Hi, we’d like to be your new DAD.
We’re the Denver Ad School, or DAD for short. We’re a post-grad advertising portfolio school that offers masters-level programs in art direction, copywriting, and strategy. We pack a lot into our intensive 16-month program to mold you into the most prepared, knowledgeable, and skilled junior creative an ad agency has ever seen — which is to say, we’ll help you stand out and be a hell of a lot more hireable than you are right now.
In five quarters with us you’ll learn everything you need to know to succeed in the advertising industry, create an agency-ready portfolio consisting of deep, fully-integrated ad campaigns, and then we’ll use that portfolio to help get you your first big agency job. DAD is structured to be just like a real, working ad agency with active industry professionals leading all of our classes just like they lead their own teams at work, so when you leave here and begin your career you’ll already be up to agency speed.
The truth is we’re quicker, more affordable, our curriculum is deeper, and our teachers have more real-world experience than your average university master’s program. Ad agencies don’t care if you have a degree or not, let alone a masters, so why would you willingly put yourself through more college when you could focus on the real thing at a portfolio school?
Everything you've feared is true.
Sorry to get all doom and gloom, but let’s get real. You’re about to graduate college and you’re afraid. We all were! Are you really prepared? Is your portfolio going to get you noticed? Will you get a great job? Will everything be alright?
You’re not the first aspiring creative advertising student to be having doubts. Hell, we were there once ourselves. But if you’re here right now reading this site then it's probably because you’re ready to acknowledge that there’s probably some truth behind those fears. Like the other thousands of students who go to a post-grad portfolio school every single year, you’re starting to realize that you’re not as prepared as you could be, your portfolio can’t compete as hard with more polished portfolios, and maybe you won’t get the greatest job at the greatest agency like you’d hoped… unless you do something about it.
Well, portfolio school is where you can do something about it.
Never. Ever. Settle. (Ever)
Afraid that you’ll have to settle for whatever place will hire you with whatever you’ve got in your college portfolio? You don’t have to settle. If you’re leaving undergrad wanting something bigger and better, you’re not alone. For decades and decades other college students before you were in the same situation and they went to a post-grad portfolio school with the determination and dream to get the job they deserve. You can do better than the portfolio you have now, you just have to want it. Smash that button below to check out our student portfolios and ask yourself how you think your portfolio would measure up if you were all interviewing for the same job.
Why the hell do you need this?
You went to college! You got a degree! Shouldn’t that be enough!? Before you scream even more into the cold, black post-grad void, let’s bring you back to reality. The unfortunate truth is your degree doesn’t get you a killer job – your portfolio does. No one wants to see your transcripts, your diploma, your GPA, or anything else like that. No, the people hiring you to be creative only want to see the creative things you’ve made and nothing else.
So, your portfolio is the only thing that matters when applying for copywriting and art direction jobs. And because big agencies mostly hire from the top portfolio schools, that means your college-level portfolio will be judged against all the rest. How confident are you that you’ll stand out?
Your time in undergrad was not wasted, though. A traditional liberal arts college is more set up to give you a broader education on many things and isn’t equipped to focus specifically on your portfolio like a portfolio school is. So if you want to make the jump after college to the job of your dreams, think of an advertising portfolio school like a post-grad school that’s designed to build on your undergrad foundation that gives you a more in-depth practical training and a more polished, advertising agency-ready portfolio that’s your fast pass towards an awesome agency job.
Our grads start at the top.
There are two easy ways to track the success of any post-grad portfolio school – the quality of their portfolios and the quality of the agency jobs that their students are getting. See how we measure up by checking out where our grads are now working below and then ask yourself – where are the students from your university getting creative jobs? Are grads from your university going straight from college into killer agencies like these?
Talk to someone on your level.
Wanna connect with somebody who’s already been down the path you’re about to embark on? Keep scrolling to find a DAD Grad from your university, or just someone who’s portfolio looks cool, and hit ‘em up. DAD Grads love to talk with anyone and everyone about what comes after college.
Below are some guides you can check out for a deeper dive into life after college.
This is our guide with specific information specially tailored for college/university advisors, professors, and students. It’s got the good stuff on how we operate, an overview of our curriculum, insights into our placement rate, how we compare to other portfolio schools, and everything else that students and professors at colleges and universities might be wondering about us.
The DAD field guide is essentially our full catalog that we provide to everyone who reaches out. It’s got everything prospective students need to know from tuition and payment breakdowns, the full class catalog, curriculum outline, and a ton more.
More guides to come!