@vsophiam

thanks. let's see... how big is the architecture section? i want to know where pratt and parsons graduate programs are at and any info on them. you can email it to me if you feel more comfortable. i'm also on ichat.

nariman@sfu.ca

that ranking list is not even close to accurate. On a side note, I just heard from UPenn. :)

okay. i want to see some portfolio's. anyone know where to find these?

They are on one of the previous 47 pages.

oooh - working in shanghai. you got a connection modernmonk?

47!!!

(sorry, stupid Pomona College inside joke. No one probably gets it)

By the way, apparently one of my professors FORGOT to send letters to 4 of the six schools I applied to.

Luckily it only affects Columbia. The rest either only require 2 letters, or I dont care about them, or i fixed the problem in time.

Not that it wouldve helped all that much for Columbia. but still. He was my thesis advisor, and probably knew me the best out of my recommenders.

Shit. Oh well. Water under the bridge, etc etc

Still waiting to hear back from schools?

Here's my theory and I'm using Columbia as an example. People have posted on here that they've been accepted to Columbia. People have posted here that they've been rejected from Columbia. And there's still some of us with NO ANSWER. Schools select students in rounds. The obvious choices are contacted right away so no one wastes their time. The people on the "maybe" list will have to wait until the schools hear back from the students. And the rest of the seats are filled. So if you have not heard a YES or a NO yet it means that you're in their maybe list and will have to wait until april 15th. It's a shitty deal for us applicants, but this is how I would do it if I was in charge of admissions. It guarantees the best possible class of students.

that's the case with me and VTech. I'm in their maybe pile and won't hear from them until mid April.

no portfoio's/ i'm tired of looking.

skycaptain: positive news from Upenn?

did anyone hear anything about harvard acceptances/rejections/waitlist for March I 3+.

nariman,

Columbia says decisions will be posted by April 1

accepted just now.

well, i'd rather be on the 'maybe' list for my last 2 schools than on the 'absolutely not' list like i was with maryland.....

accepted to where skycaptain? columbia or harvard

i think he got into UPenn.

oh right...didnt see that post....disregard

modernmonk - whatsa happening in shanghai this summer?

ive got a place to stay, some language skills -- just need a job!

Laptops

This is pretty much a must. I'm looking for the killer laptop with best possible graphics card.

You can get the ThinkPad T61p with NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M 256MB.

Any recommendations? I'm going to do some research on this so I'll post what I find and appreciate your comments.

is it true that the envelops they come in are crimson?

skycapt, are you asking about GSD envelopes? all of the stuff i've gotten from them so far has been in those large white tyvek envelopes, no crimson.

"You can get the ThinkPad T61p with NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M 256MB. "

Have it. Love it.

I received an email from GSD. It was written by admission assistant. She answered some questions I asked a few days ago. (My embark system shows that one of my recommenders hasn't submitted his letter, but he has sent it offline.)

I made a call to ask her when we will be notified. She told me all the decsion "mails" have been sent out this Monday.

Maybe we could assume we would receive mails this week, but I am not sure if it is good news or not...

hey kingapa that's cool. these laptops are so sweet. how is the graphics card performance with 3d modeling software?

I got into Columbia and Berkeley and am pretty seriously considering Berkeley. I'm getting married this summer and the idea of FOUR years (dual m.arch and ms historic preservation) and $120K plus living costs is pretty scary. Berkeley would be two years and $40K.

Mostly for financial reasons I'm thinking of taking Berkeley's offer, but its a very tough decision. I used to live in the Bay Area and it is definitely an easier pace of life than dreary old New York City. We will certainly miss NYC if we go, but SF is a pretty good runner-up in terms of cool cities to live in.

wow, there are a lot more Berkeley admitees on here than suspected.

Ive sort of given up on GSD, but not sure what to think about Berkeley! Its been quiet since friday

quasimodo,

I live in SF right now and love it...however, after travelling to Berkeley last week for a lecture I realized that the school is far from San Francisco in distance (30-45 mins total time by BART)...and even further in atttitude and general feel...or maybe I'm jsut addicted to city-life...

