O.k. I have a really important question about my portfolio.

I've already given the InDesign file to the printer and he's ready to go, but I keep thinking maybe I should remove two pages before it's printed and bound.

I'm an MArch I candidate, so don't have an architectural background.

One of my portfolio entries is the restoration of, and addition to, my house. I did most of the restoration work myself and also designed the addition.

Although I designed the addition, my drawings are sort of primitive. To apply for permits, etc. I had a designer do professional versions of my drawings.

Is it o.k. to include one of his drawings if I also include mine upon which his was based? They look very similar, except that his is, of course, much prettier. Should I leave his in or take it out?

Thanks for any replys.

Sorry. That's replIEs, with an "IE".

As long as you give the creator credit, I'd say leave it in. It may add gravity to your application, in that you went through the whole process and benefitted from observing the permit process, as opposed to it looking like you knocked up some sketches and went staight for the hacksaw.

But DO credit him. If you put it in without credit, you the finished drawings might look conspicuous given your lack of arch bg - and the last thing you want is for admissions panels to be sceptical about authorship.

Chch,

Thanks for the response. I guess I'll leave it in. It does flow better with the drawings. I just don't want them to think he designed the addition. It was a significant effort on my part.

I did give him credit, by the way.

Thanks again.

Np. I guess as long as you highlight the 'foreign' authorship as being the exception it'll be clear. If you have doubts though, be sure to label the sketches as *your* process drawings. Nobody will make you down for ensuring clarity.

Good luck.

baboomba,

or you can just label :

design - baboomba
permit drawings - cad monkey

do we have to state what program we are applying on the cover or on every page of our portfolios for GSD? i didnt see any instructions on the portfolio except the very general one on the "applying to GSD".

can someone answer me?

thanks.

I don't know whether the program is supposed to be on every page, but I'm not putting in on every page; it would ruin my portfolio. It's on the cover. That should be enough. Don't hold me to it.

Thanks for the CAD monkey suggestion.

axial

yeah - I think it's just your name on every page in case a page comes loose.

I didn't even do that. No name or page numbers. Hopefully, it'll stay together. Not like I know what I'm doing.

I don't think it'll be a deal-breaker

No, my undergrad GPA will be the dealbreaker.

good news/bad news:

Well it turns out that the CMU admissions people were, in fact, retarded, and just didn't see my resume or Statement of Purpose. They apologized on the phone and through email. So that's good.

Bad news is I just heard from my last recommender and she's a little, well, frustrated. She asked for everything electronically, meaning she wanted links instead of paper copies. I sent all of this to her and didn't hear about it until today. Apparently it's taking "way too long" and she can't find the PDF form for the last school, U of Minn, so she's "not going to do it". Ack! I have to admit, U of Minn was my last choice, really just my back-up, but I really had it in my head that I needed to apply to 5 schools.

So what now? I am more amused than anything. U of Minn actually changed their website mid-process so I know why she didn't find the form. I figure I'll email her something soothing back, include the right link, and I guess I'll just process my application..... if I don't get a 3rd recommendation, then so be it. I can't go anywhere that cold anyway.

Still, applying to only 4 schools is a little scary. Maybe because it's more real?

She's just not going to do it? What the hell sort of attitude is that?

Tell her she's going to do it or else you'll break her f'in legs.

That sucks wonderK

I wouldn't threaten her per boboomba advice. But if you do decide to teach her a lesson... eh, I gotta guy.

I'll write you a rec, wonderk. Character reference :)

DubK, do you have anyone you could ask for a single rec, last minute? If so, it's time to call them.

I don't know. It's break, and it's the holidays....if I do decide to call anyone else, it will have to wait until after the first of the year.

However, I am fairly skilled at the "subversive guilt trip" (thanks, Mom) so I'm going to reply and tell her that I understand, but oh by the way, here is the PDF if you change your mind.

Wait, I just realized that I can call the professor that I didn't really ever actually have for studio, but who my roommate brought back to my apartment drunk a few weeks ago. I figure if the guy has seen me in my pajamas and drank my Jager, he owes me a recommendation letter....

"In recommendation of WonderK

I can sincerely recommend this applicant based on the awesomeness of his Superman pyjamas. He stocks his fridge well too.

Yours,

Drunk Prof."

Heck, I'd let you in!

I'm a she, but thanks!


PS. I'd be a shoo-in if I had been wearing these at the time:

whoops. Sorry about that.

I'd say you could get in anywhere with that get up!

WONDER WOMMMMAAAANNNNN!

WonderK,

You're probably a shoo-in in most outfits. You looked pretty hot in your Architecture Sucks T-shirt picture. I think you started that post just so you could show off your bod.

Anyway, back to the main topic. Don't play mind games with your lazy recommender. Tell her if she doesn't give you a rec, you're going to kick her ass.

LOL, thanks guys. Didn't Wonder Woman have a whip? I should go to my recommender's office and crack it outside her door.


How is your guys' stuff coming anyway? Are you taking a break for the holiday or do we not have that luxury?

I do not have that luxury. I'm bringing my laptop with me to my mom's place so that I can keep working on it.

My portfolio is finally finished and at the printer. Feels good to have it done. Now I just have to drop 'em in the mail.

My last outstanding recommender just informed me that he mailed his letters today. He's a senior design partner at Perkins + Will, so this was an important one. But now it's one less thing to worry about.

I hope to have the first two of my five portfolios printed up and bound by this time tomorrow evening, and dropped in the mail soon thereafter.

Ordered GRE score reports. They reminded me of my scores, and the percentiles were better than I thought.... 83%, 82%, and 96%

Also ordered undergrad transcripts. Feeling like I've done something for the evening.

