Morgan State University, in Baltimore Md. You qualify, they'l take ya. I am in my first year there. The grad program is up for accreditaion this year, (the under-grad program is new and unacrredited) it looks like another 3 year approval. It is also an evening based school. All studios and most classes meet after 4:30. Morgan itself is a African-American majority school, but the Grad Architecture Dept is no, probably because it is the only Architecture program in the Baltimore area. My class presently is about 50/50 mixof black/white and freshoutofundergrad/careerchanger-midlifecrisis types like my self. I do understand for the last two years there is an influx of overseas students.

For the last 2 years they have been made the curiculum, computer free for the first year, pushing drawing and model making. My general opinion of the place so far is pretty good, there are deficencies but I believe they are on the right track.

no question it's a school called Harvard Graduate School of Design. THey take all and anyone

For what it's worth; do you really want to get in to the easiest grad school? (Personaly I like my schools like i like my women)

I'd advise to work on your folio, and get some strong letters. Look outside national borders too, that always helps.

difficult to get into pajio ? !!!! hehe

well.... not letting EVERYone in, but with a little work lets ME in hopefully. :P

Jefferson, I know your being sarcastic right about Harvard GSD being easy to get into. And for those who think I'm looking for the easiest school I'm not, just the easiest to get into.. . . .
Besides BAC and NewSchool, which I here don't even require GRE scores.

Sometimes the most important document you submit is your bank statement. ie can you pay. .. .. why grad school anyway?? you need to figure out what your goals are, if you want to get registered that is one thing, but the important thing is what are you going to get out of the school besides a piece of paper?

I do want to get registered and I need to get a Masters because I went to a 4 year program. I wouldn't waste the time and money if I didn't have to.

the AA in london, is actually quite easy to get into... especially you're a trust-fund baby and can afford the costs...
i hear it's filled with rich kids... but compared to ivy schools, its probably quite reasonably priced....

having said that, it doesnt mean it's easy to get out of... meaning if you dont pull your weight, they'll keep failing until you do... people have been known to take years to leave the school with an actual qualification...

Thanks Spider, that would be cool as hell to go to the AA and live in London for a couple years but there is no way I could afford it. I doubt they would give an American much financial aid at all if any and I don't think a degree from the AA is accepted by NAAB accredidation board.

The AA is accepted as far as I can tell. Don't quote me on it. Also no way you can afford it unless you are the aforementioned trust fund baby. The dollar is so weak right now and the price just went up to something like 15.000 british pounds. although not sure they will take a 4 year degree for entrance to the grad school.

give them money and they will all take you, maybe except for the GSD.

spider---you mentioned earlier that the AA is "quite easy to get into".....I was wondering if you or anyone else familiar with their admissions would be able to elaborate on that topic...I'm actually considering applying there, but am reluctant to do so because I am under the impression that it would be very selective, primarily based on the fact that it has such a strong program........how many people apply and how many get accepted into the undergraduate five year program?

archbot, i'm not sure about the acceptance rate - i just know of a couple of people who managed to get in, and from what i've heard from friends...
i know a couple of weak students with c grade average and pretty awful portfolios, that were accepted just like that...

but after being at the AA for a year they were held back, not just for the year that they had just completed but for minus 2 years...
(they started in 4th year diploma, and did their undergrad elsewhere)

with applications, they do things properly though. make sure you put plenty of effort with personal statement, portfolio etc... there's an interview process as well, but you can get away with this if you're an overseas student.

if you can afford it, just apply... put the effort in and you'll be there in no time. but be careful of other things mentioned above...
in my opinion, check out the other london schools as well... a lot of them are on-par with the AA, if not better in many respects.
bartlett, london-met, etc...

i would agree with spiderdad, it may be easy to get in to aa, but difficult to get out. not like a us school where if you get satifactory grades in xx credit hours and complete to a satisfactory level so much work, you are awarded a degree. grades dont exist. its not as transparent of a process at the aa and very much dependent on external examiners from thoughout the world. know 3 people who did the 2 year diploma course in 3/4 years as their unit masters determined they werent ready yet. i cant say thats the norm but it does occur.

