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National Portfolio Days (NPDs) are free, public events hosted by the National Portfolio Day Association in-person and virtually throughout the fall and winter. NPDs provide an opportunity for prospective art students to meet with representatives from top colleges and universities and receive valuable feedback and guidance on a college portfolio-in-progress. Parents, teachers, and guidance counselors are also encouraged to attend NPDs to ask questions and learn more about arts pathways. As an educational event, no admissions decisions, scholarship awards, or formal interviews are offered at NPDs – just lots of practical guidance and inspiring conversation! Here are our top tips for anyone interested in attending one or more of these exciting events:

Do a little prep work. NPDs draw in dozens of college representatives and hundreds of prospective students, so portfolio reviews typically last about 15 minutes due to the high attendance. To make the most of your time with admissions reps, we recommend collecting your work into a loosely organized portfolio-in-progress of work created in the last two years. Some students will have a few works to show, while others will be curating down from a larger selection. Wherever you’re at in the process, you can trust SMFA at Tufts Admissions to offer personalized feedback and guidance for the next steps in creating your portfolio.

What to bring? You can bring original work, sketchbooks, and/or digital documentation on your own device. Since most college portfolios will be submitted digitally, presenting your work digitally at a portfolio review can be a great way to practice - just download the files to your device in advance in case of limited service. It can also be helpful to bring a tote bag to collect promotional materials from each table, a notepad to jot down suggestions from each review, and a snack, water bottle, and comfortable shoes. Most schools will ask you to complete an inquiry form before starting the review, so bring a note with your email and mailing addresses if you don’t have them memorized already.

Go with the flow. If you’re a bit nervous ahead of your review, don’t worry! College reps are all at the event because we love talking to prospective students about their artwork. Start by introducing yourself with your name and class year, and we’ll take it from there. We often recommend that students show us the work they’re most proud of first so that we don’t run out of time to see the work you really want to share. Every school rep will likely approach the review a little differently based on their school’s portfolio guidelines and program structure, so treat each review as a two-way street: while they’re learning about your work and offering feedback, you can get a sense of whether a program might make it onto your college list.
  
Visit a range of booths. NPDs offer a chance to talk to a variety of schools, including those that you haven’t heard of before or that you might not get to visit in-person. You might not want to wait too long in line for one school if there's another booth wide open nearby. Connecting with a variety of school representatives shows demonstrated interest (which some schools, including Tufts, consider during the admissions review process) and gives you a wider range of perspectives on your portfolio-in-progress. 
 
Take notes. You’ll hear a lot of information and ideas in a short amount of time, so take a few minutes after each review to jot down a recap of what the reviewer shared with you. This will allow you to process and revisit those ideas when you’re back in the art studio. It can also help to make note of the practical aspects of portfolio requirements and submission.
 
Don’t compare yourself to those around you. At National Portfolio Days, we see students from all different experiences. Some students have never been able to take an art class but have been working hard independently to pursue their passion, while others have been attending fine arts high schools where they get to spend hours each day working in the studio. And we take all of that context into consideration when we’re reviewing applicants later on. At NPD events, focus on your personal development and be proud of all the work you’ve done to get you to this point!
  
We hope these tips are helpful as you prepare to attend a National Portfolio Day! You can browse the National Portfolio Day schedule here. If you know you’ll be going to an NPD, you can pre-register your interest in a review with SMFA at Tufts Admissions by browsing our calendar of events in your area. As always, if you have any questions about how National Portfolio Days work or how to access portfolio prep support, please reach out to us at smfaadmissions@tufts.edu. Our team will be happy to connect with you!