@ Ambrosia-

wow, that REALLY REALLY sucks... i can't imagine feeling much worse... i've got my fingers crossed for you.

gsaap (msaad) - accepted yesterday via email

gsapp*

sbeth,

I disagree with that. I don't think they owe it to us to let us know why we weren't accepted. That would be a lot to ask for a school to get into specifics as to why they didn't accept you or the 80-90% of the other applicants who were rejected which for a lot of schools is upwards of 600+ people.

And i'm not sure it can always be summed into something such as your gre scores or your portfolio layout, I think sometimes the background and interests of the applicant doesn't line up with what the school is looking for.

Yeah it would always be nice to know why we weren't accepted but I don't think it is owed to us.

Im sure i'm probably one of the few who feel this way too.

Atty, I am in the same boat. Got the unofficial email of acceptance, and said that the official package will be on its way this week or so. I haven't got a thing yet. Don't worry. :)

mugged:

i agree with you that in a lot of cases, people don't get in(or get in)to a particular school for subtle reasons well beyond the typical stats. In an ideal world, it would be great if everyone received feedback, but I agree its not gonna happen and they probably don't owe it to us.

In an ideal world, it would be nice though.

Pult: You shouldn't be so modest -- you got into Yale. What's your background? Mind if we see a portfolio? Pretty please?

Thanks for the response archhk...I am so jumpy these days...

According to several professors I talked to from Yale, Columbia and Harvard, it often comes down to a situation in which the committee says (example): "we have a space for one art history major from new york who went to an ivy league, who do we want for that spot?" Or, as one professor of mine put it "they may already have a redheaded hipster, so you're out."

There are obviously many qualified candidates who apply, but it is more about how the admissions committee composes their class than something being wrong with an individual person's application.

I think I'm partially reiterating what Mugged said.

yeah ideally we would all be able to get some feedback.

I am more interested in the process schools use to sort through all of the applications. What makes a good application? Is it someone who is well-rounded or does portfolio trump everything?

Are portfolios looked at as quality vs. quantity or other factors and how in-depth do they actually look at them.

IF they just glance at them then you would have to assume that the nice computer rendered photoshop composed drawing (or nice hand drawing) that looks outstanding holds more weight then the actual ideas surrounding the project

Having an undergrad degree in arch and others who also did undergrad arch can confirm this but just because you have beautiful work and an outstanding presentation doesn't mean the project will go well on the review or it could just be an all together bad project - My point is admissions committees or anyone who is just glancing at a portfolio wouldn't necessarily know how successful the design is.

Anyway now that i've rambled, I think those questions are much more interesting to me

Is there anyone on here applying to any Canadian schools for M.Arch?

My advisor told me that if you don't make ay schools, or any that you want to attend and are planning to re-apply, it cannot hurt to ask them how your portfolio, experience, or academic record could be improved. Most will probably just tell you to shove off, but if the folks in a given admissions office are nice, they'll take a second look, and tell you what you could do to help your chances if you were to transfer of reapply.

Besides, after Admissions has finished rejecting you, they don't really have very much else to do until new applications come in.

I don't know how old most of you are, but i'm 22 and still have not received my BA in Art History. There is a possibility that (no matter how hard we've worked in our short lifetimes), that some of us look pretty green next to the 26-28 year old applicants that are competing with us.

I applied to, and was rejected from, gsd two years ago. earlier last year I called them up and spoke with the admissions coordinator about what did me in. I ended up having a very productive, 30 minute long convo with her. I haven't heard back from Harvard yet, but regardless of the decision it was a very very very helpful and advantageous conversation to have. my advise: call them up, talk to them earnestly about what was lacking in your application...the worst that can happen is they say no.

st1tch, i'm applying to UBC and UofT in Canada.

and I agree completely with what sweetpotato says about how they craft their classes. my old boss told me not to bother applying to princeton because unless I was better than EVERY 6'3" white guy who went to a state school, I'd have no shot at being their token "6'3" white guy who went to a state school"

mitboi - me the same! Do you have any clue about the acceptance rate of these schools?

Mugged- I dunno, I do kinda feel like they owe us...

We are their customers. We're the ones paying their salary. I don't think it would be too hard to give a SMIDGEN of feedback. Not a 'rate each criteria 1-10" thing, but maybe at least SOMETHING to go on...

Though you're right, NYCBlues, it might come down to something ineffable.

I guess I just wish I could pin this on something, have something to latch onto and know how I can improve. I wish I knew how many rounds I'd gotten through, if it was a close call or not.

