For some students, the college admissions process includes even more than just standard essays and countless supplementals that most high schoolers deal with. Students going to college for an art-based major must also base their submissions on their design, creative, and performance skills.
Not everyone who applies to school for the arts grows up knowing they want it to become a career. For many seniors, the decision to apply to college for art was a much more recent choice.
“[Theater has] always been my dream, but I never thought it was realistic, because I was [planning on] going to school for psychology. And then I just kept seeing all the other kids that I knew going to school for it,” said Olivia Johnson ’27, who is applying to theater programs in the 2026–27 cycle. “And I was like, ‘You know what? I think I’ll give it a shot.’”
Students applying to school for Studio or Fine Arts must first pick out a portfolio of pieces that showcase their best work and strongest art skills. This portfolio typically consists of 10–20 pieces, although the exact number varies greatly depending on the school.
“Some art colleges will also provide a supplemental, ... where [the students] need to also do a project based on a prompt from these places,” said art teacher Matthew Pembleton. “So some of our colleges are very competitive in that way.”
Much more goes into submitting a portfolio than just the creation of the pieces. The artwork must be carefully and properly photographed, ensuring that no shakiness or glare is visible. Students must also submit descriptions of their creative processes and each artwork’s meaning.
“[There’s] also the language and the writing behind their portfolio,” said Pembleton. “So most places will ask for students to do an artist statement for each artwork, as well as an overall narrative writing about their body of work. ... And then, of course, taking the pictures, ... uploading them, the technical side of it, too.”
Similarly to visual art students, music and theater students have to make sure their submissions are of proper quality. Scratchy audio tapes or playing too quietly can cause admissions officers to discard the application.
For theater, some schools will ask for full body videotapes, while others prefer to only see the top half of applicants’ bodies during the initial pre-screen.
Because of this, many students have to record the same audition in multiple styles and formats to fit each desired school.
“A lot of schools require different limitations, so you can have 30 seconds or a minute for some monologues. Or you need to only [record] a torso up, or you need your full body,” said Johnson. “And then after you submit your pre-screens, you can get an audition spot to go in person for the schools that want to see you again.”
For highly ranked art schools like The Juilliard School, there are multiple rounds of auditions that the applicants must pass before they are admitted.
“There’s supplemental [essays that are] on music topics. Then you have to ... record [a pre-screen audition] ... with some Juilliard students,” said drum player Gabby O’Neill ’27, who hopes to pursue a music career. “And then if I make it past that, there’s another audition that’s in person, and if I make it past that, then I make it.”
After the pre-screen round of auditions, students are asked to come in to audition in person for schools that are considering admitting them. These in-person auditions might include performing more pieces than just those submitted originally, or taking notes from the directors and adjusting accordingly. Some schools will also give applicants specific pieces or styles.
“[The assigned pieces] usually don’t change. There’s a lot of options open, but usually they ask for one contemporary piece that was written in the past 50 years or so,” said PHS Orchestra cellist Alice Leng ’27. “And then usually for cellos, it would be one Bach suite and then one piece that could show your technical skills. Usually a concerto or sonata.”
Some teachers at PHS help students by using their experience with college applications and portfolio development to help students pick out the pieces that best fit their strengths.
“So first we try to establish that baseline: what are the strengths and where are areas that they can supplement,” said Pembleton. “Most students have a lot of diverse experiences from being in class [at] PHS. We work with them individually to help them with that.”
Although the admissions process for high school seniors has countless steps and can be overwhelming, students have help from sources both inside and outside of PHS to ensure they are able to showcase their talents to the best of their abilities and continue their passions beyond high school.
“I have someone helping me, but I really just threw a bunch of different song names at them, and they helped me decide which ones would be best and the songs that I like to sing the most,” said Johnson. “If you have a song [that you hate], no matter how good you sound, don’t do that for your audition, because people can tell that you don’t like it.”