Portfolio Assessment

Prospective VSA students who have not taken the SAT or ACT may consider applying through our portfolio option.

In addition to their completed VSA application, students who apply via the portfolio option should also include the following supporting documents with their applications.

• Two teacher recommendations from teachers who can address the student’s ability to function in a fast-paced, accelerated academic environment.  Download the Recommendation Form.
• Score report from a standardized academic achievement or ability test. Student should score at 90th percentile or above on at least one section  of the assessment (e.g. verbal or nonverbal; reading or math). Acceptable assessments include, but are not limited to: ERB, CogAT, Terra Nova, ITBS, Stanford Achievement Test, OLSAT, Woodcock-Johnson, WISC, Stanford-Binet, MAT. Ideally, scores should be less than 30 months old.
• School transcript (preferred), if available, or copy of most recent grade report.
• Sample Coursework.  Please submit sample coursework from a recent academic assignment or project. Sample coursework should relate to VSA course student wishes to take.  For example, students applying to writing or humanities courses might choose to include a recent writing assignment.  Student applying to math or science courses may opt to submit a recent science project or experiment, or a recent math assignment.  Sample coursework should include a statement about why student chose to submit that particular assignment or project.