gs11-
Thanks for your article as well. Even while skeptics weigh in, it's nice to receive some sunshine through the clouds.

Good luck to everyone this week! Let the phones ring and the emails glow and the letters overflow the mailboxes.

Anyone familiar with the possibilities of freezing the possible acceptance one year?

snarkitekt,

thanks for the encouragement. Travel is one of my top priorities for grad school, as I have not been out of the country. So yeah, UO or not, I will do my best. Furniture was my first love and would be thrilled to try the Denmark program. Did you do it in a summer, semester, or what? What school were you attending?

andreas-
its somewhat easy to 'defer' for one academic year. usually, all you'd need to do is write a letter explaining why you need to defer. i haven't heard of many people being denied that much.

Not sure this works so easily in highly selective programs. Priorities shift, a highly qualified candidate one year might be obsolete the next.

Andreas-

I agree w/ 10, I think some of the Ivies have an anti-deferment policy. I know I came across some when I was researching but cant remember which schools forbid it.

Look at the websites of the schools you applied to, I am pretty sure they will mention the deferment process and/or whether or not they grant them.

Andreas/10/Clam-
Of course, it depends on the program and some of the 'ivies' may not allow it. But a lot of the programs in the top 25 do offer the opportunity to defer. And when you defer, you don't technically have to reapply for the next year. Often times, if you receive scholarships/funding/etc they will carry it over to the next year as well.

But again, it does depend on the program.

i heard the schools that do allow you to defer will even sometimes sign a letter, making your deferment an official one, as long as they find a compelling reason for your deferment and if they reallyreally like you!

Thanks guys.

Let's see if I get any acceptance letters first then:)

hey ya'll. does anyone who got a call from U washington in seattle remember the name of the dude who called them? I'm just curious.

Sneaking in a question before the flurry of acceptance letters (!) comes to each of your mailboxes...

Can anyone tell me whether schools have something on their application to indicate a spouse applying to the same school (completely different program; not that this matters, and certainly not that it affects the decision)? I'm only curious.
Good luck to all throughout the next four weeks...!

I got in to UT! They let me know Friday by e-mail and followed it up with another e-mail Sunday.
Still waiting on SCI-Arc, UCLA, USC, Pratt, and Parsons

Accepted to University of Kansas today (3.5-year/professional program). Anybody have insider info about KU...?

did a summer with them / my grandparents taught there

hope you enjoy lawrence.......... (*sarcasm*)
prof. lesnikowski, phillipe berrier, and dr. grabow are the only profs i know personally. they are all pretty different apparently designwise.

CAD mangler-

KU is my dad's alma mater, so i visited the arch dept in december '08.

of course, loved studio 804 ... but who wouldn't? the facilities were nice enough. they didn't seem to leak (unlike perloff) and were warm despite the sub-freezing temps outside. i got to speak w/a few students, who seemed completely exhausted (i arrived just in time for semester-end crits) but happy to talk about their love of the program. the studios are vertically integrated, which i guess a lot of schools are doing now.

i was not at all impressed by lawrence, but my dad swears by this divey bar called the hawk.



i took pictures of everything - outside the arch bldg, inside, around the KU campus, main street lawrence, and Greensburg (spent a day there). can email you the link if you'd like.

oh and the moral of the story:

i didn't apply to KU.

did anyone receive a student number from parsons after submitting the application?

slow day. hrmph... i guess it's only march 2.

CAD Mangler, Congrats!!

Growing up in Lawrence, I personally think it is a great town. It is no urban metropolis like Chicago or NY, but it has its own very admirable qualities. It is extremely architecturally and politically aware, has a vibrant downtown area, and many independent businesses. These might not be your criterion for a good place to go to school, but they definitely did enhance my quality of life. I honestly don't think it would be possible to be bored in that town, except during Winter, Spring, and Summer Breaks when everyone feels the town's population temporarily dissipate. CAD Mangler, if you have ANY questions, about Lawrence, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I don't know a ton about the curriculum other than Studio 804, which seems fantastic. There has been a lot of talk in Kansas about the move from a traditional 5 year BArch to a 6 year MArch program. This is happening at KState as well. I don't know how that would affect your 3.5 year professional program specifically, but I would guess they probably would integrate you into the middle of the 6 year program. Depending on what type of program you want, you may feel like you are starting off with a bunch of 20/21 year olds who are in their third year of design school. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but something to consider.

As for the "Hawk," it is kind of known as the "freshman" bar these days. There were a couple underage drinking busts there while I was in high school. Not surprising since 75% of the bar's patrons are under 21. ;)

Is anyone else constantly rereading their statement of purpose and pouring over their portfolio?

