firetruck- the solution that some of us have talked about here is this: be completely mercenary about where you go to school. Apply only to schools that have something real to appeal to you (even if it's not common between them, but could be a different aspect for each) and you would be totally happy to go to, and then go to whichever one makes life easiest for you financially without regrets.

sulidae, come now, we all know that architecture has been the realm where wealthy professionals dream of constructing vast monuments to their creative genius. And yet, most of them decide to stay in law or finance, simply because they have some inkling of the statistical improbability of maintaining the quality of life they demand had they chosen architecture. Point made, architecture is a dream. The wealthy aspire to it and the poor are forced to live in its reality, occasionally becoming a temporary proxy for the dreams of wealthier professionals.

Living in Gin, you clearly have an inferiority complex.

rationalist, in keeping with your namesake, you truly are the most reasonable.

The snow was great today.

ft - although sometimes bombastic, your posts have legitimate content that is not often expressed in our over "pc" world. Cheers to "bombastic posts" which can be provocative, boring, productive, corrosive and everything imbtn.

rationalist - great, cogent post. If blogging has a style, I learn the most from yours.

LIG - Stay steady and positive. I know all your hard work will pay off in a couple months and you'll find a great place to land.

jc - the surf was great today too : )

ok, that's all, I'm off this blog for awhile but look forward to re-joining this thread in about a month or so when things will really start to get crazy : )

Good luck everyone!

so i'm not applying for an m.arch degree, but an undergrad transfer.. so can I commiserate with you guys? after reading some of the 10 pages i can feel a lot of your pain.. portfolios, transfers, resumes, letters of rec, fear of delivery fail, etc., etc. it's nice to know that there are people who feel the same way (that nervous, shakey excitement) and are going through the same thing, albiet the degree level.

anyone can make money doing something they love and doing it well... i don't know why everyone is stressing over a lack of a substantial salary in the "architecture world" when in fact i know of many architects who are very well off..

all in all, i think you have to put your heart into and not be money hungry. do what you are good at and enjoy and the money will come to you in the end..

just my little input on the whole debate

firetruck... you are so right- "we all know that architecture has been the realm where wealthy professionals dream of constructing vast monuments to their creative genius" ... screw the egyptians, romans, chinese, and every other great society of people who was ever noted for creating the some of the greatest wonders of the world.
we should all just go to hell for believing we could ever make a difference- in any profession for that matter- because after all, it really just boils down to how much money you make in the end.

firetruck- I learned the hard way, having spent five years at a private undergrad. When I started, my family paid for it.... by the end, that wasn't the case at all. So now I have to figure out the best way to do things on my own.

and sulidae just gave me the warm fuzzies. awwwww.

What the hell is this? This thread has really gone lame all of a sudden.

Who cares how much money someone makes or if they want to build a giant monument to themself?

I sure the f*ck don't.

im with sulidae and baboomba... im out until march when things get interesting

just great... it's been officially confirmed that my transcripts never got there! I wonder whether this is just with that one school, or if they all went astray? I can't know yet, because nobody but the one school is giving confirmation of reciept, because they are all too busy.

Good luck rationalist. Do you have proof of sending to show that you tried? Do you think they will be lenient?

I have an email from Student Clearinghouse confirming that they were sent. I have no idea whether this will do any good or not.... for four schools it doesn't matter because their deadlines haven't come yet, but there's one that came and went on Jan 15th, and another one that's rolling, but gives away all their $$$ early. So this could mean, at very least, a reduced aid offering for me.

oh thank god. Another crisis averted.... just when I'd spent 30 minutes on hold with my transcript office after two hours worth of run-around, I checked my email to find out that it JUST arrived in this afternoon's mail. I hung up with infinite pleasure that I didn't have to deal with those people anymore.

Did anyone hear back from the GSD about those "your transcript was unreadable or didn't get sent" emails? I emailed them a PDF of mine but haven't gotten an acknowledgement.

wait, so you guys are scanning in your transcripts? Lucky dogs. I had to pay for sealed official copies of mine for each school.

only GSD makes you scan your transcripts and this is the first year they have done that. If you get accepted you will need to have an official copy mailed to them.

i had to pay for sealed/signed official transcripts as well. but since i trust no one's ability to submit things completely or on time i sent absolutely everything myself in one comprehensive package.

usps says they got there...but i have yet to get confirmation that my application packages weren't lost somewhere between signed receipt and the file cabinet (or trashbin, whichever applies).

Jesus came to me in a dream the other night and told me that all my application materials arrived on time and intact... At least I think it was Jesus.

my university didn't charge anything unless you needed it rushed or something. I think it might be the only university in the world that doesn't charge.

