# Undergraduate Admissions: Art

**Source**: https://aap.cornell.edu/undergraduate-admissions/undergraduate-admissions-art/
**Parent**: https://admissions.cornell.edu/how-to-apply/first-year-applicants

The Art Department at Cornell offers the rigor of an art school within the context of a world-class research institution.

### Contact

Undergraduate Admissions

B56 E. Sibley Hall

Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

[(607) 255-4376](tel:(607) 255-4376)

[aap-admissions@cornell.edu](mailto:aap-admissions@cornell.edu)

In addition to the university’s [general requirements](http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply), B.F.A. applicants are required to submit an online portfolio via Cornell AAP SlideRoom. If you have difficulty uploading your portfolio, please contact aap-admissions@cornell.edu. Please consider the following as you prepare and submit your materials.

The Art Department at Cornell views our students as both artists and scholars. Students in the [B.F.A. program](https://aap.cornell.edu/art/bachelor-of-fine-arts/) develop a creative practice informed by a wide array of courses across the university’s many different areas of study.

The visual arts evolve through the fusion of form and content and are shaped by a multitude of different traditions and lived experiences. The department seeks to build a community that reflects the dynamism of our society, and a place where students and faculty engage in processes of creative investigation, imagination, and actualization.

In our prospective students, we look for:

- Form: A visual language informed by who you are
- Content: A creative voice informed by your ideas and experiences
- Rigor: A strong resonance between form and content informed by critical thought
- Drive: Initiative, proactivity, and creative problem-solving
- Empathy: How you connect to the world through your voice
- Passion: You create because you care about artmaking

## Portfolio Submission Deadlines

**Applicants to the B.F.A. program must submit a portfolio as part of their application.**

Applicants are responsible for creating SlideRoom accounts and submitting their portfolios through **Cornell AAP SlideRoom** by the deadlines below. **Please note that the deadlines for portfolio submission are *earlier* than the deadlines for the CommonApp submission.**The deadlines for portfolio submissions are:

- **Early decision first-year applicants:** November 1
- **Regular decision first-year applicants:**January 2
- **Fall transfer applicants:** March 1

**We will not accept any portfolios submitted after these deadlines.** Find step-by-step instructions on the **[Cornell AAP SlideRoom](https://cornellaap.slideroom.com/#/Login)** website.

AAP Admissions does not accept portfolio submissions by means other than SlideRoom. If you have trouble uploading your portfolio, please email **[aap-admissions@cornell.edu](mailto:aap-admissions@cornell.edu)** for help. You may also email SlideRoom technical support at [support@slideroom.com](mailto:support@slideroom.com).

## Portfolio Requirements

**What to include in your portfolio:**

- **High-quality images of a minimum of ten pieces**of your artwork.
- **One image must be a self-portrait**. (You can use any material.)
- **One image must explore the idea of time**. (This can be shown through how you made the piece or what it’s about.)

**What kind of art should you include?**

You can choose any type of media (materials), but it’s a good idea to show a **variety**. This can include:

- Drawing
- Digital media
- Painting
- Photography
- Print media
- Sculpture or installation

Include work that shows your **best creative ideas** and your **strongest technical skills**.

It helps to show both:

- Art made **in school**, and
- Art made **on your own.**

Your portfolio should reflect **who you are as an artist** right now.

**Additional portfolio guidelines:**

- Cropped images will not be accepted. Please show the work in its entirety for your documentation.
- Do not submit a description of your work within the image you upload of your work. Save the image description for the description field in SlideRoom.
- We recommend image descriptions be no more than 50 words.
- Do not submit multiple-angle shots of artwork in one image file or close-up shots.
- Do not outsource your portfolio to a third party. This includes AI-generated images.
- Please ensure that each project is uploaded as its own slide; do not include two different pieces of artwork on one slide.
- You may use more than one slide to showcase a single project if you feel doing so is necessary to give a complete understanding of your work.

**File types you can upload:**

- Images: **JPG, PNG, GIF**
- Videos: **MOV, WMV, FLV, MP4**