I can't stop, its like some kind of naive divining, looking for charms, scouring for errors. argghh.

hey guys, i always wondered why some march programs are 3 yrs. and others 3.5?

10 - i refuse to reread my statement of purpose at this point since only one grammatical error would probably enough to make me panic and scream like crazy. so, no. i'm not rereading my SOP, however, i've been looking over my portfolio a lot and i can't find anything wrong with it. That keeps my hopes up!

still nothing from anywhere i applied ... TORTURE!!!

I had tried to hold out for as long as possible but the waiting is, literally, aggravating. Who would have thought that this would be such an anxious experience?

I mean yeah my portfolio is 99.99% amazing, but that .01% is the most sacreligious typo I've ever committed, magnified by the intense scrutiny of time.

Nervously checks archinect, gradcafe.com and e-mail for the 96th time today...

still nothing.

It is now officially M.Arch Madness.

hobopajamas,

UCLA M.Arch I

hobopjs - So it sounds like you were impressed with KU, but not with the town. Do you think smaller towns are just not for you, or was it actually a boring place? (And how are you feeling about Eugene?)

gs11 - Thanks for the info. Lawrence sounds like a fine place (I once heard it described as the "Santa Barbara of Kansas", whatever that means...) and maybe a welcome change from LA. I'm sure I'll get back to you with some questions as decision-time approaches.

Personal question for anyone who wishes to answer. I'm looking at an M.Arch 1 program. I really want to go to the best school that I can get in to and afford. I also have a girlfriend of 6 years and we're having horrible fights about me leaving, anyone having similar issues or any advice?

Anybody have any info on the timeline for U-Miami admissions?

Haven't heard a thing, no info on the website, and nothing on gradcafe from previous years. Thought it was rolling, and sent everything months ago. Thanks.

So I have joined reading last year's thread. Got to around March 12th, seems like we may be able to expect/anticipate/salivate about receiving calls to yale/other ivys around then?

Also, anyone got their physical U of M acceptance letter? Lookin forward to seeing whatever zany thing they decided to include this year, but even more I want to see if I got any funding.

lost, i can certainly relate to long-distance relationships; boy is in ann arbor, i've been in austin since we graduated from ugrad last may. we're not exactly the horrible fight type, but things were a little rocky when we were first separated by the distance... things sort of fell into place though and we've made a really strong effort to see each other once a month. granted, we may get lucky and put an end to this whole long distance thing --- i'm *extremely* anxiously awaiting to hear if i get any $$ from umich, lol. i take it your gf is very much grounded where y'all currently are? i do have my doubts about how well i could maintain a long distance relationship while in architecture school; i imagine i'd have much less of an ability to just hop a plane, etc.

Thanks missmeer, the gf is in medical school and won't be done for another 2 years, so she can't relocate. I guess the thing that worries the most is that I don't know what will happen, and in the end will my need to get the best education be worth it if we end up splitting. Maybe my top school will deny me and make up my mind for me.

10, i can't stop looking at my portfolio and my letter. At best, they make me feel like a dilettante, at worst a complete charlatan. It's funny how great I thought my letter was, and now it just seems like generalized fluff. I wish I'd tailored it to individual schools more. my portfolio just seems ridiculous now, too. ugh, I've said enough.
there's an interesting phenomenon when I look at the UTA app status site, and I see the recommendation confirmations, I have a fiery desire to read what those people said. That's not healthy.

lost in stress-

ugh. i'm so with you.

my boyfriend has a great, stable job that he has held since we graduated almost three years ago. he's climbed the ladder from junior programmer to senior and doesn't want to have to "start over" in a new company ... especially w/the economy the way it is.

we've been together 5 years and don't want to break up. we see our future together, but not if we have to be apart for 3+ years to make it happen.

as if the pressure of getting into a good grad school isn't enough!!??!?!? i have to try to get my ass into school that will allow our relationship to work.

i'm also waiting to hear from my two top-choice schools - but if they deny me, then i'll be forced to leave this City of Angels and probably my boyfriend, too. :(

i hate that i feel like i have to choose between a good education and my man!

I wonder when the regular acceptance will arrive from UOregon....?

i've dealt with the gf issue and education, relocation, jobs, etc. in the past, and for me it has always come down to this: jobs will come and go, education does not necessarily. the choice for me was education for her vs. job for me, and I knew that education for her would be really good for both of us down the line, and a job sacrifice for me, while unfortunate, wasn't the end of the world and something would work out. I basically took the long view. I will die one day. will I remember first the jobs that I had or the people that I knew? no question there. and it worked out for me in the end, I got a really great job in this podunk town, no regrets whatsoever, and I'm actually much better off.
besides, a bit of adventure trumps some desk job any day.

