subliminal: No... this is good. I need some train-of-thought responses on this one.

I brought up the Cali financial conundrum with my father... he didn't seem to think it would be a problem... however given the recent tuition add-on/increase, I wouldn't be surprised if after I accept, another surcharge is snuck in there somewhere, this year or next.

The library situation is new to me. I guess I'l suss that out at the Open House. Thank you for bringing that tid-bit to my information

And I'm just a MArch 1 candidate, so while I understand your concerns about what you hope to gain from UCLA on a work/mentor-front... I don't have any work experience in architecture, so anything I learn or gain experience in moving forward will be an asset for me, personally.

mitboi,

I've applied to UofT, UBC, and UofC. I'm 23 and completed my undergrad at OCAD for Environmental Design. This is my second year applying as I was on a couple waitlists last year but was never offered an acceptance. Hopefully things will work out this year.

Hmm...just spoke with someone at UCLA admissions, and they said decisions won't be made for another two weeks. I'm confused by this one. If they don't tell you until another two weeks, wouldn't that be after their open house?

For those waiting on Pratt decisions, I just saw this
I would expect something this week.
Any word from Cooper Union's March II program?

st1tch, i went to the ocad grad show last year and some of the stuff i saw from environmental design was quite good!

which school is UofC?

yep, best of luck to you in your application process. hopefully we get positive results from UBC and UofT this week!

bucku...are you basing it on the Twitter entry about undergraduate admissions? Do you think they correspond with graduate admissions?

University of Calgary.

Good luck to you as well. I'll let you know if I hear anything:)

just got the email from UofO!!!!

Option II Eugene!

Woohoo!

bucku, I also applied to Cooper Union m.archII. One of the admissions staff told me "in the next two weeks by mail" on Friday. Not great inside info, but at least recognition that it is in the works...

I have a had a really hard time getting additional info beyond the website and bulletin regarding the school's intent for the program. It is so new, so it is hard to gauge faculty, direction, scale, etc...

I applied to option 2 Portland, received an email saying I was being placed into option 3 Eugene pool, now I am admitted option 2 eugene...

2 years at much lower price than WashU (3.5 yrs)... this will be a very tough decision....

Wud love, if someone could care to share a M.Arch I GSAPP acceptance. i want to see wat i missed. So i can put it next to my only acceptance (yale)... so far.

Just checked my standard mail and saw that I am now officially a waitlisted candidate for WUSTL. Now I just have a long wait for May 10th...

So, if anyone who was accepted there would kindly just go somewhere else...

I'm just kidding. You guys deserve it.

But seriously :)

Panda Eyes - Yeah doesn't look good for the rest of us waiting to hear back from UCLA.

Reminds me when Mich sent out their first round and that seemed about it then a couple days later found out i was on the waitlist.

Eh...well lets hope that UCLA still has some more decisions to make, keeping my finger crossed!

I think it was posted a few pages back, but here it is again, GSAPP acceptance for M.Arch I:

Dear Mr. XX XXX

We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected for admission to the 3-year Master of Architecture program for the 2010-2011 academic year.

The competition for places in the school was extremely vigorous this year and all of us who participated in the selection process extend our sincere admiration to you for being among the relatively few applicants to gain admission.

The 2010-2011 tuition for each semester is $19,950.

The school will host an Open House on April 7, 2010 for all admitted Master of Architecture students. Admitted students will be able to speak to current students, faculty, visit the studio and Avery Library, and take a tour of the campus...

It goes on with details about the open day, housing etc etc...

