Demonstrate Your Visual Skills Through Suffolk Coursework
If you need to build a portfolio—or are not certain about your major path but are interested in the visual arts—you may apply to Suffolk University as an undeclared major with an interest in art and design.
Register for Specific Studio Courses from the Art & Design Curriculum
Undeclared majors enroll in the same studio coursework in the first semester as an Art & Design major. This means that you can explore your interest in the creative disciplines while building a body of work that can be assessed for admission to your preferred Art & Design degree program. Undeclared majors typically enroll in the three studios during their first semester of coursework, which vary slightly depending on your intended program:
- ADF S101 Foundation Drawing I
- ADF S166 2D/Color
- ADF S171 Integrated Studio I (for Graphic Design; optional for Studio Art)
- ADI S110 Digital Orthographics (for Interior Design)
If you are an undeclared major, you will have two opportunities in your first semester to have your work assessed for admission to a program. The first opportunity is at the mid-point when your studio faculty review work you have produced in the first half of the semester and make recommendations to the Foundation Program Director about your candidacy. If your work successfully demonstrates your readiness for entry into the Art & Design program, you will be invited to the major at this time.
If your studio work needs further development, you will have another opportunity to be assessed at the end of the first semester based on your studio course grades. If you earn a 2.7 GPA in the three studio courses (ADF S101, ADF S166 and ADF S171 or ADI S110) with no grade lower than a C+, you may be invited to join an Art & Design program. If you do not meet the GPA requirements in these studio courses, you may petition the Foundation Program Director to review samples of your work. You may also solicit letters of recommendation from your studio faculty to further support your candidacy.
If you are not admitted into the program after completion of the three studio courses, you may apply completed studio courses towards an Art Minor in Foundation Studies. In some cases, these studios might also be used as elective credits in another major, depending on the program.
Enroll in the Pre-College Summer Program
If you have been accepted into Suffolk University as an undeclared major with an interest in art and design, you may also produce an admission portfolio from pieces created during our Pre-College Summer Program. If, at the end of this program, the faculty find that your pre-college work is strong enough to satisfy the portfolio requirement, you will be admitted into one of our Art & Design majors for the fall. If not, you will remain enrolled in the three studio courses during the fall semester and have your work assessed for admittance as indicated.