HELP !

i'm a first time poster... results aren't the best here but I really want help from people on this forum. I only applied to 5 schools. I think the major cause of my failure is GRE. I've been terrible with standardized tests with low scores on verbal. Tried everything possible but never got beyond 500. My math and toefl are good.

Results:
gsd- no news (probably rejection_
mit- rejected
yale- rejected
gsapp - waitlist

Maybe it was stupid of me to only apply to 4 schools but applying really is a long process. I would request people on this forum to help me. I see a lot of people who got into GSAPP and got into other top programs. Could you let me know, if you've been accepted and if you are going or not. Free free to email me also. I tried to contact the gsapp admissions but they wont get back to me for anything. My only hope is to go to school this year and the only option is if I get accepted off the waitlist. Please understand, that I'm not asking anyone NOT to chose GSAPP, but just trying to see my chances. Maybe if I know of a few people who aren't going to GSAPP and got admitted, I can request GSAPP again. This is my only hope.

If anyone else would like to suggest, what I should do then please let me know. I'm so confused as to how to approach them and what to say. I can also wait but I feel at the ned of the day, I'll just get a rejection note. I'm scared. Really really really want to start my M.Arch this year.

Any suggestions will be very helpful.

Thanks

-Aron

I got a call from the admission people... they said they apologized for the late reply...

they are sending out admission decisions tonight and tomorrow morning...

so

final tally

UBC in $
PENN in ... waiting on $
UofT in $$

MIT waitlisted
Columbia out
Princeton out

Thanks a lot for the info e4d1c :)

What school are you leaning towards for the fall?

That's awesome! Congrats e4d1c!! Have you posted your stats yet? portfolio?

Which one are you leaning towards?

Congratulations again! Money offered is awesome, especially for the Canadians schools since it's already pretty cheap, it'll practically be free. I didn't know UBC was only $4600. I thought it'd be like u of t with $7500 tuition. I was pleasantly surprised.

i dind't know UBC was cheaper either...

I won't go to UBC, it's not really my interest. Right now it depends on whether Penn gives enough money.

Penn is better for what i'm looking into but if UofT is free.. i can do my MArch then go to a post professional something...

I'm really interested in the SCI-Arch mediaSCAPES

AFernan - I got into GSAPP and am pretty sure I will be attending unless Penn works some miracle at open house. I think if you want to make an impression on the school and get in off the wait list, you should compose a letter listing any achievements you've done since applying and re-state your interest in the school and what you would bring to it. Send it to them and let them know how serious you are about attending. I know people who got in off wait lists last year they did this sort of thing.

u of w- in
u minnesota- in

u mich- w/l


In England at the moment, on study abroad. I can't go to their open house. I'm conflicted between u wash and u minn.


insights?

u of w- in
u minnesota- in

u mich- w/l


In England at the moment, on study abroad. I can't go to their open house. I'm conflicted between u wash and u minn.


insights?

BaaaNaaa,

Thanks for the reply. Do you suggest any length for the letter and should I email/mail in the letter. Do you think, asking a professor to send in a recommendation would be a good idea. Did your friends, receive any sort of acknowledgment of their letter or any correspondence in regards to it.

Thanks for your help.
-Aron

I know someone who hand wrote a letter to the admissions board and sent it in and he got in off the waitlist for a different school. For sure send an updated resume if there is any recent development. An additional letter of recommendation probably wouldn't hurt either.. I'd say your best bet would be to mail it in to admissions and ask that they include it in your application.. maybe also send an email after you've sent it in to check that they've received it. Good luck!

And keep it short-ish (around a page?) so that it is concise but communicates your admiration for the program and what you would want to bring to the school.. so not a novel but more than just a couple sentences..
Of course this is just what I would do. Maybe get some more opinions too..

anybody gotten anything in the mail from UPenn or Pratt yet? Wish they'd hurry...

Hey all, just spent the last 24 hours reading though everything, wow! Good job to all who got into their schools. I have a question, hopefully someone will be able to help me out a little, I haven't been able to find any information anywhere else.

I was accepted into the Glasgow School of Art and the Edinburgh College of Art, but am have lots of difficulty deciding where to go. Does anyone have any thoughts on these schools?

Still waiting to hear from the AA, but I was only able to hit the late application deadline on that one, so no surprise there.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help me out.

e4d1c: > sweet job. you're in the same town with me.(we might even know eachother. lol) UfT is a really nice school.


and yeah, just got my ticket to NY for apr 6.

seeing anyone at:

7: columbia
8: yale
12: princeton

open houses ?


i'm in the mood for beers.

cheers

r

cmorales -

i have taken a couple continuing ed classes at an architecture school to learn dip myself in the field. other than that, i studied neuroscience and graphic design in my undergrad.

yourself?

cmorales -

i have taken a couple continuing ed classes at an architecture school to dip myself in the field. other than that, i studied neuroscience and graphic design in my undergrad.

yourself?