Which one do you reckon is better between YSOA and GSAPP?

i have to say, since yunez is a real true life pal, beyond archinect and cyberspace, no one deserves getting admitted to these top schools more than him. i am soo happy and proud of you, hans! :D unbelievable, seriously!

he's a super hard working guy who's been committed to coming up with an amazing portfolio for the past year and a half - two years. AND, not only has he been able to to come up with said amazing portfolio (see page 6), but he's literally beat the odds. no previous arch background and weak gpa, sorry to put you on blast.

yunez_ share your stats, dude. i think it could be inspiring for those who haven't gotten in to schoould or for those who are feeling like this is something the can't do for you to share your story, ie. undergrad major, gpa, gre score, making + meaning, LAIAD, other classes you took like the lighting one we took at Art Center, etc... i mean if you're willing. i just think that you're the perfect example of how far hard work and determination can get you. you definitely pushed yourself really hard through the years, and i know that. people should know that you're this real live person and not this faker who's posting all these admissions to ivy's for kicks and giggles or something stupid.

oh yeah, and here's the kicker. yunez isn't this super competetive jerk, either. i mean, he has literally told me about every class we could take, every opportunity to get projects for my portfolio, and has just been really sharing about his knowledge. karma can be your best friend!

subliminal- i was hoping the school blog here on archinect would share more insight into the cooper program, but i wasnt able to guage much from it. where else did you apply for march II?

well, mbuyer, i know a couple of people still on the fence... we'll see.

and that's convenient that columbia lets you know what the tuition is right off the bat.

I don't know yunez and have only recently found this website but I want to echo somethings that word2bird has said generally.
I thought my chances of getting into arch school were slim to none. I was in and out of undergrad for years and years without any purpose. Finally finished with a BA in History but had acquired so many credit hours that even though my last few semesters were solid my gpa was still below a 3.0. But I busted my ass the last two years and so far have gotten accepted to two schools with no , one of which is offering me some money. I didn't apply to any ivies (maybe I should have) but even if I don't get into my top choices I am stoked to have the opportunity to go anywhere.
I will cut this short by just saying if you really want to get into school you can. I wish I had found this forum this time last year. I might have applied to these schools with more confidence. Congrats to everyone who has heard good news and for those that haven't, keep at it.

so is that a wrap for ucla decisions?

For the people who have heard from Harvard: are you guys on the East Coast? Or West Coast? Or somewhere in the middle?

Okay, seriously, is it just me or is Archinect getting slower and slower? This page took over a minute to load this time.

Anyway, MArch4April, of the accepted GSD people here on Archinect, yunez claims to be from the Philippines and Razvan claims to be from Toronto (although his acceptance was mailed further uptown).

word2bird and yunez, I was about to say, I was blown away by yunez's portfolio, not only by the projects done but by the portfolio itself. The layout is among the cleanest and professional I've seen, the explanations and diagramming was clear, thorough and demonstrated excellent thought process. I couldn't find one flaw. You have perfected the art of portfolio-making. Well done.

But ... 1.5 to 2 years of work!!! Holy shit. Do you mean it took that long to do the portfolio AND the projects, or just the portfolio? And if just the portfolio, was it on/off with mostly off? Because if it was mostly on, that would be a shitload of time to spend on just the portfolio and surely most people attempting this would go insane, especially if you got rejected from your schools after dedicating all of that time. Whatever the case, your perseverance and talent astound me and you truly deserve to be accepted to these great schools.

I am expecting the rest of you will hear a bit more from schools in the next few days.

I hope not cew! It's frustrating when you know people who have been accepted into a school you haven't heard from yet, and it's at the bottom of their list! Thats how this game all goes though... but, yeah, I'd love for UCLA to send out some more e-mails, with my address on the list.

Speaking of portfolio-making, how long did the rest of you spend on your portfolios? Not the projects, but the portfolio itself?

I think I *started* in the summer, but didn't really do much with it at all until November, meaning about 1-1.5 months of work. I'm not sure what the average is.

A.Sorell,

I went on gradcafe, and last year UCLA was notifying people of acceptances up until March 30th. I know the UC system can be terribly INefficient at times. Crossing my fingers nonetheless and hoping they have a few more to give.

I made my first one in december-january last year, then began working on it again in august, after spending the summer looking at magazines and other peoples portfolios and finding other projects to add.

it feels like I worked on mine forever and ever, but it really wasn't all that much time. I spent most of the time thinking about it.

