whats the chances of getting into a Top Ivy league school with a 3.2( doing a 5yr Barch) GPA but amazing portfolio? Can they really but that much emphasis on the portfolio?
I'd say your chances were pretty slim, to be honest. A mid level B is pretty average for grad school (at least I think it is).
But the portfolio is far more important. I did get in with about a 3.4-3.5, but that was years ago, I assume it continues to get more competitive.
I would still try, though. Make your portfolio kick ass. Spend at least a few months designing it.
Is that an overall GPA or for architecture? They should only be looking at your arch GPA, not your overall.
As long as your GPA is at least 3.0 it's pretty much a non-factor. And even if it's slightly lower there is still a chance (even if the school publishes a 3.0 cut-off) especially if your test scores are high and all your other materials are strong.
I'm writing from experience on this. My GPA was just above 3.2. My average for my undergrad architecture major was even lower and included a C-minus in a 6-credit studio, quite a lot of B's and B-minuses in support courses and I never once got a grade higher than B in any studio (and nearly every A I ever got was in liberal arts and math/science courses). I got into 5 of the 6 schools to which I applied, including some of the top-ranked ones, and was even offered first-year merit grants based on my portfolio by some schools. So if you have a great portfolio and can get some great rec letters, then you have good chances.
Another factor you should look into is how you ranked in your undergrad class, and within your major (or what your current standing is, if you haven't graduated yet.) The registrar's or records office should be able to tell you this. For example if your GPA is a little low but you're in the top 10% of your class then you'll want to point this out in your application - because it is an indication of lower grade inflation at that school than at some others. Some schools will indicate this on your transcript, or provide a letter indicating your ranking, if you request it. Others won't, but you can put this in the "accomplishments" or "awards" sections on grad school applications. Admissions committees usually also have a pretty good sense of the overall GPA typical for different schools - for example they know that over 80% of all grades awarded by certain Ivy League colleges are B+ or above, while C's are truly average grades and A's are quite rare at some other schools.
Good luck.
You can absolutely improve your portfolio after you graduate. I spent most of Christmas break by the Christmas tree watching stupid movies reworking images, fixing drawings etc and rebuilding my portfolio. If you have the framework of the stuff, it's just little tweaks here and there to make it look signifigantly better.
S. Park: There can be a lot of ways that one can have a great portfolio and still not get great grades. Some factors in my case: projects that resulted in appealing/photogenic materials but didn't always meet the studio critics' production checklists, agendas, or expectations; projects that did not always meet deadlines; a general tradition in my program to award no more than 1 or 2 A's per studio; a portfolio whose content was only about 33% studio projects (the rest was creative work of many different sorts - much of it personal projects that were not completed in an academic setting.)
I applied for grad school while I was still completing my last year of undergrad. Thus I had no time to improve my portfolio after the fact. The entire thing was done in the few weeks between my fall semester studio final and the schools' deadline dates.
For my studio projects I included a great deal of "process" materials: sketches, photos of groups of many study models (at the time I tended to work by producing very large numbers of small, rough models), diagrams, etc. The text was very brief - generally no more than a title, information such as dates, purpose, and medium, and one or two sentences of explanation.
One could get the idea from reading some threads in this forum that elaborately-constructed containers, professional binding, and exotic paper are the keys to a great portfolio. I'm sure they help some portfolios. But I was a poor student with no time or money, and I did the whole thing on a close-out ream of colored xerox paper that I bought at my neighborhood copy place - which is also where I had it bound.
My best advice is: put in what you consider to be your best work. Don't worry about its origin (there's no minimum number of academic studio projects that you absolutely need to include, and it's ok to use personal projects if they're your best work.) Put in whatever you need to include to make the project VISUALLY clear and interesting to a reviewer - and don't expect that anyone will read any of your text. Don't worry about what your professors or critics or employers said about your work or what grade you got on it. If YOU think it is good then include it, and if you don't then don't.
god i hope you guys are right. i really want to get into grad school at a nice place only my past few professors have been dinosaur profs who think that the only things that exist in architecture is point line and plane. i bust my ass getting A's on all of my projects and getting always 1st or 2nd in school competitions when over 100 of us are competing and my profs still keep giving me a B+ on my gpa.....they think my project is outstanding but they dont like the style. so they refuse to give me an honorable grade. im sitting on a 3.4 right now but it used to be so much higher.
lol... I'm with Baboomba here. At DePaul and Drexel I've managed to maintain a 3.84 GPA, but most of my undergrad coursework is from UIC in the mid-90's, where I think I was hovering around the 2.0 mark. Hasn't stopped me from applying to GSD and a few other Ivies.
