[Musashino Art University] What are you asked in the Comprehensive Selection interview? | Portfolio, Concept Ability Test, and 100 Expected Questions

The Comprehensive Selection at Musashino Art University is a system for applicants who consider this university their first choice. Note that there is one department in the Faculty of Art and Design, the Department of Visual Communication Design, that does not implement this system. First, you need to confirm whether your desired department is even participating in this process.

This article is written by a cram school instructor who has guided students through Comprehensive and School Recommendation Selections. I also have experience sitting on the other side of the table as a corporate recruiter, making hiring decisions. However, to be honest from the start, this article will not teach you how to improve your drawing or 3D practical skills, nor how to move your hands better during the Concept Ability Test. What I am taking on here is how to put your work and your research into words during interviews and presentations. That is the one thing I will focus on. This is because the Comprehensive Selection at art universities is not just about submitting work, but an exam that requires you to talk about that work.

I am writing this for those who intend to prepare at home without attending a cram school. While art preparatory schools are great for training in drawing and 2D composition, there are not many places that systematically design how to 'explain your work in an interview' or 'convey your research activities in a presentation.' If you are not attending one, you have to create that design yourself. This article reconstructs the preparation sequence I have used in interview coaching into a format that can be carried out at home, even just between a parent and child.

The first thing to do when preparing for the Musashino Art University Comprehensive Selection is not to memorize 'Why Musabi?' by heart. You must start by identifying the selection format of your desired department. Does it involve a portfolio review and an interview? Is a Concept Ability Test added? Is it a group interview, a presentation, or a short essay? It all begins with pinning this down.

This is because the landscape of the Comprehensive Selection at Musabi is completely different for each department. The Department of Japanese Painting combines practical pencil drawing and portfolio review with an interview. The Department of Oil Painting (Oil Painting major, Graphic Arts major) and the Department of Sculpture involve portfolio review and an interview. The Department of Scenography, Display and Fashion Design and the Department of Creative Innovation require a 'Concept Ability Test' that analyzes familiar social phenomena and living environments. The Department of Architecture and the Department of Design Informatics have a 'Performance Ability Test' and group interviews. The Department of Design Science uses presentations and interviews. The Department of Arts and Cultural Studies uses short essays and interviews, with no practical skills required. The Department of Imaging Arts and Sciences uses portfolio review and interviews. And the Creative Innovation Department's 'Research Ability Emphasis' method focuses on presentations about high school research activities, designed so that even those who cannot draw or have no design experience can challenge it. Under the same name of 'Comprehensive Selection,' the skills being tested vary this much.

However, when you try to prepare, you cannot find the information. Searching only brings up deviation scores or how to draw sketches, and there is almost no information organized by department on 'what is being looked for in the Concept Ability Test,' 'how to behave in a group interview to be evaluated well,' or 'which work to start explaining from in an interview with a portfolio in front of you.' Even if you consult with your school, they just tell you to 'bring out your uniqueness,' but no one teaches you how to translate that 'uniqueness' into the perspectives Musabi is looking for. Many examinees are stuck in this same place.

Here, I will shift the perspective. Art university interviews and presentations are not decided solely by the quality of your work or your first impression. They are evaluated according to the policies and selection objectives set by the university and department. Rather than whether your voice trembles, the weight is likely on whether your story reaches those policies and whether you can portray the same person in the interview as you did in your submitted work and documents. And Musashino Art University makes the material for those policies public. The philosophy of 'art education that reaches true human freedom,' the admission policies for the Faculty of Art and Design and the Faculty of Art and Design Studies, and the profiles sought by each department—the framework for evaluation is already within your reach.

The student application guidelines for the 2027 academic year, including the Comprehensive Selection, were released on July 7, 2026. First, you want to check if there have been any major changes in the published framework that would shake up your department. While there are no major changes to the skeleton of the Comprehensive Selection within the scope of the published materials, the selection methods and categories for each department change in detail every year. That is precisely why the sequence is to first solidify your preparation for 'what to say in interviews and presentations,' with the premise of opening the actual guidelines before applying.