I've spent $115 on transcripts alone so far. SCAD decided that my one community college class from high school was documented poorly in my USC transcript, so they wanted the original transcript from the community college. If any other schools decide the same, $5/school will be added to that amount.

i have some other schools that i went to also but i didn't have any credits transfer over so i didn't even mention them. it shouldn't be a problem though. i basically just went to some other schools for a semester at a time and gave them some money and then left with nothing.

poop.crap.caca.scheisse.merde.

why are transcripts so expensive? $115?! Dang. My school gave transcripts free, but I had to order them early and pick them up/mail them with my packets. I think it went up to $15 per for overnight service + having the college fedex it.

Why are transcripts so expensive? A) I'm applying to six schools, B) I went to two to three schools (depending on whether they care about that high school class or not), C) I needed one of them rushed. So, 6 schools x $10 for USC transcripts = $60, 1 rushed x $25 and 5 regular x $5 for Otis = $50, 1 community college x $5, total = $115 and one massive headache.

Actually I still have one school that I need to request transcripts from. I only took four courses at that school, but they were studio and architecture history courses that I need to meet some prerequisites, and projects from those studio courses are in my portfolio. So it's important that I get those transcripts.

Unfortunately, I can't do that until I pay off the rest of the money I owe to them. It's not a huge amount of money, but they're not removing the hold until every last penny is paid off. I was planning to have that done a week ago, but with an emergency $700 car repair last week and my lack of progress in finding a roommate (see relevant thread), I'm seriously behind the 8-ball in getting this resolved.

Cornell and GSD (and my current undergrad school, DePaul) have all been very patient on this matter so far, but if I don't get it taken care of soon, I'm royally fucked.

Now back to checking my email every five seconds for potential leads on roommates... Until I have a deposit in my hand from somebody, it's a diet of ramen noodles and no transcripts.

Arrrgh...

rationalist -- you didn't have to send 2 copies to each school? guess there's a place you lucked out.

Why would they want two copies???

Has anyone heard anything from UCLA or Berkeley about getting your portfolios/applications? They wont even give me an email...

good question rationalist, but both ucla and sciarc wanted two.

mctwist -- apparently ucla is in the middle of collating/filing everything they've received. they told me they'd send an email soon letting us know if our packages are complete or if anything is missing (in which case you'll have an opportunity to resubmit whatever's missing). can't speak to berkeley since i didn't apply.

Whats up guys. Im new on this thread, but not new to the topics...Ive spent the last couple of days going through this absurdly long thread. Anyway, I had to join in on the transcripts talk. I spend $95 dollars to have all my transcripts sent. That crap sucks... and VT asked for two transcripts also (like they couldnt make a copy themselves, rather than to make me pay for it)

Anyway for the record I applied to UVA, UMich, VT, UIUC, and Kent (my in state choice...I went to OSU and wanted to go somewhere else, so ill give kent a look)...wish me well

Finally, I have this possibly dumb philosophy that if I work for the university or the school, I will be maybe a little more focused in my studies, cause ill be around it all the time. I worked all through undergrad in retail, and the hours and stuff just sucked, and studio is not forgiving. Anyway, my question is if anyone knows the particulars about getting some of the assistantships that are available, or specifically for the schools listed above?

Good luck everyone, I know I need it (maybe some of you do too)

mctwist: I visited the UCLA arch office on Mon, and could see that things were in a state of disarray...several bins filled with portfolios and a few scattered around here and there. The person that I spoke with, an undergraduate assistant (I assume), was either clueless or deliberately evasive in regards to timeframes of notifications. I am going to go back next week to try and confirm all documents were received...I'm not waiting for an email. SCI-Arc's office seemed just as cluttered, but at least I got a confirmation email the same day as I delivered my package. Than again, my package at SCI-Arc was opened in front of me while I was there. I still need to drop off all my supporting documents at Cal Poly Pomona and send a package to University of Colorado.

Middlesex in the U.K. wanted 160 pounds sterling for 6 copies of my transcript for a 1 year program I attended there. Thats nearly $300.

The funny thing was, one day I called and it was only 5 pounds per copy. A week later they told me that the prices were raised last monday.

It took several calls to different parts of the campus to find a sympathetic ear who could give them to me for the originally qouted fee.


Zundfolge... drive a german car?

good news...just got the confirmation email from ucla that my application materials are complete.

what schools charge you for transcripts? that stuff should be totally free, after all the tuition you paid. i wouldn't go to a school that charges for transcripts.

