How to Apply to Art and Design at Tufts University: SMFA at Tufts’ Major-Free Studio BFA and the Five-Year BFA + BA/BS Combined Degree, a 12–20-Piece Portfolio of Work From the Past Two Years, ED I, ED II and Regular Decision Deadlines, and Portfolio Requirements and Timelines for Chinese, Canadian High School and Transfer Students

At Tufts University, undergraduate art is offered by the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts (SMFA), one of Tufts’ three undergraduate schools; students use courses and resources on both the SMFA campus and the Medford/Somerville campus. This guide summarizes Tufts’ official requirements for students at high schools in China (including A-Level, IB and AP students), students at Canadian high schools (including BC and Vancouver) and transfer students.

1. Two undergraduate programs

• Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA): no traditional majors; students work with advisors and faculty to build a curriculum around their practice. The degree requires 76 credits of studio coursework and 42 credits of liberal arts coursework.
• Combined Degree (BFA + BA/BS): five years, two degrees, the studio BFA plus a BA or BS from Arts and Sciences, with more than 70 majors to choose from. Students complete the foundation, distribution and concentration requirements of the BA or BS as well as the BFA studio requirements.
• Choose when applying: applicants must indicate the BFA or the Combined Degree, and Tufts considers applicants only for the school they apply to.
• Minors: BFA students can add a minor in another academic area.

2. How the BFA works

• No traditional foundation year: the transfer page notes the BFA does not require a foundation year. Before the first semester, students meet an academic advisor to assemble a first-year curriculum that mixes new media and existing interests, plus foundational courses in art criticism and theory. Combined Degree students take both fine arts and liberal arts courses in their first year.
• Areas of study: students do not declare majors and can go deep in one medium or work across several. Listed areas include animation, ceramics, digital media, drawing, film and video, graphic arts (design, illustration, web design, comics and bookmaking), installation, metals, painting, photography, print and paper, sculpture, sound, virtual reality, and Visual and Material Studies (art and architectural history, film and language arts).
• Review Boards: each semester students present their work to a group of faculty and undergraduate peers for feedback on the work and its ideas.
• Senior Thesis Program: students in their final year can apply for a year-long program of research, writing and art-making that ends in a public exhibition.

3. Portfolio requirements

• Who submits: all BFA and Combined Degree applicants must submit a studio art portfolio.
• Size and timing: 12–20 pieces of finished work completed in the past two years, in any medium or combination of media.
• Time-based work: up to 10 minutes of video in total, with clips no longer than 2 minutes; applicants submitting only time-based work should include at least 5 examples.
• Details for each piece: upload each work separately and fill in Title, Year, Size, Medium and Description under “Edit Details”, using 1–3 sentences on your goal and process. For collaborative work, explain your role.
• Do not include: architectural plans, scripts, performing arts, industrial design, images with embedded text, or multipage PDFs. The portfolio page has further rules on how work may be made; read it carefully before submitting.
• How to submit: within 24 hours of submitting the application you receive login details for the Applicant Status Page; upload in the “Digital Portfolio” section, never as one multipage file.
• Portfolio reviews: you can book an online one-on-one review before applying; it is not an admission requirement but offers preparation guidance.

4. Materials and dates (fall 2027 entry)

• Deadlines: Early Decision I November 2, 2026, decision mid-December; Early Decision II and Regular Decision January 4, 2027, decisions in early February and by April 1. SMFA lists these as application and portfolio deadlines.
• Applications: Common App, Coalition (Scoir) or QuestBridge, with no preference; Tufts short-answer questions are required.
• Recommendations: two, a counselor or school official recommendation and one from a core academic teacher; BFA applicants may use a visual art teacher for the teacher recommendation.
• Other: use the extracurricular section to show how you share your work and explore new media (exhibitions, outside classes, pre-college programs); the high school transcript including senior grades; the application fee or a waiver. SMFA does not accept supplemental materials that are not on the checklist.
• Testing: the SAT and ACT are optional and are read in the context of an international applicant’s background.

