put a variety of samples your best work! that includes floor plans, sections, & technical dwgs

Thanks for the advice s=r*(theta)!

The fact that you have an AA in interior design is a good thing.  I think that you need to balance your portfolio and heed what the person at SCI-Arc told you, that of not wanting to see technical drawings.  This means they want to see your creative abilities more so than technical communications, which many schools prefer you are taught in an office.  In fact, if you have artistic endeavors in other media, those could also be inserted, as some schools like to see breadth in creativity.  I cannot vouch for how many exhibits or what programs to use, but is SCI-Arc physically accessible to you?  Ask them if there are portfolios which earned admission that you can look at.  Sometimes this is possible, and sometimes students have them at their very work stations.  I've seen some portfolios that way during visits.  I didn't assemble different portfolios for each school, and kept a mix of 75:25 creative graphics:technical drawings, and the more design oriented schools did not take to that.  I would always heed what a program you really want tells you to do and not to do.  At the same time, you have to present who you really are and your real abilities through your portfolio.

That is plenty of time to get things together!  I second what observant says.  For an MArch I admission they want to see potential not polished work.  They want to be able to see how you think.  This means sketches, process work, thought processes, and photographs.  Make it as visual as possible and keep the words to a minimum.  I got accepted to UW Seattle MArch I and University of Oregon's MArch II with a bachelors in Interior Architecture.  My portfolio was only 10 pages long.  It is hard to put your mind on a page, but keep asking people to look at it.

As for the GREs, they do not matter as much.  They are awful and try to trick you.   Just buy a prep book and lock yourself in a room for a couple hours a day for a month.  No big deal.

Hope this helps!

Hold on, is s=r*(theta)'s advice given to spite? DO NOT put in a bunch of floor plans, sections, and technical drawings. 

Thank you lauralich and observer! I really appreciate the useful advice. Sci arc is not far from me and I have seen their entry portfolios. I saw 5 portfolios and they all varied, but all had creative work; whether it was hand sketches, photography, graffiti or final renderings. So with that in mind and your guys' advice, I feel more relaxed.
However majority of my work in my interior program was not so polished or perfected to be put in portfolio. Would you guys recommend putting in new work? Or even touching up previous work? And the last question I have is what should the minimal writing be? Related to the project overview? Or the process that drove me to the final product?
Thank you all for your advice!! Have a great weekend!