Way to early for this. But since you started it...

Well I wish anybody here will get in somewhere!

2008 thread was very helpful for myself. I will keep my portfolio online for a while.

If you would like to review it, here you go:

http://fran.deluxe.googlepages.com/portfolio

My major was Civil Engineering (5-years degree from Spain)
GRE v420 q730 e3.5
TOEFL 79iBT

Got in Syracuse, SCI-Arc
Rejected from Cornell, Columbia, RISD
Waiting for Pratt, Parsons

Good luck!

damn!!!!! I missed my chance, I waited a damn year for this moment.

"oh no he didn't!"


: \

btw guys, it's really not too early, get to work on those portfolios!

best of luck to all

too early....?

sometimes it feels like its too late

YAY i'm a 2009 applicant! I have like 20 schools i'm interested in...time to start cutting that back!!

Starting early is a good idea. Last year I started late - took the GRE's in late November and didn't start my essay and portfolio till December. I think this definitely hurt me.

I think the first time everyone posts on here they should put down their undergrad major, GPA, GRE, ect and if they've done this already tell everyone what schools they got accepted/rejected to/from - maybe include a portfolio also.

Heres mine:

Undergrad Degree - BS in Mathematics - UNH
GPA - 3.93
GRE - 610 verbal, 750 quant, 5 writing
Portfolio - mostly freehand drawings and a few photos - very rushed

I was a 2008 applicant -

Got rejected from -

Harvard
Cornell
RISD

Got accepted to -

UMass Amherst

Not sure if I will go to UMass this fall or apply again for 2009. I've also been thinking about applying to structural engineering programs for the spring 2009 semseter.

good luck to all in 2009! it's definitely not too early to get started. giving yourself lots of time and a consistent schedule for working on your applications is the best way to present yourself well and to reduce some of the stress inherent in the process.

as an '08 commiserator, here's my advice (such as it is):

get your GRE out of the way as soon as you can. it's probably the least important part of your application, but if you put it off until the fall, it'll stress you out and you'll end up either bombing it or studying for it when you should be working on your portfolio.

start thinking about who you might ask to write your recommendations, get in touch with them, and stay in touch with them. ask their advice about everything - ask what schools you should look at, send them draft copies of your portfolio and essays, try to include them as much as possible in your work. they've probably done this before and have a lot of insight to offer, and the more they know about you and how you want to present yourself to schools, the better they can tailor their letters to tie into that.

your portfolio is by far the most important part of your application, particularly if you have an architecture background, so give that 80-90% of your time and energy.

gather up everything you think you might include - make sure you've scanned every drawing, saved every rendering, and photographed every model, and if you haven't, do it now. make a list of all of the work you might include, and look at it critically. only include your very best work, whether it's architecture or not. the best advice i got along the way was from paul lewis: "you will always be judged by your strongest project and your weakest project. look at the work, find the weakest project, and remove it." immediately eliminate the worst pieces and projects, even if they were the most time-consuming or close to your heart, and if you have work that has potential but isn't quite show-quality yet, by all means, improve it.

find the weaknesses and gaps in your portfolio, and take the time to fill them in with new drawings/models/diagrams/renderings/whathaveyou.

get someone to give you semi-regular portfolio critiques, particularly any friends or former classmates you may have who are current students in programs to which you're applying.

try to get your layout and project order reasonably finalized pretty early so you can decide exactly which images you need to produce or improve before going to print.

do as much research as you can on different schools. visit if you can, talk/email with current students and faculty, and look at as much student work as possible. consider location, length of program, thesis requirements, option studio offerings, advanced placement policies, school size, travel opportunities, cost..... identify what draws you to certain schools and keep it in mind while preparing your application. all schools are looking for you to demonstrate what makes you unique, what you will bring to their school, and why their program is a particularly good fit for you. keep your list as narrow as you can make it, and only apply to places you'd be really excited to attend. considering the investment of time, energy, and money that grad programs require, you should make sure you don't settle for less than what you really want out of the experience.

try not to be in a constant state of panic december-april.

good luck!

