Admissions

We have one cycle of admissions per year, and applications open on October 1st. The deadline is February 1st. Admission decisions will be made in February, and acceptance letters will be mailed to applicants no later than March 1st. Applications will only be accepted for fall terms.

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Info Sessions

For SJSU Animation and Illustration or current students only:

October 18th, 2025 - Noon
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Open to all:

November 15th, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PST
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December 13th, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM PST
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January 17th, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PST
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Requirements

  • Applicants must have completed a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in order to apply. 
  • An academic background and portfolio in one or more of these fields is required: Animation, Architecture, Illustration, Fine Arts, Design, Computer Graphics, and/or related fields. If you have questions about your academic background, please contact us. 
  • A GRE (Graduate Record Exam) is NOT required. 
  • International students must demonstrate English language proficiency:

English language proficiency table

Incomplete or late applications or submitted documents will be rejected.

Guidelines

Complete applications need to have these three elements: Cal State Apply, Slideroom, and recommendation letters sent via email. Start your application in CalApply; collect and upload documentation and portfolio pieces for SlideRoom; and make sure 2 recommendation letters are sent to us via email. 

Here are detailed instructions:

1. Cal State Apply

Cal State Apply is the official site to apply for any of the universities in the California State University System and is a required step in the process. Browse to Cal State Apply, create an account, then search for SJSU Master of Design—it is listed in CalApply as "SJSU Extension". To find our program, you can also enter "Design" in the search box. Select the "Master in Design" program at San José State and complete your registration.

2. SlideRoom Portal

In SlideRoom, please upload:

  • Your Resumé
  • Unofficial transcripts
  • A short Personal Statement of Purpose
  • A pre-proposal for a thesis/creative project
  • A link to your online Portfolio
  • A Portfolio with a selection of your artwork

Please scroll down for a more granular description of what needs to be uploaded to SlideRoom. 

Make sure you are uploading work to the ANIMATION specialization in SlideRoom (and not Experience Design, which is a different program).

3. Letters of Recommendation

The recommendation letters should attest to the applicant's creativity and aptitude as well as to the quality of past work and potential for future achievements. Letters can be from professors or supervisors/directors who have worked directly with you. SJSU's Design department does not provide official recommendation forms. Recommendation letters should be mailed directly to mdesani@sjsu.edu with the subject line: MDes-ANI Recommendation Letter - [name of applicant]

SlideRoom Application Breakdown

Go to our portal in SlideRoom: https://sjsuai.slideroom.com/#/permalink/program/84347

Create an account for yourself, and upload the following materials:

  • Resumé (1-2 pages, PDF)
    A summary of the applicant's education, awards or recognition, work experience, projects (if any); languages, and special skills.

  • Unofficial transcript (PDF)
    From the institution(s) from which you have obtained a bachelor's degree. If you are still completing your Bachelor's, that is not a problem—please upload your transcripts so far and upon admitted you will provide your final school documents (transcripts, etc.)

  • Short personal statement (1-2 pages)
    Please discuss aesthetic influences, creative interests, professional aspirations as an artist, and explaining why you are pursuing a graduate degree in Animation. Please include comments on the specific areas on which you would like to concentrate (animation, games, TV productions, film, etc.), and the goals the applicant intends to pursue upon completion of the MDes degree. 

  • A "pre-proposal" with an indication of the type of project you want to develop while in our program (1-2 pages)
    Do you want to work on a short film? Do you want to develop a pilot for a TV show? Do you want to create a video game? A central piece of our curriculum is the development of a creative project, from beginning to end. Please tell us what kind of project you would like to develop while in our program. This should be a brief, summarized description, no longer than one page. 

    If you already have a theme or topic in mind, please give us a brief outline. Adding sketches, drawings, or preliminary designs to that page is ok, if you feel images are essential to convey your ideas.

