[DangerousLlama]

hello,
right now I'm a senior in high school and just starting to apply to colleges (a little late by my school's standards) with illustration as my major. I'm probably the only one really interested in art in my school (pretty much all my work is done on my own time) and being in hawaii, there arent many outlets for art (forums like this and the internet in general are the main things that keep my interest alive right now).

anyway, I was wondering how much colleges look at grades compared to your portfolio. Right now i have 2.5 GPA; I tend spend all day drawing and stuff rather than doing school work (I ace my tests, but I dont turn in homework ) and now I'm thinking maybe I shouldnt have ... lol. You can look at my work at my site: http://www.dangerousllama.com do you think my work could carry my low GPA? I've really no idea how to put together a portfolio....

for portfolios, do colleges look for really polished finished work? Most of my works are studies and sketches and they're a bit rough.

If I cant get in to any school I'll probably go to a community college for a year or two and reapply or I may even do that before I apply (something which I wouldnt mind too much).

thanks

[winjer]

hahah llama this sounds like my story of trying to get in to college. Had a 2.6 gpa cuz i was lazy, not dumb.i had a good score on the sats though, and sva only accepted me under academic probation. I saw your awesome pastels in the life drawing thread, you are good to go if you send those in, and i think you could get a scholarship to boot.

[watmough]

this is from my experience..(keep in mind that this was a looong time ago )
i went to Parsons School of Design,which,at the time,was supposed to be one of the better schools in the country,and i did VERY POORLY high school,i even failed art course twice.
when i showed my portfolio,which consisted of very finished egg tempera paintings and pencil drawings,the interviewer told me not to worry about the grades,and that my "finished" style was too early in my artistic development and that the foundation teachers were going to break it down.now i got accepted(full scholoarship,too!),but,llama,you are MUCH more talented and open-minded than i was at your age,so a rougher style with better basic skills,is better for your chances,imo.also,keep in mind that i only applied to 1 school,so my experience is limited.good luck!

[intellation]

being a first year in art school, i thought i could help. let me start by saying that your grades arent the biggest issue. i, like watmough, didnt do so hot in high school; i even bombed some art classes. even finished junior year with a 1.8 (weighted) gpa. but since my portfolio was nice and gorgeous, and my test scores were pretty good, my school (smfa) let me in. now, moving on the the actual portfolio.... most schools will ask for 10-20 (big generalization, it varies heavily from school to school) pieces of your absolute best. its basically your chance to show off and prove that you are worthy of the school. also, apply to lots of schools. yes its more work, but it increases your options. thats about all i have to offer... in review:

-grades help, but they dont really heavily sway art schools.
-apply to several schools (even the best of the best)
-put your very best work into your portfolio, the stronger the better

with your portfolio, you should have little to no trouble getting in and getting free money (whooo!). good luck!

[DangerousLlama]

thanks for the feedback guys!

my teachers keep telling my I need high grades to get into college... I guess all I can do is apply and see what happens