Good Luck everyone, you 'll need it . Don't go thinking that just having an amazing portfolio is all there is...Grad School Application process is a total crap shoot with no rhyme or reason, and only pain and uncertainty in blindly waiting for admissions people that you don't know, to attempt to determine your fate. The factor no one discusses here is all the international and other type of "quotas" schools will look for , so it is your only way to play the odds. If you happen to be on the wrong side of the quota fence, the odds may stack against you more than you know....just take a deep breathe and don't take it personally, it may take a while, so try to be humble.

Plus don't forget ...

Architecture Sucks!

ff dude,

How were finally your results?

it's not a crap shoot - if you can meet with professors and current students at your potential programs now - show them your work, and get advice on what it takes to get into their program... then you increase your chances.

it's no accident that a large number of people who do the summer career discovery at the GSD end up getting into the GSD the following fall.

rejected everywhere...so weird...






well..I DID get in to UCLA..





with a full ride the first year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1



:-)

I'll add my advice for what its worth for those who have no architecture experience. Make sure your work is critical, conceptual, and most of all different. If its graphics, what is special about it is it critical of something, is there any underlying concept driving the idea. If its photography, what are you doing thats different. EVERYONE has a digital camera, what are you doing shows you know how to look at something in a different way.

And I actually think for non architects the essay matters more. Do your research on the program and show why you want to go to that specific school. Where is it located? Who is the dean? Who are the professors you want to work with? What are the classes you want to take? etc. The more you can show you have an interest in what is specifically being taught, the better. No boilerplate essays.

Good luck, to say it is stressful is an understatement.

i humbly disagree, ff33. even with hundreds of portfolios to look through, it is easy to discern the bad from the good, and even the good from the great. there is a consistency in acceptances and rejections that is proof of this.

the application process will reveal itself to be much more therapeutic than stressful, unless you take it too seriously. i say enjoy the summer. if you find inspiration, write it down or sketch it out. seek out new ways to represent and highlight your potential. thinking too much about what schools are looking for will just limit the possibilities.

there is also proof that quotas exist, yet they will not tell you this outright...

nor will criteria for acceptance ever be transparent...

so not to sound bitter, but to possibly remind of these
"little" factors

But I agree, it is therapeutic.

How do the schools feel about samples of made work?
I'm obviously talking about a photo of the work; I know some bright spark is gonna tell me that you can't mail a piece of furniture to a school and then said bright spark will feel all smug about possessing great wit.

zigfromsa I think made work is a great idea. I had some but did not include it. If I remember you correctly, you said you were an engineer - Why not include projects from work or your undergrad studies if possible?

I think I made the mistake of not putting any work from my undergrad major in my portfolio. I put in lots of drawings from the ONE drawing class I took, but didn't put any work in from the MANY math classes I took. It seems like they want to see thought process, not just some nice drawings/artwork. I should have included some proofs that I did in some of my higher math classes - I could have tried to condense them, make them easier to understand for non-math people and added nice diagrams to visually express what was going on. You could probably do the same coming from any degree - take some of your best undergrad work and rework so that it is more presentable. Of course they probably also want to see the typical more "artsy" stuff as well such as drawings, photos or sculpture. But don't just show a final product - if possible also show how you arrived at it.

I probably shouldn't be giving advice on the portfolio - since I didn't have much luck last time around, but I think I know were I went wrong.

Thanks cou2,
I did my undergrad 5 years ago and by the time I'd consider an MArch it will have been 8 to 10 years since I did my undergrad, so I'll hold off on anything from there. However I am doing my Masters in Eng part time right now and I can probably find something interesting from there. I'm not sure I can submit stuff from work, not legally anyway, which is too bad b/c I'm doing somewhat architectural work right now.

I don't have much artsy stuff, but I can do a mean design sketch by hand and my cad skills are quite decent, any thoughts on that?

