Image via Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture

Applying to graduate school is no easy task! Cost, location, professors, programs, resources, and funding are just a few of many things one needs to take into account while navigating the numerous options out there. Hoping to help future graduate students with the application process, Archinect has partnered with Study Architecture to create the ultimate guide for navigating the process.

On Archinect's forum, the 2018 M.Arch applications thread—in which students exchange information about their profile and the schools they want to attend—has already begun with prospective students from all over listing off their resumes and asking for portfolio help. Last year, we offered up some advice to help students make decisions upon receiving their letters of acceptance. This year, we are sharing some guidance earlier in the process to help choose where to apply with a three part guide from ACSA. 

To begin, the non-profit promoting architectural education recommends Identifying Your Interests. Beyond "Architecture", what other things might you be interested in? Biology, Geography, Sociology, Computer science, or engineering? Architecture schools have course offerings that connect seemingly disparate interests through electives and partnerships with other schools. Dig deep, discover what you are truly passionate about, and start connecting the dots.

Zoom out.

Think about your interests more broadly. Think about what you like to do. And don’t just think about what you might want to do while you are in school but after you graduate, too.

Grab a sheet of paper or pull out your favorite notebook and just start writing. Don’t limit yourself. What excites you? What do you love to do without even trying? What interests you and you would like to learn more about? Do you like history? Do you like technology? What about how cities work? What is it about architecture that excites you the most?

Have fun with it! Think about the fantasy job of the future and imagine what that looks like. You can’t accomplish your dream if you don’t know what it is. So start by writing it down.

Connect the dots.

Looking at the list that you just created, are there any patterns starting to form? Can you start to arrange items into categories? Many architecture students have a wide range of interests, from animation to videography. Start thinking about other majors that you might want to consider, too.

Zoom in.

What about you? Now that you have map out your interests, start imagining a day in the life of your future self. What kind of people are you working with? What environment do you work in every day? Do you travel a lot? Do you work mostly alone?

Here are some examples of interests shared by real students and what kinds of programs they entered.

Student A

• Interests: Sustainability, Urbanism, Community Design, and Ecological Design
• Primary Factors: Location on the West Coast
• School: University of Oregon

Student B

• Interests: Digital Fabrication, Design-Build, Innovative Building Systems
• Primary Factors: the number of robots, the CNC Machines and Research opportunities.
• School: University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Student C

• Interests: Building Information Modeling, Resilience, Adaptive Reuse, and Public Health
• Primary Factors: Location, program type, design interests, tuition and alumni base
• School: University of Maryland

In the meantime, five things to inspire you:

TED Talks – On “Architecture” and others

Working Outside the Box by Archinect

Take the QUIZ on StudyArchitecture.com. It only takes about 10 minutes and it is super fun!