finally finished all of my applications!!!!!

i'm glad to never have to go through that again... unless nobody lets me in, then i'll do it next year.

the painful waiting begins. when are people gonna start posting portfolios?

I'll post my final version tonight, after I edit out some personal information. Stay tuned.

I already posted mine, but I will post the link again if anyone is interested.

OK - I'm super confused. I just rang the gsd and was told that 'you will only get an email from the gsd if there are parts of your application missing'.

However, on the auto-confirmation email I got when I applied online, it said, "You will receive a confirmation email when your application materials have been downloaded. We download applications once all materials, including the three recommendations, have been received."

The guy did say that they are still going through applications, but what was the email you guys got? I'd like to say I'm comforted by having not heard anything, but it's actually making me quite anxious! What if the person reviewing my application was kidnapped and murdered and replaced with a cloned undercover terrorist agent and Jack Bauer is on holiday? HOW WOULD I KNOW?!

well, there is no way that would have happened in only a 24 hour time span so I think you are safe.

The email I received was the application being completed.

When I called I was also told that they would let me know via email if there was anything missing.

They just basically send you an automatic email confirming that the GSD has downloaded and printed your online application for review, that's all. You usually get this a few days after their deadline has passed, I got mine for the MArch II program on Dec 18th, three days after the Dec 15th online application deadline.

I called the GSD, MIT, and UCLA a few days ago. I understand that the email you get from GSD is just to confirm receipt of the online materials. I asked about my portfolio and they said "no news is good news, but we're still processing and call back in about a week if you're still worried."

MIT said they are "still processing" and would send out completed-application-confirmations emails in two weeks as well.

UCLA said they do not update the online link, and would only be sending out confirmations in two weeks.

So, I think the consensus is we can all start to worry, for realz, in two weeks!

I got an e-mail from the GSD a week ago saying they couldn't find my portfolio (they've since found it) so I think no news is good news.

As far as posting portfolios, I'm not sure if I sould post mine or not. I don't want to make you guys feel bad.

nice baboomba! i appreciate your consideration for my fragile ego. ;)

yeah. I don't wanna feel bad.

so, do you guys want to post portfolios on this thread or start a "Great Grad-App Portfolio Post of '07" thread?

new thread

yes new thread

I already have my own thread. :)

you can post a self-referential link on the new thread LiG...how post-modern!

New thread.

to be frank, I'm feeling quite shy about my portfolio. I've been siezed with fear that I won't get in anywhere, and have started developing a backup plan (applying to all the architectural publication I can think of) in case nobody wants me. I may refrain from posting the portfolio until I've got an acceptance under my belt.

FedEx has just confirmed that my last three portfolios (Cornell, Columbia, and Penn) have been delivered to their respective destinations today. I can finally sleep this weekend.

i too just got confirmation from FedEx of delivery to my application destinations- so i look forward to some sleep as well LIG...

does anyone out there know if they place any importance on being published? as in, your theories and research being published at the national or international level? i was recently published and was told this was extremely valuable on many levels... and just wondered if grad school acceptance was one...

Most of the applications I filled out had a section where you could list "awards, honors, and publications" or something to that effect. If not, at least be sure to mention it on your CV.

i definitely put it on there ... i just wondered if it would hold any weight. i applied to two phd programs and i was hoping that would boost my chances by proving ive done some research that was peer reviewed and accepted. although it doesnt seem like theres too much talk about being published like it is in the scientific field

i too was an archinecter last year and shared in the misery ... i was denied to all post-prof m.arch programs i applied to. although now looking back on it- i was in the middle of thesis, and wasnt near as prepared or experienced as i should have been. now i feel much more confident at my work + awards + experience. however, im still just as nervous as i was last year. but in the downtime since last year and this i worked really hard on getting published + i received some really good awards. so hopefully... fingers crossed...

and i will be as obsessed again...

I finally got my last letter of rec into OSU. The school lost the first one, and i had to get my old prof to send in a new oneto the school. I am done applying to 7 schools, now the wait....

Columbia app officially out. -1 letter of recommendation. I hope to get and send out the last letter of recommendation on Monday. I can't wait to have a LOT of drinks tonight. hmm it's just so good when it touch's your lips...

I'm with Rationalist - I'll post my portfolio in public if/when I get an acceptance after hearing from all the schools. I think it would be good to be able to refer to accepted/rejected for each portfolio.

Otherwise I will coyly hide behind internet quasianonymity. I am not brave enough (I think) to be an example of "what not to do."

fingerrrrrrrscrosssed

+i, definitely include publications of academic work, if applying for phd. if just design work i find the scholars don't have much respect for such things (pretty much zero, perhaps with good reason, perhaps not). being published is absolutely a requirement for graduation at phd level, at least here in japan. the jury for my friends final review was shocked that said friend had not bothered to publish anything on his research, and absolutely slammed him for it. so is better to get to publishing articles, sooner than later, and as much as possible.

when i was applying for phd i had just won a few quite lovely awards and was published for design work...it absolutely helped me to get the scholarship that paid for the education, but as a scholar has been a kind of oddly negative thing ( on the order of "him, yeah he is a 'designer', published in 'design' magazines and everything, ain't he cute. definitely not a scholar. i don't think he has published ANYTHING real" ). am working on overcoming that history now, but is a struggle to remain in more than one category (designer and scholar), especially in academia where people can be quite odd about status. is a funny ol world.

thanks for the advice, jump. my publication has been mostly research with a (very) schematic design to illustrate my research. while ive been working through my applications i was trying to illustrate more of this research throughout my portfolio instead of "buildings". maybe it will work.
what are you researching for your phd?

also... this might help some of you...

http://archrecord.construction.com/features/EducationChart/EducationChart_AL.asp#a

architectural record has a list of all architecture schools in the US, the programs they provide, their acceptance/admission rates, and the percentage of students who get financial aid/scholarships/etc (its from 2003 though)...

thought it was interesting...

