Hello!

By next fall I will have completed all of my studio courses for a 4-year B.S. in Architecture and will be applying for grad schools, particularly M.Arch II programs. I'm currently in the process of researching grad school programs and it's honestly a bit daunting. I have a few worries that I've talked about w/my advisors but I've gotten mixed responses from them as it sits. 

1. I'm a bit worried about my transcript/GPA. In my freshman year, I basically got C's/D's in all my classes, and transferred to the Arch program as a last ditch effort to stay in college (very happy to have done so). Since then, I've been able to work my GPA up from what was a sub 2.0 but now diminishing returns are occurring, with my overall gpa currently plateauing at a 3.3. It's not entirely awful, but I'm concerned that those blips on my transcript will be a limiting factor in applying to some graduate programs. Are those aspects as weighted as heavily as like, the portfolio in admissions decisions? 

2. How do you best navigate the range with the schools to apply to? With a modest GPA, I currently feel that even considering upper end programs (Ivies, other notable "reach schools") seems kind of unlikely and that it would be more appropriate to aim for a range of less "prestigious" schools for better funding opportunities. Is it wrong to think of things in this way, even if there are reach programs that I might be interested in eventually? How do you/did you balance the considerations for the prestige/quality of education versus overall program costs?

3. More generally, any recommendations for schools that have notable design-theory tracts or focuses (in the US)? Been trying to research through school websites, but curious to hear what people think individually.

Thanks!