I don't get the GRE... I was utterly baffled for most of the verbal and quantitative sections and yet still managed to get respectable scores. But writing has always been my strongest point, and I felt confident that I aced the analytical part, and yet ended up with a fairly mediocre 4.0. I'm convinced it's yet more proof that the whole idea of standardized testing is a steaming crock of shit.

Amen to that LIG

I agree totally. The GRE is not a test of anything other than how good you are at taking the GRE. The scores are basically meaningless and for an architecture school even more meaningless. My boss went to Harvard and practically failed his GRE, so I guess your portfolio is everything. He was in the 40 percentile on just about everything. They should go the way of art schools and not even require them...though it may be a requirement of the larger university i guess.

My scores actually reflected exactly how I thought I did. I spent the verbal section going, "That can't be a real word!", and got a 590. I was pleasantly suprised that the quantitative was much more logic (which I'm great at) than it was math (which I'm terrible at), and got a 750. My writing, as long as it's not autobiographical, flows with ease but unconvential format, and I ended up with a 6. I couldn't ask to do better than I did, and feel that the scores are a decent representation of me.

That score is really good, and a 6 on the writing is amazing. You are pretty damn good at the GRE. Most arch schools want a 500 in each category and a 4.5 on the writing. Rationalist, you are applying for grapic design right? What kind of scores do they want?

They don't say at all. Most do not require it, but many of those recommend it for scholarship purposes. Since I'm poor, I figure I can only help myself out. Maybe the 6 will help them see that I'm not as bad a writer as my personal statement indicates, I just don't know how to write about myself.

Thank goodness I am applying to more technical programs. I always thought I was a good writer too - I mean even before my SOP got rewritten it wasn't that bad - but on my GRE I got a 4 on the writing. I have a theory about this. The question that I chose was something about religion in public schools, and my argument was against it. Evangelical test graders, anyone?

No but really, I really hope they don't care about the GRE so much.

haha, yeah me either. Writing about yourself is whole different ball game. I got a 4.5 on the writing and was happy with that since I am the self-proclaimed worlds worst writer. Some free money would good since I am poor and so are my parents, but I don't think my GRE score is gonna help me get any of that. I was thinking about putting myself up for celebrity adoption.

I think that was one of my question too, DubK.... I think the key was to remember that it was the writing section, and they don't give a damn about your opinion, just about how you express it. The only trick to those questions is that some people will get too caught up in emotion and opinion and forget about analytical writing.

how did I not know about this thread until now....

hello

um, am i like way behind? i just wrote my GRE yesterday - did alright i think - well enough to not get rejected based on my score. But i havent even started doing my portfolio yet - i have to add do some work on old projects add new ones and redesign the thing and figure out how to bind it which i will do in the next 3 weeks or so. im applying to 3 schools in NY. columbia on the 15th and parsons / pratt on the 1st of feb. How long have people been working on this stuff? i still have all the hard work to do. Does anyone else find it hard to get this shit done when you work full time.

What do people think is the best school in NY? Whats your first choice?

'I will get rejected based on my score......'

Two portfolios printed, three to go.

downtown_81 - I started working on my portfolio in September and it took me about 3 months to finish. I have 3 school projects and then work stuff. The 3 school projects I did a lot of additional work too, anything from photoshoppong images to complete redesigns. Starting now doesn't sound good but you could definietly do it. Just work on it every night and lock yourself at home on the weekends and get it done.

As far as the New York schools I don't really know whats better. I went to Columbia 2 years ago and was rather unimpressed. I'm sure a lot of people on here would disagree with me but I just didn't think the projects were very good. The graphics were amazing though. I looked at Pratt and Parsons for a while but then decided that I liked other schools better. Pratt and Parsons are both art schools so there are interdiscplinary opportunities which would be pretty cool.

Good Luck

yeah its hard to work full time and on a portfolio. I started about 3 or 4 months ago, while working full time (9 to 8ish and weekends type of job). It felt like I had two jobs. My hands also started to get cramps because I was on the computer all day, and all night.

sirgemhl...

wow just starting now!
Actually you might be the smartest person on this board. Most of us have been working on our portfolios for at least 3 months and while I can't speak for everyone I know I HATE WORKING ON, LOOKING AT, THINKING ABOUT, THE FEEL, SMELL, THE LOOK OF MY PORTFOLIO. I EVEN HATE THE WORD PORTFOLIO NOW. AHHHH
That felt good to get off my chest.

Good luck DT81, I'm applying to the same schools (+GSD).

hm...

alfrejas24 ,

I have been working on my portfolio for the enitire last semester + a week now and Im not even done!

I dont know what you mean by 'just starting now!'

anyways.. I will join the 'done with portfolio group' in about 3 days!

AHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

alfrejas24:

Yes I agree, right now just looking at my portfolio my mind just blanks out, as if I'm staring at blank sheets of paper with nothing on them.....Guess that's when you should call it quits, huh? I'm gonna start printing final versions tomorrow, to heck with it. Good luck everyone!!!

Sorry sirgemhl, I meant to address that post to downtown 81.
Just picked up a demo print from kinkos. Colors are a little off but I think it might actually look better. Planning on showing it off to a few graphic artisit that I know. I need a new set of eyes to look at it before final print.

downtown_81

to share my story, i started on Jan 1st 2006, its been a year. i have a fulltime job, so i had to work on it every night for about 6-8 hours and all weekends.

its really hard to work on your portfolio with a full time job.

holy crap! an entire year? I wish I had that much time. Your portfolio better be the cats pajamas with that much work put into it.