Also I tend to design and build alot of my own architectural details when doing my home, ie. I rarely use stock Home Depot parts but tend to cobble together things from various raw products, how do they look on that?

Hi!

I can't believe it's April already.

Undergrad Degree - BA in Psych (concentration was visual perception)
GPA - 3.8
GRE - TBD - must get cracking.
Portfolio - work from GSAPP summer program (will attend in july) and freehand drawings seem like default things i will include. I cook a lot, so I am mulling over whether I should include an original dish I make, which people think is pretty tasty, presented in somewhat a style that a cookbook does. The dish changed from what was originally a salad, to a sandwich, and now a composed plate. The way I am envisaging this in the portfolio is to show the process involved in how the dish has evolved since when it was a salad, and also to highlight the process and reasoning behind some of the components in the dish. Food and cooking is in vogue now, so if i can pull it off, it may just make sense to the applications committee. I also am thinking of including the work I did on my senior thesis, which focused on a visual perception experiment i conducted. The university research lab is working more on this project since I graduated and are hoping to write up an article and publish it.

Hopefully, the GSAPP intro arch program will concretize many things for me, especially in wanting to follow through with applying to arch school and getting a leg up in the process. i've been lurking and reading the forums for several years. it's a great place, and i am excited to be contributing to this thread and become more active in posting. i know i will take away many things from this process, and i hope i can contribute whatever i can to the forum by sharing my experiences, just as others in the past have done for me.

zigfromsa - I'm sure some CAD drawings would be alright. I know what your saying about submitting stuff from work - I did construction work for a number of years before I went to college and for a while during college. I wish I had documented more of it - though it would be hard to call it my own work, since many people were involved and I usually had nothing to do with the design end of things.

When traveling, think about photographing or drawing the architectural highlights of the places you visit. This past summer I went to Toronto and Greece. Had I been thinking about my portfolio at the time I could have incorporated some great stuff from those trips. Toronto has some great architecture and I could have made some sketches of some interesting buildings. The Acropolis in Athens would have also been a great place for photos or sketches, but instead I did the usually touristy photo thing - partly because I was traveling with friends. I really missed some great opportunities on those trips.

If I decide to do this again next year, I will make frequent trips to Boston this summer and sketch different building/places - really build up a body of work to select from.

zigfromsa, i think including some details you've designed and built in your portfolio could work really well if you spend some time working through how to present them. as with all elements in your portfolio, you should try to use these as a way to illustrate design process - maybe start with some initial sketches or a graphic presentation of the problem you were trying to solve, then show how the piece evolved as you drew it and then constructed it, all the way through to completion. it's certainly not a bad idea to include some CAD drawings or finished photographs, but make sure you show how you got there, even if you have to go back and do those "early" sketches and diagrams after the fact.

cou2, i agree that traveling is a great time to develop work for your portfolio, but personally i'd steer clear of including photographs of neat buildings unless you're truly a photographer. architectural photography is an incredibly specialized discipline, and average quality photos of someone else's design work aren't going to tell admissions committees much of anything about you. definitely sketch everything you see that interests you, and i'd also try to draw sketch diagrams as much as possible. find a place that interests you and try to distill what it is about its design that works so well, figure out what the relationships are between spaces, look at how it is intended to be used and how it really gets used. it's also worthwhile to try and look at districts or cities from a larger urban perspective, and see if you can document the spatial qualities of a city in a graphically inventive way.

So basically the admissions commitees want to know what your thought processes are?
I wonder if I can include my real estate investment research with my portfolio?
Also my wife is a photographer I should get her to take the photos for me .....I mean I'll take the shots and get her to critique them ;-)

Please avoid putting photos in your portfolio unless you are the only person that could ever take that photo or feel very strongly about that photo... 99% of all photographs put into portfolios says nothing about the person that put it in because any other random person with a camera could've taken that exact same photo.