Considering that I have a grand total of five schools where I've taken undergraduate coursework, transcripts have been expensive for me, too. Two of my previous schools (one an el-cheapo community college, and the other high-priced DePaul) send transcripts for free. The other schools typically charge a $5 fee per copy, although sometimes they send the first copy for free and charge for each additional copy.

robust- all of my schools charged. I WISH they were free....

Anyway, I was informed by email today that my application to one of my schools is complete and is being placed under review. I should know that one by March 9th. That's a long, loooooooong time to wait!

Cornell and GSD have been pretty good about letting me know they've received my stuff, or if any items are missing.

I haven't heard squat from Yale, Columbia, or Penn.

jbarkerii, I go to Kent but am only an undergrad. If you need info on anything, shoot me an e-mail and I can help/point you in the right direction. I also have a blog on here if you want to check it out.

as for everything else.. portfolio 80% complete. waiting on the home test..

im not doing anything with grad school right now...
i just wanted to post the 1001 post in this thread

and ive done it
huzah

so,

if i have to fill out a fafsa, is it the 2006-2007 one or the 2007-2008 one? i thought 2007-2008 because thats what school year we're applying for, but it's asking for my 2006 income tax data which isn't supposed to be filed til april, right?

yup, that's how it works. If you haven't done your taxes yet, estimate. I know H&R Block's website has an estimator tool that's handy for things like this.

so it is the 2007-2008 one? wow, that's really wierd, can anyone confirm that rationalist is right on this? (sorry to 2nd guess you, its just so wierd that they ask for something that i clearly dont have yet)



also, in the gsd book it says you gotta fill out the "GSD preliminary application for financial assistance" and points you to the web page, but i didnt see it on the web page. what's the story with that?

thanks!

wow, i'm so confused right now. maybe it's lack of experience because i've never applied for financial aid before... but can somebody please post a primer on how to apply for financial aid? i can't seem to figure it out from these gsd, yale, princeton, and columbia web pages. and it looks like deadlines are coming up. i've spent hours and i just can't figure it out. wow.

Didn't you ever have to fill this shit out for undergrad? I remember going through this with my parents every year.... "Dad, I need you to log in to my financial aid worksheet and plug in whatever numbers you can." Dad: "I don't have those numbers yet!" Me: "Then guess low, it'll help, and if they catch us we can blame it on the clear unreasonableness of making us provide them numbers two months before we get provide them to the IRS." Dad: "grumble, grumble... grrrrr."

For more great tips and anecdotes, check out FinAid.

Rationalist is correct: You apply for aid for the 2007-2008 school year based on your 2006 income. Most schools specifically state that you are permitted to estimate income in order to meet their deadlines; they will ask you to verify your information later.

For the schools I'm applying to (which are some of the same schools that robust84 is applying to):

GSD - Submit FAFSA by February 9th. The school may give you additional forms to submit at a later date.

Cornell - Submit FAFSA. There is no supplemental form to fill out, but if you come from a minory background or an underrepresented group, you write a short statement for a Diversity Fellowship as part of the initial application process.

Columbia - Submit FAFSA and Columbia's own paper-based form by February 15th. The 4-page form (mine is on yellow paper) should have been mailed to you after you submitted your initial application.

Yale - Submit FAFSA as well as an additional online form by February 1st. The additional online form is at www.needaccess.org

Penn - Submit FAFSA as soon as possible after January 1st. Those wishing to be considered for a minority scholarship should make note of such in the personal statement they submit with their application.

Princeton - Go to your preferred place of worship and pray to whatever benevolent diety you believe in. (Okay, I'm not applying to Princeton so I really have no idea what they require. But I thought I should at least round out the list of Ivies.)

Gin and Rationalist, thanks for the advice!!

I was lucky enough to not have to pay for undergrad. But now grad school is a very different story.

brer: Yes, I do have a German car...an old BMW...I've had several...you've already guessed that from my screename, eh? But I digress...

Has anyone else received an email from UCLA? What was the content of said email? I feel compelled to go there again and check on things in person...I know I'd be making a pest of myself, but still...

this is one of the best threads...the conversations were general in the beginning...archinecters laying down their options, talking about programs they are applying to.

then it gets hectic for a few pages when all the archinecter hopefuls are stressing, crunching, sweating, about the application process of providing a portfolio, writing a statement of purpose, getting recommendations, insecurities appearing...etc...(this was an edge of seat trip of a few pages)

now that deadlines have passed...the conversation has shifted towards the future...funding the education (financial aid)...

it's a trip...i hope all of you gets accepted to your top 1...hah

I have a qustionn for FAFSA...
Is it available for international student??

I am working at us and applying m.arch program.
just curious the FAFSA is available for me..