i have a related question:
at the close of my rejection letter from the gsd, there was a paragrpah that said that the committee was very interested in my application but they suggested that i take a summer design course and reapply (i just finished an undergrad in engineering so i dont have much of a design portfolio).
my question is this: do they write thatat the end of everyone's rejection? in other words, how large of a grain of salt shoudli take this with?

they didn't write that at the bottom of mine.

I had people in my class who had tried 2 or 3 times and finally got in. I also had an undergrad classmate who applied to most of the Ivies 3 years in a row. In the first 2 years he was wait-listed by varying combinations of them, and rejected by the others. In the 3rd year he was accepted by Princeton, though still rejected/wait-listed by the others. I wrote about this on another thread and was met with some doubt. Nonetheless it is is a true story. It's worth noting though that in the 2 interim years he got a job with a relatively well-known architect with ties to a number of the schools to which he was applying. He also spent a tremendous amount of time revamping his portfolio each year.
The tactic of another perpetual re-applier that I know was to hang around the school faithfully for a year - attending lectures and crits religiously and talking with faculty and students. Some people thought this person was already a student there. I think this could backfire for some people though. You'd have to make a good impression without becoming annoying or seeming crazily over-eager. This is a tactic that many people use successfully to obtain faculty positions at schools where they desperately want to teach. It can also work for students.
It seems to me that you could certainly become a stronger candidate over the course of a year or two, if you concentrate on creating new work, getting new experience, and perhaps making connections.

"perpetual re-applier"... that's me! Except I'm done and starting school this fall. Each year, I made new contacts, went abroad, did summer studios etc... etc... I would say though your candidacy doesn't improve too much in one year. But since you got that 'ps' at the end of your letter, go for it.

in addition to the initial post, what are people's thoughts on actually calling the school and asking about your particular application?

nancy :
great questions, and a very real but tough dilemma ......
i think it depends. are you deferring because you didnt get into your "dream school" or because you are having second thoughts on more school (going from BArch to MArch can be pretty grueling)? ..... or are you deffering because you are getting curious in more work experience?
help us out here.

definately because I didn't get into my dream school. But by all means, I do want to get an MArch.

What's the harm in deferring? Why not take your chances on next year's admissions committees, save a little more dough, perhaps round out your portfolio? If you can defer, it could give you the chance to become better aquainted with what you want from grad school or if you want it at all. If you are unsure about attending the school offering you admission, why incur the debt and aggravation without a clear commitment?

oops, I should clarify, it's not really deferring admissions, it's basically reapplying. So I would be taking a chance of not getting into schools that I got into this year...

by the way, thanks everybody who has replied so far =)

to those who have been in the same situation, did you ever find yourself instead getting rejected by schools that you had once gotten into? Or have any of you, once you started working, decided that you didn't want /need to go to grad school after all?