Hey guys:

Undergrad: B.Arch NYIT:
GPA 3.1, Arch GPA 3.8
GRE still studying

I plan on applying to the GSD and MIT, both MarchII.
My opinion, especially for you guys who don’t have much architecture experience, include lots of interesting freehand drawings: life drawing and most importunately blind contour! I wouldn’t include many photographs, and if you’re going to sketch architecture, make sure you create some analytical drawings/ diagrams along with those “beautiful sketches”. And process, process, process!!!! The committee is going to want to take a peak at your thinking process.

I’ll hopefully have a decent mock portfolio soon, and I will definitely post for criticism.

good luck everyone!

Some 2008 commiserators had success with essays that were highly tailored to the schools they were applying to. Other people have had success writing ones that barely brought up architecture and were not tailored to a specific school. I guess there are many approaches to writing a good essay. Any thoughts? What would people here inclined to do for the essay?

I hope i'm not the only one here w/ a sub 3.8 gpa...
My list:

Clemson - looks pretty cool
Kent- 1.5 years, decent program, not too exciting
Lawrence - only 1 year but in Detroit
CUNY - need to find out what's up w/ their accredation
U New Mexico - looks like a pretty safe "safety"
Colorado - another "safety"
Tulane - some cool stuff going on in New Orleans
IIT or UIC - not real sure about either of these

We'll see where I actually apply as I'm only really interested in a couple of these schools.

ff30, that is some pretty bad advice. no offense, but just because you didn't get into your top choices that does not mean that grad school admissions is a crap shoot or that you did not fit into some quota. it more likely had something to do with your portfolio/recs/essay.

my advice for the class of 2009 is to be thoughtful in your work. your essay and portfolio are opportunities to shine - don't rush them.

Portfolio - less is more. don't clutter your spreads with too many images. you must be critical in what you choose to show. learn to use white space to your advantage. don't fill up your spreads with text, even if you don't have a lot of work. the committee won't read it, and it can become distracting, especially if the font/size/justification is not right.

Essay - Some people advise against going into detail about why you find each particular school attractive, but i did and i think it makes sense. researching each program makes it pretty easy to see if the school is actually doing something you are interested in, and it becomes pretty transparent what each school is looking to hear (if that matters to you).

don't go in with the attitude "oh this part of the application doesn't really matter, so i'm going to blow it off." everything (including GREs/GPA) should be taken seriously. why give the admissions committee a reason to reject you.

good luck all, i'm rooting for you.

I'm casting my net again for a better fit - [my letter writers are going to shoot me]

This year [2008]
Accepted:
SCI-Arc
Oregon @ Portland Option II

Rejected:
MIT
U of Texas @ Austin

So excited about trying again, going to try:
UCLA
Berkley
U.VA
UT-Austin
U. Mich
UIC
UW Seattle
...maybe some East Coast Schools

I'm going to retake the GRE [650 Math 550 Verbal] and do a summer program somewhere

any other re-commiserators?

I echo snarkitekt and xacto's sentiments. Those of you that have a year to apply, consider yourselves lucky! Treat EVERY part of the application process as if it were the MOST important. Make sure your portfolios demonstrate process or your ability to think analytically. Consider the relationship between you, architecture, and the school your applying to, your essay should reinforce what you think this relationship entails. Think about how your portfolios/letters separate you from the hundreds of other applicants applying.

Study hard for the GRE, if you do well thats great, if you don't, move on, its not the end of the world. Give your rec's enough notice so they can write you a proper letter. Most importantly, show your strengths, hide your weaknesses, less is more. Have faith. Realize the process is very arbitrary, don't take things personally, there are some factors that you can't control, thats why it's more important to pour everything into the things you can. Best of luck to all, its grueling, but it's worth it...i hope :|

i'll list my stats to add to the pool. i don't know how useful these really are as your essay and portfolio tell the school the most about whether you would be a good fit for their program, and i'm not about to post those here as i'm leery of crazies on the internets [sic]. anyway, reading others' stories/stats somehow made me feel un-alone when i finally came across the 2008 thread, so here goes.

