@insomiarch ya, that would be great. do you mean a thread dedicated to posting and critiquing portfolios?

@insomiarch ya, that would be great. do you mean a thread dedicated to posting and critiquing portfolios?

I think that would be a nice idea, but the first round of applications are due on the 15th for a lot of schools, so that leaves us half a month to do any reviews (a lot less for those who have to order and then send their portfolios for a physical copy requirement).

@Roshi @camhard I will start up a thread right now with mine to get it going.

25/F/India
Bachelor of Interior Design [CEPT University]
Applying to M.Arch I [Berkeley, Cornell, MIT, GSD<--- these programs have the perfect facilities and faculty for my design research interests but I don't know if my stats make the cut! I would love to hear from someone here possible safe, but good (&affordable ;)) options to consider] My interest is in mathematical structures of form generation (my final dissertation addresses this), though my undergraduate work will reflect a purely human-centric approach to design I hope to link the two at grad level design studios. I'm looking for universities whose design philosophies concur with this train of thought and if anyone catches my drift I would be thrilled to hear suggestions!!

GRE: 152V 158Q 4.5AWA
TOEFL: 111
GPA: A very low 2.89 which is amongst the highest at school (so conflicted! :/)
Lors: 1 dean, 1 current employer, 1 thesis guide, 1 studio faculty, 1 past employer
Exp: 1 year teaching and work experience + 6 month internship
Will upload portfolio soon for reviews.

Hi there... I have a question. If a university limits the number of pages/sides for a portfolio, is that including the table of contents, CV, introduction or just the design sheets?

21/ Bachelor of Envriromental Design/ USA

Portfolio: 90%

LOR: 90%

SoP: only have a first draft :/

Transcripts: Done

GRE: Done (average score...not taking it again)

Resume: Done

applying to Columbia, Harvard, The New School, Upenn, U. Maryland...

@regina11 I don't know for sure, but I'm treating it as the total (including cover, toc, etc.). 

What school? An email or phone call to the specific schools would be the only way to be certain.

The U of Minnesota wants the portfolio to be 20 pages/sides. S I complied my projects in 20 pages + cover page, TOC & CV. But now I reduced the number of design sheets to 18. I am not counting coverpage (after much thinking).

For those interested, here's the portfolio review thread: 

http://archinect.com/forum/thread/87530869/2014-m-arch-applicants-portfolio-review-thread

21/F/India

senior year, B.tech (Information Technology), Nirma University

GRE Q-165 V-152 3.5AWA

Toefl - 106

Portfolio - being from a different background what I have in my portfolio is design works related to UI and graphic design, paintings, clay modelling, perspective drawings etc

LOR - two university professors and one artist (have been working at his studio)

unis- U Texas Austin,Texas A and M, Arizona State University, Uni of British Columbia, Carleton University.

Can anyone suggest me more universities and anything else which I can include in my portfolio..

Quick last minute question ... I am printing one copy of my portfolio for schools with early deadlines, and then working on it more for the December 31st schools. The only binding that my printer has that's affordable for a quick/limited print run is wire binding. How bad is it to run a long section across a gutter with wire binding if there is nothing critical in that part of the image? This is for a portfolio which in general could use some more visual hierarchy/large images, and the section is a detailed drawing which really wants to be large.

@snail, not entirely sure what you mean, maybe a screenshot of the spread in question (didt see your portfolio in the review thread, apologies if it is posted and I missed it). Here are a few thoughts anyways, based on my understanding of your situation:

- I think a coil binding is fine, in general; you should also be able to saddle stitch/staple for very cheap as well, which would be a less invasive method.

- If it doesn't run through important info, I don't see it being an issue

- If you don't want to cut through your image at all, you could just bump up the margin, and not bleed the image right to the edge of the page? Figure out the dimension of the coil, and give it a margin to attach into, instead of punching through the image. I would test print the spread first, however, to make sure the 1/2" (or whatever) jump that it results in doesn't mess with how the section reads

does anyone know why some schools ask to what other schools we're applying?

From what I have read, they want to know that to see the likeliness that you will accept their offer of admission. If a mid-tier school sees that you are also applying to, say, Harvard, they *might* be less likely to offer you admission because they know you would rather go to another school if accepted.

