Is there an architectural association in your country that could give you funding for research?  If you already have an idea about what your research will revolve around in graduate school, you could write up a proposal and submit it to your country's architectural association or even go meet local government officials.  I know a few students who got full funding from their government for studies and some even got funding to build prototypes and entire houses.  Perhaps there is an organization from your country in US that offer scholarship and support exceptional students from home?  There are many ways you could earn money to pay for your education while doing your studies.  Most schools have teaching assistant positions for all undergraduate courses available for graduate students where they help professors with course work, assignment marking etc and get paid for it.  You could also get a part-time job in the computer lab, photography studio, model building workshop, library etc and put in a few hours a week.  Most of these positions are mainly supervision work and allow you to do your own work.  It doesn't hurt to contact professors or directors from the architecture department for more advice.  They are the ones who know better than the main office about scholarships and grants set aside specifically for students in the architecture program.  There is a lot of free grant money sitting around and available.  Its all a matter of getting hold of the right people who'll give you contacts to the proper channel and help you out.  

Good Luck!  you portfolio looks good .. Keep it regional.. I think many school are more interested when the see aspects of your culture in it. 

European schools are way cheaper and a full-funding opportunity is more realistic for you I guess.

Is there an architectural association in your country that could give you funding for research?  If you already have an idea about what your research will revolve around in graduate school, you could write up a proposal and submit it to your country's architectural association or even go meet local government officials.  I know a few students who got full funding from their government for studies and some even got funding to build prototypes and entire houses.  Perhaps there is an organization from your country in US that offer scholarship and support exceptional students from home?

There are few organizations here in Nepal but I'm pretty sure there isn't any offering for students to pay their graduate school tuition fees, let alone in dollars. 

There are many ways you could earn money to pay for your education while doing your studies.  Most schools have teaching assistant positions for all undergraduate courses available for graduate students where they help professors with course work, assignment marking etc and get paid for it.  You could also get a part-time job in the computer lab, photography studio, model building workshop, library etc and put in a few hours a week.  Most of these positions are mainly supervision work and allow you to do your own work.

I happen to have some idea about these positions. But the thing is you have to get registered as a student ,then only you are eligible to apply for these positions. The thing is ,the amount of money I have to show just to get in the university is really high. Moreover getting a visa from embassy will be a tough nut to crack as they'll not let students out of the country with such amount of debt in their head.

It doesn't hurt to contact professors or directors from the architecture department for more advice.  They are the ones who know better than the main office about scholarships and grants set aside specifically for students in the architecture program.  There is a lot of free grant money sitting around and available.  Its all a matter of getting hold of the right people who'll give you contacts to the proper channel and help you out.

I feel this is the right thing to do. However I think there will be 100s of people saying the same thing and I'm worried that I just might be one of them. 

Thanks for the feedbacks

Being fully funded is really hard to do.

A lot of schools offer scholarships that are only for one year in grad school (and probably only cover part of tuition) , and most assistantships are probably only one semester.

I went to Michigan, and a lot of students got scholarships... though most scholarships were only around 2,000 a year. I think the highest scholarships the school gives would only cover you got instate resident tuition... and they were only offered for a year. Having got four different scholarships and two grants, I still paid about a third of my tuition over the two years I was there, and I am from the state. And then of course I had the cost of living....

A lot of schools offer scholarships that are only for one year in grad school (and probably only cover part of tuition) , and most assistantships are probably only one semester.

That's the scenario. I got 50% from St. Louis but they have listed that there's one position for whom they give 100 %. The chances of getting it might be very fragile as there will be numerous applicants and the position will be give to top one.

I went to Michigan, and a lot of students got scholarships... though most scholarships were only around 2,000 a year. I think the highest scholarships the school gives would only cover you got instate resident tuition... and they were only offered for a year. Having got four different scholarships and two grants, I still paid about a third of my tuition over the two years I was there, and I am from the state. And then of course I had the cost of living....

The one thing that set me back while I got acceptance at Michigan was, I didn't got any offerings at all ,although they've mentioned that they'll be giving out Need Based Scholarships .Getting four scholarships and two grants but still having to pay a third of a tuition fees is surely a bumer and still you're a resident. In their website they have different fees for Instate, Outstate and International students and Instate one's seems to be the lowest. 

Never thought getting an M.Arch degree would be that hard. It's not even hard to get into those Ivy Leagues, fundings seems to be the one that's holding my leg. 

Go to school in Germany or Switzerland or in another European country shit even Canada is a much better deal the us is over priced bs soon all of us us grads who can't pay back out loans will be screwed too maybe education will then match the cost in the other parts of the world! Don't come here for school go to a country that is not 45k per year for tuition it is really insane and not worth it. 