B.S. environmental design, interior design concentration at a top tier school.
5 years of professional practice in interiors, NCIDQ certificate (although this may have hurt me in the app process).
GPA: 3.73
GRE: 700 verbal, 800 quantitative, 5.5 writing
essays: tailored to fit each school with specifics.

honestly, i wasn't super proud of my portfolio and know i am capable of much more. however, i was in a time crunch and did the best i could within those constraints. i did the whole app process including taking my GRE between september and december (i finished everything up for my first deadline on 12/15). luckily, i had some very process-driven, architectural-for-interiors-programs projects that i was able to spiff up well enough. definitely give yourself more time for this than i did, but also give yourself deadlines and breaks (so you can return with a fresh view) if you are giving yourself 6+ months as otherwise you can spend too long on one thing. there is such a thing as an overworked portfolio and getting stuck along the way.

there's a lot of good advice already up there. read it, do the best you can, and then sit back after december/january. good luck!

oh, it would help if i listed where i got accepted/rejected.

accepted:
Columbia
SCI-Arc

rejected:
UCLA
GSD

still waiting:
Cal Poly Pomona
(there was a bit transcript mixup that delayed them from starting to review my app submitted in january until oh, about this month.)

dapotato:

Wow, I thought I was the only one who applied to Cal Poly on this forum. I had the same transcript problem with them, still waiting as well. So what do you think about their program? If you got in would you consider going there over SCI-Arc?


la_la:

As for 2009 theres a good that I will join in on the fun all over again!

This year - 2008

Accepted:
SCI-Arc

Rejected:
UCLA - waitlist rejected
Berkeley - waitlist

still waiting:
Cal Poly Pomona


Hopeful programs for 2009:

Berkeley
UCLA
GSD
YALE
Columbia
CCA


I will probably retake the GRE as well (500v, 690q, 4.5e) and most importantly polish portfolio.

hello everyone...

I'm back, after a very unsuccessful run at M.arch programs this last go around. I applied to 4 top arch programs and was rejected by all of them much to my sunrise.

Anyways, enough whining.

I'm (or will be) two years removed from my undergraduate degree in architecture (bs arch)

good/great recs
already took the GRE (1200, does it matter?...please, dont answer that)
3.75 gpa
2 years of solid work experience
Like to think I have a good portfolio, but will spend the next few months retooling it.
again, like to think im a good writter, but based on last year's results...always room for improvement.

So, last year was a wakeup call, and this year I will learn from it. First off: I will apply to more then 4 schools. The list, currently, is at 12-14. I'll bore you with exactly what schools they are as the list is updated.

So yeah, goodluck everyone. I am really not looking forward to going through all of this again. But it is what it is.

"sunrise" .. should be "surprised"

la_la...hey! fellow RE-commiserator here. What did you not like about the programs you were accepted to?

ff33...good (sorta) to see you back around these parts again, haha. are you reapplying? or sticking with UCLA? for the record, you know my stance on your comments as I am, like yourself, a living testament to their accuracy.

hey asbuckeye07, I'm in the same boat too. Rejected from all 5 schools for fall 08.

I've been a keen reader of the 08 commiseration thread but this is my first time posting.
Giving fall 09 a shot. I'll be re-working my portfolio, and yeah, applying to more schools.

nxdegree--honestly, i initially applied to cpp because
1) i most likely want to stay in LA and work here after graduating, and some old profs/mentors recommended it as a good program getting me ready to practice in LA.
2) it's so dang cheap.
3) i have very cheap housing options near there as i grew up in the area, and my husband went there for undergrad.

i have to respond to sci-arc by friday. i am most likely going there, but we'll see what happens between now and friday. i want/need a program more like columbia/sci-arc at this point in my design career...or so i think (and apparently grad schools thought, too, judging by the kind that rejected me and the kind that accepted me).

oh, and cpp is notorious for having crappy, stereotypical state school administration. i know a bunch of people that went for undergrad, and most of them said that they wouldn't attend it for even their awesome programs (hotel, design, engineering) if they had to do it all over again. ironing out this transcript issue that wasn't my fault, as i sent everything in to the correct offices a month before the deadline, seems a precursor to many more headaches.

nxdegree--p.s. i obviously applied there for the wrong reasons and didn't do a ton of research into the program as the transcript fiasco left a bad taste in my mouth. sorry, not much help besides my long-winded entry above.