I think the two biggest things are your portfolio and letters of recommendation...
Get the biggest names in your school to write letters. Even if they don't know who you are, you can ask them to review your portfolio and write a letter.
Recommendations and porftolio are indeed the most important factors for most schools, and GPA is no more than a notation in each folder (though grades of D and F may be flagged by the people who first review/prepare the candidate folders.) But I wouldn't advise getting recs from people who don't know who you are just to get "big name" recs. These letters can be pretty easy to spot. It's better to get letters from people who can really discuss you: your progress, particular talents, insights, potential, etc. Besides, some "big names" sign so many letters that they become somewhat devalued. I was asked once by a professor in grad school why nearly every applicant from my undergrad school had the same person write one of their letters. I think it was because that person was perceived as the biggest name at that school - but it just resulted in the people reviewing the applications noticing that the "big name" was recommending pretty much everyone.
I've seen several applications to a popular MArch program where several people from a different, popular undergrad school asked the department head for a letter of recommendation. All the letters are the same 3 lines.
"NAME is a student in program X.
There are # students in program X.
NAME is ranked # in the program."
Ask someone who knows you well and can write something meaningful. A famous or well known person who does not know you and does not provide any information beyond what your transcript says will not help to get you into school.
Secondly, it really is important to stick to a normal size portfolio with tough paper and a tough binding. Tiny portfolios slip into the cracks at the ends of filing cabinets and can get lost or are absorbed into the pages of larger portfolios being placed on the shelf, and may not be noticed until it is too late. Bind it with a spiral or something equally tough. Boxes, loose sheets, thread bindings, etc. are a dangerous idea, because the portfolios will get thrown, dropped, and hauled around. No matter how pretty and carefully packaged it was on the day it arrived, a portfolio has quite a journey to take through the admissions office filing process before the reviewer will even see it, and it's important that it gets there in one piece, without coming apart or getting lost.
i had a 1-year old 2.3 gpa (i hated school), but a 1530 on the gre. i got into 3 out of 4 of the ivy programs. if you're worried about your gpa, study harder for the gre. it couldn't hurt.
as with most other people here, I do not think it is necessary to get your panties in a bunch over gpa issues. I had success with my applications without an outstanding gpa. I think the statement of intent is major -I spent the majority of my time here (but I am a slow writer). Also, I did not have any problems with my portfolios coming undone, torn to shreds or otherwise. I included postage and envelopes for them all to be sent back -no way those bitches were going to keep all that hard work.
Portfolio and letters are the most critical for the top programs, followed by your personal statement. If you've had unique life experiences (are an Olympic swimmer, a guerilla performance artist, worked for OMA as Rem's personal bag-carrier, etc) that may help too. GRE is probably the least important (for US applicants applying to US programs). Grades are only marginally more important than your GREs... so I wouldn't sweat it too much. Note that individual course grades are much more important than your GPA, although if your GPA declined over time you should try to explain it somewhere).
This being said, I do remember a pathetic scene from the GSD open house a few years ago where an applicant, during the open forum Q&A with about 200 people in attendance, proceeded to try to bargain with the admissions officer over whether or not his C- in calc is sufficient to comply with the M.arch math requirement. It didn't work...
Jan 14, 07 3:18 am ·
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GradSchool GPA
whats the chances of getting into a Top Ivy league school with a 3.2( doing a 5yr Barch) GPA but amazing portfolio? Can they really but that much emphasis on the portfolio?
yes they can. a great portfolio is what they want to see. and a 3.2 is a very respectable gpa.
I'd say your chances were pretty slim, to be honest. A mid level B is pretty average for grad school (at least I think it is).
But the portfolio is far more important. I did get in with about a 3.4-3.5, but that was years ago, I assume it continues to get more competitive.
I would still try, though. Make your portfolio kick ass. Spend at least a few months designing it.