-
I guess my biggest lesson is about the port... I feel like mine was relatively weak, I was trying to get them to see through it what I COULD become if they chose me, instead of making the presentation itself polished. But what are we pre-med people with no computer graphics backgrounds supposed to do? How can we possibly compete with Fine Arts majors?

mitboi,

I've applied to those two schools as well.

cynrene,

According to ACSA, UofT's no. of first year students is 83, and UBC's is 45. Trish (UBC) sent out an email awhile back saying that they had received 350 applications so far.

mugged - i totally have those questions too. in undergrad reviews the seemingly crappy project that was explained really well would get a good crit, or if the crits saw the merit or could understand the ideas behind it. Pretty pictures =/= good review/good grade.
With portfolio I think it's the opposite. I feel like most portfolios they glance through rather quickly or flip to one page, read it, and judge based on that. They might get more in depth if you're in the maybe pile I think. its more heavily based on the pretty pictures and layouts.
I really don't know. It might depend on which person picks up your portfolio on the admissions committee, what their mood is, if they need a white girl from florida to make quota.
There are too many nuances in the process. Which makes it a total crap chute (shoot?).
I showed some of my non-architecture friends my portfolio and they were "i dont know what im looking at but it looks cool" maybe admissions people do the same thing. Does anyone really know? Do they even know?

Just got into Mich! YAY, have at least an option!

congratulations!

Hopefully the rest of us who haven't received any acceptances yet will also be hearing some good news shortly.

Schools are under no obligation to explain why we are or are not accepted. If they did, it would just inflate application fees even higher.

Also, much of the time schools are looking for diversity within a class, so the reason any one person is rejected or accepted would very depending on the year.

I don't think there is a quota for "Experimental Video-Art Making, Belly-Dancing, Pole-Vaulting, Improvisational-Acting Studio Art and Astronomy Minors."

I am hoping there is at RISD.

So hearing all you MArch candidates find out is driving me crazy, as I applied to MSc/Architecture type programs across the board and have about a week plus until I start hearing anything.

yeah, but i am a 25 year old white male. about as a diverse an applicant as i can be. i actually thought it could hurt in the case of some schools since i know that they do try to enroll a diverse crowd.

side note- the archer episode "diversity hire" is hilarious!

Speaking of admissions and whatnot, I for one believe that the ORDER that they look at your application can have an effect. Most people take this for granted.

Think about it: looking through applications is a lot of work, and probably something that most of the admissions committee don't want to do. As with any work, your mind tends to wander off as time goes on, but at the same time you may perhaps devise a more practical and/or quicker approach to completing the work (which in the case of looking through portfolios, for example, may entail skimming or not reading text as opposed to reading it). Furthermore, the more applications they look through, the better idea they get of the overall quality of ALL applicants, and thus the better idea they get of how someone stacks up to the rest when they come to that person's application.

Therefore, I think that WHEN they look at your application can affect HOW they look at it and WHAT they look for, and thus can have at least a subtle effect on your chance of being admitted.

Also, as others have suggested, much comes down to whether or not they already have someone that fits the bill for "redheaded hipster" when they come to your application. If so, then you, my redheaded hipster, friend, may be out of luck. But then again ... it seems that if redheaded hipster #2 was overall a higher quality candidate than redheaded hipster #1, they would be more likely to choose redheaded hipster #2 despite the fact that the admissions committee looked at #2's application later. So whether or not you get a spot depends not only on how they craft their classes but also on how they prioritize application order.

Speaking of application order, does anyone have any idea how portfolio order gets determined? Is your portfolio thrown into a pile with the rest, shuffled randomly, and then put back together again so that portfolio order is determined completely randomly? Or is it done by name, alphabetically? Or is it dependent on when you finished your application or when the materials arrived at their offices?

By the way, a lot of schools in ENGLAND briefly explain to UNDERGRADUATE APPLICANTS why they were rejected. But it doesn't seem to be the case with GRADUATE APPLICANTS in the UNITED STATES.

lidandan - yeah thats exactly my point, but who knows?


sweetpotato - belly dancing huh? Now i'm intrigued. apparently I should have applied to risd


pixelwhore - I can imagine you would be going crazy but good luck to you

Big Red - I completely agree. I don't think they owe us. It's an application fee, not an advisement fee.

SBeth - I'm sure you could contact the school for feedback or speak with local architects, designers etc. As is true of any good school (whether undergrad, grad, architecture or otherwise), many very qualified candidates will be rejected. As NYCBlues says, it's as much about crafting a class as it as about accepting everyone who could get the work done.

with that being said, its hard when there are so many factors out of your control :(

new comment-er here, (and longtime follower) - figured it was time to join in more legitimately.

Congrats to those accepted.

On the topic of selection, I think someone mentioned this a few months ago, but the process is less about being qualified for a particular school and more about whether you fit them AND that they fit you. At least that's what I'm trying to think as these daunting e-mails roll in. Especially having been rejected by my own alma mater. Maybe they know best that I will have a better experience in a fresh environment? That, or I can't take standardized tests.

bucku-

i dunno, i feel like there are 5 spots for "25 year old white men", while there's only 1 spot for "redhead hipster." ie- your chances to get in might be higher just because you are part of the more 'generic demographic', pardon my wording... you only need ONE token anything, but you need a lot of generics.