However, even if you read this far and understand that 'Musabi seems to look for concept ability and unique expression,' you haven't made a single step forward in your preparation. Which of your works, in what order, and translated into what words will reach that perspective? That is a different problem from knowing the philosophy. Moreover, in the case of Musabi, the target audience is different for each department. The 'unique expression' you talk about in a sculpture interview, the 'unique concept' you talk about in a Creative Innovation presentation, and the 'perspective on culture' you talk about in an Arts and Cultural Studies essay and interview—even if they start from the same philosophy, the way you drop the words changes. There is still a distance between understanding the philosophy and the answers that come out of your mouth during the actual exam.

What happens when you read this guide?

• Instead of memorizing 100 questions, you will be able to judge 'which evaluation perspective is being asked' even for unseen questions and construct your answers accordingly.

• You will be able to design in advance which point to start your explanation from and in what order, with your submitted portfolio and work in front of you.

• You will understand the procedure to get closer to the form of a real interview response in 30 minutes a day for 7 days, starting with the 20 essential S-priority questions.

• You can check in advance for discrepancies between what you put into your self-recommendation documents and submitted work, and what you say in the interview (you will know in advance where the follow-up questions will come from regarding your work).

• You will be able to identify whether your department uses portfolio review + interview, adds a Concept Ability Test, uses group interviews, presentations, or short essays, and prepare your words to match that format.

• You will be able to verbalize familiar social phenomena or your own research activities as a unique perspective in the Concept Ability Test or presentations.

• Parents will be able to act as mock interview partners just by reading the printed PDF.

Note that this article is a blueprint for 'putting work into words' and 'conveying them in presentations and interviews.' It does not cover how to improve the actual drawing, 3D work, or the hands-on part of the Concept Ability Test. I have separated those as things to be polished in practical training, and this guide focuses on the 'spoken words'.

A sample of the paid section content, just one question

You might think it's just a list of questions picked up from the internet. To help you judge the content, I will provide one question from the expected questions in the paid section as it is.

Musashino Art University's comprehensive selection process combines an interview with the evaluation of submitted works and portfolios for many departments. This means the interviewer will ask you questions while your work is right in front of them. This question is designed for that scenario.

Question: Please choose one work from your submitted portfolio that you feel was the least successful. Explain why it was unsuccessful and what you tried to change for the next one based on that experience.

What this question is likely checking: This is a scenario that can occur in many MAU departments that combine portfolio review with interviews. The intention behind asking you to choose a failed work, rather than having you talk about your best piece, is deliberate. Musashino Art University's admission policy for the Faculty of Art and Design seeks 'individuals who attempt to communicate through unique expression by employing logical and creative thinking.' Can you observe your own creative process from the outside and put into words where it failed to function? And how did you conceive your next move from there? They are looking at your train of thought in critiquing and updating what you have created, rather than just your ability to create. They are also checking if you can remain composed when faced with an unexpected line of questioning and rephrase your own judgment.

Weak answer: 'I didn't have enough time for this piece, so I couldn't finish it properly. Next time, I want to start earlier and improve the level of completion.'

Why it is weak: 'I didn't have enough time' is a matter of production management and is not an analysis of the work itself. It fails to delve into the substance of what you were aiming for and where it fell short of that goal. If you give this answer, the interviewer will almost certainly ask, 'If you had had the time, specifically what would you have changed and how?' If you get stuck there, it may be perceived that your ability to reflect on failure is weak.

Example of answer structure (this shows the structure; please replace the content with your own work):

1. First, state in one sentence what you were aiming for with that work. Verbalize your intent first, such as, 'In this work, I wanted to express the weight of the air at the moment light shines through.' Without this, the criteria for failure cannot be established.

2. Point out one specific gap between your aim and the result. Name the part that didn't function, such as, 'However, in the finished piece, while I was able to depict the light, the weight of the air did not come through, and it just became a bright picture.'

3. Reflect on the cause at the level of judgment, not technique. Verify your own choices, such as, 'I believe the cause was that I was too focused on increasing the brightness and ended up cutting away too much of the shadow area.'

4. Conclude with what you changed (or would change) as your next move. Show the direction of your update specifically, such as, 'In my next production, I changed the order to decide on the shadow design first before adding the light.'

Once you master this pattern, you will be able to answer follow-up questions that often come up in interviews, such as 'So, what actually happened in the next work?' or 'What does completing a work mean to you?' using the same framework.

