Portfolio and personal letter for school application

thighger

Hi! I'm applying for the Game Art program at a game development university in Sweden and I need some help putting together a portfolio as well as writing a personal letter. In your portfolio you're only allowed to include 5 files that can be everything from 3D renders to studies to finished illustrations. I only do 2D art, but if you want to recommend some artworks I should include in my portfolio I post all of it on my instagram: MissVajsing. What I need most is some help with my personal letter though. I have no idea how to express myself and what information to include. I interned at three game companies in January which gives me a huge advantage, but what else should I write about? How long should it be? How should I start/end the letter? Man I'm clueless! Save me please. 

Brian "Panda" Choi

This university you're applying to: what is their essay prompt specifically?  That will help set goal posts.

thighger

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

This university you're applying to: what is their essay prompt specifically?  That will help set goal posts.

There are only instructions regarding the worktests, not the personal letter unfortunately. 

Brian "Panda" Choi

A good place to start is to express why you want to sacrifice a portion of your life to making games.  What brought you to the decision?  What have you done in regards to the goal?  Have there been people in your life who encouraged or provided challenges?

If you want a more concrete prompt, take a look at the University of Southern California's essay prompt for their USC IMD application.  The personal letter you mention sounds similar to what I needed to give USC for my major application.

thighger

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

A good place to start is to express why you want to sacrifice a portion of your life to making games.  What brought you to the decision?  What have you done in regards to the goal?  Have there been people in your life who encouraged or provided challenges?

If you want a more concrete prompt, take a look at the University of Southern California's essay prompt for their USC IMD application.  The personal letter you mention sounds similar to what I needed to give USC for my major application.

That's really good advice! Thank you so much! I'll def check out the USC prompt. 

Edit; I tried to find the prompt but it seems like I can't access it without registering. Maybe I'm just bad at finding stuff hehe. Do you have a link on hand?