Bachelor of Digital Arts and Media Design at Pennsylvania State University
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    Bachelor of Digital Arts and Media Design at Pennsylvania State University

    Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    United States of America
    United States of America, University Park
    University Rank:#82
    Bachelor of Digital Arts and Media Design at Pennsylvania State University

    The Digital Arts and Media Design is a Bachelor degree offered by Pennsylvania State University on the University Park campus in United States of America. The program is delivered on campus as a Full Time course in English and requires approximately 4 years to complete. Students study at the University Park campus while gaining the knowledge and practical experience expected for this area of study. The next intake is available from June 1, 2027.

    About Bachelor of Digital Arts and Media Design

    Digital Arts and Media Design uses digital arts technologies in studio-lab settings to challenge young artists and designers to expand their ideas as they explore new languages of visual expression and communication. Following familiar studio ways of thinking and making traditionally associated with practices such as mixing pigments in painting, or shaping clay in ceramics, digital artists manipulate computer software through coding to expand the potential for creating new forms of image making. In an electronic environment, the single work of art may be replaced by multiple copies that are cloned and reworked using a range of image-making systems. Digital artworks may be exhibited in a variety of forms, such as digital prints, computer printouts, or other hard copy formats of any scale where each translation offers different interpretations. Digital art may also be encountered through networks, interactive games, simulations, or as immersive environments that require active participation by a viewer.

    You Might Like This Program If...

    Your curiosity and creativity is stimulated by thinking visually in computer languages and graphic communication, and you are inspired by the thought that a digital device is a flexible and adaptive 'studio' space where you come up with your best ideas. You will plan and apply your creative design skills in a climate of invention and collaboration in interdisciplinary projects that explore changing visual technologies in art and design.

    The Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) in Digital Arts and Media Design (DART) is a multidisciplinary digital arts and design undergraduate degree in the College of Arts and Architecture's School of Visual Arts. Digital Arts and Media Design approaches design through the lens of the visual arts, as a critical, creative, and experimental studio-based practice. The major prepares students to become leaders in digital media fields where their commanding knowledge of emerging technologies allows them to contribute and innovate in creative media design careers.

    Students' progress through a series of core courses in which they develop research, design, and computational skills to enhance their capacity for critical thinking. In addition to these core experiences, students hone creative thinking capabilities in a range of studio-based digital art and design courses. In the final year of study, students work rigorously on a senior thesis project based on topics of personal interests and areas of intensive study in the digital arts. A purpose of the thesis is to prepare students to meet the varying challenges they will face as digital art and design professionals.

    Students may choose from one of three primary tracks in the program:

    1. Digital Art and Digital Design Emphasis: In this track students create individualized 2d-3d digital arts and design learning paths that may include UX/UI design (user experience/user interface), visual concept art and design, 3d modeling and digital fabrication, 2d-3d digital imaging and computer graphics, as well as the most recent emerging forms of digital art and design.
    2. Interactive Media Emphasis: In this track students create individualized learning paths for interactive media design. Students learn computational skills as visual thinkers, designing increasingly complex interactive experiences individually and in teams. Students take courses in game art, game design, physical computing, mobile and web design, virtual worlds, interactive media design, data visualization and cultural analytics.
    3. Time Based Media Emphasis: In this track students create individualized learning paths for 2d and 3d time based digital arts and media design including motion graphics, animation, computer graphics and pre-visualization as well as video compositing.
    • Demonstrate skills in visual thinking, computer programming, and graphic communication fostered in a climate of invention and collaboration by exploring digital media in studies of technology, theory, and culture;
    • Apply diverse notions of creativity in the development and application of design practices through testing, prototyping, and applying original ideas to computational projects in a variety of digital media;
    • Demonstrate an ability to produce convincing visual design applied to code-based animations, interactive applications and games.
    • Participate in class discussions and critiques that demonstrate critical awareness of new media/digital arts discourse and practices;
    • Develop the technical capabilities and creative dispositions to successfully pursue career pathways in multimedia digital art and design;
    • Participate in a community of discourse using skills in reading, analyzing, and discussing material about new media theory and practice, leading to constructive criticism of projects and presentations of peers.

    Disciplines

    Arts and Architecture

    Requirements and Admission Criteria for Bachelor of Digital Arts and Media Design at Pennsylvania State University

    Entry Requirements

    Penn State requires the submission of specific academic credentials to complete your application. Review the secondary and post-secondary requirements for your country below.

