Starting your art school journey is the most important step a Korean student can take toward RISD, Parsons, or CalArts — and Royal Blue Art & Design has guided that journey for 19 years.
Every Royal Blue student who has gained admission to RISD, Parsons, CalArts, or another top US art school started exactly where you are right now: with a goal, a set of questions, and the knowledge that the path between here and that goal requires both clarity and action. This final guide is the most practical one we will write. It is about what to actually do — today, this week, this month — to begin the journey toward a US art school application with the best possible foundation.
Step 1: Get Honest About Where Your Child Is
The starting point of any art school journey is an honest assessment of the current situation. This means looking clearly at the student’s creative development (what work have they made, what direction does it suggest, how developed is their creative practice?), their academic record (what does their GPA and test score profile look like relative to the schools they are interested in?), and their timeline (how many months until application deadlines?).
This assessment does not need to be done alone. The Royal Blue consultation is specifically designed to provide this assessment, grounded in 19 years of comparative experience. But even before a consultation, families who are honest with themselves about where the student actually is — rather than where they hope to be — are better positioned to make good decisions about what to do next.
Step 2: Research Your Target Schools Specifically
“I want to go to a top US art school” is not a preparation goal. “I want to apply to RISD’s Illustration program, Parsons’s Communication Design program, and CalArts’s Graphic Design program” is a preparation goal. The difference matters because each school has specific portfolio requirements, specific supplemental materials, specific evaluation criteria, and a specific studio culture that preparation needs to address.
Spend time on each target school’s official admissions website. Read what they say about what they are looking for — not what other websites say about them, but what the schools say about themselves. Note the portfolio specifications, the required supplements, the application deadlines. This research is the foundation of an effective preparation plan.
This school-specific research is what makes every art school journey meaningful rather than generic.
Step 3: Begin Making Work — Now, Not Later
The most common mistake families make at the start of the art school journey is treating creative work as something that begins after a formal program starts. It does not. The student’s creative development begins the moment they start making things seriously and reflecting on what they are making.
If your child is not already making work independently — filling sketchbooks, working on personal projects, exploring media and materials — encourage that now. Not with a goal, not toward a portfolio, but as a practice. The habit of making is the foundation that everything else is built on, and it cannot be developed on demand once formal preparation begins.
Step 4: Schedule a Consultation
The consultation is where your art school journey becomes specific to your child.
The consultation is where the art school journey becomes specific to your child. At Royal Blue, the consultation is free and carries no obligation to enroll. It is a conversation designed to give both the family and our team an honest picture of where the student is, what is realistic given their timeline and goals, and what the preparation path forward looks like.
Come to the consultation with the student’s current artwork, however rough or incomplete. Come with questions. Come ready to hear an honest assessment rather than a promotional pitch. The families who get the most from their Royal Blue consultation are the ones who come prepared to have a real conversation.
Step 5: Plan the Timeline Realistically
Once the consultation has established a clear picture of the student’s current level and target schools, the next step is building a realistic preparation timeline. This timeline needs to account for the student’s academic schedule, examination periods, school breaks, and the specific deadlines of the schools they are targeting.
For students with 24 or more months before their application deadline, the timeline can include a foundation phase before portfolio production begins. For students with 12 to 18 months, the pace is more intensive but still manageable with good planning. For students with less than 12 months, realistic target school calibration is an essential first step.
Step 6: Commit to the Art School Journey, Not Just the Outcomest the Outcome
The families and students who have the best experiences at Royal Blue — and the strongest application outcomes — are the ones who commit to the preparation process itself rather than treating it as a means to an end. The process of developing a genuine creative practice, articulating your creative thinking, and building a portfolio that reflects who you actually are as a creative person has value independent of what any admissions committee decides.
Students who arrive at their first day at RISD or Parsons having genuinely developed as creative thinkers during their preparation are ready for what the school will ask of them. Students who arrived having strategically assembled a portfolio to gain admission often find the first year of studio education more disorienting — because the preparation was not really about them.
How to Contact Royal Blue Art & Design
Royal Blue Art & Design is located in Apgujeong, Seoul, at the OK Building 3F, 36 Eonju-ro 167-gil, Gangnam-gu. Our office phone is 02-3446-5929. Our website is royalblue-art.com. We offer consultations both in person at our studio and via video call for families based outside Seoul. We respond to all consultation inquiries within one to two business days.
The art school journey is a long one, and starting it well makes a significant difference. We would be glad to be part of that start.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far in advance of the application deadline should we start the Royal Blue program?
For most students targeting RISD, Parsons, or CalArts, we recommend beginning 18 to 30 months before the application deadline. Students who begin earlier have more time for the kind of genuine creative development that produces the strongest portfolios. Students who begin later can still produce competitive applications, but the pace is more intensive and the range of realistic target schools may need to be calibrated accordingly.
What should my child bring to the first consultation?
Any artwork they have made, in any form — photographs on a phone are fine. Their school transcript if available. A list of the schools they are interested in, even if it is rough and subject to change. And ideally, the student’s own words about what they want to make and why they want to study in the US.
Is it too late to start if my child is already in 11th grade?
Not necessarily, but we will give you an honest assessment of what is realistic given the timeline. 11th grade is a compressed starting point for the most selective schools, but with intensive preparation and realistic school calibration, it is possible to produce competitive applications. Come in for a consultation and we will tell you specifically what we see.
Can I start the journey without being sure that US art school is the right path?
Yes. The consultation is designed partly to help families answer exactly that question. Many families come to Royal Blue uncertain whether US art school is the right path and leave with a clearer picture — sometimes confirming the goal, sometimes identifying a different direction that serves the student better. We would rather help you make a good decision than enroll a student who is not well-matched to this path.
What happens after the consultation if we decide to enroll?
We schedule an intake assessment session, develop a personalized preparation roadmap, assign the student to their primary Royal Blue instructor, and begin the program. The transition from consultation to active preparation is designed to be as smooth as possible — the groundwork laid in the consultation becomes the foundation that the preparation builds on.
Royal Blue Art & Design is a US art school admissions academy in Apgujeong, Seoul, with 19 years of experience helping Korean students gain acceptance to RISD, Parsons, CalArts, and other top programs. Contact us to schedule a free consultation → royalblue-art.com