asbuck, that's what i did after i didn't get in last year. i worked super hard on all my materials this year. i have good recommenders. my gpa isn't fabulous, but i can't exactly change that. freshman and sophomore years weren't exactly my best, but my last 2 years i was on the dean's list the whole time.... i know i'm just letting these rejections get the best of me....

Slainte, I cant speak on the nuances of the program...but I do know that a handful of our best professors at OSU have either taught there at some point or have taken offers for the up coming year to teach there. And it is in Chicago.

Rie, I hear ya. How about your portfolio? Maybe there can be improvement there?

sky captain, via mail?

i know there's always room for improvement on the portfolio, but i thought i did a good job with it. i had just about everyone i know, professors and everything look at it...

god, i really dont know where to go to school. I'm so indecisive - this decision is killing me.

yeah I thought I killed mine too. But then, as it appears, I was rejected by all my schools. Granted, I applied to insane schools, I still thought my port was the shit. But now I look at it and can see roughly 87,000 areas that could use improvement. Its an ongoing/subjective process. Keep your hopes up

is the MArch program at UIC accredited? I'm just suprised i haven't heard much about it i guess...

did anyone here visit cincinnati yesterday?

yeah. last night.

slainte - uic's program is accredited. www.arch.uic.edu

yeah I think it is. I really havent heard much either 'cept, like I said, some professors I reaaally respected as an undergrad teach.have taught there. since most factors about arch schools are so subjective/equal across the board faculty becomes one of the most important aspects.

got a letter from Florida yesterday....no scholarship, but they give you in-state tuition after 1 year. but the program is 4 years long! wtf? but i knew that.

looks like i'm 10/11 i just haven't heard from UPenn yet.

yikes, this is scary.


artichoke: when do you have to tell GAtech? that offer is very tempting....!

These are the schools I got into: Cincy, UIC, UVA, Wash U, GA tech, and UT-knoxville (TN state school)

UVA the one I was most excited about getting into, but Ga tech offered me a full ride.

I'm sorry if i have exhausted you guys with this. But im totally lost and confused.

buckeye - i understand your regrets over port stuff, but i tried to keep my school choices pretty practical. you can be a fine choice and not go to gsd!

wow. people post here non-stop....a chat room would be good.

smith...good god man you're crazy. 10/11!!

sky, well good luck....i hoping for the waitlist at yale as well. where do you live? hopefully close to conn.

right, practicality will be my theme next year :). One thing i've learned about getting into the ivies this year...if you meet someone who has, ask them who they know.

smithwillb - they wanted me to tell them march 24, but they gave me an extension so i could keep my travel plans to uva. so april 4 is the new date.

I havent heard from columbia or tulane yet! im not concerned about tulane, but i'd like to hear from columbia. i'm thinking it's a no at this point.. oh well, i guess i just saved myself some money.

oh and i didnt get into UT-austin. WTF!

why would you wish for the wait list? lol. canadian here. it's a nice drive though.

sky- what did you think of cincy?

oh, because without a call from stern at this point, waitlist is all I can hope for. damn, canada. guess that sort of demoralizes my hopes of getting one being on the eastern seaboard. well, congrats anyways.

stern calls? really? what is cincy?

well that sucks, artichoke. as hard as it is to say this...i kinda wish i didn't get into columbia because now i have to make the decision to either stay in NYC, go to a brilliant school, and pay 175,000...or go somewhere else. yikes.

the GATech thing is just way too good to pass up! i made a promise to myself that if a school offered me full tuition + stipend that i would go. it's the perfect time! we're heading into an economic recession and someone is going to PAY YOU to go to school...by the time you graduate, everything will be smoothed over, hopefully. that's how i see it, anyway.


i'm going to Cornell this weekend to check things out as i can't make it to their open house. i'll report back with the state of things.

this has been a crazy year.

skycaptian what do you think of U of Tornoto compared to American schools. I could never find any resource that would compare the two.

i would deeply consider UVA. Its program is extremely hard to get into, it is well respected all over the world, and the atmosphere and professors are top notch. it also has better chances of working wherever you want when you graduate. plus, now is the best time to get loans. why miss an amazing opportunity because of money, when you could be maybe making more during summers or after school because of the name on the degree and experience you recieved.

smithwillb-

thanks for your input, it really helps!

a huge amount of debt is so overwhelming, and i don't want to be behind when Im just starting out as a graduate. that being said i'm a school snoot like the rest of them and i want to go to the best school possible. i think this is because i want the best opportunities when i graduate!

let me know how to cornell goes! what schools are you leaning toward right now?

kramer - your opinion, please.

where would you go?

Columbia (+?)
Cornell (+35K)
Umich (+85K)
UVa (+?)


that's what i'm deciding on right now.

smithwillb - i know kramer personally (we went to school together) and his opinion is definitely a good one to get!


kramer - where are you leaning right now? UPenn?

riedell - this is coming from knowing you for a long time.

first of all, you still got two schools. you never know until they say no.

however, if it does come down to that, i think you need go do something crazy different. you've got nothing holding you back at this point - no student loans you have to pay off (lucky!), no mortgage, no car payment!

your office has really not helped develop you as a designer (granted... there's probably not many among us who this has happened), but i think there is the opportunity to find somewhere that will (recommender who mentioned possible job...). and if you're in an enviroment that respects a m.arch, i think you'll find people more involved in the design world - who want to do competitions, who are more involved in the local arch scene, etc.

you should definitely think about getting out of atlanta, getting out of georgia. it might be the most difficult thing you do, but i think it could really open up the possibilities. maybe not specifically towards grad school, but your design career.

