You got rejected by Parsons! omg!
Sorry to hear that. What was your portfolio like? If you are willing to brave it, most schools are willing to review your portfolio with you to tell you what you exactly did wrong or how you could improve. I'm sure the wound is still fresh. Hopefully that wasn't your first choice.

too many you's. sorry :)

oops, it was low on your list, just read that.

most schools are NOT willing to review your portfolio with you. nope.

have you asked personally, threads? a number of people I know have had that done. I think it depends on how serious you are about attending a certain program and how persistent you are.

I know there are some schools that are pretty open about meeting with rejected students to discuss the issue. If they do seem to have a positive attitude about that then I don't see any harm in a meeting.
However, there are schools that prefer not to do this, and I don't think it's a great idea to be persistent about it with those schools - at least not if you might have any intention of applying again in the future.

I had an undergrad classmate who was rejected by the graduate program that I was attending the year after I applied. He sought my advice on the matter and explained that he was being very insistent in calling and getting an appointment with someone on the admissions committee to discuss his portfolio and why he wasn't accepted. The school was not in the habit of doing this, and seemed reluctant to give him an appointment.
I advised him not to press the issue, because I felt it was a better idea to reapply another year without calling too much attention to himself and his failure in that year. Afterall there were several people in my class who had tried 2 or 3 years before they were finally accepted.
I told him I thought it would be a better idea for him to try to get portfolio feedback from outside the school. But he wouldn't listen to me.
Eventually he got an appointment with a faculty member on the admissions committee. That prof mentioned him to me afterward - because he was a classmate of mine - and it was pretty clear that the prof wasn't enthusiastic about the whole encounter. I tried to put in a positive word for him but it was clear that he had made an impression as needy and troublesome, and that they only agreed to the post-rejection critique as a means of closing the matter with him.
He applied the following year but was rejected again, and eventually ended up someowhere else and was happy there. On the one hand I can say it was probably a good thing because he and the school seemed not a good fit, but on the other hand I really think he would have had a better chance the next year if he hadn't made himself so "memorable" the first time...

Interesting, thanks for the advice folks. I'd never thought of seeking that sort of advice from a school, at least not in this case. I'm going have to wait and see what happens with other schools.

i'm sorry to hear colcol,
when did you submit your application, it seems so soon to hear back, wasnt the deadline only a month ago?

I applied to several 3-year m.arch programs last year and was not accepted anywhere (not that this should scare anyone - my portfolio truly sucked!).

Most schools informed me that if I wrote them a letter asking for admissions feedback I would receive a response. They also generally asked that I wait unitll May or June - after things cool down a bit for admissions folks...

i got into parsons. is it a good?

vman - how terrible was your portfolio? was it the content or presentation?

my presentation was lousy and overdone. content was mostly 2-d with very little evidence of spatial aptitude.

what sort of examples can you demonstrate spatial aptitude?

models, sculpture, ceramics, small scale design-build.

I'm scared to check my mail now. Yesterday I peeked in the box and saw all small envelopes and nearly peed myself.

the waiting doesn't end when you're applying for school...just wait until you are checking the mailbox every day for three years straight for your ARE scores...

...and then later you open the mailbox every day hoping to see a check from a client in there...

thanks for the email vman; now I'm a llittle worried myself because the only 3D I had for my portfolio doesn't quite look like a 3D piece. This mask done five or six years ago is a terrible shot probably showing no spatial aptitude.

i would worry more about a design "aptitude" than anything involving 3 d.

drawing is a pretty large part of architecture study

define design "aptitude"? Whenever I think of spatial vision I think of organic chemistry, where you need to rotate funky structures up, down, and around. Add chirality and you get some fun. I guess it becomes intuitive at some point, like spinning a drum stick, you do it or do not; is it the same for a portfolio?

People are already hearing back from Parsons? I applied and have heard nothing yet. I didn't even get a "we got your application response."

I can barely take any more of this and there is a month till April 1st!!!!!

Anyone heard from Pratt or RISD?

thankfully finished with applying to schools, but i have a STACK of rejections from offices i have applied to if that counts...

If i ever need to write a really humble and polite letter declining interest in employing folks I am SO set.

Oh, and i am REALLY set for designing a really nice letterhead. Architects seem to be quite creative in that area.

you said STACK... heh

oh man, i could cry, the stack is THAT tall.

no complaints though, i also have a (small) pile of letters asking for interviews...

jump are you moving to another part of the world as part of this office application process?

From my own experience back in the day (eight years ago) since I when through the stressful waiting period of receiving rejection letters to M arch programs-
I remember receiving two “thank you for applying…..we wish you mush success in your pursuit…. The same dam day, I was completely bummed out,
When the next three letters came I did not open then, for two weeks… I had a party- after a few pisco sawers I opened all letters at once.
I got in where I though I didn’t have a chance I got rejected from where I though I had a good chance of getting in…
Hang in there I hope you applied to several program of your choice..
You will have a day to celebrate soon enough

lb,
sorry should have written more in past tense (damn my english is sooo sliding).

was a few years ago, but yeah i was applying to offices in europe from abroad. was RIGHT after 9-11 so didn't have a chance, but tried anyway.

I kept all the letters though, out of sentimental reasons maybe, and adding them to the stack i gathered a year later when i moved to london has made for a hefty pile. i have been politely rejected by some very famous people...;-) but i did get a job with an office i liked quite a bit, in the end. things always seem to work out...

when you're famous 5 years from now, you can plan on faxing them copies of their rejections.
:-)

hah! maybe that is why i am hanging on to them.