Lasalle College of the Arts: What do they look for in an applicant?
Since it was first established in 1984, Lasalle College of the Arts has gained an illustrious reputation as a leading Art institute in the Asia-Pacific region. Thousands of hopefuls in the field of Art & Design apply annually for the opportunity to build their careers under the guidance of an award-winning faculty and create networks within a community of globally engaged artists and critical thinkers. Such prestige and eminence begets the question, what kind of an applicant does Lasalle look for?
The Singapore government seeks to transform the city into a \’Global City for the Arts\’ and Lasalle as one of their top institutes plays a huge role in this vision. Therefore, even the students enrolling for their degree programs should be capable of actively promoting cosmopolitan ideals in their artwork. In its mission statement, Lasalle entails that its graduates are expected to bring meaningful changes into the world with their future work. In their core values, they strongly uphold collaboration, excellence, courage, agility, and engagement. From this it can be surmised that the ideal Lasalle student is a team-player, a diligent and hard-worker, as well as a fearless voice of the youth that can interact with their audience and foster monumental change around the world.
EdNet Consultants has had several of their own success stories emerge as Lasalle graduates. Our years of experience in engaging with this contemporary art institute has helped us identify exactly the type of candidate who is best-fit for Lasalle, and vice-versa. In this article, we would like to share the qualities that are most likely to help an applicant become the ideal Lasalle student.
Before continuing, it is important to understand that Lasalle provides admission in four types of courses – undergraduate, postgraduate, certificate and diploma, with different requirements for each. Additionally, the range of programs Lasalle offers are overseen by separate schools within the college’s ambit. These are:
- McNally School of Fine Arts
- Puttnam School of Film & Animation
- School of Creative Industries
- School of Design Communication
- School of Fashion
- School Of Spatial And Product Design
- School of Contemporary Music
- School of Dance & Theatre
Depending on which course a candidate is applying to, the criterias or their significance may vary. Nonetheless, here are some core areas you can work on to make sure that you are Lasalle material!
- A stellar portfolio: original, visionary and diverse.
A portfolio requirement is mandatory while applying for courses like Fine Art, Interior Design, Product Design, Animation Art, Design Communication, Fashion Design & Textiles, and Fashion Media & Industries. Although there may be variations in the number of artworks you need to submit, the number is usually not more than 15. While building your portfolio, the highest priority should be that your artwork is original. Submitting copied art is one of the biggest mistakes a student can make while applying to an art school. This is because despite displaying your skills in accuracy and observation, this form of art is not a representation of your own vision.
Diversity is an important element to creating an impressive portfolio. Lasalle’s portfolio requirements emphasize the need for range, demonstrating a candidate’s skills in both traditional and digital forms of art. A variance in technique and mediums are highly appreciated and for courses such as Animation Art, Product Design and Design Communication, expertise in 2D and 3D art softwares are highly sought after.
- Capacity for development.
Naturally, a student applying for Art school is not expected to have skills that match industry standards. Nonetheless, their artwork should convey adequate capacity for development. Your art portfolio can be used to demonstrate the growth of your artistic abilities. Don’t shy away mixing up your earlier works with more of your recent art. Your reviewers will be able to perceive your improvement by comparing each piece, which will make you a more appealing candidate. This is one of the reasons why portfolios are often required to show the year in which a particular piece was created.
A scope for improvement is a criteria not only restricted to art courses. Candidates applying for Film, Acting, Music, Musical Theatre, and Dance, are also judged in this regard. During the auditions, students applying for these programs have to showcase their caliber for growth in their respective fields. How well you take direction and read instructions are important categories for consideration. During auditions, students should keep calm and level-headed, which would allow them to fully understand what they are being asked to perform.
- Written requirements.
Although written requirements are a category for consideration only in courses such as Arts Management, Fashion Design and Textile, and the Fine Arts program, this can be an immense opportunity to impress the admissions committee with your language skills. The written assignment may be in the form of a statement of purpose or a creative assignment. The latter is used to identify a student’s capability in ideation and conceptualization, as well as their ability to put visual ideas on paper.
The statement of purpose, on the other hand, analyzes why the candidate wants to study a Lasalle, why they are going for this particular course and how they aim to fulfill their goals and aspirations through Lasalle’s resources. Aside from these, written requirements also include brief descriptions that are supposed to go along with each art piece in the students’ portfolios. A candidate should be able to explain why they decided to build a certain piece, what was the inspiration behind it, their thought process and why they chose to include unique elements within a certain piece of work.
Lasalle also has a language requirement that can be fulfilled through exams such as TOEFL and IELTS.
- An impressive curriculum vitae.
Art schools like Lasalle look for students who have a certain degree of experience in their respected fields. Of course, this does not mean that one has to have professional experience. However, participations in workshops, art classes, online courses and tutorials can adequately demonstrate your interest as well as the steps you have taken to learn more and improve your rudimentary skills.
This can also be the space where you can boast about your other achievements. These may not necessarily have any relevance with regard to the program you are applying for, but would nonetheless demonstrate your tenacity and participative spirit. Remember, Lasalle is trying to find future leaders in their applicants, hence any activity that can give evidence to your team-building skills or leadership abilities should be mentioned in your CV.
- Ace your interview.
The interview is a crucial part of Lasalle’s admission process as almost every candidate has to go through one. Interacting with a panel can be a nerve-wracking experience but one should be confident in the work that they are presenting. You may be asked questions about how you were inspired to take up a certain field or why you prefer to use certain techniques. In order to prepare yourself, you should be completely aware of your own art style, the inspiration behind it and what message you are trying to send through them. Make surev you have gone through Lasalle’s vision and values. If you can represent yourself and your artwork in a manner that resonates with said values, the Lasalle admissions committee will find in you the perfect candidate for their upcoming batch.
Lasalle’s contemporary focus and innovative techniques in teaching can push the boundaries of your imagination and take your talents and potential to newer heights. Keeping the above mentioned plans would not only help you secure a spot in one of Lasalle’s coveted programs, but would also lay the foundation for a prosperous future in the field of Art & Design. For more information, feel free to contact EdNet Consultants. Our close ties with Lasalle College of the Arts will give the right guidance in building a straight path to the college of your dreams. Additionally, the EdNet Art School and Test Prep units can help you create winning portfolios, and ace your IELTS/TOEFL exams. With our help, you will be Lasalle-ready in no time!
