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How hard is it to get accepted into Cornell's B.Arch Program ?

ishmamahmed

Hellooo !

I'm currently working on a list of colleges that i'll be applying to this year and I am faced with a crucial decision : There's only one college I can apply to with the Early Decision application, should I choose Cornell ?
Another issue is that my portfolio is more Visual Design Based and less on architectural drawings, How can I properly portray that ?

I'm aiming for the B.Arch program in Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and here is a summary/stat of my application :

Type of applicant : International ( Bangladesh )
Phase : I've taken a gap year ( I'll be 19 when I apply )

Class Rank : Top 5%
SAT : 1520
SAT Subject Tests : History - 780, Maths II - 800
Grade : 5.00/5.00 ( Bangladeshi curriculum / HSC )


ECAs :
> I'm a digital illustrator and I've been doing this for around 4 years. Self taught, and I've done some online courses on it.
> As one of the only ( ONLY ) designers in my school I had to do design work ranging from school magazines, festivals, club logos and i cant even ..
> I've been working for a national newspaper as an editorial illustrator
( Since January 2016 ) 
> I used to work part time for a design studio back in high school and full-time on vacations. Mostly in identity, illustration & print. ( s. Feb2016)
> I'm currently working full-time for a creative/design agency as an identity designer & illustrator ( Since Oct2017 )
> Occasionally I create artworks for a popular satire website
> I've created a Bengali typeface and I'm working on another
> Co-founded an open source Bengali font library that now has a website ( 2017 )  ( As of 20.07.18 we have around 16,000 followers on our Facebook page, although less than 100 contributors who create and upload fonts )
> Recently designed a mini-game ( I made the characters and all the artwork and UI )
> There aren't many design competitions for high school students but I have like 2  features on behance .. does that count ? ( One on Behance Student show )
> I've won some poster design competitions and one of them got selected for an international exhibition
> ( I won some petty MUNs too .. )
> Most of my professional work ( That I do for the studios i worked for & sometimes freelance ) is Identity/Logo Design.Mostly for school clubs, small fashion brands, startups, furniture brands, Youtube channels, government organisations and NGO's>. Around 50/60 of them. And one of them got featured in a Logo inspiration website last year 
> I do a lot of minimal isometric artworks of castles and buildings AND  it's the only thing remotely related to architecture that I do, i started off learning illustrator just to make these block-y buildings though

I heard its extremely competitive there and even harder for international students but I am willing to take the Early Decision risk if it's wise enough to do so. And i'm not sure how to portray my visual arts/design portfolio for a B.Arch program.So any advice/insight is appreciated !

 
And i'll have to make a list for my regular-decision colleges as well, and as an international applicant its hard to come up with it so college/program suggestions are welcome :D !

Thaaanks in advance !
( Double thanks if you read through aalll that)
( I've added some of my latest illustrations & logos to this post, if that helps )
https://drive.google.com/open?...

 
Jul 20, 18 12:13 am
Non Sequitur

You're in highschool.  No one expects you to have an architectural portfolio given you have zero experience in that field. 

B.arch application portfolios need to demonstrate that the applicant has a decent understanding of the very basics (form, scale, light, etc...) and has great artistic flair.   A few illustrator vector pieces is likely not enough to compete against those with fine art backgrounds.

Jul 20, 18 8:44 am  · 
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That's not true. I know 2 people from Cornell AAP who submitted portfolios as part of their B.Arch application.

Jul 20, 18 10:50 am  · 
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Non Sequitur

cool story bro.

Jul 20, 18 11:50 am  · 
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ishmamahmed

I have a lot of these artworks though, should I start adding sketches/hand drawings then ?


Jul 20, 18 12:11 pm  · 
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If Cornell is what you really want, do an early decision.

Early decision is becoming more and more important for schools of that caliber.

Jul 20, 18 10:53 am  · 
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ishmamahmed

Yep regular decision odds are pretty bad :'| so competitive , thanks !

Jul 20, 18 12:17 pm  · 
 · 
renatajacob

Did you got into Cornell?

Aug 28, 19 4:13 pm  · 
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