Rie, either get out of Atlanta or go work for Scogin :)

yeah smith, i'm going to have to agree with kramer on this - the price tag may be hard to swallow, but if columbia is actually where you want to be, and where you'll learn the most, then you should bite the bullet. i was in a similar situation for undergrad, choosing between a full ride + stipend at tulane vs. zero financial aid at uva (which is admittedly much much cheaper than columbia), and ultimately i decided it was worth the investment to go to the school that was better for me. (the irony is, if i had gone to tulane, i would have ended up at uva after katrina anyway. go figure.) i think where you go to grad school is going to be an enormous factor in what kind of architect you become, and in where you work, and that's going to last a lot longer than whatever debt you incur.

it's also worth thinking about why GAtech has offered you both (smith + sky) full rides - they know they're competing with top notch universities for you guys, and they really really want you. you'll be coming in as some of their strongest students - which could be great, but on the other hand, will you be challenged by your peers? if you come in on top, do you feel like you'll still push yourself to go further? just a different way of thinking of it.

smith, is columbia really $175,000?? that's unfathomable, is the program 7 years long or something? or does that include cost of living?

I called Penn and confirmed that ALL letters for ALL programs went out yesterday.

I live in Philly so I'm hoping I get SOMETHING today.

Although, my sig.other works at Penn and told me that the mail system there can be slow. As in, if they didn't get the packages to Penn Mail Services by 3-4pm yesterday, they won't actually go out until today...

..WHICH SUCKS!


I'm sharpening my stabbing knives.

Snark – thanks for your comments. I really like Columbia and the connections they have are serious. daniel libeskind seems to hire only Columbia grads (there were 5 working for him this summer!)…but the money needs and should be a serious concern….36K a year + 20K a year in living/books/supplies: it’s expensive. BUT, I do really like their Masters in Real Estate Development program, and would love to have that under my belt as well…that may, in the end, justify getting such an expensive degree.

But when comparing UVa to Columbia, Michigan and Cornell – all the pros and cons seem to water each other out and I’m still left with a hard decision.

Slainte: I went to UofT for undergrad. It's a good school. A little under facilitated (especially for undergrad) but good instructors.

... and compared to American schools... it has a Harvard-like pedagogy with public school quality.

smith, could you potentially get some financial aid awards out of columbia after your first year? might be worth asking, especially if it's going to factor heavily into your decision.

Slainte: also Uof Toronto is a billion dollars cheaper

smithwillb, I have worked at Cornell, and I think it is a really good program, but that was like 6 years ago and i didnt look at their grad program at all because i didnt want to be in Ithaca (beautiful place, bad winters, and lots of competition, not a bad thing). Columbia i have heard is a great program and is extremely well connected with the professional world, especially since it is in the city it is really well conencted to the international professional world (like most practices in the city are). U mich is a place i got into and am still learning about, but I (and many others) definitely hold all the other schools ur looking at above michigan. midwest is not the best (not the worst either) place to study unless you want to stay in the midwest. UVa is extremely well respected. Money should not be an issue for your education, but if its between Cornell, Columbia, and UVa you should pick which one you feel more connected to. I personally would have a tough time paying a shit load in rent in New York city, having hundreds of friends around and always being too busy to take advantage of the amazing things that are happening to apply to columbia. just my 2 cents

i am leaning toward U Penn. Still have to hear from Sci-Arc, Rice, Yale, Harvard and MIT, but i dont think i got into Yale harvard or MIT

Upenn and Columbia are a toss up for me.... oh well, I wait till I hear from penn

SMArchS Design and Computation!!! Call from Terry Knight!!! Yaaay!!!

UofT (AL&D) was modeled after GSD's program when they started the MArch. I visited all the big US schools and I would say it is definitely a top contender - UofT is starting to get some big names - and it is the strongest program in Canada for March. (most would agree) There is a lot of crossover with faculty at UofT with GSD and other big name US schools. Look at the faculty roster. Definitely worth applying to - Tuition costs aside, I would probably end up back at Toronto over Columbia.

Thanks Druvius and Skycaptain for the UofT questions.

Sky: what do you mean by:

"Tuition costs aside, I would probably end up back at Toronto over Columbia."?

got into Columbia and Harvard GSD.
CAN"T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!

So if all the big schools did first rounds already via phone, my life sits in the hands of a wait list. i feel helpless. lol.

I would choose AL&D over GSAPP regardless of the more favorable tuition costs for UofT. they have a decent website you can check out.

lol. i feel like writing this on here is going to get my a rejection from Columbia now.

The effect of that RISD rejection is just starting to sink in. I had been gearing mysself down for a rejection ever since I started seeing some well qualified people on this thread get rejections. I just knew it had to happen from at least one of my schools (probably more to come). It is kinda like a politician who is not sure how well they will do in an election, so they keep their expections low - Hoping for the best, but not surprised when the results don't go their way.

untouchable...did you get a phone call or package? and when? OOOOh.

untouchable Congrats!

Just now you got into gsd?

and is it march I??