    Upon admission to our program, your ideas for a Master Project might change. Most likely, your project will take a different shape and/or direction as you progress through our curriculum—that is usually what happens and that is ok. But for us, it is important to have an idea of what kind of project you have in mind, and what ideas you are interested in developing.

  • A link to your online Portfolio
    We would like to see your online Portfolio. Please do not include links to Art Station, Instagram, LinkedIn, or other social media sites. We would like to see your own online portfolio/url, featuring your artwork.

  • A portfolio of previous work submitted on SlideRoom
    Your portfolio will give us an idea of where you are as an artist, giving us a window into your tastes, ideas, and abilities in the arts. We want to see a selection of your best and most recent artwork.

    These are types of artwork that we accept:
    1. Storyboards (PDF)
    2. Animatics (video)
    3. Graphic Novels (PDF)
    4. Animated Scenes (video)
    5. Concept Designs (props, characters, environments) (PDF, PNGs, or JPEGs)
    6. Paintings, Drawings, or Sculptures (PDF, PNGs, JPEGs)
    7. 3D Models (video showing turn-around, or still images showing both shaded and wireframe of the models)
    8. 3D Rigs (video showing functionality)
    9. Sculptures in clay showing characters that you have designed (PDF, PNGs, or JPEGs)
    10. Illustrations (PDF, PNGs, or JPEGs)
    11. Digital Paintings (PDF, PNGs, or JPEGs)
    12. Samples of digital work such as modeling, rigging, or lighting (video or stills)
    13. Sketchbook pages (PDF, PNGs, or JPEGs)

  • In the description area of SlideRoom, please write:
    • Title, year the piece was made;
    • Short description (examples: "my graduation short film", or "sketchbook page", or "concept designs for TV commercial (freelance)")
    • Medium, technique, and/or software used;
    • If it was collaborative or solo;
    • For pieces that were not entirely made by you, properly cred all artists involved in its making, specifying what you did and what was done by other people (including rigs, props, etc.)

      Please note: It's essential that all artwork in your portfolio is properly credited. 

      Animation is usually developed in collaboration with other artists, and that is great! However, it is very important that you correctly credit all the work we see in your portfolio. Your description should clearly distinguish between your original contributions and elements created by other artists, providing names or sources where appropriate. Please go through your portfolio submissions and ensure that any collaborative efforts or uses of existing work (rigs, 3D assets, background music, background images, etc.) are clearly cited in your description in SlideRoom. If you are presenting artwork that was part of a collaborative project, let us know exactly what was your specific contribution, and what was created by someone else. 

  • Do not submit a pre-formatted portfolio. Upload each piece directly to SlideRoom, 1 piece per page, 12 pieces maximum. 
  • OK to embed video samples with your personal work from Vimeo or YouTube, however, please limit your SlideRoom portfolio to a maximum of 15 pieces ( each embedded video counts as 1 piece)

DO NOT INCLUDE:

  • Do not include generic class assignments and/or technical exercises (bouncing ball or basic walk cycles, for example) unless you believe they offer a view of a personal and/or unique approach as an artist.
  • Do not include results of online or guided tutorials of any kind—while they represent your ability to follow step by step directions, they do not represent your ideas, originality, or artistic taste. Images or videos of a guided tutorial are not acceptable as a personal portfolio piece. 
  • Do not upload art created with AI help. Please be aware that we do prefer to see artwork created without any AI help. Something created entirely by AI was not created by you. 

    However, we are open to exceptions: if you have created something meaningful through a series of artistic iterations with AI, so that you feel that the piece qualifies as your own original creation, please check with us about using it in your portfolio. Before adding your piece to Slideroom, send us an email explaining how you created the piece, and specifying what AI engine you have used, what was your prompt, and what was the AI output, and if possible, include images and examples with your process. If you get the go-ahead to submit it, please make sure to indicate the piece was made using AI in the description section of SlideRoom.

If you have questions, please contact us at mdesani@sjsu.edu. 

Fantasy Character with Bow and Arrows