Experimental Pop (BFA Only)

You must complete all admissions requirements as well as the program requirements below to be considered for admission. Before applying, please make sure to familiarize yourself with the School of Music, faculty, facilities, curriculum and student work.

You cannot make any changes to your application after it has been submitted.

Application Requirements

Via the portfolio section of the CalArts Application, you are invited to submit a portfolio containing 3–5 examples of your artistic work. Please number your examples beginning with what you consider to be your strongest ones—reviewers will examine them in the order that you indicate. 

The faculty are especially interested in reviewing work that emphasizes:

  • Your own original compositions documented through scores or other appropriate media, improvisations, and/or interdisciplinary work.
  • Performances demonstrating strong technical skills.
  • Innovative and unique musical practices.
  • Proficiency with music technology, including novel and innovative uses.
  • Any original artwork other than music that informs your musical practice.

Materials to upload might include recordings, videos, scores, writings, and/or other relevant materials. You may link to media hosted on external websites, but please ensure that reviewers will have permission to view this media. For all media, please clearly indicate (in a separate PDF if necessary):

  • The title, composer, personnel, instrumentation, and date of creation.
  • How did you make this? Did you record and produce this yourself or in a professional studio? If you recorded and produced this yourself, please tell us about your process.
  • For each track/part/instrument, please answer the following questions: Is this a recording of an instrument that you (or someone else) played / a sample or pre-recorded loop / or a midi-generated performance? If it is a sample or pre-recorded loop, did you create it yourself? If so, how?

The Experimental Pop BFA program does not hold required auditions or virtual interviews. Instead, if needed by our faculty, we will contact you about scheduling a virtual interview.

Two letters of recommendation are required. At least one recommendation should be written by a person who understands your designer work, such as a performance instructor or art teacher.

All letters of recommendation should be received by the application deadline, so it is highly recommended that you contact your recommenders months before. We request that you submit the requests for your letters of recommendation through the online application, as it will allow you to track when we receive your requested letters.

Only if this is not possible, you may download the Letter of Recommendation Form (pdf) and have your recommender send their letters by mail to the Office of Admissions. Please choose only one method – either through the online application (preferred) or by mail – per recommender. Letters of recommendation will not be accepted via credentialing services such as Parchment or Naviance.

Mailed letters of recommendation should be sent to:

CalArts Office of Admissions
24700 McBean Pkwy.
Valencia, CA 91355
United States of America

Please note, letters of recommendation must be written in English or accompanied by a certified English translated document.