I have wanted to know the answer to this as well

I know there are a few "reserved" spots (or informal treaties) set-up between universities so they can virtually trade undergrad and grad students - lets just say some UVA students have the upper hand at some of the Upper East Coast Ivy Leagues

that's a pretty bold statement Archi-F. where do you get your facts? and are/were you a wahoo? sounds like a bunch of baloney to me.

I have not heard of dealings that Archi-F is refering to. I was on the Graduate Admissions Committee for the 2 years I was in Grad School and can say nothing like that happnened. I would imagine that exceptional students get preferential treatment and may have personal (verbal) recommendations from administration to other administrations.

As for the wieght of your undergrad location...I would say it gets you a plus mark. All schools are different in their processes, but your portfolio is going to be the most important, your studio grades will be next, and so on. What school you went will play a decent role because you are going to have to be an exceptional student from a medicore school to get into a good graduate program. Hope this helps.

There are certain grad programs that do seem to admit disproportionately large numbers of students from certain undergrad programs year after year. I don't think this is a case of schools having "reserved spots" for x number of UVA students, but it's apparent there are reputations of some schools that are stronger than others, and that certain programs think other programs are better "fits" with theirs.

There are also situations in which grad schools have had a handful of students from certain smaller/lesser known undergrad school over the years and most or all of those students have been disappointments, which can cause the grad program people to discrimate. I was told by a faculty member once that he didn't want any more students from a certain school until they got a new administration and "cleaned house" with the faculty and curriculum there. Not that this one person was the final word on admissions decisions - but if you get a few committee members thinking that way then it will be an uphill battle for applicants from that school.

There are also still "dean's picks" at most schools - whether they'll tell you so or not. This is the unofficial practice of letting the program Dean (or other high-ranking school official) bypass the committee deliberations or at least influence them heavily for their 2 or 3 favorites per year. (In other words if you're the Dean's nephew your portfolio may not be that important.)

From my experiece, yes it does make a difference. For instance at some programs which I have had dealings with the undergrads are accepted in large numbers to Ivy Grad programs. I'de rather not say which these are but if this is the case then I can't imagine that lesser known schools have as high an acceptace rate in the ivys. For example, at one particular NY undergrad school many (over 60%) were accepted by Yale. Another in the midwest was about the same ratio to the GSD.

Schools have reputations yes, but to impy there is a secret deal involved is B.S. I went to UVA and don't care for the implication. If our students have a good reputation it is because we've earned it not because our profs know the secret handshake.

Certain schools have generally stronger students as a result of higher admissions standards, excellent undergraduate critics, and good resources. They take in talented students and get the most out of them. Because of this, these schools have better reputations.

Other schools have generally weaker students as a result of less competitve admissions standards, uninspiring critics, and average resources. They take in mediocre students and get just enough out of them. Because of this, these schools have lesser reputations.

That being said, in each case their are select students who excel (and suck) beyond the norm. Grad schools realize this fact.

Check where Yale's students got their undergrads here

That link answers your question with a resounding note: go to top 20, get into ivy. Otherwise, you have no chance.

Well it's not really as simple as that and here is why: with a few exceptions the "top 20" are fairly large programs. There are smaller programs that don't necessarily make anyone's ranking of "top 20" whose students have very good success in applying to M.Arch programs.
I have an M.Arch from Yale and I didn't go to a Top 20 school. My undergrad program was very small (fewer than 20 grads a year from the architecture major) and usually had only 5 to 10 students per year who decided to go to grad school.
In the years that I attended this school there was at least an 80% admission rate of all those who applied to one or more of the Ivies. But because this meant 4 to 8 students dispersed over several M.Arch programs there were frequently only 0 to 2 students from that undergrad school at any M.Arch program at any given moment. See?

If you look closely at that very long list of Yale students you'll find that most undergrad schools with architecture or design programs - as well as many other colleges - are represented.

Sometimes being from the smaller and/or less known school is helpful, because the admissions people are looking for diversity.

I've heard Penn (not just the Design School, but the university as a whole) has a system of multipliers that they apply to your undergrad GPA. So if you went to Joe University, they might do GPA x .80 and use that, or if you go to Wasp University they might do GPA x 1. This is what I hear.

BUt then there is the randomness. I didn't get in to Harvard but got into Penn. I know someone that didn't get into Penn but got into Harvard. Then another guy that didn't get into Harvard or Penn, but got into Columbia. I think they throw the portfolios down the stairs and pick the top of the stack.

It gets even more random than that - because some people apply multiple years and get different results each time. An undergrad classmate applied to Yale, Columbia, and Princeton 3 years in a row. The first year he got rejected by Yale and Princeton and wait-listed by Columbia. The second year he got wait-listed by Yale and rejected by Princeton and Columbia. The third year he got wait-listed again by Yale, rejected again by Columbia, and accepted to Princeton. There are different people on the committee each year. There are different biases created by experiences with the school's existing students each year. There are different mixes of applicants each year. Some years some of these schools do eventually admit some people off the waiting list, other years they don't. There aren't any hard and fast rules as to who gets in and who doesn't.

ok lets not talk about this anymore

Bloopox,

Yeah--I see what you mean, but those "small programs" that are represented are not from top20 schools, but from small top20 alternatives (e.g Swarthmore, Haverford). I got screwed into going to Xavier (my mom teaches there--stupid free education) and there is no one from my league on that list. My best chance would be to somehow play up the jesuit education (maybe I could say I want to go into church design--yale's divinity school is very reputable...). t.

Yes, Yale's Divinity School is great. But, there's little connection with the Architecture School (an architecture student could theoretically take courses in the Divinity School and vice versa, but there's no formal relationship or collaboration between the departments) and I'm not sure that mentioning church design would be likely to help you.

The way I'd look at it would be that there probably have been NO other applicants from Xavier this year or in many years. Assuming you have a strong portfolio and references you may appeal to them because you'd be unique in your background.

I don't think my undergrad schools are currently represented on that Yale list. But I got in, and others from my schools have also gotten in. I think there are none at the moment because none have applied lately.

Stay positive. With Yale in particular you could still have a long wait (+/- 5 weeks) and you just can't tell what they're looking for this year!

Sorry to respond so late - I knew my response would garner some comments. FYI - my source came from someone who worked at UVA and did her undergrad at UVA. She said herself that without certain circumstances, she probably wouldn't have gotten into Columbia.