I started my portfolio in late october, but really did not do most of the work till december. I probably spent a good 2 weeks on the layout and everything.

A lot of the work on my portfolio was re-working some of the graphics for the images and things such as that. Re-working graphics and some projects included it took me a month or two but that was also on and off, not full time or anything.

any word from RISD or Pratt?

i spent about 4-5 months on it...

I started my portfolio in late October also, and basically worked on it for one and a half full months. I didn't have any prior architecture experience other than a studio, two history/theory courses, and the GSD's summer program. I've done a lot of print design, though, so I spent most of the time in Indesign/Photoshop/Illustrator working on the layout.

I should say that I was pleasantly surprised to see my gpa was higher than I remembered. Definitely competitive for these programs. Plus early on I had a distorted idea of what was considered "high" and "low". My gre score was also pretty good, I scored well within the acceptable range.

Anyway I focused most of my energy on what really mattered: the portfolio. I think its important that your portfolio has a voice that reflects your unique interests. I tried to do projects that showcased my particular interests--typography, geometry, and science. I came up with projects that combined these ideas in a way that also demonstrated spatial intelligence. I was very picky with which projects I included in my portfolio as most of them didnt meet my standards. Ideally you should have enough strong projects that you're having trouble deciding which to include and which to omit.

oh and the portfolio itself I spent about a month laying out. The 1.5 years was for various design classes, it was my first exposure to design and most of the early stuff I didnt include

I only included work from last semester and designed the portfolio from scratch during the last two weeks (early December). It was hardly the strongest part of my application, but I'm happy with where it got me in.

tecture: no word from pratt yet...

but i got a nice fed-ex surprise from GSD when i went home for lunch this afternoon... :)

I thought I'd bite the bullet and provide a link to my portfolio. If you've seen my posts, you'll see that I have been accepted to Michigan and UCLA.

I was turned down by GSAPP and Yale (sadly, but kind of expected).

And I'm waiting to hear from Pratt and SCI-Arc.

I'm posting my portfolio less so to hear constructive critique (though I am certainly open to that) and posting more so that people can see what's being considered/accepted by admission's (from a non-arch perspective)

If it's any consolation, My GRE's SUCKED. I mean REALLY SUCKED.

My GPA, 3.4, is over 10 years old... I'm 32 presently.

BA in Theater from NYU.

And I took the Intro Arch program at Columbia last summer - which is the only architectural experience I have (which is perhaps why my portfolio is minimal).

I hope, somewhere or somehow, this helps.

http://issuu.com/lewisonclark/docs/architecture

lewis,
I really like your aesthetic, it's a beautiful piece of work. surprised GSAPP said no, who was your critic for intro?

Nicole Robertson... who I thought was truly amazing. I was definitely blessed to have had her and the TA I did.

thanks for posting your portfolio, lewisandclark. i think it's helpful for sure. no critiques here. i enjoyed the clean/simple layout, rid of clutter. i think you definitely show design promise, which can sometimes be difficult to convey via portfolio. i applied to ucla but haven't heard anything, i'm not bummed about it though since i completed my undergrad there and would rather go to u of mich, which thankfully, i have been admitted to.

and i should have clarified, but in no means would i advise people to spend a year and a half or 2 years on their portfolio layout alone. that would be bananas! i meant the projects. it's pretty obvious how much thought has been put into a project by how it is displayed in a portfolio. if you cannot show thorough process, then that's probably a reason to not include something in your folio. oh, and yes, if you've had to include everything you've ever done in you port and haven't had to have a serious discussion with yourself about which projects to include and which to pass on, then that could also be a signal that one is not prepared or not ready... just my thoughts.

i also worked on project to include in my portfolio for about a year and a half to two years, while working full time. there's a lot i didn't include, but i think it's the process of working on all the project, even the ones that didn't make it in to the portfolio, that really helps one formulate their own perspective and hopeully "unique" voice as a designer/architect.

and by "in august" i mean i worked maybe a couple hours every once in a while until october when i really buckled down.

lewisandclark... i like your portfolio. it is really clean but still conveys a lot. and it got you into two good schools!

lewisandclark- did you meet a guy named ayaz in the summer program? i think maybe he was there while you were- the highline project is something he did as well.

lewisandclark,

I think your portfolio is awesome, very clean lines, minimal approach. It really showcases each image or project very well.

