BFA Portfolio Review

As a requirement of our accrediting body, the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), all students who wish to earn a BFA in Spatial Art, Pictorial Art, Photography, or Digital Media Art must pass a portfolio review to graduate with the BFA Degree.

Current students are encouraged to apply once they have completed 21  units of their major preparation courses. This is usually somewhere between your Sophomore and Junior years.

 

Portfolio Review Portals

Portfolio Reviews for Spring 2025 will open  Mon, Mar 3 and will close Mon, March 31st at 11:59 pm.

BFA Application - DMA Majors

BFA Application - Photo, Pictorial,  & Spatial Majors

If you have any questions, please email Bill – <bill.alley@sjsu.edu> or go to his Zoom office hours Monday to Friday 1:00-4:00 PM.

 

When Should I Apply?

Current matriculated students should apply for the BFA Portfolio Review as soon as you have completed between 21-24 Units of the Preparation for the Major Courses (upper box of major form).

  • Students with less than 15 Units of Major requirement courses will not be considered
  • Students with more than 30 Units for the Major will not be considered for the DMA BFA and should be working toward their BA in Studio Practice 

If you don’t pass the review on the first try will receive a letter letting you know that you either need to:

  • Reapply after meeting the requirements (you may apply a total of 2 times)
  • Graduate with the BA in Studio Art

Students with more than 27 Units of Art classes that haven’t applied for the portfolio review run the risk of needing to take an extra semester to make-up the classes for the BA in Studio Art if they don't pass the portfolio review.

If a student reaches 90 cumulative units and has not applied for the BFA Portfolio Review or talked to a Major Advisor, they will be switched to the BA Studio Art major.*  Students can apply the classes they have taken toward the BA in Studio Practice.

*We realize many transfer students may come in with close to 90 units. Please discuss your plans to apply for the BFA Portfolio with your Major Advisor ASAP upon entry into the program.

 

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

All prospective BFA students must pass a portfolio review& meet the following requirements for admission to the BFA program at SJSU:

1) Minimum 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale in art courses.

2) Minimum of 21-24 units of Preparation for the Major courses (Art 1, Art 2, Art 3, Art 12, Art 13, Art 24, Art 74, Phot 40, ArtH 70A or 708 or 70C, and Art 100W).

3) 3-6 units of additional completed coursework. Recommended courses for each major listed below:

    -Digital Media Art (DMA): Art 68 and Art 75
    -Photography: Phot 112 and/or 115 
    -Pictorial Art: Art 26 and Art 61 
    -Spatial Art: Art 46 and Art 68

 

BFA APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

1) You must fill out all required forms before submitting your application

2) Please review all linked documents in the application portal before filling in the form and make sure you have saved the changes and all documents are in PDF format

Required Documents

    • Student ID Class History Form & GPA Calculator (Upload as PDF)
      Follow the link to the spreadsheet & follow the instructions at the top. See the 'EXAMPLE' tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet for help.
    • Total Units of Preparation for the Major Courses taken: You must have completed a minimum of 18-21 units.
    • GPA of Completed Art Classes: Use the Class History Spreadsheet to find your GPA for all art classes you have taken.
    • Download the following from MySJSU & upload to the application (all uploads need to be in PDF format). Files should be named: LastName-DocDescription.pdf (example: Spartan-Sammy-MyProgress.pdf)
      • My Progress Report
      • Transcripts
      • Transfer Credit Report(s) - (if applicable): Upload unofficial SJSU transfer credit report as a SINGLE PDF. We recommend using Adobe Acrobat (free for SJSU students) to merge your reports.
    • Statement of Purpose/Artist Statement: Please let us know what motivates your art practice? What are your interests? What are your goals? Anything we should know to help us review your Portfolio? (approx. 500 words)
    • Portfolio of 10 unique artworks made in your preparation for the major courses (see What We are Looking for in the Portfolio section below for additional details)

 

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR IN THE PORTFOLIO:

The Portfolio review ensures that all BFA students are meeting learning outcomes for both the program, and the required preparation for the major courses.

PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This review ensures BFA students are meeting the minimum requirements of the first two Program Learning Outcomes for the BFA Degrees. We will be looking for artwork & artists statements that convey that students are able to:

PLO 1: Create Original Artwork: Generate original artwork across various media and styles that demonstrates creativity, innovation, and expertise of artistic techniques.

PLO 2: Develop Critical Thinking, Creative Capacity, and Problem-Solving Skills: Develop critical thinking, creative capacity, and problem-solving skills through a variety of generative methods, such as brainstorming, hypothesizing, modeling, play, and experimentation, to conceptualize artwork with specific goals, purposes, or messages.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (CLOs): The BFA Portfolios will be reviewed to ensure students demonstrate a B level proficiency or above for the CLOs of the following courses:

    -Digital Media Art: Art 74 & Art 75
    -Photography: Phot 112 and/or 115 
    -Pictorial Art: Art 26 and Art 61 
    -Spatial Art:  Art 46 and Art 68

 

If you have any questions, please email Bill – <bill.alley@sjsu.edu> or go to his Zoom office hours Monday to Friday 1:00-4:00 PM.