@ Sounder. I'm just finishing up my architecture undergrad at Edinburgh University. If you're going to the ECA, keep in mind that it has now joined with Edinburgh University to form the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Lanscape Architecture (ESALA), so you will get your degree from them. Since this is a relatively new thing, the course is still a bit disorganised. The guy in charge of the final year of M.Arch is also leaving next year, so the direction of the program is in the hands of the new person. The people lined up to take over are all extremely good, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. With ESALA, the hope is that it will gain an international reputation by increasing its size, but it will take time to see if this is the case. Edinburgh is a cool city to live in as well, but whether you prefer Edinburgh over Glasgow is personal preference. Anyway, I've enjoyed my time at Edinburgh, and would recommend the school. It's also worth saying there is a strong focus on hand drawing/modelling.

AFernan -

I was accepted but won't be going to GSAPP.
There are probably many others. Don't give up hope.

To all those planning on attending open houses.

Have you already decided and just wanting to check out the school or is it to help you make a decision?

I already know what program I'm going to accept but still on the fence about visiting the open house because of time and schedule constraints. What exactly do these schools do at the open house? Also will they have free food/booze?

weezypal, Thank you. I hope I get accepted off the waitlist.

May i ask, what school are you going to.

hello everyone. im new to this discussion and an international applicant (B. Arch student).

I am an MLa/ M.Arch (concurrent degree) applicant to UC Berkeley and M. Arch applicant to uiuc. Haven't heard from either yet.

Is there anyone who hasn't heard from UC Berkeley yet? Or has heard from UIUC.

@e4d1c: anyword about the MIT waitlist? are you Adv Standing? I've attempted to contact them about it, but they're pretty tight-lipped.

To all those still waiting to hear from the GSD: got an e-mail response saying that the final decision letters were posted Wednesday and Thursday (24th and 25th March) so everyone should have heard by the 1st April...if you still haven't heard by then, it's ok to contact them and ask for an electronic decision.

weezypal... they send out schedules when you RSVP (sometimes before) about what they are doing. I know Arizona State had some nice lunch choices and a tour of the studios among other things, and Minnesota included a city tour before the actual open house.

I'm not going to any open houses except North Carolina because I have to buy a new car (little sister got rear ended when she took my car... longish story) so I don't have much discretionary income before admissions decisions are due.

I think the purpose of the open houses are to either 1. convince you to choose their school and show you what they offer or 2. cement your decision to choose their school if you're already leaning that way. Basically it's their turn to sell the school to you since you've already been accepted.

Hellas, thanks for sharing the information!
I still haven't heard anything from the GSD and nearly giving up my hope.

Did anyone get an itinerary for GSAPP's open house? I haven't yet.

tecture-

I hold a B.S. in architecture from UMD and taught architecture at the NBM in DC and have been working in NYC with a design-Build firm since 2006.

Still haven't recieved anything from RISD. What did the package include?

I'm going nuts not knowing about GSD.... This has all made me look more into MIT and the changes that have been happening and continue to happen there. I've been listening to all sorts of opinions about why one school would be better than the other and obviously I've been getting a lot of "oh MIT is way better," I feel partly because that's the school I'm in and that has offered me a lot to go there.

I'm starting to really take my own advice from earlier posts and really look into the reasons MIT is a better 'fit' for me, which I've rationally known for a while but haven't really bought into since my last year of undergrad I pretty much worked to produce a portfolio specifically for MAUD....

I have a few friends that have gotten in to GSD this year (some excellent portfolios!) and I know one guy that has gotten into MAUD. In a way, I feel a bit of a blow that he's gotten in and that I probably didn't, mostly because he spent the majority of undergrad stoned and did not really have anything excellent about his credentials. I got to take a look at his portfolio and it was by far one of the not-so-good ones and not only per my opinion... There were even a couple professors who refused to give him recommendation...

On that note and although I'm a post professional candidate, I think that if they don't let in someone like Hirano (congratulations on your acceptances and your portfolio, you are truly dedicated to architecture and that makes me sincerely respect you) then god knows what they are looking for...
I guess it all does come down to 'fit,' although these results have truly confused me about what qualifies someone to go to the GSD since some excellent architects have been accepted along with some of the most mediocre students I went to school with

Ravzan,

I work at Paul Raff Studio. One of my colleagues knows you.

Thevillan,

no word on MIT... i doubt i'll get in but considering in waitlisted i doubt money will come from them anyways. Also UPenn is more up my alley for the US schools.