Hobopajamas,

You can actually use your man as an excuse to squeeze funding out of a school-- if you're going to break up anyway "my man lives in X, I REALLY want to stay there, how much money will you offer me to leave him?"

I know it sounds crass but its a legitimate way of getting more $$$.

hobopjs! i want to stay in LA too -

i followed my bf to this city of angels when he started grad school in sept - we had some fights before i decided to come, but mostly it was me just so unsure of what to do. i had applied last year as well, but wasn't excited about my prospects - really glad i ended up waiting a year [plus now i have CA instate jsut in case i get some good results :)]

now i'm applying again and am set on going, results be damned: we're kind of subscribing to the "if you love them let them go" thing, education is so important. that being said, i hope the sentiment will prevail if i do have to move to a new city

I think the stress is magnified this year over others because of the economy the way it is - i moved and got a fairly secure job just in time for everything to really crash. I imagine it may not be as easy for people to relocate this year.

ocotillo & 10 - i have a lot of respect for you to be able to look at that stuff! - i feel a bit sick just thinking about spending more time with those things... thank goodness that part is over!



[i really didn't even want to type 'portfolio' or 'essay']

ocotillo & 10 - i have a lot of respect for you to be able to look at that stuff! - i feel a bit sick just thinking about spending more time with those things... thank goodness that part is over!



[i really didn't even want to type 'portfolio' or 'essay']

[sorry bout the double post]

Blake.T.Smith, you are not from Texas by any chance, are you?

To those who are worried about their partners--I am bringing mine with me. I chose schools in cities we both liked and he is taking steps and sussing out firms/jobs in those places. It will be rough trying to find a job, but we've done the long distance thing before and it really blew so we have decided to stay together through the adventure no matter what.

andimdone -

Yes, I am from Houston area, finished up B.E.D. at Texas A&M in December.

Does anyone know if UT is doing any of the computational design/ Rhinoscripting technique that is taught at all the other schools to which I applied? (SCI-Arc, Pratt, UCLA...)

lost-
that is the biggest issue for me right now. my gf and i have been together for yeaers and we're both anticipating a very large discussion on this topic. but we're waiting to hear from schools so the options can be on the table.

a lot can happen in 3+ years. i've kind of been under the assumption that: if you're not growing/changing together, you're growing/changing apart. on the other hand, i know people that break this mold.

for now, acceptances are an extreme mixture of celebration and uncertainty.

arrgh! I just showed someone some samples of my portfolio. Well, I proofed it a million times, had two prof's look at it, my gf went through it, and a bunch of friends looked at it. Yet everyone missed the typo that my friend saw today. That's going to bother me until this whole application process is over.

F2 -

I know what you mean. We've avoided the conversation but I didn't want to wait until the 2 weeks before I have to submit my acceptance to discuss this very large issue. So, we're talking (fighting) about it now. We're in chicago and I've been accepted to UIC with a small scholarship, yet I would ultimately go to Penn if the financial situation were right. She doesn't understand why would I need to move across the country for my graduate education when I could just stay here at UIC.

hey lost in stress, uic and penn seem to me, to have a very different approaches to arch. and focus. the latter seem very geared towards blobitecture while uic seems to fall somewhere between practical and theoretical. this is also a hear say from peers/friends who have received march degrees from the 2 as well. just out of curiosity, what are the driving forces behind penn? well besides the obvious factors...

hey lost in stress, uic and penn seem to me, to have very different approaches to arch. and focus. the latter seem very geared towards blobitecture while uic seems to fall somewhere between the practical and the theoretical. this is also a hear say from peers/friends who have received march degrees from the 2 as well. just out of curiosity, what are the driving forces behind wanting to go to penn? well besides the obvious factors XP

oh shoot! another double post, sorry pls disregard the first~

btw, i had a heart attack this morning when i called to follow up w/the gen. admissions office. the lady who was handling my file promised me last tuesday that she will transfer my file to the arch. dept. on friday and to check w/the arch. admissions tuesday - today.

when i called, she was out to lunch, some other lady looked up my file and told me my file was incomplete and that my file is still in the gen. admissions office. WTF????? this means the lady from last week had not even logged me in. i became really furious, especially with their lackadaisical attitude.

i called back to speak w/the admissions director himself, explained the situation as to how that lady had not followed up w/her word, which she personally and officially gave me due to her fault for somehow mysteriously overlooking my file.....delaying this process for another week.

after speaking with the director (of course i was very courteous but firm), this matter was taken care of within 2 hours.

so the moral of the story....if you come across a very weird situation, i think calling the admissions head honcho is not a bad idea. it's already march and we should make sure the process is running perfectly, operationally speaking. hopefully, no one comes across this kinda of inexcusable incompetence.