Wow... The acceptance rates for GSD (20%) and Penn (47%) are much higher than I thought they'd be. Yale (7%) is about what I figured would be typical for the Ivies in general. (Alas, info for Cornell, Columbia, and Princeton aren't available on that site.)

But then, this is all from 2003, so who knows how things may have changed in four years.

i agree....does any one know the acceptance rates for UCLA and Columbia...both have no data on that chart

I talked to the UCLA counselor when I visited the campus and he said they get about 400 applications a year and they accept 90 students, so about 20%. They only want an incoming class of about 50 so they accept 90 assuming quite a few will take offers from other schools.

Living in Gin

Yale was 9% not 7%.

Sooper(BA) was7%.

I stand corrected. 9% is still pretty damn low, though.

I'm especially curious about what Cornell's acceptance rate is for their M.Arch. I program... Since it's a fairly new program, I'd assume its acceptance rate would be somewhat higher than the other Ivies, but then, it's also a fairly small program, so who knows.

NERVVOOUUSSSSS!!!

does anyone know what does that mean?

M.Arch. nonprof/postprof xx%

from the chart?

RISD 10%, GSD 20%, UPenn 47%.....?

This is the best one I heard in a while.

lullaby... M.Arch nonprof/postprof is a post-professional master's degree for someone who has already received a professional 5-yr accredited Bachelor's of Architecture degree.

dmc... well i especially like the carnegie mellon MS 83% acceptance... makes you wonder how they really acquired these rates...

if you call the graduate admissions office of the school (maybe even the architecture office) most of them will give you their acceptance rates themselves- i know VT, UVA, Carnegie, and a few others did...

M.Arch applicants,

I'm a non-arch, non-art background applicant and did a summer studio for prep. My question: what do people think about people who spend a year completely re-doing all their summer studio work and submit it in their portfolios as work that they had "completed during the summer."

I recently saw a portfolio of a student that i shared a summer studio with a year ago. To be frank, the portfolio looked really great but I saw that the student had re-done absolutely every project to the nth degree and did not lable that the work was re-done.

I felt totally naive when I saw the portfolio because I didn't re-do any of my summer work. I did my very best to present my summer work in the best possibly light and spent time learning photoshop and indesign to improve the layout of my port but I felt like it was lying to take several months to completely re-do work that we were given a week or 2 weeks to complete at the most and pass it off as work that I had done over the summer. Side note: I completely support improving upon work but somehow being honest and citing that further refinement/exploration was made after the studio, etc.

I guess I'm feeling like a total naive fool now. Do people who have admissions committee experience encourage students to completely re-do summer studio work? Is that expected? I truly get it that portfolios are about submitting your best but am I naive to think there's an honesty line to walk?

I'm bracing myself for the "sucks ta be you" comments....pls be kind....

^^I don't know from experience, but it just seems likely that they won't notice or care whether or not work was re-done. Considering your mutual experience and the depth of any project that can be accomplished in a few weeks (whether that is 2 weeks or a whole summer) it's probably going to be obvious that the projects were from a summer/intro studio anyway.


OK I keep having nightmares that parts of my application are returned to me in the mail because I've put the wrong address on the shipping envelope.

a portfolio is not an archive. it is a design project. thus, work that isn't up to your current standards can get redone if you want to. no disclaimers neccessary.

It just needs to be good work. You want to present your best possible stuff and if re-doing it will make it better (how could it not?) then by all means redo it. I completely re-worked my senior studio project for my portfolio. It was a complete redesign; new model, new renderings, new drawings, everything. most of the other stuff had minimal changes but the graphics were completely worked through.

I tweak, but don't totally rework.

So I was going to do nice packaging, then after the computer meltdown and the loss of time that caused I ended up with generic packaging for my first two applications. Well I got some time yesterday, and my next two will be sent out in beautiful, blind embossed (by hand) sleeves constructed by yours truly. I'll post pics of that when I get a chance, cause I love how those turned out.

sulidae - I really don't think its an honesty issue. In a studio or any class similar, you are working on an idea and sometimes, due to lack of time, you can't bring that idea out clear enough or maybe it gets lost a little. So putting it down for a while after the semester is over and coming back to it is perfectly fine to do, and should even be encouraged. The work is there and the idea shouldn't change because you will have spent so much time on the process but the final product certainly has room to be better. I am speaking ofcourse in general terms and this doesn't apply to everyones projects.

i would have to agree w/ all the above. i finished my professional B.Arch undergrad thesis in May- but i have continued to work on it + add new research, etc, so that i could get it published and so that i will hopefully take it into a PhD program. i haven't stopped working on it and that was nearly 8 months ago. i think the most important thing to remember when reworking your portfolio is that process is everything- people want to see your logic, your process, and how your skills apply over time. so if you think you're just going to make a bunch of pretty images + that makes it better, then you are sorely mistaken.

Thanks much archinectors for the comments regarding portfolio work. It helps to hear other perspectives.

sulidae, if you are concerned that your project might look rushed or incomplete relative to other applicants for whatever reason, obviously it's too late to redo yours but you might incidate on your portfolio the time frame in which you completed yours. if it was a 4 week studio, you might say 1 week of diagramming/sketching, 2 weeks of study models and 1 week for final iteration. and as others have stated, they will be more concerned about the process and logical development of your project than how pretty it looks.

Finally done. I hope they received all the stuff I sent...

just got an e-mail from GSD confirming that they received my portfolio. One less thing to worry about.......well until they open it.

how am i supposed to fit a statement in 500 words.....
this is an impossible task.