to send a DVD, please format the video as a .mov file. A written description of the applicant’s role in the work should be included.
Two-Part Essay
Part One
In the first part, applicants must describe an imaginative story or significant real-life event in 500 words or less. This essay should be told as a short story with a plot, including a clear beginning, middle and end.
Part Two
In the second part, applicants must adapt the story from part one into cinematic terms using 1,000 words or less. By retelling the same story in these terms, the applicant is encouraged to be very visually descriptive, using camera cues/angles and dialogue. By controlling these elements, the applicant as filmmaker must engage the reader, communicate the significance behind the event or story, and take the reader someplace the filmmaker feels is worth the ride.
The essays are not meant to be scripts or screenplays. The admissions review will focus on an applicant’s storytelling ability and how successfully images, ideas and plot are communicated.
The essays should be double-spaced and neatly printed or typed and each page numbered and labeled with the applicant’s name.
Design projects and computer-generated images are not recommended for inclusion in Fine Arts portfolios. However, applicants that do submit this work should be careful that it is not about what a computer program can do but what an artist can do with a computer program. It is recommended that this type of work be kept to a minimum and is submitted in conjunction with drawing, painting, and/or sculpture.
Examples of drafting, design, or digital projects can always be included in a portfolio. However, applicants must be careful that the work submitted is not so much about what a computer program can do but what the applicant can do with a computer program. Applicants should also be able to discuss the unique concepts behind their design work. It is recommended that this type of work be submitted in conjunction with drawing, painting and/or sculpture.
Photography and Video applicants should submit 10 to 20 photographs or videos. Applicants submitting video work must also include at least five photographs in their portfolio. Portfolios may be uploaded to SlideRoom or submitted via thumb drive or CD-R.
Work that explores a cohesive theme or specific idea across a series of images is recommended. Portfolios should reflect an applicant’s conceptual interests as well as their understanding of composition, light, form and space.
Design projects and computer-generated images are not recommended for inclusion in Visual & Critical Studies portfolios. However, applicants that do submit this work should be careful that it is not about what a computer program can do but what an artist can do with a computer program. It is recommended that this type of work be kept to a minimum and is submitted in conjunction with drawing, painting and/or sculpture.
High School Transcripts
Official transcripts are required if you have earned less than 24 college credits, including coursework in humanities and sciences.
In order to be considered official, transcripts must be mailed to SVA in an unopened envelope stamped and sealed by the issuing institution. Mail your transcripts to SVA Admissions, 209 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010.
SVA also accepts secure electronic transcripts from Parchment Exchange (Naviance), National Student Clearinghouse and Scrip-Safe. Check with the registrar’s office at your institution to see if your school is a member.
Applicants who have completed a GED must submit official transcripts if they have attended high school, in addition to their official GED score report.
Home-schooled students: To be considered for admission, home-schooled applicants are required to submit transcripts. Official transcripts must be submitted from any high school attended in addition to the home-school transcript. A GED score will be required for enrollment.
College Transcripts
Official college transcripts are required from all institutions attended.
In order to be considered official, transcripts must be mailed to SVA in an unopened envelope stamped and sealed by the issuing institution.
SVA accepts secure electronic transcripts from Parchment Exchange (Naviance), National Student Clearinghouse and Scrip-Safe. Check with the registrar’s office at your institution to see if your school is a member.
Any transcripts from foreign institutions must be officially translated into English and U.S. grading equivalencies. For more information on our transfer credit policies, click here.
Copies of course descriptions of classes taken at other colleges can be helpful to the transfer review process.
Standardized Test Scores
SAT or ACT test scores are required if you have earned less than 24 college credits, including coursework in humanities and sciences.
Official SAT or ACT test scores should be sent to SVA by the testing agency or your high school. Use CEEB code 2835 for SAT score submission and test code 2895 for ACT score submission.
To submit your SAT scores, log in to the CollegeBoard. To submit the ACT, click here.
Important Admissions Deadlines
Sunday, July 1, 2019
Recommended deadline for fall 2019 international applicants to complete enrollment process
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Recommended deadline for spring 2020 international applicants
Friday, November 1, 2019
Admissions completion deadline for all spring 2020 applicants for the Silas H. Rhodes Scholarship program; all application materials must be postmarked by this date in order to be considered for scholarship. There is no scholarship application. Only scholarship recipients are notified.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Recommended deadline for spring 2020 international applicants
Friday, November 1, 2019
Admissions completion deadline for all spring 2020 applicants for the Silas H. Rhodes Scholarship program; all application materials must be postmarked by this date in order to be considered for scholarship. There is no scholarship application. Only scholarship recipients are notified.
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Application completion deadline for early action for fall 2020; materials must be postmarked by this date in order to be considered for early action.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Admissions completion deadline for all fall 2020 incoming freshmen applicants for the Silas H. Rhodes Scholarship program; all application materials must be postmarked by this date in order to be considered for scholarship. There is no scholarship application. Only scholarship recipients are notified.
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Deadline to submit Honors Program application (first-time freshmen only)
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Admissions completion deadline for all fall 2020 incoming transfer applicants for the Silas H. Rhodes Scholarship program; all application materials must be postmarked by this date in order to be considered for scholarship. There is no scholarship application. Only scholarship recipients are notified.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Enrollment fee priority deadline for fall 2020 (all payments received after May 1 will be processed as space remains available in those programs)
Friday, May 1, 2020
Recommended admissions completion deadline for international applicants requiring a student visa for the fall 2020 semester
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Recommended deadline for fall 2020 international applicants to complete enrollment process
Demonstration of English Proficiency
Official English proficiency exam results are required.
In addition to the general admission requirements, all international applicants whose primary/native language is not English must demonstrate proficiency in written and spoken English.
The following are acceptable ways to demonstrate English proficiency:
- A minimum score* of 80 on the Internet-based version (213 on the computer-based version) of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). SVA’s code is 2835. For information on taking the TOEFL, visit ets.org/toefl. *Please note this means a composite score for a single test date. We are not accepting MyBEST TOEFL scores.
- A minimum score of 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). IELTS is jointly managed by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), the British Council and IDP Education Australia: IELTS Australia. For information on taking the IELTS, visit ielts.org.
- A minimum score of 53 on the Pearson PTE Academic. For more information on taking the PTE, visit pearsonpte.com.
- Official test scores should be sent by the testing agency to the Admissions office directly.
- This requirement may be waived for native English speakers who are citizens of any of the following countries and attend schools where English is the primary language of instruction: England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand Canada, Singapore, India, South Africa and Common Wealth Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago).
Declaration and Verification of Finances
Required of all enrolled international applicants applying for a student visa.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program requires that international applicants submit to SVA a Declaration and Verification of Finances indicating that the applicant has financial resources adequate to provide for his or her educational expenses without resorting to unauthorized employment.
All funds declared must be substantiated by a Verification of Finances (VOF) letter from the student’s bank or sponsor’s bank.
After submitting the enrollment fee, you will gain access to a portal called Terra Dotta. Please visit the International Student Office page for further information.
Recommendation Letters
While not required, if you wish to include with your application you can email them to admissions@sva.edu.
International Students
All international students who require a F-1 student visa must complete the Welcome Program and provide documentation through the Terra Dotta student portal. Access is only granted to enrolled students who have MyID credentials. Please do not create a user profile if you are not an enrolled student. The International Student Office will contact you upon enrollment with more information about this process.
Mail your application materials to:
SVA Undergraduate Admissions
209 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010 USA