Undergraduate Application Requirements
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Application
Submit your application online via SVA’s Application Portal.
A note to spring applicants: 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.
SVA accepts application fee waivers from NACAC, CollegeBoard, ACT, SCOIR or a written statement from a school counselor confirming the applicant’s qualification and need for the fee waiver. Fee waivers must be received before the application is submitted. To submit an application fee waiver, you can mail it to our office or email it 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.
Your statement of intent can be sent online within our application portal. After you have certified and submitted your application, an upload button will become available for your statement of intent.
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
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.
Advertising and Design
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
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.
Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects
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.
Film
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.
Fine Arts
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.
Interior Design
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
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.
Visual & Critical Studies
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.
SVA recommends submitting secure electronic transcripts through Parchment Exchange (Naviance), National Student Clearinghouse, and SCOIR. Check with the registrar's office at your institution to see if your school is a member.
Transcripts may also be mailed to our office. In order to be considered official, transcripts must be in an unopened envelope stamped and sealed by the issuing institution. Our mailing address is SVA Undergraduate Admissions, 209 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010.
Due to the unprecedented circumstances of COVID-19, we are currently accepting emailed transcripts from school officials. In order to be considered official, transcripts must be emailed directly from a school's official email address. Transcripts cannot be self-reported by a student.
International Applicants
International Applicants who have academic documents from institutions outside of the U.S. are required to provide original, attested or certified true copies of academic records for all institutions attended beginning with the first year of secondary school or high school. These records should be in the original language issued. Secondary school transcripts can be waived for transfer applicants with more than 24 college credits from a regionally accredited college.
All foreign secondary (high school level) and post-secondary (university level) transcripts should be converted into U.S. educational equivalencies. Those records that are not converted into U.S. equivalencies must be evaluated by an external evaluation agency.
It is recommended that applicants with transcripts from institutions outside of the U.S. begin to obtain official transcripts and, if needed, initiate the transcript evaluation process at least eight weeks prior to application deadlines. Evaluation agencies may ask applicants to supply additional credentials or information which require extra time for the applicant to fulfill.
The original academic records must be submitted in addition to the evaluation.
The course-by-course evaluation should include:
- Name of the educational institution
- Country where the institution is located
- Length of study
- U.S. educational equivalent (high school/two-year or four-year college)
- Courses studied per academic year
- Conversion of grades/marks/final examination results into equivalent U.S. grades of A, B, C, D or F for each course evaluated
- Total credits earned
- Conversion of course hours into U.S. semester hours of credit
- Cumulative grade point average (GPA) on a 4-point scale
- U.S. degree equivalent
- The School of Visual Arts should be listed as the recipient of the evaluation. Transcripts may take up to six weeks to be evaluated. Applicants should confirm the timeline with the evaluation agency and request their transcripts from their school early in the application process.
The School of Visual Arts requires that international academic records be evaluated by either of the following approved external evaluation agencies:
- Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE)
- World Education Services (WES) - (For College Transcripts Only)
Note: Official high school transcripts that adhere to Chinese and Korean national grading scales often do not require an external evaluation. If we are unable to evaluate your credentials, Admissions will contact you. All transcript documents must be issued in English or accompanied by an official translation.
Home-Schooled Applicants
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.
GED
Applicants who have completed a GED must submit official transcripts if they have attended high school, in addition to their official GED score report.
College Transcripts
Official college transcripts are required from all institutions attended.
SVA recommends submitting secure electronic transcripts through Parchment Exchange (Naviance), National Student Clearinghouse, and SCOIR. Check with the registrar's office at your institution to see if your school is a member.
Transcripts may also be mailed to our office. In order to be considered official, transcripts must be in an unopened envelope stamped and sealed by the issuing institution. Our mailing address is SVA Undergraduate Admissions, 209 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010.
All transcripts from foreign institutions must be officially translated into English and U.S. educational equivalencies. Those records that are not converted into U.S. equivalencies must be evaluated by an external evaluation agency, such as ECE or WES.
Copies of course descriptions of classes taken at other colleges can be helpful to the transfer review process. For more information on our transfer credit policies, click here.
Standardized Test Scores
Applicants are not required to submit SAT or ACT test scores to complete the application. If you wish to submit your test results to supplement your application, use CEEB code 2835 for SAT score submission and test code 2895 for ACT score submission. For additional instructions, see the CollegeBoard and ACT websites. Transfer applicants are not required to submit SAT or ACT scores.
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.
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).
Official test scores should be sent directly by the testing agency to the Admissions office. The following are acceptable ways to demonstrate English proficiency:
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): A score of 80 or higher on the Internet-based version is required for consideration to our BFA Programs.
- SVA’s code is 2835.
- International English Language Testing System (IELTS): A minimum score of 6.5. IELTS is jointly managed by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), the British Council and IDP Education Australia: IELTS Australia.
- Pearson PTE Academic: A score of 53 or higher for consideration to our BFA Programs.
- Duolingo English Test: A score of 115 or higher is required for consideration to our BFA Programs. Scores can be sent to SVA directly via the Duolingo student portal.
Applicants who meet the academic and creative requirements for admission to School of Visual Arts (SVA) but do not yet meet the English proficiency requirements for undergraduate study, may qualify for the English and Visual Arts Program (EVA).
- The score requirements for the English and Visual Arts Program are a score of 65–79 on the internet version of Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a score of 46–52 on the Pearson PTE Academic, a 6.0 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or a score of 100-110 on the Duolingo English Test.
Recommendation Letters
While not required, if you wish to include with your application you can email them to admissions@sva.edu.
Mail your application materials to:
SVA Undergraduate Admissions
209 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010 USA
We recommend sending all packages with tracking.
Our Welcome Center for on-campus visits is located at:
342 East 24th Street
New York, NY 10010
Important Admissions Deadlines
Friday, October 1, 2021
Recommended deadline for spring 2022 international applicants
Monday, November 1, 2021
Admissions completion deadline for all spring 2022 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.
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Application completion deadline for early action for fall 2022; materials must be postmarked by this date in order to be considered for early action.
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Admissions completion deadline for all fall 2022 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.
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Deadline to submit Honors Program application (first-time freshmen only)
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Admissions completion deadline for all fall 2022 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.
Sunday, May 1, 2022
Enrollment fee priority deadline for fall 2022 (all payments received after May 1 will be processed as space remains available in those programs)
Sunday, May 1, 2022
Recommended admissions completion deadline for international applicants requiring a student visa for the fall 2022 semester
Friday, July 1, 2022
Recommended deadline for fall 2022 international applicants to complete the enrollment process