UC Arts Supplemental Applications and Deadlines

UC Arts Supplemental Applications and Deadlines

The UC application closes November 30, 2026, but UCLA's arts supplements close after it: music on December 4, film and theater on December 7, dance, design, games, computational art and world arts on December 15, and art on January 20, 2027. Most other UC campuses ask arts applicants for nothing extra.

Our view: the deadline that sinks arts applicants is not November 30. It is the one that lands four to fifty-one days later, on a different platform, with a different login, while the rest of your list is quiet. And at UCLA's music school, a supplement that does not pass prescreening ends your UCLA application. If you are still drafting your PIQs, get a free UC PIQ review before the supplements take over December.

Every UC, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara page quoted below was checked on October 30, 2026. Department pages update in the fall, so open your own portal before each deadline. For everything else in this cycle, see the UC PIQ 2026-2027 cycle guide.

Contents: deadline table · new UCLA majors · odds by major · music prescreen · theater upload · other campuses · statement vs PIQ 2 · December calendar · questions

Fall 2027 deadline table

UCLA's supplemental applications page says: "The UC Application for Admission and Scholarships must be submitted by November 30. Additionally, the professional school majors listed below require supplemental materials to be submitted directly to the department." These are its fall 2027 dates, plus UC Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies.

Film transfers have a later date, January 11, 2027. The Art, Computational Art, Dance, Design, Games and World Arts and Cultures FAQs each say the supplement "is submitted through SlideRoom." Nursing is not an arts major, but it shares the page; our UCLA nursing supplemental guide covers it.

UCLA's arts majors changed for fall 2027

UCLA Arts published "UCLA Arts announces three new undergraduate majors: Computational Art, Design, and Games" on August 3, 2026. Its prospective-students page now lists, "For new First Year and Transfer Applicants to UCLA (Fall 2027 is updated)": Architectural Studies, Art, Computational Art, Dance, Design, Games and World Arts and Cultures. Three things follow.

Older guides describe one major where there are now three. Guides written before August describe a single Design | Media Arts major. The UCLA Arts list now names Computational Art, Design and Games, all housed in the Department of Design|Media Arts. UCLA's admission table still prints "Design | Media Arts" beside Computational Art and Games, so expect both names in December.

Last year's odds do not transfer. UCLA's fall 2025 profile by major shows Design | Media Arts with 1,525 applicants and a 3.1% admit rate. That pool has now been split three ways, so no published number tells you the odds for Design, Games or Computational Art.

Architectural Studies is closed to first-years. The UCLA Arts list says: "B.A., Architectural Studies (Transfer only; this major is not open to First Years)". The Art FAQ adds that the Art major "is NOT a formal or recognized pathway to the Architectural Studies major" and that "we do not swap applicants between majors at the point of admission review."

What the departments say they read is more useful than any odds. The Computational Art FAQ lists four things: "Portfolio of creative work (submitted in SlideRoom)", "UC PIQs (from UC application)", "Academic History (from UC application)" and "Extracurriculars/Honors/Awards (from UC application)". One faculty note on that page: "We're more interested in the conceptual focus behind your work." The World Arts and Cultures FAQ says WAC "does not have a place in their supplement for portfolio/audition work." On October 30, the Art, Dance and WAC FAQs still linked the "previous cycle Fall 2026 supplemental requirements for reference", so read the fall 2027 prompts inside SlideRoom itself.

UCLA's odds by arts major (fall 2025)

These are UCLA's own figures. Each is the share of that major's first-year applicants who were admitted for fall 2025.

The same page says of UCLA's College that "the applicant's major is not considered during the review process." In these professional schools the opposite is true: the major and its supplement are the review.

UCLA music: the prescreen decides your UCLA application

The Herb Alpert School of Music's undergraduate admissions page is blunt. The supplemental application is "due December 4 at 11:59 pm PST", on Acceptd, after you submit the UC application. Then:

UCLA only considers first choice majors at the time of application (not alternate majors), and does not admit students into double major programs at the time of application

In late December, you will be notified if you will proceed in the School of Music's admissions process via email. If you are not chosen to proceed in our final round audition/interview process, you will have two options: 1) withdraw your application completely; or 2) take no action and receive no offer of admission from UCLA.

Prescreening audition materials are required for Music Performance and Music Education on all instruments except bassoon, guitar, harp, oboe, organ and percussion, and for Global Jazz Studies on all instruments. Music Composition applicants submit a composition portfolio. Final auditions and interviews "occur in late January."

Our recommendation: list a music major first at UCLA only if you would rather risk no UCLA offer than enter through another major. That is the trade the page describes. The countercase: if music is the only thing you want from UCLA, the trade costs you nothing, and the December 4 recording is the most important file you submit this cycle.

UCLA theater: what goes in the Acceptd upload

The Theater B.A. page asks you to choose an Area of Interest on the UC application and then upload, by December 7: a Personal Essay, a Life Challenge Essay, Resume 1 (Resume 2 is optional), a Photo, Area of Interest Materials and unofficial transcripts. It warns that "the UC Application ID number is needed to complete the supplemental application," and that a live online interview happens only if "more information is needed." Film asks for a different set: two essays, a writing sample, a three-minute video and two letters. Our UCLA film supplemental guide quotes that worksheet line by line.

Campus by campus: who wants a portfolio or audition

UC's counselor Quick Reference Guide (August 2026, pages 31–32 and 64–65) answers "Which of the campus's majors require an audition or submission of supplemental materials?" for every campus.

