Testimonials

Watch our successful student interviews.

Every year we interview our students who succeed in getting into their top animation programs, and we post these videos on our Youtube Channel. We highly recommend every student making their animation portfolio watch through these videos to get great tips directly from past students who went through the same process. Many of our students watch these to keep inspired throughout the process. Grab a note pad before you watch!

Hear what our students have had to say about us

  • Zuzanna from Denmark - Animation at The Animation Workshop

    ★★★★★

    I got two private reviews from Garth and it was a very enriching experience! I appreciated the professional and yet friendly approach of the PortPrep. The teachers' schedules are also fit for people on the other side of the globe, I could book a time that worked for me, even though there's an 8 hour time difference between Canada and where I live. Ultimately, I got accepted into my dream school, so I'd say it's definitely worth asking Garth for help!

  • Ben from London, Ontario - Architecture at Waterloo

    ★★★★★

    I just wanted to let you know that, as of today, I have been accepted to the University of Waterloo for Fall 2023 in the Honours Architectural Studies program - my top choice, as well as the architecture programs at both UofT and Laurentian. I am emailing to thank you for the wonderful and extremely helpful work that yourself, your TA Sam, and all the other amazing people at PortPrep who guided me in creating my portfolio did for me. Utimately, I believe it is PortPrep that set me apart from the many other applicants as it not only taught me how to create a portfolio, but what to include in it, and how to prepare for my interview at Waterloo. It has been a long and extremely stressful journey, but I am glad that the hard work has paid off. Thank you,I just wanted to let you know that, as of today, I have been accepted to the University of Waterloo for Fall 2023 in the Honours Architectural Studies program - my top choice, as well as the architecture programs at both UofT and Laurentian. Thank you,

  • Charlotte from Guelph

    ★★★★★

    The lovely people working at PortPrep are awesome and very clearly care about the students and what they need. They work hard to create courses that curate the exact learning you need to prepare for the portfolio. I was very nervous and overwhelmed with the portfolio requirements, but now I feel I know exactly what I need to make and the quality it needs to be to get into the school I want. After taking several courses my personal favourite is the Animation portfolio bundle. It really well summarizes the needed skills and standard, and it packs in a lot of learning.

  • Malak from Mississauga, Ontario

    ★★★★★

    Just sending this email to let you know I got a conditional offer into Carleton!! This wouldn't have been possible without all of your guidance, thank you so much! I know I could be super frustrating with my "last-minute" shenanigans, so thanks for sticking through with me- you're a phenomenal mentor and your program was amazing. I'll keep you updated on if I've made it through all the way 👍👍

  • Amanda from Vancouver

    ★★★★★

    PortPrep’s courses are a great source of learning and connecting with like minded artists with similar goals. Garth was a wonderful teacher and mentor and his interactions were always very thoughtful, encouraging and inspiring. Definitely recommend this program!

  • Victoria from England

    ★★★★★

    “I GOT AN OFFER!!!!!! Yes the uni in London! I cannot believe it I cried so much when I found out! Words cannot explain how grateful I am for your help! I mean you got me where I wanted to be and I didn’t think it was possible in a week and a half!”

  • Julie from Toronto

    ★★★★★

    I had an amazing experience with PortPrep. I took the animation bundle courses with Garth and was able to learn so much. It really helps to break down the portfolio requirements into manageable pieces. I would strongly recommend Garth to anyone considering taking their courses.

  • Hana from Markham, Ontario

    ★★★★★

    I just wanted to let you know I got my acceptance into Sheridan's Illustration program! I'm so happy and also so thankful to have been given this opportunity. Thank you so much to both you and Garth for your help. You helped me so much in my portfolio development, I wouldn't have done so well without your help.

  • Caspian from Toronto

    ★★★★★

    I took the animation portfolio bundle and I loved it! I feel like my art improved significantly in such a short amount of time. Garth is a wonderful teacher, his feedback on work is very helpful and his insights into the industry are incredibly valuable. I highly recommend the animation tutor to anyone who wants to work on their skill for a portfolio or even for personal reasons!

