Early Steps to Take

One of the earliest steps you can take to help you with your portfolio journey is to start investigating creative career paths and schools. Your school counselor and art teachers can help you explore post secondary options. The internet is also a wealth of information, as most schools and colleges have easily accessible information about the majors they offer on their websites. Narrowing down your interests can help. Figuring out if you would like to attend a small school versus a large one or a liberal arts college versus an all arts school can also help with this process. Please reach out to your school counselor, your art teacher, or the Visual Arts Subject Matter Leader to schedule a meeting for more specific information.

Your portfolio journey must begin by making art. One of the best ways to help you in this process is to keep taking a variety of art classes throughout your time in high school. At Hopkinton High School we offer an array of visual arts electives that you can choose from. As you learn more about your interests, don’t be shy in advocating for your needs. For example, if you are interested in applying to school for Photography, be proactive in letting your school counselor know that these kinds of classes are important for your journey. If you don’t advocate for your needs you might run the risk of important classes not making their way into your schedule. Keeping your counselors informed helps them help you. Also have conversations with any of your current visual arts teachers. They can help guide you during the course selection process to choose courses that will help you build your portfolio.

Taking a variety of art electives can help you develop a more broad portfolio, while taking specific electives might help you hone in on particular skills that a college might be interested in seeing. So as mentioned above, doing some research ahead of time can also help you choose the courses that are right for you. For example, if you are interested in going to school for Industrial Design and the portfolio requirements for a particular school are to submit several product designs, then you might consider taking courses such as Fab Lab or Ceramics to build your skills in 3-dimensional design in addition to taking Studio Art courses to help strengthen your drawing skills. While you may not be specifically creating products in these classes, the skills you learn in them can help you to work independently on projects if you need to. We’ll share more about that later in this guide.

Some students find themselves not knowing specifically what creative avenue they’d like to major in, and that is ok. If you find yourself in a situation like this, but you know that a big part of you wants to pursue a creative path, start by taking a variety of classes. This can help you achieve two things. One, it will help you build a broad portfolio of work, and two, it might help you figure out what interests you the most. You’ll never know if you like something or not if you never try it. High school is a great place to test out a variety of subjects.

We encourage you to take advantage of all of the courses available at HHS, but we also recognize that building your portfolio doesn’t have to happen just at school. Some students may not come to the realization that they want to further their education in the visual arts until they get to their junior, and even sometimes senior year of high school, leaving them with little room to take an array of electives. Utilizing these additional resources outside of school can help add more artwork to your portfolio and can also help you hone in on subjects you want to further explore. One cost-free way of getting more involved in the Visual Arts at Hopkinton High School is by joining some of our extracurricular after school clubs such as: Art Club, Ceramics Club, Drone Club, Fashion Club, Photography Club, National Art Honors Society or Yearbook. It’s also a great way to meet some of your peers who share similar interests.

There are also many resources available that are not affiliated with the school. While most of these opportunities come with a price tag, they could be worth investigating if you’re looking to explore more specific subjects or if you are a student who might have discovered later on that you need a portfolio to apply to a school or college. Many local places such as the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, the Danforth Museum and the Worcester Art Museum offer youth programs typically during after school hours, school vacation weeks and the summer. Likewise, many colleges run “Summer Studios” for high school students, and some also run programs referred to as “Pre-College” that are specifically designed for high school juniors. Again, these opportunities come with a price tag but sometimes have financial assistance. These options could be a great way to see what kind of school or major works for you before actually applying. Please note that Hopkinton Public Schools does not endorse any of these programs, so students and parents/guardians should thoroughly investigate any program before deciding to register or participate. Linked here is a list of some summer enrichment opportunities.

Working independently can be challenging, but it is a necessary skill for any designer or artist. Don’t shy away from making art on your own time to help build your portfolio. Dedicate a time and a space at home for this to happen. Look at your portfolio or share it with others, and identify areas where you need to improve or areas that you are lacking in. Consider keeping a sketchbook as part of your normal routine. These steps can help you determine what kinds of projects to work on. Not only will you be adding to your portfolio, but you will also be building upon and practicing self-management and self-efficacy skills.

Having a second set of eyes on your portfolio is a great way to help you build the best portfolio you can. A portfolio review is essentially a critique and is a great way to seek feedback from others and use some of that feedback to revise and improve your work before submitting your portfolio. There are a variety of ways to have your portfolio reviewed. One accessible way is to plan ahead and make arrangements with your current art teacher or the Visual Arts Subject Matter Leader. Consider scheduling a review in the spring of your Junior year during the course selection window or in the fall before you apply to schools depending on where you are at with your portfolio.

Another great way to receive feedback is by attending a National Portfolio Day event. Typically, National Portfolio Day takes place in Massachusetts each fall around October. This free event provides students with the opportunity to have their portfolios reviewed by counselors, admissions team members and faculty from art and design colleges and universities before the application process. It's like a college fair and portfolio review all rolled into one. Visit the NPD website for more information.

A third option is to schedule a portfolio review with a school or college admissions counselor. Not all schools and colleges offer this service for undergraduate admissions, so you’ll have to do some research. This would be a good idea to look into if you plan on visiting a school. You could use the opportunity to check out the campus and hear feedback from an admissions counselor while you’re already there.