(and obviously each and every generic person is a special, special snowflake that the world has never seen before.)

but all this has to do with affirmative action/diversity/yadda yadda, and who actually knows the mechanics behind it?

I concur MAMBO,



portfolio order can have a big effect



hmmmm

i wonder, for any given person, would they be more likely to be accepted if their app was looked at first ...... or last?

MAMBO - I'm paranoid about sharing too much at this stage, maybe once I hear from most schools. I basically have a solid non-arch background and took one of the summer programs last year, which is pretty much all of my portfolio. In all honesty, my main asset as an applicant is my ability to fill schools' diversity quota...

probably last right? since its still fresh in your memory...

we also have to take into account lighting conditions (one's portfolio can look very different between natural lighting or pure white - usually looks better in natural), each committee member's mood (maybe someone looked at your portfolio while they were on the toilet having diarrhea, possibly even getting a few splatters of brown here or there on your portfolio, who knows), the weather, the temperature, their sex life, shoes, and so on and so forth. in other words, it's a neurotic person's day dream.

interesting question, jizzy. and to wonder how that order is assembled...alphabetical? GRE score? ounces of portfolio?

thank you for the lovely visual, jizzy. though at this point, i feel like wiping my butt with my portfolio, as well.

mugged: RISD is a really great program for people who like to "dabble" in other artistic media. The choice of electives is much greater and more interesting than almost anywhere else, and their philosophy is that architecture should not be taught or considered separately from the other arts.

I have been a dancer (serious ballet modern, west african, and now, belly dancing) since I was four years old, and I've always felt like RISD was the best fit for me because it seems that I would have the opportunity to form performance and dance groups with other students or introduce the undergrads to multicultural dance. Right now, I'm looking for somewhere to study Hula.

Rather than the school just doing something for me, I'd also like to be able to give something back. I probably should have put that in my essay. I hope I get in.

Also- I am really angry that I am on spring break right now, and have no dance classes until sunday. Dance is the only thing that keeps me sane.

mugged: RISD is a really great program for people who like to "dabble" in other artistic media. The choice of electives is much greater and more interesting than almost anywhere else, and their philosophy is that architecture should not be taught or considered separately from the other arts.

I have been a dancer (serious ballet modern, west african, and now, belly dancing) since I was four years old, and I've always felt like RISD was the best fit for me because it seems that I would have the opportunity to form performance and dance groups with other students or introduce the undergrads to multicultural dance. Right now, I'm looking for somewhere to study Hula.

Rather than the school just doing something for me, I'd also like to be able to give something back. I probably should have put that in my essay. I hope I get in.

Also- I am really angry that I am on spring break right now, and have no dance classes until sunday. Dance is the only thing that keeps me sane.

mugged: RISD is a really great program for people who like to "dabble" in other artistic media. The choice of electives is much greater and more interesting than almost anywhere else, and their philosophy is that architecture should not be taught or considered separately from the other arts.

I have been a dancer (serious ballet modern, west african, and now, belly dancing) since I was four years old, and I've always felt like RISD was the best fit for me because it seems that I would have the opportunity to form performance and dance groups with other students or introduce the undergrads to multicultural dance. Right now, I'm looking for somewhere to study Hula.

Rather than the school just doing something for me, I'd also like to be able to give something back. I probably should have put that in my essay. I hope I get in.

Also- I am really angry that I am on spring break right now, and have no dance classes until sunday. Dance is the only thing that keeps me sane.

Pult, I see. ;)

That usually means ethnicity, specifically URM.

i talked to some friends who have worked at the admissions office at the GSD and i think they compare people's profiles against others who went to the same undergrad school...

i got my portfolio back last year and it was stamped with the date they received it. so... even if they shuffled they could open it and go "oh this person submitted this the day applications closed" and judge accordingly.

gross, jizzy. but i was thinking some judgements may be made on illnesses too ...

MAMBO - whats URM?

By diversity, i was not commenting on race as much as values, ideologies and culture.

By the time all of the reviewers have looked through the portfolios, they destroyed. If a person is admitted it is because they are exceptional at something, and that will show through lighting conditions, order, etc.

I just hope that my portfolio is exceptional in some way...

Yale - no response :(
RISD -
GSD -
UW (backup school) -

I wonder whether financial need comes into play as far as acceptances go.

I know that the GSAPP had (from their supplemental scholarship form) a great amount of information about applicants finances.

Also, FAFSA information provides income and savings data, is it possible that some are denied admission because of an inability to pay out of pocket, where another applicant can handle the tuition?

praxis99, interesting. That seems kind of faulty though, because there might be 500 applicants from School X but only 1 from School Y. Then those from School X would be in big shit. I think this would be a minor factor, but definitely a feasible one. I know it's a factor in law school admissions - again a minor factor there, but still a factor.

thought everyone might enjoy this: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38734