    If you are a first year student applying to Penn State:

    Click Apply to start your Penn State application. Before starting, you can also review the Applying Online Worksheet for more details and helpful hints about the application.

    Your application work can be saved at each step of the process by clicking the Save and Continue button at the bottom of the page. This feature will allow you to move back and forth within the application or log off and return to complete your application at a later time.

    After completing your Academic History, you will need to provide your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR). As you begin the SRAR process, a new window will open allowing you to complete your SRAR. SRAR will focus on your high school coursework. It is important that this step is a complete and accurate representation of your school record. Therefore, have a copy of your secondary school records available as you complete your SRAR. You will need to enter every class and every grade earned for the last three years, as well as those classes in progress.

    After completing your SRAR, you will be directed back to the Penn State application in order to complete the Program of Study portion of the application. Here, you will indicate your desired starting semester, your intended program of study, and your starting and ending campus. For further details on how to complete this portion based on your applicant type, please see the steps to apply for first-year students.

    After completing this section of the application, you will provide some additional information, an activities resume, and a personal statement. You will be able to paste in this information from other sources, but note that the formatting may not always paste in as intended.

    If you are a transfer student applying to Penn State:

    All international transfer students will be required to submit official high school transcripts in order to complete the application. International transfer students will not complete the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) for either their high school or college coursework.

    If you have accepted your offer of admission to Penn State:

    If you completed SRAR and are accepted to Penn State, please provide the following for grade verification:

    • Official transcript from years 9, 10, 11, and 12. If the transcript is issued in a language other than English, it must be accompanied by a separate line-by-line English translation.
    • Official copy of the Tawjihi, accompanied by a separate line-by-line English translation.

    English Requirements

    • IELTSMin 6.5
    • TOEFLMin 80

    Career Opportunities after Completing Bachelor of Digital Arts and Media Design

    The DART program explores and applies digital arts technologies to challenge your curiosity and creativity by expanding how you might think in a digital studio space as you develop new languages of visual expression and communication. Skills in visual thinking, computer programming, graphic communication, and interactive systems are core competencies that have universal application in multiple places of learning, culture, business, entertainment, and industry and are highly prized capabilities. Our goal is to meet your technical, creative, and intellectual needs to ensure you have multiple career options to pursue in creative fields and within the cultural economy.

    In the DART program, we foster a climate of creative intervention, collaboration, and critique, but you provide the motivation. A sequence of 'spine' courses anchors the curriculum around essential learning in integrating digital art processes in 2-D, 3-D, and 4-D art and design. However, these courses are envelopes of processes and practices that are animated by you and the ideas that excite you. DART faculty are professional artists and cultural commentators who work in digital media in varied forms to help mentor and guide you in portfolio and project development, internship options, and how to gain access to collaborative opportunities throughout campus.

    Opportunities for Graduate Studies

    Creative and critical independence is a hallmark of professional practice and the DART capstone project is modeled as a bridging experience for entry into the profession, or as a sample of self-directed learning encountered in graduate school. Professional opportunities open to you as an DART graduate include all areas of new imaging technologies, such as web-based design and communications, entertainment arts, marketing, 3-D modeling and animation, interface design, video and motion graphics, interactive media, and game development. You too will have the capacity to join the many graduates that are practicing digital artists and designers in multiple fields, or have continued on to advanced degrees.

    MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE STUDIES

    Professional Resources

    • College Art Association
    • National Art Education Association
    • National Council of Art Administrators
    • Pennsylvania Art Education Association
    • Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGGRAPH

    Tuition and Fee Information for Bachelor of Digital Arts and Media Design at Pennsylvania State University

    Application Fee 75

    How to Apply for Bachelor of Digital Arts and Media Design at Pennsylvania State University

    Step 1: Choose Your Application Method

    Apply through MyPennState

    The first step of the application process is to create a Penn State account, if you do not have one already. MyPennState is where future students can access the online application.

    If you are new to MyPennState, you will need to establish a Penn State User ID and password, which you will access during the MyPennState profile creation process. Once you have your log in information, you can sign in to begin work on your application.

    When creating the profile, please use the name that is on your passport. Because materials are filed alphabetically under the family name on the application, it is important that all correspondence and records consistently use the same name (family and given) and spelling. If this name does not match your academic records, please notify us of the difference. Please note: In the U.S., the family name is usually referred to as the last name, and the given name is referred to as the first name.

    Additionally, Penn State requires a current, valid email address, as that is our primary means of communication with international students. To ensure deliverability, please make Penn State (psu.edu) an eligible sender to the account.

