youre on schedule,

but i think its better to get at least a years worth of experience. 2 years would be perfect.

take your time with your portfolio, letters of rec, and essay, it has to look awesome

anyone else?

Seems a little early to me, but ask the schools.  My bet is they won't want to keep your portfolio around collecting dust until they review (they certainly aren't going to review yours early because you are "anxious").  

I'd wait, do a kick ass job, sit back for a few weeks, then go back and see if you still like it as it is.  You have plenty of time to perfect old sketches, rewrite a paragraph or two, even do new projects.

As to waiting, I don't agree that it is really useful to take time off and work.  Those that I know that worked seemed to have a harder time "letting go" and got stuck in office mode.  But it really depends on the person, how old you are/when you want to get out, etc.  I just saw no reason to 'wait' and went straight into grad school, and was very, very glad that I went while I was enthusiastic and (naively) optimistic.  I was hungry, had I waited years I would have grown less so.

Thank you for your comments trace and fade to blackoe

" I just saw no reason to 'wait' and went straight into grad school, and was very, very glad that I went while I was enthusiastic and (naively) optimistic."

That's exactly how i feel. If i wait for a year or two after graduating, i'm pretty sure the enthusiasm will wane. My portfolio, on the other hand might be stronger. I'm not planning to send my work in early. I'm planning to work on my essays/ portfolio till October/ November. I think I'm going to apply this year and then take it one step at a time. If i get rejected from all the schools, then I'll just have to sit back for a year and work on my portfolio.

Will applying for the second time work against  me in any way?

Again, you'd have to ask the schools, I can't really know, but I wouldn't think it would matter (at least not much).

For your portfolio, you don't have to kill yourself about it, don't over design it.  I (and many of my classmates) did theirs while in school full time, printed over the xmas break and sent out for all the deadlines.  Worked for me, but I did work non stop for the fall semester and had been working on presentation improvements for the prior two years (more or less I focused my school efforts on my portfolio for grad school - diversity, completion, details, filled in gaps, etc.).

Good luck.  Don't forget to get your MBA at the same time!  ;-)

if you get rejected, there is a chance you can get in the 2nd time. grad school is mixed with people with or without experience, generally speaking I think the people who go to graduate school right after undergraduate have an easier transition. Are you applying to the DRL?

@trace: Thank you! I'll keep that in mind. I've been updating/ upgrading some of previous work too. btw, where do you go to school?

@de flaneur: I don't think I'm going to apply to the AA. I'm sticking to schools in the States. I agree with the transition bit; a lot of my seniors in architecture school lost the plot when they decided to take a year or two off to work/ travel/ chill and couldn't get back to rigour of academic life. But then again, some of them say that work experience gave them the edge and perspective which they lacked upon graduating from architecture school.

I went to UF for undergrad (Go Gators!) and UCLA for grad 

UF - was amazing, thorough, enlightening and opened my eyes to a world of possibilities.  Design was first, foremost and paramount.  Consider it, they have one of the best undergrads (in architecture) anywhere.

UCLA - great experience, learned from those that I admired, got a diverse education (by my doing, not theirs, which let me leave a traditional career path), but it also opened my eyes to the harsh reality of architecture as a profession, from the political ass kissing to the low pay, etc., etc.

In all honesty, UF was all that anyone needs for this profession (4 yr degree).  UCLA was  a great experience, good practice, but not necessary.