In general, I was told its wise to leave these questions unanswered.

that's exactly what i was thinking. thanks. even though all of my schools are of a similar stripe, i think i'll leave it.

@ACPT

don't convert your percentage directly into gpa. The conversion from percentage to gpa is different for eg. 55% in India is equivalent to 3.0/4.0 in USA

For Indians to calculate GPA, you will first need to convert your marks into grades using the WES chart. Then use the grade-to-GPA conversion formula (available on GSD's application portal) and you should arrive at a 4.0 scale GPA.

However, do make it a point to check with the universities in question. Some will implicitly ask you to NOT calculate your GPA yourself and leave it blank/fill in a zero, while some will want you the do the math. 

BTW, does anyone have any thoughts on UIC's program under Bob Somol? Are they doing a lot of modernist stuff/generative design or is the pedagogy more pluralistic, with freedom to pursue your own lines of thought and an opportunity to delve deeper into history/theory? 

I was an undergrad at UIC and befriended a lot of Masters students. To me it seems like UIC's program molds you to be a UIC-type graduate. You'll be using the same pinks/light blues and other funky colors and dots/CIRCLES just like most of the professors they hire. Its not necessarily bad, but that's the way it rubbed off on me. Oh, and lots of comics too, if that's your thing. Influence of Jimenez Lai.

However, the school itself is very theory-intensive (due to Somol himself, who isn't actually an architect) and most of the graduate work I saw had a lot of variety to it. I'd definitely recommend checking out their student work, although the examples on their website are far from the best that I've seen.

23/ Bachelor of Interior Design/ USA-Puerto Rican

Portfolio: 90%

LOR: 90%

SoP: 90%

Transcripts: Done

GPA: 3.66

GRE: Done (good writing and verbal, crappy quantitative)

Resume: Done

applying to GSD, Yale, UIC, USC, UCLA, UPENN...

Just a reminder to everyone: 

If you're applying to Yale the Financial Aid form is due February 1st - needs to be mailed or faxed

If you're applying to GSD the Financial Aid application is due February 7th and can be completed online. 

I was looking on the gradcafe forum and last year people who applied to CA schools began to be notified around the 15th of FEB (two weeks away!!!) and East Coast late FEB and early MARCH. So close guys!!! Anticipation anxiety! 

Hp87 - Thanks for the heads up. Didn't realize Yale's was due so soon, you may have potentially saved me some money.

Yes the anticipation is killing me. All my friends and coworkers asking me whether I got any replies yet isn't helping either.

Yowza. The tension is killing me. 

I recieved a mail from the GSD today, I shot out of bed to see what it was and all it said was something about verifying my address. 

Wonder how many people applied to the MAUD program this year. Not many in the above thread. So heh (secretly hoping my low low gre score doesnt hurt me much).

Haha I received the same email as well and got super excited for nothing. This part of the email made me laugh though:

"Please be aware that this message is not an indication of admission." LOL Darn!

LATE APPLICATION

29 /  M / 5 year degree Architecture and Urbanism / Brazil

4.5 years work experience / 2 international internships (London/Shanghai)

3 recommendation letters (school tutor, boss, art project tutor)

M. Arch II

USC, UCLA, RPI, SciArc, UWashington

GRE (151v, 153q, 3.0) hard to get back to studying while working

IELTS 7.5

I already applied through an institution which will only submit my applications after March 15th. I guess there wont be many possibilities left by then :(

Hi Does anyone know any US universities offering M.Arch with open applications/late deadlines? Thanking in advance.

Has anyone heard from any universities that they have applied to?

Regina, see: http://archinect.com/forum/thread/93136003/gsd-sci-arch-aa-bartlett-m-arch-waiting-waiting-waiting-for-decision

Thank you Hp87, I was not aware of the separate thread.

Just got accepted to Syracuse. I'm still waiting on UMD and UVa, but they'll have to make a pretty generous offer for me to decline Syracuse. 

26 / F / Bachelor of Fine Arts / Virginia / 3 yrs. work experience in Interior Design

Program: MArch (First Professional)

Schools I'm interested in:

UVA

UC Berkeley

UT at Austin

IIT

Columbia

GRE: 158V / 148Q / 4.0W