Hi Sagar,

I'm in the process of applying for my MArch degree as well, and one of the schools that I have been looking into is the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. I actually made a post asking about it and got an amazing reply detailing everything by Stephanie.

http://archinect.com/forum/thread/82218131/royal-danish-academy-of-fine-arts-feasable

Long story short, its suppose to be one of the top schools in the world (I know rankings don't mean anything, but its still helps to know it has a name. http://arch-student.com/4514/the-worlds-best-architecture-universities-and-architectural-programs/)

The best part, however, is that they charge 5000 EU per semester for foreign students, and less for domestic. That may be something to look in to if you are interested.

I like your portfolio! Very clean, good idea with the long spreads. I would say that you might be relying too much on your text, though. I wouldn't wage on the admission committee to take all that time to read the majority of your text, so something to think about.

Hey Roshi

Thank you for the reply. However I don't see M.Arch in their list of courses. They have

a) MA: Architecture in Urban Context (study dep. 2)

b) MA: Architecture, Process and Project Development (study dep. 3)

c) MA: Industrial Design in Architectural Contexts (study dep. 11)

d) MA: CITAstudio: Computation in Architecture (CITA)"

M.Arch is something that I'm really looking forward to. And yes those links are really really handy. Do you intend on applying to unis to states from your list as well ?

I see, that makes sense. I am also gunning for an M.Arch but I was under the impression that some of those majors are eligible to be NCARB accredited for licensure in the states. I'll have to look more into that to be sure.

My other list of schools includes:

1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. MIT
4. Sci-Arc
5. Cornell
6. University of Michigan

My choices matter a lot on location as much as curriculum. I don't really want to live in NYC (hence no Columbia) for various reasons, but having lived in Chicago for most of my life, I would like to experience the East Coast very much. Michigan is a backup school for me, I'm not too fond of Ann Harbor, and Cornell is also in the middle of nowhere so its at the bottom of my list. Obviously the others are all top-dogs, so I've been really pushing hard at my portfolio for the past 2 months (ill post it tonight once I finish).

How about yourself?

Hey Roshi

Thank you for your feedback and passing along your preferred list of colleges. They all seems to top ranked universities. However, you seemed to cut-out Columbia for it's location in NYC but then Cornell happens to be in the same place. Another thing is you placing Michigan in your backup school, that's something.  

I haven't decided yet on my final list but here they are

1. University Of Melbourne (I might probably go here if they provide good fundings and if things doesn't work out in states.)
2. Washington University (I'm thinking of giving it a go- for the second time.)
3. University of Michigan ( same case)
4. Princeton University 
5. Cooper Union
6. UCLA
   
   I haven't decided on the full list and I'm still dubious 

Do you have a green card?

You can join the military and get on the GI bill.  During your four years you could save your spare change. There are always some grants.  And if you are in one of two states, the veterans association may help you out with tuition.

@On the fence

I'm a citizen of Nepal and I don't intend on having a green card. 

Now for me to get into US Army.

• First I have to come to States
• Stay for a while
• Do some legal paper work
• Hit the training course
• And then if I get selected, join some intense mind-waggling training
• Hopefully I'll land in Afganistan or Iraq or even may be Syria to serve my beloved country
• And then If I come back alive , with savings that I've made resume my Masters of Architecture ? Right ?

A not so wise but rather silly suggestion. I'll pass on this

On a side note, why do I have this weird feeling that you're a scout from US Army. lol

Maybe you should think about applying to some universities in Nepal then.

Or see what the Nepalanesian military can offer you.

I'm trying to have a serious conversation here and hoping to get some genuine feedbacks. Being recruited in US Army is surely not one of them for me.

P.S It's Nepalese

it looks as though you have chosen some of the most expensive schools out there. These are good schools but there are a lot of good schools out there. i think reapplying to the ones you want to go to is a good idea but also look into some other programs who are up and coming. they have really good scholarship programs generally. Woodbury is amazing botique school. SciArc has good scholarships from what I heard...not that they are up and coming...but portland, unc charlotte, Arizona State, UT Austin...

Is this for a three year, 2 year or 1 year MArch?

@Von Lee
I have a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture and I wish to pursue 2-3 years of architecture. I'm still in a stage of dilemma filtering out universities.

This website linked below seems handy.

http://www.graduatearchitecture.com/ARCHSCHOOLS/archschools_en.html

Hey Sagar, I see this post is like a year old. Im at the exact same situation as you were a year ago. so i might as well get some advice from you.

P.S. I tried to view your portfolio but was not available. but i like your website.

Cheers!

Hi there,
I didn't secure much needed funding for two years in a row, hence I had to drop all the offers. For the fundings, I would suggest to get in touch with professors beforehand and show your interest. More than that the portfolio should be a strong one with a diverse contents.
Here's the link to mine.
http://issuu.com/blindmanche/docs/web-chitrakar_sagar-portfolio/1
Thanks