Try reworking your portfolio...
and it seems like you are interested in California schools....

Try.. SCIARC...and I would also say CAL POLY SLO even though it looks like you are interested in UC's ..... but if you are studing architecture......CAL POLY and SCIARC would be at equal level or maybe better.....But it sure wouldnt be considered lower standard....

from design Intelligence ...the word is they have a great program for the BARCH...and its alot more affordable

And if I am correct...CAL Poly SLO is RANKED by DEsign Intelligence the best in the west..


but never give up...

When I said Affordable I was talking about CAL POly

I THink Sciarc is as expensive as USC...

DifficultFIx, you feelin' ok?

Just Tired.....Not enough sleep......You know how IT IS

Just Tired.....Not enough sleep......You know how IT IS

I appreciate the insight. I've thought about SciArc. I don't want to get into a huge philosophical back-and-forth, but I'm interested in a larger liberal arts undergraduate degree. Or, at least that's what I've been telling myself. But, I don't know TOO much about SciArc so I can't cross them off my list.

Cal Poly is a no for me...already been rejected. Now, I know it seems like I get rejected from a lot of schools. That hasn't really been my forte and I hate that it's coming off that way. The JC I went to is a huge UC feeder school (De Anza College), and yet fails miserably to have any arch classes other than the ones that are threaded in with the art department. Where I live, you have to go to West Valley if you want to go to Cal Poly.

My portfolio was pretty good, although mine is the only one I've ever seen, so, no comparative advantage to go by there.

Looks like it may be down to USC or SciArc, although they are both good schools - I'd just never really considered them before.

....the pre-reqs for Cal Poly and Berkeley were vastly different, and I opted to go for the Berkeley sequence. I didn't have any of the pre-reqs for Cal Poly, hence the rejection.

you may want to work a little longer and get a bachelors at the JC...then apply for an architecture masters program at one of the above mentioned schools

So, how do I get a bachelors at a JC?

i have no idea

You can't get a bachelors at a JC. Its purpose is to give you a lower division curriculum so you can transfer to a University. (Or get an AA, but who would do that?) I need to transfer. No offense, I appreciate any thoughts, but that one is impossible.

a rejection doesn't mean you can't get accepted in future semesters.

i'd suggest finding out if sciarc, ucla, berkeley, etc have summer immersive architecture courses - a sort of crash intro course. you'd see what you're getting into, you'd add architecture-directed work to your portfolio, and you'd get some time to talk to instructors about what a school might be looking for.

usually these things last three weeks or so. could be the boost you need.

sounds like you really want it. good luck.

if you know you want to do architecture - and you're already interning in it - why not go get your bachelor's in something else design focused and then go get your MArch.

I got my b.s. arch, but i almost wish i had studied something else and then just applied for the master's. it's a little bit more schooling, but it would give you the opportunity to try something different and you might be a better MArch applicant. plus, maybe you could take some arch electives and get to know some professors at the school you go to.

but that's just an idea.

Yeah dude, ust go to any of the schools and try to get in for general admission, study something else that has an art or design concentration, and then get your m.arch.

I took this path and it worked out very well.

Just to let you know, almost all the UCs are extremely competitive -- even the ones like Irvine, Davis, Riverside, San Diego, and San Bernadino (Not just UCLA and Berkeley). They are extremely competitive to get into even on a general admission basis. And you were also talking about USC. It too is extremely competitive and Cal Poly is a very good architecture school so at this point, if you insist on taking the route you're taking, you may have no room to be picky.

Good luck with everything.

I applied to the same school when I was transferring,when I was 20 ( 6 years ago). If you fulfill all of the general ed and pre-reqs for the major, they let you in to the Cal Poly System. They don't even ask for your portfolio until they try to put you into studio. If I remember I had a 3.4 GPA. I realize a lot can happen in six years...but if you didn'f fulfill the pre-req requirements for the major ( not just the general ed) they usually don't let you in no matter the GPA or portfolio. Specifically the year of calculus and the year of calculus-based physics.

I'd also try Woodbury University.

I'd also schedule a phone convo with the arch office at Berkeley or ask them to discuss your situation, if you want to go there that bad.

I agree with laurilan , If you cant get in to a B-Arch program, Try getting in to different undergrad program, then Apply to an M. Arch program of your choice.

Take in mind that the undergrad program you enter should be something that will benefit your overall Architecture goal, something that will asisst you develope the design skills and Portfolio work that you will need to apply to an M Arch program

Such as

Industrial Design, Enviromental Design,....etc..

Check out www.idsa.org for a list of Accredited Schools...


also I would look into ... www.artcenter.edu


If not there is Also CAL Poly PomonA( for Architecture)

Good Luck..........

Sorry Josh but you can't say your portfolio was good when you haven't seen others. Invest some time with admission departments going over your portfolio and beg them to tear it apart. It won't feel good but if you are interested in pursuing architecture you better get use to it. good luck

perhaps archinect should do a feature on the architecture admissions process. interview some of the people who make the decisions. post some sample portfolios etc. it would be a great service to the kids out there!

Here is how you get admitted to an architecture program.

Deemphasize any real world experience in your portfolio including Strip Malls, FastFood Joints or U Stor It facilities.
Do not include the octagonal shaped dream home you designed in 11th grade.
Do not include any Fountainhead references in your statement of intent.

Do design a cenotaph for Walter Benjamin
Do design an institute for Dream Research
Do quote and refer to Jean Luc Godard whenever possible.

Try Woodbury University in Burbank (or San Diego). It’s easy to get into (they are very flexible about the acceptance date too) and you get a great, well-rounded, and respected education. It's an expensive private school, but the poorer you are, the more aid you get- especially if you are a first generation college student. Then do the MArch II somewhere like UCLA...a ton of kids from there follow that path...successfully.

…or you might be intrigued to shoot for non-LA schools after your bachelors. Kids go to Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Penn, etc….

Best of luck in your decision!

avoid school go the apprenticeship route?

find a sushi bar with an ATM

OK, well I greatly appreciate all of your suggestions. A lot of new information has come to the surface today.

I spoke with an admissions advisor at Berkeley - apparently there are two classes that I haven't taken as a pre-reqs (they weren't offered at my JC, and my worthless counselor told me I didn't have to take them), which was the basis for my rejection. The advisor said my GPA was definitely high enough, and with the addition of those classes I'd be more than qualified. So, I'll have to wait until next year I guess.

I know a lot of people post on here about their academic problems, questions, etc. I appreciate all of your sincere opinions, and I will continue to take them into consideration. Apparently, the sequence of courses you take is much more important than anything else at a public school such as Berkeley.

Oh, and as far as UCLA goes, I failed to mention a class I had taken, which brought my cumulative lower division classes below the required 90 quarter units.

So, I got rejected due to a strictly subjective process...which is far better than not being good enough, I think.

Thanks again!!