Let me join in.

I graduated with BArch in 2005. I'll be applying to MArch2 and some MUD program. My top choice is MIT and not sure about the rest yet.

wow, so soon...

my stats:
civil/structural engineering co'08, applying to MArchI programs and an MFA program.
weak GPA, 540V 720M 4.5W, spent a couple years in art school, so i'm hoping to put together a strong portfolio.

i'm shooting for (in order of preference):
mit
gsd
ysoa
columbia
berkeley
upenn
uo

how relevant is your gpa when you have a strong portfolio?

if you are applying to the ivies, GPA is very important.

toast--that is so not true, but you sound pretty confident about it.

sigh...another year of this.

you guys were around last year...remember a couple of people broke it down in percentiles. its was pretty accurate. If I remember correctly it was something like 75% portfolio, maybe 10% gpa, 15% the rest. but, again, it depends on the school you apply to. some wont look at anything else unless your portfolio is up to speed.

the debate continues

all parts of the package are important!

in my case, i know out of all my qualifications, my GPA is my Achilles heel. i hope to make all the other pieces very strong, so they can pick-up the slack of my GPA!

i like the debate because it's all just speculation. and i'm bored without applications to think about. i've heard from all types of people--admission committee members, grad students, archinecteurs--and the advice is always different, except when it comes to the importance of the portfolio. if that part is not solid, they won't even get to the rest.

ill post my details to give a little variety:
bs in architectural studies from the midwest
i had a portfolio with hardly any 3d rendering programs other than hand drawing and photshop
gre: 490v, 610q, 4.5 essay (and english is my first language)
gpa:3.93
250 word statement of intent
hardly any work experience- going straight from undergrad to grad.

I was accepted to all the schools i applied to (though i was waitlisted at Yale at first)
Yale (with $$)
U.Va (with $)
Wash U (with $$$)

final thoughts: before entering graduate school, try to find out what about architecture not only interests you, but also where you best fit into the field. All the top schools get plenty of brilliant, intellectually "curious" canidates, but they also look for those that plan on not just sampleing what in architecture will best propell them into society, but also for students who are looking at how their work can best progress the field itself.

DJ - if you are below the minimum GPA requirements for a top program, you'd better have an inside connection otherwise your application might not make it past the administrative staff.

ah, i assumed you were talking about having a high GPA as opposed to just fulfilling the 3.0 requirement. so i agree, sorry.

I would appreciate it if somebody comments on my stats.

These are my stats:

Bachelor Architecture GPA 3.3 (foreign Degree 5 years)
MS Construction GPA 3.5 (US Degree)
GRE V: 540 Q: 590
Exp: 6 years as a construction/architectural consultant.
Portfolio in progress.
Applying to M.ARCH II and MAUD

Looks like I won't be a 2009 commiserator. I decide to take the offer from UMass. I couldn't really bear to take another year of just to apply to schools again. I had to ask myself where I wanted to be in 4 years. If I took the year off and reapplied for 2009, I would graduate about 4 years from now with my M.Arch. If I started school at UMass I would be done three years from now and could use that extra year to finish (or at least come close to finishing) a MS in Structural Engineering. They said they would work with me so that I could get both degrees.

I'm sure I could get into a top notch school if I applied for 2009. But the more I think about it, I DON'T want to graduate 90K-120K in debt just for going to a big name program. It would be quite frustrating designing buildings and houses for other people, but not being able to afford to design and build my own house for 15 years after graduation because I have so much debt to pay off. In this sense UMass is a great choice since they have plenty of on-campus assistantships and off-campus internships at local firms, both of which qualify students for tuition waivers.

Good luck to everyone in 2009!! I'll definitely stop in occasionally and drop a line in this thread.