I got 15K from YSOA, emailed yesterday!

I was hoping for more. Got 20k. 

@meomeo91 is it merit or need-based scholarship? Cauz I applied for need based aid on january

@Harini This RSVP link was sent in the email regarding the preview weekend.

http://umich.force.com/form?formid=217791

@international_applicant I hope it's because they plan on giving more money! I really need to make a decision on what program I will be attending fast, and Yale already sent decisions late, now I have to keep waiting on them?! This sucks.

@Ebinehita that is what I hope too! :) I am really torn between Columbia Berkeley Yale. UCLA was always a back up plan, and Harvard did not offer any aid. If Yale does not give me smth interesting as financial aid then it is Columbia vs Berkeley. And the thing is I do not really know if giving 35,000$ more to attend Columbia is a good long term move. I mean is the program so much more reputable? Are their connections much more strong than Berkeley's. Real dilemma here

@international_applicant  

It's financial aid

@international_applicant

I can understand your dilemma about choosing between Columbia vs Berkeley.

But as far as i read it Columbia might be expensive but they are doing some real stuff man.

They are popularizing their visiting schools every day and the response is tremendous, the socio cultural connect and in future the possibility of exploring all around the world is immense, As You all know the future is in Asia especially sub continent,  and they are already established so to play safe i would have chosen Columbia. No doubt there are other factors as cost of living in NYC and stuff that can definitely alter decisions. but that depends on your clarity of focus/ interest in a specific setup. If you are more inclined towards urbanity and response to global diaspora NYC sounds perfect,But if you feel you are more research oriented and want to deal with specifics, Berkeley can give that push and solace to grow forward.

That's my bit  of understanding, hope it helps.

:)

@deepshah1991 thank you really much for your response. Another thing i would like to ask any alumni of gsapp: is the total cost of attendance as high as they say it is in the booklet "we are in"? The school itself says that total cost of attendance is 123,000$ (79,000$ tuition). A friend of mine (current ms.aud student) claims total cost is smth about 110,000$. Can anyone confirm that school's estimation is a little bit sized up?

@international_applicant - I am also going to be attending GSAPP for their MSAUD program..like you, I have been researching quite a bit into the total cost of attendance figure by talking to my friends to are living in NYC. The way I understand it, GSAPP has hiked up their fees by around 1000$/semester from last year's tuition...the housing factor plays a big role which is estimated to be around 1000-1400$ inclusive of utilities on shared-basis per person so I think GSAPP has taken an average of the general scene of NYC now..if it does work out to be less 123,000$ after 1 year, GOOD!! its good to be prepared for unforeseen expenses rather than despair ..  

@jj_arch the thing is that both me and my fiance got accepted by the ms.aad program. I got a 33,000$ merit based scholarship and she did not. We have a combined budget and we try to figure out what is the "real" total cost of attemdance in order to make the best choice of program-UC

@international_applicant - After researching, I honestly feel that the total cost of attendance that GSAPP projects is kind of realistic for a frugal lifestyle while attending school. 

@ebinehita.....thank you for the link! I don't think that applies to the MS students but anyway :) @international_applicant, I think that considering it's NYC, the estimate is more or less realistic, or so I was told by students there.....although you can bring it down depending on your housing choices. Then again, you don't want it to be too far away from the campus cos then there's added commute.

My friend told me that if you get university housing its cheaper, no commute fees and the books are not the money they say it is cauz students are given pdf versions. So smth like 110,000$. Really dont know what to do. Berkeley is cheaper but gsapp is a different level brand

Yes the books can be gotten digitally....plus the library would have excellent resources. Given that Columbia is giving you such a significant scholarship, which is so hard to come by, maybe you should take it! I'm sure it'll be a great experience and give you diverse perspectives

For those of you who got the aid email form yale, did it say anything about summer classes? Or prereqs perhaps?

Has everyone been contacted by Yale regarding their funding? I still have not received an email, the last email I received just mentioned the funding email would be coming soon

@median i am srill waiting for the financial aid email

Yale said they sent aid info out in the mail on friday. They sent me a scanned copy when I asked for it.

@ebinehita I sent them an email and they told me.that it seems like I have not filled out any financial aid form. I replied by sending them a printscreen of the submission and still waiting. How much did you manage to get as scholarship?

@international_applicant Oh my I hope everything gets straightened out!

I got ~20k, which is kinda disappointing cuz I was hoping for more. But I might just settle for that and attend Yale. :'(  ----  :)

Hmm, snail mail... I don't live in the US so I will just email them to see - while it is nice getting packages and letters, I prefer the immediacy of the email.