Yeah, I'm facing that issue with either option. I've got an awesome apartment in Brooklyn right now and anyone who has lived in NYC knows how rare decent apartments in good locations are. So, if we stay I'll have a 45 min commute too. Not looking forward to a 45 min. commute at 4 AM, but I don't know of any other option.

yeah, Berkeley is very different than the city of SF.

for anyone who cares, I just recieved a response from admissions @ Berk and they said that "We will be sending out the departmental decisions within the next few days." I'm convinced that my rejection letter is included in that since it seems that most, if not all acceptees have gotten theirs last Friday.

skycaptain and pumaa03:

thanks for sharing your opinions/experiences. looks like it's a tough choice between Yale and MIT eh? I'm still slightly leaning toward MIT, but open houses will really help me to decide i suppose.

so i keep hearing about this MIT package sent by DHL, but all I got was an offer letter in the mail on Monday. anyone actually get a big packet yet?

quiksilver ... i got the package
did they offer you any scholarship? how many years will your MArch be at MIT?

they only did DHL for international student
it's indeed a few pages of letter in a DHL package....

ottodesk ottocad, i'll be applying for next year and MIT is definitely my top choice. i see that you're an international student, do they provide scholarship for you?

i'm international as well..

billibneen (& other inquirers about berkeley):

i went to berkeley for undergrad architecture, and have toured Avery Hall at Columbia, and i think most of your thoughts on them are pretty accurate to my experiences.

uc berkeley definitely has more studio space than columbia, and a great shop facility. two classmates of mine who are now at gsd say they really miss the shop at berkeley. the faculty there is also very very diverse and accessible.. a lot of them are younger, upcoming stars like Lisa Iwamoto and Mark Anderson. i had quite a lot of crit and review time with Iwamoto even in her undergrad studio. the urban studies department at berkeley is also very good. Ananya Roy is the most awesome lecturer i've ever had, and has insipired me to be more socially conscious about architecture.

berkeley as a city is great as well. defintely some of the best food in the bay area, and it has the convenience of a city while maintaining the chill california atmosphere. the air there is also the cleanest i've ever breathed - the air blows in from across the golden gate bridge. it's definitely not san francisco like others on here say, but that's definitely not a bad thing. i love both cities equally. and correction, downtown san francisco is actually only 20 minutes from berkeley by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)

ottodesk ottocad:

MIT offered me a scholarship, but unfortunately they've placed me in the 3.5 year ("seven semester") program. i called them and they are re-reviewing my application to see if i can qualify for the 2.5 year ("five semester") program.

looks like i should call them again about the package since i haven't received it

quicksilver, yeah I think I got the same MIT package as you on Monday. Regular envelope stuffed pretty thick though.

ottodesk, I got a pretty nice financial offer, I'm a US citizen so I’m not sure how that affects their offers but I once heard that MIT gives the same financial offer to 75% of potential students. I didn't get AP though so if I end up there it looks like it'll be for 3.5 years.

See you guys at the open house if you make it there.

Just called the GSD and the guy said all letters have been officially mailed out yesterday. Thought I'd put that out there.

I got half tuition scholarship and 3.5 years... so do u guys...right?
seems like they are putting everyone in MArchI with scholarship this year.

Grad Cafe rejection streak at 11...

got my "no" from the GSD today. postmarked yesterday, 3/25, which might confirm the comments that all letters were officially mailed yesterday. those of you who aren't in boston where we get the mail so quickly, my best wishes to you all.

hm, wondering if any sunrise "yes''s will come out of these...not holding my breath

sunrise yes's ...hmm what was that?

SUPRISE "yes"'s

Hey congrats to all who have heard positively from schools, and congrats to those who got in at Berkeley, where I'm a M.Arch Opt. 2 student in the 1st year.

Someone was asking earlier about a decision between Berkeley and an Ivy, and I had to make that decision last April, turning down Yale (+scholarship). The students I talked to (mostly M.Arch II) at Yale weren't happy with the program, didn't feel that they had direction, looked really burned out... and it was a very different scene at Berkeley. Lots of positive energy. But you all will need to visit the schools to make your own opinion. I was only at Yale for a day (not open house), and talked to about 15 students, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I do, however, know Berkeley pretty well. The school is on the up, after purging quite a bit of faculty a couple years ago. We as students are very active; we are starting a student-run journal which will launch a website issue in April/May. The studio culture is hardcore, but does not overwhelm your schedule; there is a big emphasis on seminars at Berkeley and you're expected to produce serious work outside of studio. You have many creative outlets here besides studio, studio, studio.

Do some research on the faculty: Nicholas de Monchaux, Greg Chrysler, Renee Chow, Rene Davids, in addition to some mentioned above are all faculty who are pushing the school forward in brave new directions.

Good luck with your decisions, everyone.

Got an email about the Columbia "waitlist" today. Boo... anyone know if that list = an actual possibility of getting in ?

Nicholas de Monchaux was the professor for my very first studio at UVa.

incredibly intelligent, curious and well-versed in many a subject beyond architecture.

definitely a plus for berkeley...

thoughts on princeton vs. mit?

why is everyone so into MIT? lol. princeton is great...prob because they take so few ppl and can be very selective. although i have to say, academia aside, for some reason I think I knew I was destined to end up at MIT. any more news of GSD?