Is that an overall GPA or for architecture? They should only be looking at your arch GPA, not your overall.
As long as your GPA is at least 3.0 it's pretty much a non-factor. And even if it's slightly lower there is still a chance (even if the school publishes a 3.0 cut-off) especially if your test scores are high and all your other materials are strong.
I'm writing from experience on this. My GPA was just above 3.2. My average for my undergrad architecture major was even lower and included a C-minus in a 6-credit studio, quite a lot of B's and B-minuses in support courses and I never once got a grade higher than B in any studio (and nearly every A I ever got was in liberal arts and math/science courses). I got into 5 of the 6 schools to which I applied, including some of the top-ranked ones, and was even offered first-year merit grants based on my portfolio by some schools. So if you have a great portfolio and can get some great rec letters, then you have good chances.
Another factor you should look into is how you ranked in your undergrad class, and within your major (or what your current standing is, if you haven't graduated yet.) The registrar's or records office should be able to tell you this. For example if your GPA is a little low but you're in the top 10% of your class then you'll want to point this out in your application - because it is an indication of lower grade inflation at that school than at some others. Some schools will indicate this on your transcript, or provide a letter indicating your ranking, if you request it. Others won't, but you can put this in the "accomplishments" or "awards" sections on grad school applications. Admissions committees usually also have a pretty good sense of the overall GPA typical for different schools - for example they know that over 80% of all grades awarded by certain Ivy League colleges are B+ or above, while C's are truly average grades and A's are quite rare at some other schools.
Good luck.
Now for those applying for M.Arch 1, how important is your non-arch undergrad GPA? I'm definitely a little worried about mine
to Formerlyunknown
how can one have a great portfolio when one gets C/B at studio?
any tips on improving a portfolio after you are done with school?
You can absolutely improve your portfolio after you graduate. I spent most of Christmas break by the Christmas tree watching stupid movies reworking images, fixing drawings etc and rebuilding my portfolio. If you have the framework of the stuff, it's just little tweaks here and there to make it look signifigantly better.
S. Park: There can be a lot of ways that one can have a great portfolio and still not get great grades. Some factors in my case: projects that resulted in appealing/photogenic materials but didn't always meet the studio critics' production checklists, agendas, or expectations; projects that did not always meet deadlines; a general tradition in my program to award no more than 1 or 2 A's per studio; a portfolio whose content was only about 33% studio projects (the rest was creative work of many different sorts - much of it personal projects that were not completed in an academic setting.)
I applied for grad school while I was still completing my last year of undergrad. Thus I had no time to improve my portfolio after the fact. The entire thing was done in the few weeks between my fall semester studio final and the schools' deadline dates.
For my studio projects I included a great deal of "process" materials: sketches, photos of groups of many study models (at the time I tended to work by producing very large numbers of small, rough models), diagrams, etc. The text was very brief - generally no more than a title, information such as dates, purpose, and medium, and one or two sentences of explanation.
One could get the idea from reading some threads in this forum that elaborately-constructed containers, professional binding, and exotic paper are the keys to a great portfolio. I'm sure they help some portfolios. But I was a poor student with no time or money, and I did the whole thing on a close-out ream of colored xerox paper that I bought at my neighborhood copy place - which is also where I had it bound.
My best advice is: put in what you consider to be your best work. Don't worry about its origin (there's no minimum number of academic studio projects that you absolutely need to include, and it's ok to use personal projects if they're your best work.) Put in whatever you need to include to make the project VISUALLY clear and interesting to a reviewer - and don't expect that anyone will read any of your text. Don't worry about what your professors or critics or employers said about your work or what grade you got on it. If YOU think it is good then include it, and if you don't then don't.
GRADES ARE RUBBISH.
god i hope you guys are right. i really want to get into grad school at a nice place only my past few professors have been dinosaur profs who think that the only things that exist in architecture is point line and plane. i bust my ass getting A's on all of my projects and getting always 1st or 2nd in school competitions when over 100 of us are competing and my profs still keep giving me a B+ on my gpa.....they think my project is outstanding but they dont like the style. so they refuse to give me an honorable grade. im sitting on a 3.4 right now but it used to be so much higher.
why do you want to go to a top ivy league school anyways???
