What to Bring and Prepare for Orientation

• Your OASIS ID number and password.
• Your Transfer Evaluation Report  if you are transferring any credit.
• Any notes or sample schedules you've made.
  

If your major is included in the following list, you must bring these, and more…

• American Sign Language- ASL
• Art & Design
• Dance
• Early Childhood Education
• Fashion Studies
• Film & Video
• Interactive Arts & Media
• Music
• Musical Theatre
• Photography
• Radio

American Sign Language- ASL

All students who have previous course work in American Sign Language – English Interpretation from another institution or significant experience with ASL will have to opportunity to participate in a short assessment session with ASL faculty before they register for classes.

Art & Design

Students who are not transferring any college credit do not need to bring a portfolio.

Students do not need to show a portfolio to transfer credits for the following core classes:

• Art History I and II
• Beginning Drawing
• 2-D Design & 3-D Design
• Photography

Students who are attempting to transfer credits for upper-level classes in the following disciplines should plan to bring a portfolio:

• Graphic Design
• Advertising Art Direction
  • Illustration
  • Interior Architecture
  • Fine Art
  • Product Design

Dance

All incoming students must participate in the level placement assessment offered at Orientation.

What to expect:

• ALL STUDENTS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO DANCE.
• The audition class will include modern and ballet in addition to hip-hop, African and/or improvisation. 

For the Level Placement Audition students should wear form-fitting dance clothes such as a leotard and tights (footless), athletic wear or shorts for men.  For the ballet class, students will need to wear ballet shoes (pointe shoes are not permitted). For the modern portion of the class, bare feet are required.

Early Childhood Education

Students requesting to transfer any education credits to Columbia College Chicago must have their official transcripts on file at the College.  Students must also bring course descriptions for all education related coursework taken at other institutions.

Fashion Studies

All new Fashion Studies students (both Design and Business) should complete a Fashion Studies survey in advance of attending Orientation. You must complete this at least one business day before your Orientation date.

Take the Fashion Studies survey

Film & Video

Any students attempting to transfer Film & Video courses from another college and/or university should email a digital copy of their course syllabus to Jennifer Biver at jbiver@colum.edu prior to attending Orientation. Review of course materials will not be able to happen on the day of Orientation.

Film courses taken at the high school level are not eligible for credit in the Film & Video major.

Interactive Arts & Media

If you would like to investigate transferring credits from another institution that you think would duplicate or substitute for IAM's offerings in the major, you must demonstrate both theoretical and practical proficiency in the subject matter. 

For credit in the following core courses, students should be prepared to show online work samples:

• Digital Image Design (36-1300)
• Authoring Interactive Media (36-2601)
• Introduction to Programming: Theory and Concepts (36-1501)

For credit in Media Theory & Design I & II, students should bring a course description and syllabus; no portfolio is required.

Music

Before attending Orientation, please complete the Music Theory Assessment. It is our way of evaluating the level of musical knowledge and skills you bring as an incoming student in order to place you at the appropriate level of music theory coursework.

Completing theory assessment is a requirement for every entering student in Music. It is our way of evaluating the level of musical knowledge and skills you bring as an incoming student in order to place you at the appropriate level of music theory coursework.
 
If you don’t have any background in music theory or don’t know how to read music, don’t worry! Work your way through as much of the assessment as you can. Whether or not you have studied music, this assessment serves as a tool to help determine your skill level.

The assessment will take you through a series of questions and exercises on the computer. It will ask you to identify intervals, key signatures, different kinds of scales, and chords, and demonstrate your knowledge of part writing. All students should start by taking the Beginning Music Theory Assessment. You will have 40 minutes to complete the assessment. If you feel as though you didn’t perform at your best, you may take the exam one additional time after a period of 48 hours has elapsed.
 
As soon as you submit your answers, you will see your score.

• If you receive a score lower than 44, no further assessment is necessary: you should plan to register in Introduction to Music Theory, course 32-1100, during Orientation.
• If you achieve the score of 44-47, please plan to register for 32-1120 Theory I, 32-1110 Aural Skills I, and 32-2131 Keyboard I.
• If you score 48 points or better, please complete the Advanced Music Theory Assessment.
• If you achieve a score below 8.8, please plan to register for 32-1120 Theory I, 32-1110 Aural Skills I, and 32-2131 Keyboard I.  Achieving a score of 8.8 – 10 on the advanced level assessment makes you eligible for placement in Theory 2 (32-2121), pending a one-on-one meeting with the theory coordinator at Orientation.

Further one-on-one consultation may take place with faculty on Orientation Day and may include an aural and/or keyboard skills assessment, as well as a possible fretboard skills assessment if you play the guitar. Guitarists, bring your instruments.

Musical Theater

Musical Theatre students will participate in a Musical Theatre Dance placement as well as an optional Music Theory placement exam in the Music Department (see above).

For these placements and evaluations, you will need to bring appropriate dance attire (leotard/tights or fitted shirt/jazz pants; jazz or ballet shoes- NO street shoes, please) with you to your Orientation session.

Photography

No student is required to bring a portfolio, however, any students attempting to place into upper-level photography classes should be prepared to show their work during Orientation.

The Photography faculty will be available at Orientation to evaluate portfolios. You are invited to bring a portfolio if:

• You are hoping to transfer photography credit from another college and/or university.
  • You are hoping to waive out of foundation level courses based on your advanced photography experience in high school.
  • You are hoping to waive out of foundation level courses based on your professional photography experience.

For the foundation level film courses, Photography I and Photography II, you must show a portfolio (15-20 images) of prints made traditionally in a darkroom.  For Photography I, you are required to show black & white silver gelatin prints and take a written exam.  For Photography II, you are required to show traditional C-Prints and take a written exam.    You should also be prepared to answer very specific questions regarding your work.

For digital imaging courses, you will take an exam on Photoshop consisting of a written portion and an image manipulation portion.  Digital prints will not be reviewed during this process.

For lighting courses, you must show a portfolio (15-20 images) of black & white darkroom prints or inkjet prints

Radio

Students who are transferring to Columbia College Chicago with radio course credit from another college and/or university or have significant radio experience should bring digital audio samples (such as an aircheck or production CD) and/or course descriptions from the relevant work.

Work will be evaluated by Radio Faculty during Orientation; be prepared to answer very specific questions regarding your work and, in some cases, complete a short written examination.