    Applying through the Common App

    Applying to Penn State via the Common App is available to first-year (freshman) international students. If applying through the Common App, Penn State will create a MyPennState profile when the application is submitted and you will receive instructions on how to access your profile. If you intend to apply with the Common App, you do not need create a MyPennState profile prior to submitting your application.

    Step 2: Access the Application and Review Important Dates

    While you can create a MyPennState profile at any time, the application for admission becomes available on the following dates:

    Fall/Summer Admission: August 1

    Spring Admission: June 1

    The application submission dates vary by applicant type and intended program of study. Some programs have specific deadlines or admissions requirements. Please refer to our Dates & Deadlines for more information about application deadlines, as well as our Admissions Requirements to review information about any additional materials required for your intended program of study.

    Step 3: Start Your Penn State Application

    If applying through MyPennState:

    Click Apply Online to start your Penn State application. 

    Your application work can be saved at each step of the process by clicking the "Save and Continue" button at the bottom of the page. This feature will allow you to move back and forth within the application or log off and return to complete your application at a later time.

    After completing your Academic History, you will need to provide your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR), unless otherwise directed. You will be directed to enter information about your secondary school coursework. Please have a copy of your secondary school records as you complete SRAR. It is important that this step is a complete and accurate representation of your school record. You will need to enter every grade for every course you have taken in the last three years, as well as your current schedule of classes.

    Students educated in South Korea will not complete SRAR. The document requirements for South Korea can be found by reviewing our International Credential Requirements.

    After this section, you will be directed back to the Penn State application to complete the Program of Study portion. Here, you will indicate your desired starting semester, your intended program of study, and your starting and ending campus. For further details on how to complete this portion based on your applicant type, please see the steps to apply for either first-year students or transfer students.

    After this portion, you will provide some additional application information, an activities resume, and a personal statement. You will be able to paste in this information from other sources, but note that the formatting may not always paste in as intended.

    If applying through the Common App:

    Complete the Common App, which will then direct you to MyPennState to complete SRAR. Applicants using the Common App may feel that they provided their high school record via the Common App, but Penn State requires the completion of SRAR via MyPennState. We strongly encourage you to obtain an official copy of your high school transcript to ensure accurate entry of your coursework completed and grades earned. The SRAR will include all of your high school coursework from your last three years of work and your current year schedule. If your final year grades are available when you enter SRAR, you can enter them at that time.

    Step 4: Submit Your Application

    The application requires a nonrefundable application fee of $75 for international students. Be sure to complete the last step after Summary and Review, which finalizes payment of your fee, and be certain it is successfully submitted. Once the application is submitted, you can verify its completion by accessing your MyPennState profile.

    Step 5: Submit Required Application Materials

    In order to complete your Penn State application, we need the following materials:

    • Application
    • Secondary school record
    • Post-secondary school records (if applicable)
    • First-year applicants only: Official test scores: SAT (code #2660) or ACT (code #3656)

      Writing Component and Subject Tests

      Please note: The writing component of standardized tests (SAT or ACT) is not required. The writing component will not be used as part of our evaluation. If your test scores include the writing component, by all means, have those scores sent to Penn State. Additionally, we do not require SAT Subject Tests.

    • English language proficiency, if your native language is not English

    Please see the admissions requirements for international students to review the details about the required application materials. Some programs require additional items to complete your application. Please review our Admissions Requirements for those details.

    Penn State does not require letters of recommendation, nor are they used in a student’s evaluation (unless required for a specific program).

    Step 6: Check Your Application Status in MyPennState

    You can always check the status of your application in MyPennState. We will communicate with you via MyPennState and through a series of emails regarding the missing items for your application. When everything has arrived, you will see a status in MyPennState confirming the completion of your application.

    Please note: It is your responsibility to check on the status of your application and send us any missing materials.

    Step 7: Receive Your Admission Decision

    Once we have reached a decision regarding your application, we will update your status in MyPennState and provide a printable PDF of your decision letter. Review our Dates & Deadlines to see when you should expect your decision.

    If accepted, you can accept your offer of admission in MyPennState to begin the process of becoming a Penn State student. Visit our Accepted Students section to review the next steps in this process. Once you accept your offer of admission to Penn State, those students completing SRAR will submit their official records for validation purposes as soon as possible.

    Bachelor of Digital Arts and Media Design at Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    United States of America

    United States of America, University Park

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