I was rejected from both last year (reapplying this year). I'm not entirely sure if they weigh your writing score as heavily as verbal or quantitative, but Yale sent this email when I asked for feedback:

Dear Daniel,

I am writing in response to your request for a candid assessment of your Yale application, constructive criticism written in the spirit of helping you to improve your submission should you choose to apply to Yale again.

At Yale, the Admissions Committee evaluates the two components of your application, your file and your portfolio.

Your file is acceptable, although we generally look for candidates with GRE verbal scores above 600 and grade point averages above 3.5. And your portfolio was well presented as well. In short, I can find nothing deficient in your application.

This year we received a large number of unusually strong applications for a limited number of places: in short admissions was unusually competitive.

I encourage you to reapply if you have not already enrolled in another school of architecture.

Good luck in the future.

Regards,
Joel Sanders
Chair, Admissions Committee

Thank you very much for your information Nagooyen! That's really helpful. I already sent a email to GSD asking their suggestions. I may take it again if they recommend to. 

BTW, Did you get any other admissions or apply other schools last year? Do you have working experience? 

I got into UCLA, but having been there for undergrad, I wanted to try something different. The graduate program, from watching their crits and sharing a large studio space, seems like an extension of the undergrad program I just finished (we even have the same professors). I hovered over that decision until I got my financial aid package...or rather lack thereof. It sounds wrong, but money does talk.

No working experience as of yet, but I don't think that really affects your application.

It's undoubtedly a generic response. While the email is signed Joel Sanders, Chair of the Admissions Committee, it was sent from an account belonging to Donna Wetmore, who my professor (who had previously taught there) tells me is basically a secretary.

Unfortunately my digital portfolio was lost during my upgrade to an SSD. Thankfully I still have the drawings and images, they've just lost all formatting. Not that that matters much now since I'm currently redrawing most of my work anyway. I'll be asking for a critique in another thread when I've finished.

My GRE scores were pretty dismal: V580 Q720. I intend to take the new one in August (it's half price then and I'm better with reading than analogies).

I just got responses from both GSD and Yale today, I guess the AW is not a really big issue for me right now:

Dear ***,

There are two things that you can do.  First, as you suggest, doing very well on the TOEFL will help you as an international student.  Second, you can write a really excellent and well written essay.  Both of these things can show your writing abilities and be helpful to you.

Sincerely,
Jill Harrington

Harvard Graduate School of Design
 

Dear ***,

The admissions committee looks at all of your materials and scores, but most of all a strong portfolio is recommended.

Yale School of Architecture Admissions
203-432-2296

BTW, Nagooyen, do you mind tell us what's your GPA?

Yep, just graduated with a 3.5 GPA.

My letters of rec came from professors whose classes I did well in, including the one who taught at Yale (also an alum). My portfolio definitely could have been better, or better formatted at least. It was quite boring graphically. The personal statement was probably what broke my application though; I spent a total of 2 days on each one.

Oh, my recommendations came from Michael Osman, Heather Roberge, and Judith Mussel. Only a handful of my class applied to grad school. Two of them will be going to GSD and one to MIT.

Great! Hopefully all of us three could get into GSD this year!!! Maybe we can critic each other's portfolio later on this year lol