Quit your whining, people! I just applied to the GSD with a 2.04.
lol... I'm with Baboomba here. At DePaul and Drexel I've managed to maintain a 3.84 GPA, but most of my undergrad coursework is from UIC in the mid-90's, where I think I was hovering around the 2.0 mark. Hasn't stopped me from applying to GSD and a few other Ivies.
I think the two biggest things are your portfolio and letters of recommendation...
Get the biggest names in your school to write letters. Even if they don't know who you are, you can ask them to review your portfolio and write a letter.
Right on, LIG!
My 2.04 is 15 years old. Plus, I did manage to get 12 hours of As in my grad school prereqs and my GRE V+Q is 1540/1600.
Anything's possible.
Recommendations and porftolio are indeed the most important factors for most schools, and GPA is no more than a notation in each folder (though grades of D and F may be flagged by the people who first review/prepare the candidate folders.) But I wouldn't advise getting recs from people who don't know who you are just to get "big name" recs. These letters can be pretty easy to spot. It's better to get letters from people who can really discuss you: your progress, particular talents, insights, potential, etc. Besides, some "big names" sign so many letters that they become somewhat devalued. I was asked once by a professor in grad school why nearly every applicant from my undergrad school had the same person write one of their letters. I think it was because that person was perceived as the biggest name at that school - but it just resulted in the people reviewing the applications noticing that the "big name" was recommending pretty much everyone.
The lady at the University of Texas told me that the parts count this much:
Portfolio - 40%
Personal Statement - 20%
Recommendations - 20%
GRE -10%
Grades - 10%
I know UT is a state school, but this might be an indication of the relative importance of the application parts.
I've seen several applications to a popular MArch program where several people from a different, popular undergrad school asked the department head for a letter of recommendation. All the letters are the same 3 lines.
"NAME is a student in program X.
There are # students in program X.
NAME is ranked # in the program."
Ask someone who knows you well and can write something meaningful. A famous or well known person who does not know you and does not provide any information beyond what your transcript says will not help to get you into school.
Secondly, it really is important to stick to a normal size portfolio with tough paper and a tough binding. Tiny portfolios slip into the cracks at the ends of filing cabinets and can get lost or are absorbed into the pages of larger portfolios being placed on the shelf, and may not be noticed until it is too late. Bind it with a spiral or something equally tough. Boxes, loose sheets, thread bindings, etc. are a dangerous idea, because the portfolios will get thrown, dropped, and hauled around. No matter how pretty and carefully packaged it was on the day it arrived, a portfolio has quite a journey to take through the admissions office filing process before the reviewer will even see it, and it's important that it gets there in one piece, without coming apart or getting lost.
i had a 1-year old 2.3 gpa (i hated school), but a 1530 on the gre. i got into 3 out of 4 of the ivy programs. if you're worried about your gpa, study harder for the gre. it couldn't hurt.
Hey, paper, thanks for the info. That's encouraging news for someone like me. Congratulations on your success.
as with most other people here, I do not think it is necessary to get your panties in a bunch over gpa issues. I had success with my applications without an outstanding gpa. I think the statement of intent is major -I spent the majority of my time here (but I am a slow writer). Also, I did not have any problems with my portfolios coming undone, torn to shreds or otherwise. I included postage and envelopes for them all to be sent back -no way those bitches were going to keep all that hard work.
May I ask also: does a research paper (published) help?
If GPA is too low and perhaps I couldn't get famous people to write rec letters for me, should I work on my research paper (and portfolio also)?
Portfolio and letters are the most critical for the top programs, followed by your personal statement. If you've had unique life experiences (are an Olympic swimmer, a guerilla performance artist, worked for OMA as Rem's personal bag-carrier, etc) that may help too. GRE is probably the least important (for US applicants applying to US programs). Grades are only marginally more important than your GREs... so I wouldn't sweat it too much. Note that individual course grades are much more important than your GPA, although if your GPA declined over time you should try to explain it somewhere).
This being said, I do remember a pathetic scene from the GSD open house a few years ago where an applicant, during the open forum Q&A with about 200 people in attendance, proceeded to try to bargain with the admissions officer over whether or not his C- in calc is sufficient to comply with the M.arch math requirement. It didn't work...
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