Portfolio Reviews & Submission Requirements

Sign-up for a One-On-One Portfolio Review with Admissions

Before you apply, we encourage you to sign up for an online portfolio review.

Portfolio reviews are not an admissions requirement, but they are a great way to receive guidance on portfolio preparation, and to ask questions about our studio art programs or the application process.

Schedule a portfolio review for Undergraduate and Graduate Programs:

Undergraduate Programs Portfolio Review Graduate Programs Portfolio Review

 

Undergraduate Portfolio Submission Requirements

All first-year and transfer applicants to the BFA and Combined Degree programs are required to submit a visual art portfolio consisting of 15-20 images of recent work. Applicants who work in video, animation, or other time-based mediums may include up to 10 minutes of time-based work. We encourage you to submit pieces that you believe to be the strongest representation of your skills and experiences to date, regardless of medium. Please include detailed descriptions in the ‘Details’ section including materials used, size, title, and any other contextual information you’d like to provide to help us understand your process.

Collaboration and Group Projects
Tufts University values collaboration across mediums and disciplines. If you’re already working with collaborators on projects, be sure to provide clear information on your role and how you worked with your collaborators.

Generative AI
SMFA at Tufts supports the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) as one of many tools used in creative practices. To ensure that the Admissions committee has a thorough understanding of your artistic skills and creative process we require that you provide a description alongside each piece for which AI was used. In your description, provide details about how you incorporated AI technology into your own creative voice. We will ask you to acknowledge this requirement upon submission of the portfolio in your Tufts applicant portal.

How to Submit

• After submitting your application, you will receive an email with login information and a link to your applicant portal. Please allow for up to 24 hours after submitting your application to receive this email. 
• Submit your portfolio by logging into your applicant portal and navigating to the “Digital Portfolio” section, where detailed upload instructions can be found.
• Do not submit your portfolio as a single multipage file. Please upload each individual piece as a separate document with descriptions included in the ‘Details’ section

First Year Application Process and Deadlines Transfer Application Process and Deadlines

 

Graduate Portfolio Submission Requirements

All applicants to the MFA and Post-Baccalaureate programs are required to submit a visual art portfolio consisting of 10-20 images of recent work. Applicants who work in video, animation, or other time-based mediums may include up to 10 minutes of time-based work. We encourage you to submit work that you believe to be the strongest representation of your skills and experiences to date, regardless of medium.

Generative AI
SMFA at Tufts supports the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) as one of many tools used in creative practices. To ensure that the Admissions committee has a thorough understanding of your artistic skills and creative process we require that you provide a description alongside each piece for which AI was used. In your description, provide details about how you incorporated AI technology into your work. We will ask you to acknowledge this requirement upon submission of the portfolio in your Tufts applicant portal.

How to Submit

• Upload your portfolio by navigating to the ‘Digital Portfolio’ tab of your application, where detailed upload instructions can be found.
• Do not submit images in presentation formats such as multiple-page PDFs or PowerPoint files.

Graduate Application Process and Deadlines

File Sizes and Types

We support media files up to 5GB in most digital formats.
 
File Formats:
Video: .3g2, .3gp, .avi, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .mxf, .webm, .wmv
Audio: .aac, .m4a, .mka, .mp3, .oga, .ogg, .wav
Slide: .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff
Document: .doc, .docx, .odg, .odp, .odt, .pdf, .ppt, .pptx, .rtf, .wpd