BIAD Portfolio Review
Entrance into the Interior Architecture & Design Program
Students interested in majoring in Interior Architecture and Design must successfully submit a portfolio for the annual first-year review and maintain a minimum overall GPA of 2.75. The program invites approximately 20-24 students to advance to the second year, making this a very competitive major. The Bachelor of Interior Architecture and Design (BIAD) is a professional degree, and the faculty's expectations are very high.
First Year Review
All first-year students who are considering the Interior Architecture & Design Program must enroll in IAD 1780 and participate in the First-Year Review in the Fall semester. The review assesses design skills and creativity and will consist of portfolio work from IAD 1780, as well as the completion of additional projects. Only students who successfully pass the first-year review and meet or exceed GPA and grade requirements will be allowed to register for second-year courses. If a student's GPA does not meet the departmental standards, they may be accepted on a probationary status and must meet the GPA requirements before the second-year review.
The Interior Architecture & Design Fall 2025 Annual First-Year Review Important Dates
Framework & Instructions for the Review
The kit-of-parts required for the 2025 IAD Review is available in the Interior Architecture & Design Office, Family Life 320
Important Dates
2025 Important Dates
Kick-Off Meeting: October 21 at 5:00 pm, Family Life 206
Portfolios are Due via an online portfolio/application submission on Tuesday, November 18th, 2025
The results of the review will be sent to your USU email on December 12th-15th
The week of December 15-19th, Angela Neff will be available to schedule your courses in Spring 2026.
Successful Portfolios from 2024
Successful Portfolios from 2023
Interior Architecture & Design First-Year Review 2018-2024
Cohort Size 24
| Year | IAD 2780 Enrollment | Applicants | Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 52 | 33 | 76% |
| 2019 | 53 | 29 | 82% |
| 2020 | 65 | 48 | 67% |
| 2021 | 67 | 39 | 69% |
| 2022 | 96 | 52 | 46% |
| 2023 Spring | 98 | 65 | 36% |
| 2023 Fall | 98 | 72 | 34% |
| 2024 Fall | 98 | 67 | 34% |
RM Compare
The program uses ‘Adaptive Comparative Judgment’ (ACJ), a digital tool for assessing student work and design portfolios. ACJ involves a panel of assessors or judges who make comprehensive comparisons based on pairings in multiple rounds, resulting in a rank order from “best’ to “worst.’ This method is highly reliable compared to rubrics, which are often hard to interpret and less consistent (Buckley, Seery, and Kimball, 2022). Developed at Goldsmiths, University of London, this valid, online, portfolio-based assessment method has a reliability coefficient of 0.95—comparable to standardized tests by applying the Thurstone-Pollitt Law of Comparative Judgments. Still relatively new to the U.S., it has been used over 30,000 times across Europe and Asia (Veon and Brooks, 2023). This approach allows viewers to assign scores or rankings instead of making direct, holistic judgments. The research and evaluation of ACJ are often discussed at international conferences and published in scholarly journals (Kimball, 2022). It rewards and assesses innovative thinking and risk-taking while being fair to all students. This digital portfolio review system relies on statistical results and keeps applicants' identities confidential. It also enables students, faculty panels, alumni, and jurors to access work from any location digitally.