5. English requirements

• Who submits: applicants whose primary language is not English and whose secondary school did not teach in English; three or more years at an English-medium secondary school exempts you.
• Scores: SMFA’s international page says BFA and Combined Degree applicants are expected to earn minimums of TOEFL iBT 100, IELTS 7, PTE 68 and Duolingo 130. Tufts Admissions says there is no minimum but admitted students generally have TOEFL 100 or above (5.0 or above on the scale used from January 21, 2026), IELTS 7, PTE 68 and Duolingo 130. The numbers match, but one page calls them minimums and the other says there is no minimum; confirm with admissions.
• TOEFL ITP Plus and IELTS Indicator are not accepted, nor are superscores or TOEFL MyBest.

6. Students at high schools in China

• Curricula: applicants are evaluated within their national system, and admissions is familiar with A-Levels, IB and others.
• Translations: all materials must be in English; recommendations and transcripts cannot be translated by the student or family, but can be translated by a school English teacher or other school staff, a professional translator or an EducationUSA office.
• Gaokao, art joint exam and school-set exams: Tufts does not explain how these results are used; this is not published, so ask Tufts Admissions.
• Interviews: InitialView or Duolingo interviews are accepted as evidence of English ability.

7. Students at Canadian high schools (including BC and Vancouver)

• Three years at an English-medium secondary school means no English test is required.
• Tufts publishes no separate grade requirements for Canadian or BC curricula; this is not published. Deadlines and portfolio rules are the same as for other applicants.

8. Costs and aid

• 2026-27 costs (USD, first-year on campus): tuition 74,862, housing 11,220, food 9,374, fees 1,696, total 97,152; books, supplies and personal expenses about 2,846 more, with transportation varying by distance. The cost page lists SMFA with Arts and Sciences and Engineering and shows no separate SMFA materials fee.
• Need-based aid: Tufts meets 100% of demonstrated need for all admitted undergraduates, including international students; all undergraduate aid is need-based. International need is assessed through the CSS Profile, and enrolling international students also submit a Certification of Finances to the International Center.
• International students must apply for aid when applying: aid is not available later to students who did not request it at admission; international aid applicants can have the application fee waived.

9. Transfer

• Fall entry only; indicate the BFA or the Combined Degree and submit the same portfolio as first-year applicants.
• Two sets of deadlines: Tufts Admissions lists March 15, 2027 for the transfer application and March 22, 2027 for the BFA and Combined Degree portfolio; the SMFA transfer page lists March 18 for the application and March 20 for the portfolio (no year shown). Go by Tufts Admissions and the applicant portal, or confirm with SMFA admissions. Decisions usually come by mid-May.
• Materials: the Common App transfer application, high school and college transcripts, college course descriptions, a list of courses in progress and the mid-term report.
• Credit: a preliminary credit evaluation comes right after admission. SMFA says there are limits per distribution area but it can generally grant the maximum transferable studio art credit; Tufts-wide, only courses graded C- or higher transfer, up to 60 credits.

Checklist

Students at high schools in China:

• Apply to SMFA, choosing the BFA or BFA + BA/BS; ED I November 2, 2026, ED II and RD January 4, 2027
• Get portal access within 24 hours of applying and upload 12–20 works from the past two years, each with details
• English reference: TOEFL 100 (5.0 new scale), IELTS 7, Duolingo 130; request aid on the application if you need it

Students at Canadian high schools (including BC and Vancouver):

• Three years at an English-medium school means no English test; deadlines and portfolio are as above

Transfer students:

• Fall entry only; application mid-March, portfolio late March (the two pages differ, so confirm before submitting)

Sources: Tufts University, SMFA first-year application; Portfolio requirements; Bachelor of Fine Arts; Combined Degree (BFA + BA/BS); Areas of study; SMFA international students; SMFA transfer students; SMFA aid and tuition; Applying to Tufts; International applicants; International student aid; Transfer application; 2026-27 cost of attendance. Dates are for fall 2027 entry and costs are 2026-27 figures; check Tufts’ website for the latest.