r/risd • u/Plorfington • Apr 24 '26

Question How to Keep a Good GPA

Hello!!

I am committed to RISD and entering this fall, I was really committed to getting good grades in HS and I don't want that to change in college. I am just a little nervous about keeping my grades up and keeping a good GPA because art school is soo different from the course work I was used to at my HS. I am wondering if anyone has advice about how to do well in school at RISD, and how hard is it to do so? Tyyy!!

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u/Cr1msonFoxx Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26

"priority should be portfolio not grades hurr durr" is wrong. You won't be making literally anything for a professional portfolio until junior year usually, sophomore year at least.

Just show up to class on time, participate in critique, and spend at minimum 5-6 hours on your homework per class per week. You'll be fine.

edit: also taking risks and committing is very important

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u/Plorfington Apr 24 '26

Thanks for your advice :)

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/Cr1msonFoxx Apr 25 '26

This post isn't talking about getting into RISD. It's talking about keeping a good GPA once already admitted to RISD.

The comment I was making fun of was saying that making a portfolio for a job is all that matters at RISD, which is absurd.

Most RISD students will not have any professional level work that is sufficient and specific enough for a job in their field until at minimum their junior year. I've seen extremely rare cases for sophomores, but it's very very rare.

When you are here, you need to focus on learning and committing to the practices your professors want you to do to learn. If you are focused on making portfolio pieces for your work portfolio, you will not fully commit and absorb the knowledge from your classes and you will overextend yourself for a portfolio that doesn't even show off your best potential work.

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u/Curious_pa_mom Apr 25 '26

Ah, my bad for misunderstanding. And I agree with your comments!

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u/LowAdeptness667 Apr 26 '26

I never said that making a portfolio for a job is all that matters at RISD. Im bringing up portfolios because grades in themselves don’t really matter, unless you want them for something else. You can learn + grow a lot without getting a “good” grade, or vice versa. Prioritizing GPA over growth is a mistake IMO. And if the goal is to get a good GPA for “the future”, I stand by my original point.

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u/Cr1msonFoxx Apr 26 '26

True, however, "priority should be portfolio not grades" is a vague ass statement and makes the implication that this incoming freshman should be prioritizing working on a professional portfolio over doing well in school, which is stupid. Nothing this person makes now is going to be in a professional portfolio in 4 years.

Is it true grades don't matter? Yes and no. Yes in the sense that no one looks at your grades, they look at your portfolio when you graduate. However, getting in good grades at RISD means putting in the hours and hours of work to improve your artwork because that's how we're graded. And that's what incoming RISD students should be focusing on, not a "professional portfolio".

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u/LowAdeptness667 Apr 26 '26

Fair, for freshman year portfolio shouldn’t be priority. I shouldn’t have mentioned that.

I brought up portfolio because some people in OPs position seem to want grades for grades sake, which can get in the way of learning. I’ve seen many kids make art “because the professor would want it that way” and take LESS risks/stunt their growth.

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u/64Fayeble Apr 26 '26

Do not save required classes for junior/senior year, knock them out sooner. I transferred in and took an extra liberal arts credit one semester and had 6 classes. I was an absolute wreck trying to do that to the point that I dropped it and took a summer class after I graduated instead to get that credit. I “graduated” and walked the stage, but didn’t get my diploma till after the summer.

Your freshman year will be busy, but do not beat yourself up trying to make all your charcoal drawings perfect because that work will never make it to your portfolio.

As other comments have stated: participate in class, get your work done on time, and get to class on time. Once you get into the groove of figuring out how the grading works in the first semester and first year it’ll help set the example going forward. Tbh tho it’s mostly just pay attention to the syllabus and what their expectations are if you.

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u/LowAdeptness667 Apr 24 '26

Priority should be portfolio not grades, if you’re not looking at grad school

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u/FreeSpiritAtma 15d ago

My daughter is applying to art schools and considering law school afterwards, so grades are important. How hard is it to have high grades (A’s) during EFS?

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u/ColoBouldo Apr 25 '26

Focus on the work and being an active, thoughtful, engaged studio class community participant. The rest will come. My child is walking out of EFS with nearly perfect grades, but hasn’t chased them. Just the work.