In the paid section, we cover a total of 106 questions, including 20 essential questions, 30 follow-up questions, and department-specific questions, all in this format.

10 sample headings from the included questions

Since it is hard to convey everything with just one sample question, I will list 10 questions with a high degree of university specificity from the priority S essential questions (explanations are all in the paid section). All of them are questions typical of MAU that test whether you can explain your work and research in your own words.

• When the interviewer flips through your submitted portfolio page by page, which piece do you start explaining from? Please also tell me the reason for that order.

• If you had to explain your work in one sentence to someone who knows nothing about art or design, what would you say?

• How would you translate Musashino Art University's philosophy of 'art education that truly achieves human freedom' into the language of your own creative work?

• Please name one artist or designer who influences you the most right now. What do you intend to inherit from them, and what do you intend not to inherit?

• (For applicants to Scenography and Creative Innovation) If you were to take up one familiar social phenomenon in the creative ability test, what would you choose, and where would you find the issue?

• (For applicants to Architecture and Design Informatics) In a group interview, if there were an applicant with an opinion completely opposite to yours, how would you behave?

• (For Basic Design applicants) Is there anything you intentionally did not explain or show in today's presentation? Why is that?

• (For Art and Cultural Policy applicants) Please explain specifically the difference between an exhibition you consider 'good' and one you consider 'not good'.

• (For Creative Innovation/Inquiry-based applicants) What was the biggest obstacle or failure you encountered during your high school inquiry activities?

• For you, what state does 'a work is complete' refer to?

All 106 questions include the same four-level commentary as the sample reading above (what is likely being checked by this question / common weak answers and the reasons why / the structure of the answer design). Just looking at the questions is not enough for preparation. The key to reaching the perspective of Musashino Art University lies in the commentary.

To Parents/Guardians

This guide is not intended for your child to read through alone. Rather, it is designed to be used by parents and guardians.

The included 106 expected questions are compiled into a PDF, which you can print out and use for mock interviews simply by reading them aloud one by one. No knowledge of art or design is required. It is enough to just listen to your child explain their work and mark the places where they get stuck. The 7-day menu is structured to decide what to do in 30 minutes a day, such as 'Day 1: Reasons for applying, Day 2: Explaining the work,' so those supporting them won't be lost on what to do.

If your child is not attending an art preparatory school, you may often feel anxious that 'nothing is being done at home for interviews and presentations other than practical skills.' This set is a tool to turn that anxiety into the concrete realization that 'we did this much today.' There is no need to evaluate whether the work is good or bad. Just check together whether your child can put what they have created into words that others can understand.

7 days after finishing this guide

You will be able to complete the answer design worksheet and connect the content put into the self-recommendation form and submitted works with what is said in the interview into a single coherent line. The design allows for at least one full practice session out loud for the 20 essential 'S-priority' questions (if a parent reads the printed PDF, that is sufficient for the interviewer role).

Furthermore, when a question you have never seen before comes up, you will be able to assemble an answer after judging 'which evaluation axis this question is checking' instead of starting to answer immediately. You will also have identified whether your department's format is work review + interview, whether a concept ability test is added, whether it is a group interview, a presentation, or a short essay, and you can spend time practicing according to that format. In an interview with a portfolio in front of you, you will aim for a state where even the order in which you start talking about which work is decided.

This guide is based on the analysis and structuring of evaluation axes derived from the admission policies, the profiles sought by each department, and entrance exam information published by Musashino Art University (confirmed as of July 18, 2026). The evaluation axes are estimates and arrangements based on public information and are not official grading sheets set by the university. This does not guarantee admission. The participating departments, methods, and selection formats change from year to year. Please be sure to check the latest application guidelines for your desired department before applying.

This guide is a set that reconstructs the preparation sequence used in interview guidance into a form that can be carried out by parents and children at home. It includes the organization of selection formats by department, the latest information for the 2027 academic year, a breakdown of evaluation axes, 106 expected questions, 20 sample answers, worksheets, a 7-day menu, and a printable PDF. It focuses on the design for putting work into words and conveying it in presentations and interviews (it does not cover how to improve practical skills themselves).