@ebinehita they told me they forgot to send my financial aid application to the comittee and that they did it today. So we just added some more days of agony for me! :(

@international_applicant Oh okay...I guess it's good they have sent in your application, better late then never, right?

I must say, Yale's a tad disorganized when it comes to processing admissions-related stuff. I feel this whole process of finding out about decisions and getting info on aid has taken much longer than it should have.

Is anyone here still waiting on decisions for Michigan's MArch I? I called them two weeks ago and they said they're still delayed on getting decisions out... Getting kind of nervous since the status hasn't been emailed or updated on the website...

@ Diametrics

Waiting for Michigan as well. M. Arch II. The last time I contacted them, they said "Decisions would be sent out via email in the middle of March". No response yet.

Middle of March 2017 maybe??

^Seriously. Plus from what I can glean in the previous comments there's a "preview weekend" at Mich at the end of this week, which would be impossible to coordinate since pretty much none of us have decisions..

hate to break it to you two, but you probably didn't get in at Michigan if they have open house this weekend and still haven't sent you a decision.  A similar thing happened to me (with another school) when I applied a couple of years ago.  It sucks when schools don't send out all of their decisions in a timely manner.  If you were accepted they would have told you by now.  :(

Although this seems very irresponsible and inconsiderate coming from UMICH, they have sent their decisions by the beginning of March. I got mine the first week, they were one of the first ones to contact through email with information about financial aid and the open house. It is worrying that they haven't sent you yours yet. You could call or write an email saying that you are aware and know of other applicants who have had their responses around 3 weeks ago and that you want to know if there is something going on with yours since you haven't received it yet. 

Hopefully they are just slow and that doesn't mean you didn't get accepted. Best of luck!

Age/Gender/Citizenship:  27 / M / International 

Undergrad Degree from __/GPA : B.arch/ 3.5/4.0 GPA

Portfolio link: will post it later this month

GRE Scores: V162 / Q160 / W 4.5

Personal Statement: 

Schools Applied to:

Got In: 

- Harvard_MArch I (20k)

- MIT _MArch I (35k)

- Yale_MArch I (22k)

Decision

I am going to MIT of course. I talked to several friends who are attending MIT, GSD, YALE. And they all recommended MIT. Not only for the money but also MIT is more selective school. And I visited all the schools and MIT was definitely the best. Those who are admitted both schools like me please visit and make the decision. That will help a lot. MIT is really cool. I couldn't believe my eyes.

@shanghaigirl 

We had you enough. 

Your next user name could be: tokyohot 

Its the same shiry waitlisted harvard kid again. Londonfog, seoulkid, shanghaigirl (but male lol). Archinect should kick this guy out.

@RazanALT  

Harvard may offer hard caps of 24k for merit awards, but their total aid package certainly isn't capped @24k.  I was offered and accepted a 20k merit grant, 21.5k need based grant, and 2k work study.  Their financial aid manual specifically states that these awards are for every year in the program, unless you suddenly become rich or start bombing studio.

@asdmin

merit scholarships are given for each program year.  the harvard financial aid website has a guidebook that is very helpful, as is the financial aid office, if you call.

@Dangermouse I don't doubt you are correct. All I know is what the financial aid lady said at the Harvard M.ARCH open house. I'm not sure if she was referring to need based or merit aid but she was emphatic on the cap. Congrats on your offer, regardless! That's a major accomplishment!

Has anyone received scholarship info from WashU yet?? 

WashU has already sent their offers around a week and a half ago. It is a separate email and it should say something like "Financial Aid Award". If they haven't sent you anything contact them because I believe their Open House is next week and if they are planning to attract most admitted students they should have already sent out that information. 

@AstridCam : Weird, I haven't received anything. I just emailed them about it.. I'm attending the  Open House but I'd reaaaally like to know how much they're offering me before I go. Are you planning on going? 

I am a senior bachelor of architectural engineering candidate from Iran seeking graduate studies in architecture in the US, and following my applications I've been admitted to a number of universities. I've been acquiring for some time about the rankings, faculty and other related information, and I would be thankful for any further insight which would help me make the best choice.

