im sorry, but i dont think they give a shit about gre scores...in most institutes its just a university requirement.

but yes they are good marks - and as for your admission, i think even your limited art experience would be enough to let them know how well suited you are for the course

Congratulations on the scores, listen to same Ol', he is right - focus on he portfolio and get some good references too. There are many threads on here containing information on this topic. I am guilty of creating a few myself so check'em out.

cheers

your writing would probably be of great interest - if you have something you're proud of that should be in your portfolio - they may not read the whole thing, but it will certainly set you apart from other candidates.

Meanwhile, a friend of a friend at Harvard GSD tells me to focus mainly on visual elements... and to forget the writing.

The scores can't hurt you. It may be on the bottom of the list of things admissions officers look at. Portfolio, Recommendations, Statement of Purpose, Transcript, GRE (my guess), but if you are applying somewhere that is selective it cannot hurt. I am guessing you will have good recs, transcripts, portfolio, and sop. Everyone else applying will probably have about the same, so having a little edge on your GRE, might make you more appealiing than an applicant of the same caliber that has a lower GRE score. The thing it probably won't do is make a weak application better.

Yay for people who make 800s on the math. I did the same. It validated me because now I know I can kick any 8th graders butt in geometry. haha.

I seriously thought this was about an 800 # where we could call you. Hey, perhaps soon we'll add some Archinect telephony.

But on a more serious note, GRE scores might not help much getting into arch school (portfolio is highest+some well-placed rec's), but they can be a ranking factor in $ grants

my GRE sucked but I got in to MArch program anyway. Not an Ivy league school. but still experience and portfolios are what count most.

I'm hoping I can pull together an impressive enough portfolio. Unfortunately I've been out of school for about 7 years now and I don't really have any academic references. I do have some good professional references, though, who know me well and will speak highly of me (so they tell me!). :-) A freelance producer for PBS/Discovery, director of a non-profit arts org, and the development director for community radio/TV. Unfortunately several of the schools to which I am applying recommend at least TWO academic references. OOPS! My only real academic reference possibility has not responded to my requests...

Hmm..

Marc

the question is, how can getting an 800 HURT you? probably not, especially since you studied a disclipline that isn't 'quantitative' and thus it would show that you have breadth.

As a fellow 800-getter (in verbal, not math) I agree with those who are saying that it can't hurt, and that some schools do use the scores as a factor in grant and scholarship deliberations. However: it is not as if your GRE score is a magic ticket or protection against all rejection. I was rejected by one school, as were other people I know who've gotten 800s.

So the people who get the top GRE scores get the scholorships and grants? That is what I am picking up here....

No, not necessarily. It's just that, once the admissions decisions are made, the grant/scholarship offers come next from that pool of people. All the factors count again there that counted in admissions in the first place. But it's harder to differentiate at that point, since the school is now left with what it considers the strongest students. So the even the "less important" factors may become important again.
Some schools have a rating system for applicants, in which test scores, GPA, various faculty members' impressions of portfolio, and other factors are all used to come up with one number (say on a scale from 1 to 5.) While the school may have admitted mainly some 3s, most of the 4s, and the handful of 5s, it is only probably going to be the 5s and some of the 4s who are offered any merit-based grants or scholarships available to 1st-years.

That makes sense thanks Aluminate

mysyp - just for reference, i think this kind of question has been brought up a lot previously - there may be comments in those back discussions which will help as well.

as a student entrance reviewer at the gsd back in the last century, i can tell you that sahar's rankings above were pretty much true to form (especially in the marchII - all portfolio all the time). a first degree portfolio will by definition be very different - some people did have limited architectural projects to show, some people nothing but alternative artistic media. i would focus on showing 5-6 works that you think represent your level of creative ability, regardless of the medium. an architectural project will be fine, but could hurt you if it really looks like something a third grader sent in.

i will say not to skimp on your statement of purpose. whatever gaps you have in your portfolio will need to be made up there. what will be important to convey, in all instances, is what your story is, what your interest in architecture is, and why that particular school is important to furthering those interests. the closer you can align the last two, the better your chances.

don't worry as much about the academic references, especially since you've been out of school for so long. one would be good to establish that, yes, you are an innovative student who's above their peers (blah, blah, blah. man, i'm having flashbacks of reading the same exact letter of recommendation from an unnamed and very famous architect for at least 5 different people, all proclaiming how great this person was). actually, my thought on the letters is to get someone who can genuinely speak to your abilities and limitations. the superpositive, this person is too good to believe letters generally were dismissed by the reviewers. (in fact, one of the letters on my behalf basically said that i would be a solid but basically average student at the school! which i took as a compliment at the time...). if at all possible, get someone who knows something about the program at the school to write the letter. that helps immensely.

finally, lateral is right - there is absolutely no way an 800 can hurt. congrats.

g-love >>

Thanks for the helpful response. Obviously I've got some work to do on my portfolio. You can see that my design competition entry looks like it was made by a 3rd grader (compared to the rest of the entries)... part of the competition mandated that the design be "affordable", and because I don't have much experience with construction costs, I was very conservative with my design. I wish I hadn't been!!! Anyway, it was good experience because I learned Sketchup in about 2 days and now I know that my presentations have to be more "graphic design-y".

Would you say that it might be helpful to spruce up this existing design for my portfolio?

Marc

mysyp - look, don't worry about the graphic presentation at this point - what they want to know (ideally) is: can you develop an idea and start to find an expression for it (and at the level you are applying for, their expectations on the expression side, while high, are not unrealistic).

if you have compelling piece of writing, as someone mentioned earlier and it best represents your creative abilities, by all means put it in. give some consideration to it's graphic presentation (think simple and clear) and for it's placement in the story you're trying to tell.

if you have access to an architectural library at a school nearby, look at the magazine a+u - the kind of simple layout style of the projects in that magazine really holds up well in the jury room - especially after seeing dozens of portfolios that are clearly trying way too hard.