admissions template

Massachusetts College of Art + Design welcomes applications for admission from anyone who has a minimum of a high school diploma and is committed to the visual and media arts. Applicants are evaluated according to standards that gauge abilities and talent in the arts along with potential, motivation, and desire. There is no one formula that determines an applicant's potential for success. In evaluating the applicant, the admissions committees try to be flexible, sensitive, and personal.

Admissions evaluations employ objective and subjective criteria with emphasis on the applicant's portfolio, academic records, and personal characteristics. Admission is offered to those candidates who demonstrate the combination of visual experiences and interests, intellectual capabilities, and personal qualities that are important for success in all programs at the college. Diversity is viewed as an essential goal for the college community, and differences in age, life experiences, education, extracurricular activities, and racial, ethnic, and/or cultural background are valued in the admissions decision.

Admission to the Massachusetts College of Art + Design is extremely competitive. Each year the number of applicants for admission far exceeds the number of spaces available. This is true at all levels of admission, although the competition for admission to specific programs may vary from year to year.

Admission decisions are made independently of financial aid awarding, and the admissions committee does not consider financial need as a factor in granting or denying admission. Each candidate who wishes financial aid should file the FAFSA form as early as possible so that the Financial Aid Office can review the aid application as soon as the admission decision is made. Please see the Financial Aid section for more information.

Undergraduate Admission Standards

Admission standards established by the Massachusetts College of Art + Design are used as a measure of academic preparedness of undergraduate applicants for college-level work. Meeting these standards does not guarantee admission to MassArt as there are many other elements to evaluation of an application.

Components of the Admissions Standards for MassArt:

I. Minimum Secondary School Academic Course Requirements:

Subject Minimum Years of Study in College-level Preparatory

English (composition & literature) 4

Mathematics (algebra I and II and Geometry or comparable course work) 2

Sciences (laboratory) 2

Additional Mathematics or Science 1

Social Sciences (including one course in U.S. history) 2

Foreign language (in one language) 2

Visual Art* 2

Electives (from the above areas or computer science, humanities, performing arts) 2

Minimum Units 17

*Students from high schools without art programs may substitute electives from above areas but are expected to pursue art through outside classes. Exceptions can only be granted by the Admissions Office.

Note: Foreign-language or algebra courses taken in the eighth grade can satisfy the area requirements if they appear on the high school transcript and if the applicant successfully completes the next level course with a grade of "C" or better. Eighth grade courses do not reduce the 17 units required in high school. Students may substitute additional electives or courses in other required subject areas.

II. Minimum High School Grade Point Average (GPA);

A high school GPA, based on the required academic courses and weighted for accelerated courses, is calculated at the end of the applicant’s seventh semester. The minimum GPA is 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). If a student’s GPA falls below the minimum, he/she may qualify based on a sliding scale relating SAT or ACT scores to the GPA. Students can not be admitted with a GPA below a 2.3.

III. Transfer applicants with 12 or more semester credits must present a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.

Students who have earned college credits while enrolled in high school must meet the admissions standards for first-year applicants.

IV. Students applying for admission more than three years after high school graduation or who have completed the GED and whose high school class graduated three or more years prior to applying to college, must show their ability to succeed in college based upon their high school and/or college transcripts, scores on GED and SAT (or ACT tests), and/or other presentations.

Students who drop out of high school, earn a GED, and apply to college within three years of when their high school class graduated are subject to the same admissions standards as students applying within three years of graduation from high school.

Applicants not admissible under the standards outlined may be accepted upon individualized demonstration of their potential for academic success in a four-year program. The percentage of students so admitted is extremely limited.

Exceptions:

Learning Disabled Applicants

Applicants with professionally diagnosed and documented learning disabilities are exempt from taking standardized tests for admission to any public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. Such students, however, must complete 17 required academic courses with a minimum required GPA of 3.00. An applicant may substitute two college preparatory electives for the two required foreign language courses only if the applicant has on file with the high school results of a psycho-educational evaluation completed within the past three years that provides a specific diagnosis of a learning disability and an inability to succeed in a foreign language.

English as a Second Language Students

ESL applicants must complete the 17 required college preparatory courses with two exceptions:

ESL applicants may substitute two electives for the required foreign language courses
ESL applicants may substitute up to two years of college preparatory ESL English courses for college preparatory English courses provided they achieve a rank of at least the 62nd percentile on the TOEFL. (This means a 550 on the paper TOEEFL.)

Vocational-Technical Student Applicants

Vocational-technical students must complete 17 college preparatory courses, distributed in the same manner and with the same minimum grade point averages required of other high school graduates, with the following exceptions:

Two vocational-technical courses may be used to fulfill the two required electives.

Vocational-technical high school graduates who do not complete the two required college preparatory foreign language courses must complete an additional elective college preparatory course, for a total of three such courses, and satisfy one of the following options:

Complete at least one Carnegie unit of foreign language;
Complete an additional Carnegie unit of mathematics or science;
Complete one Carnegie unit of computer science.

Graduates of Non-U.S. High Schools

MassArt requires official evaluation from a documentation service to determine whether the transcript of a non-US high school graduate is comparable to the required transcripts.

Graduates of high schools that are outside of the U.S. may substitute the same number of any college preparatory courses or their equivalent for the required distribution of courses.