Application Requirements | Undergraduate Admissions
Admission to Emily Carr requires the submission of a portfolio as well as meeting our academic requirements. Find instructions on how to create a portfolio and meet our academic requirements below.
Portfolio Requirements
Follow these steps to create your portfolio for application to Emily Carr University. Instructions for transfer students vary from those applying directly into first-year studies.
Your portfolio showcases your best work to date
Whether you are applying for first-year or as a transfer student, all applicants must submit a portfolio online through SlideRoom.
What is a portfolio?
Your portfolio is a collection of work and ideas that demonstrate the state of your creative development. Your portfolio will be reviewed by faculty members who teach across the disciplines at Emily Carr. We want to see what you create, to learn about your art, design, and media making processes, and to get a glimpse of the ideas and projects that you have been working on, so that we can imagine how you might succeed at Emily Carr.
A strong portfolio includes a diverse array of artwork, experimental processes, material techniques, observation skills, and creative thinking. The work that you present should demonstrate both a range of approaches as well as a sense of focus. Everything should be recent, made within the past two years.
Even if you are new to some art, design, and media practices, we want to see what you have taken on. What you might think is awkward and poorly executed work, faculty reviewers might see as full of potential, material that reflects an individual's willingness to learn and take on challenges and would therefore be interesting to teach.
There is no rigid or fail-safe formula for a good portfolio: we are looking for that unique combination of creativity, engagement, and inspiration that makes art, design and media education suitable for you.
There are four parts to the Emily Carr Portfolio:
1. Examples of your creative practice
2. Process documentation
3. Studio assignment
4. Writing
Transfer Applicant Portfolios
Each program has slightly different requirements. Below are examples of requirements for your transfer portfolio in SlideRoom. Please follow the instructions provided on SlideRoom.
Questions about the transfer process?
Connect with Admissions Advisor Yvonne Hachkowski to begin a conversation about your application process and make sure you are on the right track in pursuing your creative education.
Yvonne is available Tuesdays and Fridays for meetings by appointment. Please reach out with copies of your post-secondary transcripts to begin your review.
Portfolio Feedback
Get valuable insight on how best to present your portfolio with a portfolio review. Meet our student recruitment coordinator and receive feedback on your portfolio before you apply. Please note that portfolio reviews are presently fully booked. We hope to open up more spaces in the near future. This information will be posted here when available.
Other ways to gain portfolio feedback:
National Portfolio Day (NPD) Events
Receive portfolio feedback with a critique at any NPD event. Find details and register online.
Continuing Studies Workshops for Teens
The Portfolio Workshop for Teens is aligned with ECU Admissions Guidelines to help students with the application process through peer and instructor review.
Find all programs at teens.ecuad.ca.
Academic Requirements
Here is what you need to know to ensure that you satisfy our academic requirements.
The minimum academic requirement for admission to Emily Carr University undergraduate programs is graduation from grade 12 secondary school, with five grade 12 subjects. These include:
- English Studies 12 with a minimum grade of 'C',
- two other grade 12 academic courses
- two grade 12 elective courses.
The minimum overall grade point average required for admission is 2.5 or C+ or 67%. All elective courses must be grade 12 and can be Ministry Approved, Board Approved or Locally Developed.
Click to view requirements for each type of application:
Applicants from outside Canada
Completion of the highest level of secondary schooling available in your home country, in a program leading to university entrance.
Transcripts
All applicants must submit official transcripts - educational records of their academic performance.
English Proficiency
Your success at Emily Carr University depends on your English proficiency.
Regardless of your immigration or citizenship status, if English is not your first language (is not the first language you learned at home as a child), you will need to provide evidence of adequate English proficiency for admission consideration, unless you qualify for an exemption.
Acceptable English Language Proficiency Tests
Exemptions to English Language Proficiency Tests
If you meet any one of the following conditions, you may be exempt from having to submit an English proficiency test.
Official transcripts must be submitted for exemptions to be considered.
Creative Art Pathway Program
Emily Carr University of Art + Design offers the Creative Art Pathway (CAP) program for prospective international Emily Carr Students who have conditional acceptance but who do not meet the English Language proficiency requirements for admission. This program provides English proficiency upgrading courses while students take Emily Carr studio courses.
Eligibility
This program is open to International Students only. Candidates who meet Emily Carr’s visual art portfolio and academic admissions requirements but do not meet the minimum IELTS score and whose IELTS score is not lower than 5.5 in any skill area may apply for the Creative Art Pathway program.
Tuition + Fees
Tuition + Fees are approximately $11,000 for one semester.
Dates
The CAP program is offered in the Fall (September to December) term. Students may be required to take one or two terms depending on their skill level and academic progression through the program.
Prospective students interested in applying to this program should contact admissions@ecuad.ca.