Qualification Test 23th May Review

The qualification test for the upcoming winter semester took place during the past two days (given topic was “sitting”). Nosy as I am I couldn’t resist to sneak in the portfolio rating rooms, the place where the candidates leave their portfolios for further evaluation by three professors and three to four students in each room. IF your portfolio catches their attention you get an invitation for the second test on the next day (the topic this time was “point”). You then have four hours to complete a few different assignments on the given topic challenging your creativity and putting you under great pressure 🙂

But let’s talk about my journey to portfolio hell 😀

I went to three different rooms (from four or five) and here’s what I found out:

  • first of all the professors read your personal data and really take your favored specification in consideration (specifications: illustration, media design, communication design, product design) so don’t write “illustration” if you have no drawing skills whatever!
  • more possibly important facts about you: your age (if your work has a few flaws but you’re still very young the professors tend to occasionally ignore your mistakes BUT sometimes too young candidates can get sorted out so “they can use some 1-2 semesters to further develope their skills before applying again”), your current occupation (school, uni, work etc.), design knowledge (if you’re 28 and never heard of any designers or went to any exhibitions etc., that’s bad!)
  • every portfolio gets only 1-7 minutes so it’s gotta be striking!
  • mind maps, sketches and descriptions to your work (very important) are a bonus!
  • don’t save money on the portfolio folder itself! if it is handmade then you MUST make it look and work good (there were some portfolios that made it really hard to turn the pages because of the way they were crafted…)
  • a whole bunch of portfolios didn’t make it to the final round because there was no common theme -it seems some prospective students were afraid to concentrate on one theme only

On the day of the second test the candidates who weren’t invited got the chance to go to a portfolio consultation with some of the university’s students. You can bring your own artwork or just listen to the critique given to the others, it’s up to you!

Oh, and one more thing: All of the information I’m giving you is just my subjective view 😉 No refunds!