This is the list of universities that I've been admitted to, with the financial aid descriptions:

Master of Architecture - Professional:
1 - Arizona State University (TA + full tuition for either fall or spring)
2 - Clemson University
3 - University of Cincinnati (25% scholarship = 8000 $) for first year

Master of Science in Architecture - Post-Professional
4 - Cornell University - 14000$ for first year
5 - Art Center College of Design - 8000$ for each semester until the end of studies
6 - Penn State University - TA + Full tuition for first year
7 - Illinois Institute of Technology

Priorities:
*Like many others, I and my family can't afford a hefty sum of money. Therefore a rather safer choice would be preferred. Basically my family could offer about 10,000$ a year, but increasing that to 30,000 would be freakishly burdensome!
* You may wonder why I have applied to both M.ARCH and M.S. My main goal in pursuing graduate studies in the US is deepening my understanding of architecture in my areas of interest (which mainly includes advanced architectural design, architecture and media studies, conceptions of space and research-based design) and strengthen my designing abilities as well. I have been told by senior graduate friends of mine in the US that upon starting an academic career in the US I would broaden my range of interest of even move to another area of specialization. That's why I thought it would make sense to keep my options flexible and open. That is to say, I am not necessarily looking to become registered, or study for a PhD, but consider myself capable of doing, and enjoying both. Although, a professional career in a specialized area of design is a much more interesting prospect to me.

Thank you in advance for your replies. Any Info would be appreciated.

@lourou Unfortunately no, I will not be able to attend because of work and other commitments. But, yeah you should definitely know how much aid you are receiving before making the trip to St. Louis. I know they offered a fairly affordable package to travel there for the whole Open House weekend, which was very tempting. 

Good luck and enjoy St.Louis!!! 

Got into GaTech's 2-year M. Arch. Financial info to follow. I also got into Cincinnati's 3-year M.Arch with an $8k scholarship which covers 25% of the tuition.

Cincy also has a mandatory year of co-op where I'll work with an architect and supposedly get paid, while not paying any tuition. Plus they've started the Integrated Licensure Program this year, which will count my IDP hours as well as prepare me for the ARE.

As both the schools are similarly placed on the rankings scale, could someone offer any advice on choosing between the two? I'm leaning towards Cincy because of the co-op, but it's 3 years vs 2 at GaTech. Thoughts?

I have a few friends who go to Cincy. They really love the internship opportunities. from what I understand you do two or three co-op semesters out of the three years. The people i know have gone to New York, Chicago, San Francisco, etc.  Both of them expressed that they weren't totally into the studio classes (both came from more theory backgrounds and Cincy is known for being more technical), but loved the internship part.  One of them decided that he wanted to come back and live in SF after his internship, he just accepted a job offer and I think he had more than one offer, so I would say job prospects afterward are good.  He also has a lot of IDP hours thanks to this.  If you are single and don't mind moving every 6 months, then I would say go Cincy.  Honestly don't know anything about GaTech. 

@ C. Watts

Thanks for the info. The new Integrated Program does look great and speeds up the process of getting a license. I'm an international student and I think moving around should not be that big of an issue for me. If Gatech doesn't offer any substantial aid, I'll probably go to Ohio this Fall. :D

Just got phone call from sci arc, into their March 1. detail arrives in this week.

in UT Austin & Sci Arc now, still waiting for USC.

didn't get into my top two choices: GSAPP & Berkely :( still sad ToT

any good suggestions upon these two schools?

Are you going to be able to visit them?

Hi all, first time posting here. I'm in a bit of a dilemma and I am not sure what to do. So I applied to a few small schools (I got in) but I did apply to Sci-Arc and I got in. My question is, is Sci-Arc worth the huge amount of loans I am going to take out? Thanks

Octavio Hernandez

Hey Everyone...

As you all have got into all respective schools and the admission process has started for all of you.

As discussed in previous threads, i request you all to upload or share the links to your respective individual portfolio's now. (if you feel comfortable) if dont want to share here, you can email me at deepshah1991@gmail.com 

It would be tremendous help.

Thank you Guys.

:) 

Hi guys!

I was admitted to Berkeley, but now they want my transcript to be translated by institution/Ministry of Education/ATA certified member.

The problem is that my institution doesn't translate transcripts. Ministry of Education only translates diplomas (I'm in Russia), but I have only current transcript and will receive bachelor diploma only in September. ATA is in the US and as I understood it will take lots of money and time.

Does anybody know what to do, what they want, what will satisfy them? Of course I asked Berkeley Admissions Office, but they answer for weeks, I don't know why are they so slooooow.

@nikita_nikita you can always translate it at a local certified lawer at your country as I did myself, for Berkeley too. Which program where you admitted?

@international_applicant option 2. I did, but they answered it is not what they want

Anyone excited going to the GSAPP Columbia Architecture Grad School open house on 10/24 this year?