NAAB doesnt accrediate any program outside CAN so if your looking to go to school abroad it is easier to do it via a us accredidated program. you can apply to get your specific foriegn degreee work certified [still requires idp and an additional +/- $1K for them to look at your work] a AA transcript is a bit of a joke[it does have a nice seal] because as a student you write it, no grades or coursework is recorded unless you tell them. the work is very much in some way self directed through lectures and individual components. dont know how it will 'conform' to the NAAB review process.

i know 1 french arch that went through the degree cert think with NAAB - at that time you had to get all your drawings transcripts translated. was a real pain and still think it is in process.

I think that the undergrad program at the AA is not all that selective initially (I still wouldn't say easy) - the school's philosophy when I was there was that you prove your merits in studio, and your pedigree to that point is pretty irrelevant if you can do the work. I was in the grad programme so I was somewhat isolated from all of the drama that occurs within the units, but it did seem that there was much less tolerance for people not entirely dedicated to the program than schools in the states... you can't slip by with average work after the first year - you get it or you are encouraged to go elsewhere. Perhaps the best analogue in the United States is the state schools like Michigan that have pre-architecture classes in the first two years and then require a portfolio review for entry into the 3rd year... that's when all the dead weight gets sloughed off.

Thanks J. I went to Georgia Tech undergrad so my GPA is a little low (That Physics, Calc. 2, and CS) F'd me up. Anyway, I know that usually people want to "step up" for their graduate school. By that I mean go to a better school, maybe Ivy League is possible. I don't think I'll be able to step up at all. GT is a pretty solid program and "I think" there is a only a few schools in the country better for architecture (the Ivy's, Berkeley, MIT, Cincy maybe?) I have now realized I will probably have to step down or go to a similar school in quality at best. I think if my portfolio is really good than that will make up for my crappy GPA but at the same time I don't have all these awesome looking computer renderings, in fact I have none at all as I only drafted generally through school.

Good j. Herman Howard is the man. The only problem is I don't live in Atlanta so I will have to write letters, I don't know if they'll reply. I can't learn those programs because I don't have access to them. I suppose Autocad itself can do some pretty good renderings though.

GT [by the way, it was obvious from the start that you went to gatech], you should be emailing your better studio profs at gatech. by those, i mean the ones you had the best relationship with, and seemed to 'get' you better. they will be able to give you the best advice, since they will know you better.

gatech has many valuable teachers with connections to several good and great schools. i'm sure they will be happy to help. don't be discouraged at not living in atl [think of all of us intl students that have had to negotiate this from overseas]. email makes things quite easy [duh]. gatech has a good listing of faculty emails AND it lets you know where they went to school, making your job very easy.

do not be discouraged if you were not a stellar student. if you demonstrate willingness to better yourself, any teacher will want to help.

and finally: after you do your research [and ask your profs for suggestions], apply to a wide variety of schools, in different brackets. you never know.

...one more: i don't think you should try to make glossy renders if you are only learning just now. better to stand out with hand drawings than fade in a sea of renders that will be much better than yours.

but you should learn 3d cad and stay competitive.

Very good aml, thanks. But maybe that has something to do with why I didn't get into the Univ. of Miami or Parsons when I applied during my Senior year, because of everybody probably getting in because of "hook-ups." I doubt it but.....I'm not saying one of my professors at Tech would or could somehow hook me up or be a factor in getting into a school but you know it happens. I mean that isn't fair, but hey, I'm slowly realizing that's life. I know what your saying though. They can at least direct me and give me advice.

well, do consider there is a difference between a hook-up and just the added weight of having a recommendation from someone the admissions committee personally knows. they just trust them more, but it is just one more factor- still, the portfolio is the strongest factor in any school.

a friend of mine applied and did not get into sci arc [with a gatech undergrad]. he then reworked his portfolio, went into a couple of competitions, and generally paid a lot more attention to his application, and applied again the following year. he got in!

work experience between your undergrad and your masters makes you a stronger candidate and i personally think it makes you get more out of your grad education. so don't loose faith, and good luck!