Cornish College of the Arts Acceptance Rate, GPA, and Admission Requirements

Cornish College of the Arts ceased to exist as an independent institution on June 2, 2025, when it was absorbed by Seattle University through an asset contribution. New students applying for Fall 2026 and beyond are Seattle University students enrolling in the Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University (CCA@SU), which operates on the South Lake Union campus at 1000 Lenora Street. Degrees are issued by Seattle University - not by a standalone Cornish institution. Applications go through the Common Application using Seattle University as the institution, followed by access to the Redhawk Admissions Portal for portfolio and audition submission. Students will have full access to Seattle University's services, financial aid, health services, and student life regardless of which Cornish program they pursue. The South Lake Union campus is connected to Seattle University's First Hill main campus by dedicated shuttle service. Confirm with SU admissions exactly which specific BFA programs are currently active and fully staffed for your intended fall entry term, as the post-merger integration of some programs is still being phased in.

Every CCA@SU applicant must complete an audition or submit a portfolio - this is a non-negotiable requirement for all Cornish programs. After submitting your Seattle University application through Common App, you will receive login credentials for the Redhawk Admissions Portal within a few days. Your portfolio items are uploaded in that portal, but the portfolio will not be sent to faculty for review until you separately submit the Portfolio Certification Form, also located in the Redhawk portal. This is a two-step process and the second step - the certification form - is the one applicants most commonly miss or complete late. An application that is fully uploaded but lacks the Portfolio Certification Form submission sits invisible to the faculty review committee. Submit the form the same day you finish uploading your portfolio items. Do not wait for a confirmation email to prompt you - check the portal directly to confirm the submission status of your certification form.

CCA@SU offers two primary decision timelines: Early Action with a November 15 deadline (decisions in late December) and Regular Decision with a January 15 deadline (decisions in early March). At most colleges, Early Action is primarily a strategic advantage in terms of financial aid timing. At a program-specific arts college operating at small cohort scale, the November 15 deadline has an additional dimension: it allows faculty reviewers more time with your portfolio before admission decisions are locked, and it places you in a smaller review pool relative to the January wave. For performance-based programs (theater, dance, music) where auditions must be scheduled and may have limited slots, applying by November 15 ensures you can schedule your audition at a time that shows your best preparation rather than scrambling for whatever slot remains in late January. Students who apply by November 15 also receive scholarship consideration alongside admissions decisions rather than on a rolling basis afterward.

Every CCA@SU applicant submits a 250?500 word Artist Statement describing their creative work, influences, process, and goals - including performances, exhibitions, community projects, and any experiences that shaped their artistic development. This statement is reviewed by Cornish program faculty, not just the admissions staff, making it a genuinely different kind of document from a standard college essay. The faculty reading your statement are practicing artists and educators in your specific discipline - they are not looking for broad personal growth narratives. They are assessing whether you understand your own creative process, whether you have developed a perspective and practice, and whether you can articulate where you want your work to go. A statement that reads as a college essay about perseverance will land differently than one that speaks the language of your specific discipline with precision and authenticity. Before writing your statement, read three or four interviews with working artists in your field and notice how they talk about their work - that is the register your statement should aim for.