  • Adam from Toronto

    ★★★★★

    I was one of the first handful of students that they picked out of the entire pile for the 127 people that would get in out the 4000 applicants at Ryerson. If you can take ‘no clue’ to early acceptance in only a month and half! That’s pretty impressive! Karen I would totally recommend your teaching. I would totally recommend that people talk to you. You are very knowledgeable. You know the whole thing inside and out. I am so glad that you were there.”

  • Wendy from Virginia

    ★★★★★

    PortPrep made it possible for me to learn more about the application process, helping break down the requirements giving great feedback that helped me improve my portfolio work. I took the animation bundle course with Garth and learned so much, from animation basics to how to present your artwork in the best manner possible.

  • Visaree from British Columbia

    ★★★★★

    Karen your portfolio guidance helped me a lot not just to build my school application but as an artist and professional in general. I got accepted into OCAD for Interior design and Laurentian I got two offers from and I also got an offer from York and I decided to go to TMU for production design. Thank you again!

  • Tieran from Ottawa

    ★★★★★

    Great experience with my mentor Garth. I had 12 private sessions with him and he made the difference between getting accepted into my dream university and not. Could not recommend this school more!

  • Yukimi from Regina

    ★★★★★

    Loved this course, it was extremely helpful! If your looking for aid on your portfolio or want to learn more about the fundamentals I definitely recommend this course.

  • Mary from Whitby, Ontario - Former Monthly Mentor and Current Durham Animation Student

    Zen helped me build my confidence and skill as an artist. He helped me create my first portfolio for my high school arts and media program, then my second portfolio for college. My skills in storytelling, gesture and anatomy improved under him, preparing me for my time in the animation course at Durham College with a good foundation for me to build on. With Zen pushing good habits and practices on me early, I have found adjusting to the workload and quality expected from me in my classes easier and less stressful. I can understand what my professors want from me and deliver with work I myself am proud of. Zen was a patient teacher who supported my younger self. Zen would point out when I improved, and when I needed to improve. Without Zen, I don’t believe I would have had the confidence to get this far.

  • Matthew from Guelph

    ★★★★★

    I just had an animation portfolio review with Garth and it was fantastic! He provided me with a lot of constructive criticism and I can already see massive improvement in the quality of my portfolio. I highly recommend the animation tutor and plan on booking another session with Garth in the near future.

  • Midhat from Thornhill, Ontario

    ★★★★★

    Almost a year ago, we started working with Portprep on preparation for the animation portfolio and Karen suggested various options and customised offerings based on the current performance at that time and the different courses really helped into developing the portfolio, while learning about Animation in Portprep, an interest in Architecture also developed as it is one of the career paths where you can be quite creative as well, So applied to Animation and Arch. programs in different universities and college and got tremendous support from Garth, Werner, Zen and Karen at different times and really useful feedback was provided throughout. This helped in getting selected into one of the Architecture school and we are happy to see the progress compared to one year ago. Thanks a lot to everyone in Portprep who helped us during this time.

  • Adam from Ajax, Ontario - Former Mentored Youth and Sheridan Illustration Student Graduate

    Zen is a fun guy to work with! Zen also knows how to mentor his students in a way that helps them reach their desired drawing goals. Overall, a pleasure to work with.

  • Mahi from Iran

    ★★★★★

    This was my second time applying to Sheridan and I was looking for a person who could help review my portfolio with my schedule and I'm really glad I found the animation tutor! Garth was an AMAZING teacher. I got a 97 score in my portfolio thanks to him. I loved our sessions for a few reasons.

    1- He didn't just tell me what is wrong but he explained why it's wrong. I learned SO MUCH during our classes!

    2- He was so knowledgeable and could help me in a variety of subjects... I felt confident showing him different works like life drawing, digital painting, animation, layout, storyboard... and still get useful and amazing critics.

    3- What I enjoyed the most was how his classes always motivated me to do more. some people just drain the energy out of you, but with Garth, I was always so excited after our sessions and that lead me to do more.

    In total, it was a wonderful experience. Thank you so much for all you have done Garth:)

  • Simon from Oakville

    ★★★★★

    These guys were an excellent help for my application to Sheridan Animation Program and I probably couldn't have got those extra point in without their help!

  • Taya from Guelph, Ontario

    I attended camp online during covid and it went really well! We learned comic making skills, which I really liked. I was tutored though Youth Monthly Mentorship with instructor Zen and I hope to attend more of what PortPrep has to offer in the future.