Admission

Application Deadlines

Priority application deadlines:

• Summer: March 13
• Fall: July 10
• Spring: November 6

Rolling admission is based on space availability each term.

Admission Requirements—Domestic Applicants

The university graduate and program admission requirements below must be met before an application is considered complete.

Applicants must possess:

• Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university
• Minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4-point scale. Students with a grade-point average of 2.50-2.99 will be considered for admission on a provisional basis.

Applicants must submit:

• Graduate application for admission
• $45 nonrefundable application fee
• Official transcripts from all institutions leading to and awarding the applicant’s bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution and all postbaccalaureate study
  
  

  An official transcript is one that Azusa Pacific University receives unopened in an envelope sealed by the former institution and that bears the official seal of the college or university. A cumulative minimum 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) grade-point average on the posted degree is required for regular admission status. Provisional admittance may be granted to individuals with a lower GPA if competency can be shown through multiple measures.

Send official transcripts to:

Graduate and Professional Center
Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions
Azusa Pacific University
PO Box 7000
Azusa, CA 91702-7000
gpadmissions@apu.edu
• Current résumé of work experience
• Two letters of recommendation
• Letter of intent (not to exceed two pages, double spaced) that answers the following questions:
  1. During the past five years, identify some of the most significant events of your artistic development. What are your principal interests and concerns in making art?
  2. What types of materials (books, magazines, films, exhibitions, etc.) do you review on art, spirituality, and/or culture? If your reading materials minimally impact your art, explain what exerts maximum impact.
  3. Explain how your spiritual/religious perspective informs your art.
  4. What are your strengths and limitations as an artist? (Comment specifically on how this impacts your academic research and writing ability.)
  5. What do you hope to achieve in the MFA program? How does this coincide with your goals as an artist?
• Portfolio submitted through SlideRoom consisting of either:
  1. Fifteen clearly labeled digital images of work accompanied by an inventory list, including the title, year, dimensions, and material.

  or

  2. A clearly labeled two-and-a-half to three-minute video indicative of work, portions of works, and/or details of works (performance art and video art applicants only).

Instructions for SlideRoom Portfolio Submissions

• Your portfolio must be submitted via SlideRoom, an online portfolio website, and should include approximately 15 images representative of your most recent or current work. You do not need to submit 15 distinct works or projects, but please make sure that each image you submit shows different content. Sketches and works-in-progress are welcome.
• Enter any captions, descriptions, or titles of your work in the field provided by SlideRoom. Do not add captions, descriptions, titles, or other extraneous text within the area where you upload your image.
• We are looking for personal work that gives us a sense of who you are as an artist, rather than academic work. Please do not include generic class assignments (i.e. technical exercises, figure/life drawing, still life drawings).
• If your medium is video or performance, please submit a two-and-a-half to three-minute MOV or MP4 file that is less than 250 MB in size, indicative of work, portions of works, and/or details of works.

Admission Requirements—International Applicants

This program is not open to F-1 or J-1 international students, because the low-residency format doesn’t meet the full time face-to-face requirement set by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. If you are an international student who does not require a F-1 or J-1 visa, you may be considered for this program.

To apply for a graduate program at APU, the following requirements must be fulfilled in addition to meeting the domestic applicant and program-specific admission requirements specified above.

International applicants must also:

• Demonstrate proficiency in English through a TOEFL/IELTS score that meets program-specific requirements. Refer to APU’s English proficiency requirements to learn more. Request that official test scores be sent to APU. All other forms of proof indicated in the English proficiency requirements must be submitted directly to the International Services.
• Submit a copy of a valid passport showing biographical data, including your name, country of citizenship, date of birth, and other legal information.

International applicants send official transcripts to:

What to Expect

After the International Center receives all transcripts, a committee of department faculty reviews the applicant’s file. The applicant is then notified of the committee’s decision within approximately two weeks.