Overview for Current UConn Students
Hello Husky! Welcome to UConn's Department of Digital Media & Design! We are excited that you are interested in becoming a part of the DMD family.
Entrance into the Digital Media & Design program is highly competitive and the portfolio review is a vital part of the admission process. Your application to UConn DMD will not be complete until you upload the SlideRoom portfolio. Current UConn students who wish to either change their major or add a second major of Digital Media & Design must submit an online portfolio through SlideRoom.
The Digital Media & Design Department strongly believes that academic excellence is as important as artistic and creative excellence, and we hold our students to certain academic standards. All DMD majors must maintain a minimum 2.7 cumulative GPA and a 3.0 GPA in their DMD courses. To be considered for a major change, you must meet the minimum 2.7 cumulative GPA in your current major.
It is also important to know, that depending on how far along you are in your academic career (total number of credits earned), you will most likely be required to stay an additional semester or more to complete your DMD degree, particularly if you choose the B.F.A. degree. Please review the Plan of Study, found on each concentration page, for your intended concentration in advance of applying.
Please know that due to the competitive nature of our program, we are extremely limited in the number of major change students we can accept. Therefore, get your portfolio submitted as early as possible. We generally accept major changes for a fall semester start, but on occasion for the spring semester. Current UConn majors are typically not notified of their acceptance status until well after May 15, just prior to the start of the next fall semester. You should plan to meet with your current academic advisor to select classes for the upcoming fall semester and be willing to adjust your schedule accordingly should you be approved for the major change/add.
Each summer, DMD offers a handful of courses that are open to all UConn students, without prerequisites. We encourage potential major change applicants to consider taking some DMD courses to better understand the major. Taking summer classes is also a great way to catch up on requirements, in the event that you are accepted into the program. See our summer offerings here: https://dmd.uconn.edu/major/summer/. We also typically offer DMD 2010 History of Digital Culture in the Winter session.
New England Regional Student Eligibility
The University of Connecticut participates in the New England Regional Student Program. The New England Board of Higher Education provides New England residents with a tuition reduction when they pursue certain majors at New England public colleges and universities. Due to its unique nature, UConn’s Digital Media & Design (BFA & BA) is one of the approved degree programs. Students from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont are eligible for a significant discount on out-of-state tuition (175% of UConn's in-state tuition cost) when they choose Digital Media & Design as their major at UConn.
Deadline
Applications for major change/adds are reviewed periodically throughout the year, but students are highly encouraged to submit by April 15 for a fall start and January 1 for a spring start.
Portfolio Requirements
The portfolio items below are to be uploaded to the Media section of SlideRoom:
1) Create a 1-Minute Video
Create a 1-minute video that tells your personal story of engagement with, and affinity for, Digital Media. Share your thoughts and reflections about the digital medium and why UConn is the place for you to advance your studies in the digital space. We ask that you produce your video as simply as possible (use a smartphone or webcam) and keep the focus on you - we want to meet you and get to know more about you through your video. Your video will be judged on substance (what you have to say), not on production values (how you shoot or edit) so don’t worry about making the coolest looking video. Instead, focus on making a video that tells your personal story. Also, we will watch only 60-seconds of your video, so running longer than 1-minute will not help your application. The file format for all video submissions should be: .mov, .mp4, or .wmv,
2) Your Artistic Portfolio
All Students (BA and BFA) Must Upload a Portfolio to SlideRoom.
A portfolio is a collection of the strongest creative work that represents you - your artistic interests and experiences in art, digital media, design, and related areas. It should contain the best creative work you have made including: films/videos, animations, digital imaging, traditional art (drawings, paintings, photography, sculpture, mixed media), web design, creative blogs, writing samples, and even work in math, science, technology, business, music, or other areas. You may want to compress or zip your files prior to uploading if you think your files are too large. The portfolio must include:
Provide up to 7 files/ items. Your portfolio can include process work with more than one image on an individual item.
Size limits: Images (up to 10MB each), Video (up to 500MB each), Audio (up to 60MB each), PDFs (up to 20MB each), Models (Sketchfab) and Other Types (.doc, .docx, .rtf, .xls, .zip, .ppt and .pptx) (up to 20MB each). You may also link to media from YouTube, Vimeo and SoundCloud.
Other Info
Please keep in mind that we DO NOT accept USB drives, CD’s or DVD’s– only digital files uploaded to SLIDEROOM.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Only applicant portfolios that have been reviewed through SlideRoom, in accordance with the deadlines indicated, will be considered for admission into the Digital Media & Design program for the following fall semester. Portfolios received outside of these processes or after the indicated deadlines will NOT be considered. We do not schedule private review sessions.