Congrats to michigan and ucla as well...you know where you think you will be going?

Hi All,

This is my first post on the site. Big thank you to all who have shared their thoughts, work, frustration and information.

I figured I'd post my portfolio and my current stats on MArch1 results.

Harvard GSD - Waiting with fingers crossed
Michigan TCAUP - In with $$
Columbia GSAPP - In
Yale - No
Princeton - No

My GPA was fairly high, but I didn't do super hot on the GRE. Recommendations from 2 professors/practicing architects and 1 dean.

I spent about 3 months putting my portfolio together. Below is the portfolio I submitted, minus the last 4 pages (resume & business card were on there for job applications).

http://issuu.com/rickcos/docs/portfolio2

Congrats to all who got into their top choices!

-Rick

Rick- your portfolio is impressive!

rick,

yeah I agree your portfolio is very impressive, lot of good work and good presentation. Congrats on Columbia.

As a Umich undergrad do you recommend their graduate program? I got accepted to the 2g option and presently it is my top choice. Im looking for current/ former students opinions to see what else I can find out about the program.

Thanks and congrats again.

Bucku: Ayaz doesn't ring a bell off-hand. There's a surprisingly large amount of students accepted into their summer program. I think all-in-al, there must've been well over 100 people there, all at varying levels.

...and everyone this summer (both advanced and not-so-advanced) worked on the Highline.

Mugged: Not sure where I'll be going yet, to be honest. I'm hoping the open houses will help a bit more. I'm really torn at this juncture... and I'd like to make an informed decision as soon as I possible, more so to open up that slot for someone else. :)

lewisandclark,

I don't think we've ever met/talked, but I am familiar with your section. You guys did a lot of good work (great drawings, thanks to Daniel I presume). On behalf of my section, apologies for the mountains of styrofoam :)

I also did the intro to arch this past summer at GSAPP. But since I was working during the day, I was a night studio kid. The only thing we saw of day studio people was smoking outside Avery and on the way into Avery for our critiques. Otherwise, we were stuffed in the basement of the adjacent building :P

Completely different dynamic/experience, I think, being in the night studio. Moment of triumph: gently walking a precariously balanced flosspick arch up to Avery for a critique. took 20 minutes of painfully slow movement.

@pult: I remember those mountains of styrofoam everywhere.

mmarch13. thanks for the heads up

i still havent heard from any of my schools yet.

im crapping bricks everyday while i hear about all these acceptances.

mugged,

i think TCAUP's 2G program is fantastic. especially having monica as the new dean, i saw huge changes (in the positive direction) while i was there for my senior year. the facilities and resources in terms of digital fabrication are amazing - 7 axis robot, several lasercutters (some 24 hour), water jet, bunch of 3d printers and 2 cnc routers. i also think there is a good deal of diverse attitudes and styles within the faculty, so you get a pretty well rounded experience. all around great atmosphere and ann arbor is a great place to live.

-rickcos

Daniel was the best. So talented. FYI, his firm just scored the winning proposal for this summer's PS1 installation. Should be pretty cool.

Ah... the styrofoam clan. Remind me... wasn't that in combination with some "Transformer" assignment. Or am I thinking of the group "next" to you?

...and no apologies needed. I really enjoyed seeing all of that in play.

Hey All,

Thought that I too would post my portfolio. Comments appreciated!

http://issuu.com/naleskovsky/docs/final_4_portfolio-11-24-09

still waiting on GSD and syracuse!