hey,

appreciate seeing another grad app here! good luck

Thanks Morgan. I'm a little disappointed that nobody can give me the slightest critique or any opinions on the schools though... Since when do architects not publicly voice their opinions lol?

i wouldn't take it to heart if i were you :)

most are prolly too busy with getting their portfolios done..

Hey Random,

I'm definitely no authority on the issue, but going solely off your portfolio I think you prob have a chance at UT and USC (don't know much about this program though). UCLA and SCI-Arc seem more abstract and digitally oriented than the type of work you've shown. I think all your projects are decent enough, but your portfolio lacks process diagrams. Schools will be interested in understanding your thought process and how you arrived at your design. I also wish there was one more "knock-out-punch" of a project. It feels a little light on content.

It's a funny thing sharing with other applicants bc on one hand you can empathize with each other and want to offer support, but on the other hand you don't want to help out your competition too much. That's probably why not a lot of comments. Anyway, best of luck to you!

Random,

 Just some of my thoughts

p7-8:  diagrams should be rotated on horizontal line and maybe if you can make them align same direction as the render.

p9-10: green of plans can get less saturated and plans can be smaller?

p11-12 i would choose one render as more important to your concept then bleed it, and the other smaller not bleed, also some use of white space would direct the eyes better toward the bleed image

last page: I would understand your trying to balance the orange, I would personally get rid of the orange band, and try to fit the text to the bottom of the white space on the left page

Good luck

Jason and Trily, thanks so much for the advice! It's nice to get some feedback, which is why I thought to ask online, where people can be more open about their opinions and potentially a little more harsh. When I ask friends to critique it in person, all I get is "Looks great!" do thank you! Jason, I don't know much about USCs program either to be honest. I think the work does align better to UT, but I should specify that I am applying for the first professional master, because I only have a 4 year degree (Bachelor of Environmental Design) so hopefully that will raise my chances slightly. I think you're right about the process issue. I tried to include some things like the parti diagram on page 10 and the initial sketch on page 16, but most projects are lacking that step. As for being light on content, I feel like there are some good projects in there, even compared to some other portfolios I've seen here and on issuu, but if not, there's not much I can do about it now lol Trily, P7-8: this is the black and white model photo right? The diagrams are slightly angled because they are orthogonal views of the site ( so the verticals are actually vertical instead of the horizon line). P9-10: good idea about the green. Th plans might be able to get slightly smaller, but the book is only 9wide x 6tall folded size, so they are appearing larger on your screen I believe. P11-12: Yeah, this is my worst spread I think. The whole first project was studio 4, which I completed only a week before the portfolios were due, so all the spreads were made in a week. Luckily, the printers had some issues, which gave me some time to fix it. I made the left image a full spread which looks a lot better, and the right image became the next spread with a diagram about the tensegrity glass system. Last page: I'll see how it looks with a couple other methods of inserting text on this page. Thanks! Also, I was lucky enough to include a Digital Fabrication spread that I literally completed the night before the portfolios were printed. I'll post the spread when I get a chance (maybe it will add to my chances at UCLA).

Wow, sorry about the last post. I wrote it from an iPhone and apparently it didn't include the line breaks...

Wait, how are you applying to USC if they only have a 2+ and a post-prof M.Arch? Or does a BED now count as a pre-prof. degree?

According to my advisers it counts as a 4 year pre-professional architecture (or related) degree. I guess I'll find out soon enough... That would be a bummer though if it wasn't accepted lol

Hey Random,

I know what you mean about criticism from friends and colleagues. Last year I applied and was denied across the board. People always said "looks great" to me as well, and while it was reassuring, it did nothing to help improve my shot at school. This year, I was sure to find some critical people that I trust to really pick it apart which was scary, but helpful. Hope I can make it this time.

I don't know about the USC thing, but I recall from last year's threads that they seem to have a pretty high admission rate. Hopefully that is the case for you.

I think you're stuff is pretty good considering you don't have a B.Arch. I also applied to UCLA, so who knows, we might cross paths someday. Best of luck!