Sounds good - although Berkeley is competitive, you seem to have a good pedigree assuming your portfolio is good. It's a bit reactionary/crunchy/green/community based up there - that is no value judgement, just be sure that is what you are into.

There's really only one test to get into Berkeley - Do you look like this?

haha. back in school i did. no wonder i was crappy in structures. it required functioning brain cells.

Random crackrock.

<br></br>

<br></br>

<br></br>

<br></br>

<br></br>

<br></br>

<br></br>

<br></br>
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/leander03/DSCF1789_0454.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">Told you I was from Mississippi. <br></br>
<br></br>
<br></br>

f*ck. everything is cropped.

whatever. i am working late and loosing my mind. you get the idea.

I say just go for it. You never know. I know a girl that will be going to grad school there this fall and she was rejected at Rice. I was accepted to Rice but rejected to UT Austin. Another friend of mine was rejected to Rice but was accepted to UT Austin. Things work out funny sometimes. Assuming you have good work, then you will be competitive anywhere. If you are worried that you missed some classes in undergrad, then they might just make you take them when you you start grad school. Keep in mind that Berkeley is in San Fransisco so it will be very expensive to live there as well.

well i live in newport beach now, so it can't get much more expensive than this...freaking 1200 bucks a month for am apartment.

speaking of ut. i have a former friend that got in, and she is a nutcase, so who knows.

oh, i didn't miss classes. i just never went to active building systems because my professor tried to qualify a quantitative subject. we actually had debates concerning the aesthetic appeal of exposed ducts and the morality of plenum space. wtf.

No, Berkeley is in Berkeley, which is in the Bay Area, of which San Francisco is but a part.

Why do you worry about getting in so much? Just apply. You can only find out that way. Is Berkeley supposed to be that good and competitive a school?

which professor asked you to apply to berkeley?

um, jill stoner. i had drinks with her in san francisco once last year, and she seems interested in what i am doing now. I need to contact her soon.

get used to the word
sustainabilitysustainabilitysustainabilitysustainabilitysustainabilitysustainability
sustainabilitysustainabilitysustainabilitysustainabilitysustainabilitysustainability

I'd totally apply. Ignore the hippie image thing - whoever described it as "reactionary/crunchy/green/community based" either hasn't been here in a while or can't see the forest for the trees. If you have a contact with Jill and she asked you to appy, well, why are you hesitant? If she isn't on the admissions committee, you can at least be sure she knows someone who is - the faculty here are a fairly tight bunch. Go for it. And yes, you do "have a chance even if i ignored actives building systems and structures in school but aced all design classes" because the faculty is heavy on design and light on structures/systems though they are trying to change this.

just apply!!...

Are you GENUINELY worried?

Skimming your stats/bio I really only saw good things. Unless your portfolio is a steaming pile i'd imagine you'd be fine.

normally i'd say shame on you for missing structures and systems but the morality of exposed ducts? whew, at ut-austin they actually taught us a little about how systems and structures worked

whether or not your stuff is up to snuff, just apply...what's the worst that can happen? you spend a few bucks on copying your portfolio, you spend a few bucks on an app fee. you don't get in? go somewhere else or re-apply

and that $1,200 apartment will seem like a bargain in berkeley, by the way

mmmm.....petroleum and ergot....yummy.

One of the best people I worked with was a Berkley Woman....Carol Chin.....think she is still kicking around the Bay Area. Energy, Creativity, and a heck of alot of Energy! So go ahead make the jump,
only thing you have to loose is the regret of not applying.

We have a lot in common, leander.

I also live in Newport Beach (I hear you about the cost of living here), and am also currently applying to Berkeley for MArch (but I'm not sure if I will make the deadline).

It looks to me like you have some nice work, and applying can't hurt anyway. It seems like everyone I talk to about Berkeley has something different to say. Love it or hate it. I visited a few weeks ago, and got a chance to see a lot of student work - and was really impressed. I'm assuming that you are a CA resident, so the tuition you save should make up for the high cost of living. Where else are you applying?

Being a 'freak' won't hurt, but enough with the hippy/sustainability-only stereotyping of Berkely/the Bay Area: at Berkeley these days there are faculty such as Saitowitz, Choksombatchai, Davids, Burke, Iwamoto, Anderson (not to mention recent visiting faculty in the last two years: Tom Wiscombe, Michael Maltzan, Kennedy Violich, Kolatan McDonald, Kuth Ranieri, Marcelo Spina, Peter Zellner, Georgina Huljich...in the last two years...)

yeah you have a great chance, some of your images would really seduce most of the berkeley staff,
i never heard the word sustanability in any of my design strudios there, is really wasn't an issue, but perhaps as a graduate student...
and as for davids- i really dont like that guy
if you get in take a class with ray lifchez- he's great

you're also livin' in the past -- pretty sure Lifchez's retired...

No, ray is still around.

leander, just go for it. Put in the work on your portfolio, go through the process, interview, etc., just give it your best effort. I understand though, Berkeley is sort of on a pedestal isn't it? I am interested in it for grad school myself, because of their sustainable programs but need to do more research first. I have a feeling, though, that I'll be going through this same inner dialogue next fall....

ray is still teaching the writing & environmental design course, and he is not old school in a bad way, hes actually really refreshing compared to your list of people

As an undergrad at Berkeley, I don't know enough about how competitive the grads are, but I do know that we undergrads focus on design more than technical stuff. But we are recommended to take a couple technical courses if we are interested in grad school.

So I think if you are a really good designer, you still have a chance, because you can take technical courses during grad school. Like everyone else said, just go for it. And getting in touch with that professor will probably help. Goodluck!

there is a very nice gym, cafes at every corner, and the weather is perfection.