I'm also not advanced standing... i have no arch background. Commerce actually, and film. I did the GSAPP summer studio (i was in the Transformer Group).


Anyone going to the Penn open house on the 12th? I'm heading from NY on the monday.

I realized after the fact i should have applied to sci-arch. I think i'll be persunig the mediaSCapes program after my MArch

Rejected from Cooper Union M.ArchII... guess I am not staying in NYC if I go to graduate school...

weezypal, I look at open houses at this point as someone posted above to either help make a decision or validate a decision you have more or less already made. If you have already chosen your school and sent in the deposit, I don't see the purpose of attending the open house unless you can do it without significant additional personal cost... my two cents, but your decision of course...

With that said, I am attending UCLA's open house this weekend as I am still 'undecided'... anyone else attending?

Hellas -- Thanks for the info! Really appreciate it. Is that true for the Urban Design program as well? I'm sorry, I should have mentioned, I'm going for the MSc Urban Design degree (already have M.Arch). Are they having a change in leadership as well?

hey tecture/alex_ did the risd package include kyna leski's design principles book? I absolutely love that book and was obsessed with it over the
summer, while at berkeley. it's quite hard to find and i've been trying to get
my hands on a copy.

MABARCH

I think it is safe to say that if you have not heard anything about MarchII GSD, then it is a no-go. They have already sent out their acceptances, along with a subsequent package of GSD Student Guides and the Platform book, and personally called those that have been accepted.

The post-professional program is extremely competitive to get into, I should know as applied two years ago and was rejected. Partly because I have been working for so long and that dominated my portfolio. Taking to Silvetti, he helped me re-organize my portfolio to clarify a few issues they had. I did apply again this year and was accepted.

In speaking with the person who called from the selection committee, there were hundreds of applicants and some very qualified people that did not get in. At some point, you need a little luck I believe. For those that don't know, portfolio is 90% of the selection. If your portfolio rises to the top, for whatever reason, you will get in. ( I am speaking of MARCH II..not sure of MAUD)

I do think that MIT is a fantastic place to be admitted. The culture of that school is rapidly changing for the better. Nader is taking over this fall, there are many really good people over there. Meejin, Mark Goulthorp, Sheila.....Beth is in and out. etc. Plus..you can cross enroll as well.

Good luck with your decision...and congratulations on getting into MIT.

subliminal - how did you get your cooper m.arch II results? email or mail?

the classic "very thin envelope" in the mail... good luck!

Any ideas when we will be notified by USC and SciARc?

Jazzefina,

I think I saw some USC posts on theGradCafe last week... Could have been someone messing around though.

Rejected from GSD. W00t!

The tally so far:

Cincinnati: In w/ AP+$.
Ohio State: In
Oregon: In
CCNY: In
GSD: Out
Kentucky: ?

Jazzefina and rqtect10

I was notified of my acceptance to USC last week with scholarship, no joke. I'm still waiting on Sci Arc though

maaaannnnnn so i'm out for UBC now too..
my stats:
accepted: UO

rejected:
berkeley
UBC
UT austin

looks like portland is a'callin.

rejected from cooper union, as suspected.

Has anyone heard anything from Maryland?

I haven't been accepted anywhere else (*sigh*) and they're sort of my 'safety'. Been waiting on a letter for over a week and starting to go nuts.

Haven't heard from GSD either... but at this point I'm just assuming no.

Anybody heard from GA Tech by chance?

There's a GradCafe acceptance post - however I haven't heard anything and the school seems to have some sort of policy against answering their phones.

@pepto

Still waiting to hear back from Ga Tech as well. On their site it says they would notify people by April 1st, and if you call or email, they will just tell you what is on their application status check website. Mine says 'No decision has been made.' What program did you apply to?

jaded - did your cooper response come via mail also?
... i'm still waiting.

miamiDC,

I applied to the three year track - their website says notifications would be out March 1 for those applicants. But judging from last year's 'Comisserate' thread and the CoA website, I kind of assumed it would all go out together on April 1. My status still shows 'No decision has been made' as well.

i just got an email from GT with my acceptance letter. i applied for the post professional program though.

subliminal- sorry to hear about cooper. no word from them yet on this end.

Is anybody confused by their RISD packets?

I didn't even get a call when everyone else did and then was accepted via package in the mail today!! One hand excited, on the other, have no clue what to think about this summer program!! How did I get in to Cornell AP but need the summer program at RISD??? Thoughts?

tzara,

maybe it has something to do with it being a fine arts school and learning the school's core visual arts classes?

tzara-- where are you located?

I'm still waiting to hear from RISD too!