Three details change plans. Berkeley's application resources page says that for "art portfolios, resumes, etc. – UC Berkeley does not consider these during the application review." So a Berkeley arts or architecture applicant puts the work into the PIQs and activities list. UC San Diego's optional portfolio "may assist the overall application review but is not required for admission." And the guide dates the Davis landscape architecture application two ways: "in February" on page 31 and "during their sophomore year" on page 64. Ask Davis which applies to you.

Our view on UCSD's optional portfolio: send it if you already have finished work in that medium, because the only stated effect is that it "may assist." Skip it if it would be a new project built in the same weeks as UCLA's December 15 files.

UCSB's College of Creative Studies runs its own application, letter of intent and January 5 priority deadline. See our UCSB College of Creative Studies application guide.

Artist statement vs PIQ 2

The department reads the PIQs too. Computational Art lists them as an evaluated item. The Dance FAQ says: "We do also read the UC PIQs that you submitted with your general application, but your Department Statement for the Dance major is where you can communicate directly with the Dance evaluators with a shared vocabulary." CCS tells applicants its letter of intent "is separate from the essay required in the UC application."

So the two documents do different jobs:

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. One student, one project, two jobs:

Statement line: "The ceramics series tests how far a glaze can crawl before the form stops reading as a vessel; I want to push that into installation."

PIQ 2 line: "I threw 40 cups that cracked before I learned to wedge clay properly, and I kept the worst one on my desk."

The first speaks to faculty about the work. The second shows a general reader how the student handles failure. Pasting either into the other document wastes it. Our guide to whether UC PIQs need to be about your major covers how many of your four PIQs should touch your art.

The countercase: if your art is the only creative work you do, write PIQ 2 about it anyway. Just tell a different story from the one in your statement.

A December calendar that works

1. By November 30 (Monday): submit the UC application. UC's filling-out page says the confirmation page shows "your UC Application ID Number." Write it down, because film, theater and CCS forms ask for it. UC's help line runs until midnight PST on November 29–30, per the guide.
2. December 4 (Friday): UCLA music supplements and prescreening recordings.
3. December 7 (Monday): UCLA film and theater. Film's worksheet says recommenders get their emails "once the Supplemental Application has been submitted," so we would submit film a week early.
4. December 15 (Tuesday): UCLA Computational Art, Dance, Design, Games, World Arts and Cultures.
5. Late December: UCLA music applicants learn whether they go on to auditions.
6. January 5, 2027 (Tuesday): UCSB CCS priority deadline. Unlike film, CCS lets you initiate recommender requests before you submit.
7. January 20 (Wednesday): UCLA Art. Late January: UCLA music auditions and UCSB Music B.M. auditions.

Questions about UC arts supplements

Does UC Berkeley accept an art portfolio?

No. Berkeley says it does not consider art portfolios during review. Berkeley's only first-year supplements on UC's list are three Haas business programs; see our Berkeley Haas undergraduate application guide.

Is the portfolio deadline the same as the UC application deadline?

No. At UCLA every arts supplement is due after November 30, from December 4 to January 20.

Can a first-year apply to UCLA Architectural Studies?

No. UCLA Arts lists it as transfer only.

Can I apply to two UCLA arts majors?

Not in the same cycle. The music school reviews only your first-choice major, and the Art FAQ says UCLA Arts does not swap applicants between majors at review.

Do I need my UC Application ID for the supplement?

Yes for UCLA film and theater and for UCSB CCS. The ID appears on the UC application's confirmation page after you submit. Private arts schools run their own portals too; the USC film application guide covers SCA's SlideRoom pieces and its November 1 deadline.

Get a free review of your UC PIQ

Get a free Quick Review of your UC PIQ against GradPilot's UC PIQ Creativity and Talent rubric. It reads whether your PIQ 2 or 3 names your creative practice, shows one specific example of you using it, and explains how it grew and why it matters to you. Writing PIQ 6 about your art form? Use the UC PIQ Academic Passion rubric.

More UC application guides:

• UCLA film supplemental application: the four video questions and the life challenge essay.
• UC PIQ 2: the creative side: what the question asks beyond art.
• All Common App and UC essay guides.

Sources

Retrieved October 30, 2026.

• UCLA Undergraduate Admission, Supplemental Application Procedures (fall 2027): every UCLA deadline in the first table.
• UCLA Undergraduate Admission, First-Year Profile by Major, Fall 2025: applicants and admit rates by major; the College ignores major.
• UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, Prospective Students (fall 2027 list): majors, Architectural Studies transfer only.
• UCLA Arts, new majors announcement (August 3, 2026): title and date.
• UCLA Arts Admission FAQ: Art, Computational Art, Dance, World Arts and Cultures: platforms, evaluated materials, PIQ reading.
• UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Undergraduate Admissions: December 4 deadline, prescreening, first-choice rule, late-December notice.
• UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Apply to Theater (BA) and Film first-year worksheet (revised 09/2026).
• University of California, Quick Reference Guide to UC Admissions (August 2026), pages 31–32 and 63–65: campus audition and portfolio rules (pages 31–32 and 64–65); Application Center hours (page 63).
• University of California, Filling out the application: UC Application ID on the confirmation page.
• UC Berkeley Admissions, Application Resources: portfolios not considered.
• UC Santa Barbara College of Creative Studies, Apply: January 5, 2027 priority deadline, UC Application ID, recommender requests.