i noticed that! i was like "didnt someone just ask to see a portfolio...?"
archinect gets weird... see: the millions of triple posts

man oh man. definitely had a dream that I got a really great acceptance email from UT Austin this morning. how disappointing.

This is excruciating! AUSTIN PLEASE LET ME IN! If anyone is at that school fighting for me please keep fighting. I would be a great addition to your pedagogy! sigh...

:( please. please. let me in. I don't think I can take another rejection from you Austin, we are perfect for one another.

andimdone..i'm in the same UT boat. Im actually surprised I haven't heard from them, but.. meh.. I'd rather have good news from columbia at this point.

oh and I just got rejected from Yale as well this am.

I want that UM shirt! Still waiting for the hard-package...

I won't believe it 'til I hold it in my hands

and to continue my thought... (i shouldn't try and post here while doing calculus homework) everyone from my school that graduated in my year got into wustl on monday. it was nuts. i however did not apply there.

the villain...our similarities...

It is both our second time applying to schools. (I didn't get in to anywhere I wanted to go last year.)

Both heard nothing from Austin (BAD SIGN)

Both nothing from Gsapp (GOOD SIGN?)

Hopefully we will both get some good news today!

ADavin, my boyfriend said the same exact thing about WUSTL... he's interested in possibly relocating to the same region / city as me depending on my choice (i'm making my decision independent of that though!). he's an avid skier and not sure if he can cope with st louis, and it's about as far from either of the coasts as you can get! haha... i'm also really excited for international study opps at WUSTL too! i'm just very, very, very nervous about the costs of going there, but that'll emerge in due time...

and thanks for the advice kestrel!

Doesn't look good... seems like a disappointing 2010, I'm out.

one of my friends is doing a dual program at WUSTL and just got in, and his reasoning for the high price was he went to a basically free state school for undergrad so he can spoil himself with grad school, it'll be worth it. And he'll be getting two degrees.

..and I think I saw you mention you're from the dc area? I went to high school in nova, and live and work in dc right now. I'm definitely trying to get out of this area. I applied to maryland as a formality for my boss, but other than that it looks like peaceimout.

first post

gsapp - no
gsd
mit
penn
princeton - yes
yale - no

ba - fine arts, sculpture
mfa
6'2", 150lbs

by "is doing" i meant "is going to do"

I went to high school in NOVA as well and worked in an architecture firm in DC. Now I live in Vancouver BC - its great out here. I would recommend getting as far as I can from DC - that place is stifling to say the least!

Hey....what if WE are the candidates that schools are comparing against each other. Yunno the old "We can only have one person from NOVA who worked in DC..."

hmmmm

ah crap.. that's exactly what it is. you said you own your own firm right? I think you beat me. spinning how awesome the dc area is (which, it is not) can only take me so far in my statements. unless they feel sorry for me for being from here.

MAMBO: thanks.


3 terms - Univ or Arch & Urb. "Ion Mincu", Arch. -> Bucharest, Romania
obviously no degree there.

Hon. B.ARch.Sc., may 2009 - Ryerson University -> Toronto, Canada

V'been working summers and since last may @ KPMB architects.

that's pretty much all that went into the book. (actually no Romanian work in there.)


NOW: i truly appreciate people posting their portfolios, and congratulate them on such creative and varied work.

Since I haven't had the time to focus on building an online portfolio, if there's any quick / dirty /cheap way of getting my book up there for viewing, i'd do it. Glad to receive suggestions.


..and OMFG, while writing this post my phone rang, and Stan Allen was at the other end, just to express congrats. i am still dumb struck. it's like i just spoke with Batman or like.. one of the Metallica guys. the kind of ppl u have on your walls as a kid

anyhow. that's it for now.

cheers all

r

Oh god, I just got home from the airport and found the Princeton form letter. "GS Autoresponder" as a title didn't seem very encouraging, and I knew they personally call admits, so I'm just utterly overwhelmed at this point. How in the world did I deserve this happiness?! 2009 was utter desperation and I was convinced my life was falling apart!

Hang in there everyone, I really didn't think I was that super qualified for all these schools... things will work out!

Princeton-rejection
GSAPP- rejection
Yale-rejection

May be they thought I'm way too young for M.ARCH, cause I'm only 20... (It's normal to be Bachelor at 20 in my country)...

congrats, aguacate!! and @jazzefina, what country are you from? 20 is young.. from what I understand, grad schools typically like seeing some work experience and "seasoning."

rejection from Princeton via e-mail.
It was my first rejection.
I wasn't expecting, but it is hard to take it.

Congrats aguacate, you made it!

sixtrain,

I'm from Eastern Europe. I entered university at 16 and will recieve bachelor degree by the end of this academic year, at 20.

Yeah, it seems like admissions commitees think, that M.Arch is not the thing for young ladies(((

hey jazze, it's all right. you have the benefit of time, remember.

(full disclosure: I'm only 21. I graduated last year with my Bachelor's)

Rejected from Princeton.
Rejected from Yale.

Expected. It was still nice to have dreamed though...

I'm really hoping I get some good news from the west coast schools.

sixtrain,
Thanx
It's really hard to compete with 25-27 year old experienced people.

I try not to loose hope, I wait for 6 more responses from schools.
If it doesn't work, I'll have to hang out too more years here to recieve kind of m.arch we have here, and then reapply.
I still hope to get anywhere, may be UT, USC or SCI-ARC will be more friendly, otherwise I'll fill like a desperate rotten vegetable))

Oh geez I just found out even MORE people from UF got into WashU.
Just saw this on my feed: "Wash U is the new UF SOA lol"
seems to be true... this is nuts.

hirano- congrats on princeton!

aguacate- congrats on princeton, too!

Feel honored to be in y'all's company...

Rice seemed very firm that I would find out their decision on March 15th.
-

On this thread picking up- I guess before I had the sense that we were all competing for the same spots, and that sharing any info could be detrimental to our respective chances. But now that everything's all sent in, we're all in the same boat, there's nothing we can change, so we can be supportive.

great recon work on Rice sbeth.. I am very excited to hear from them.

I had that viewpoint (we're all competing) as an undergrad and the last time I applied. I think in studios they hype up the "architect as individual" concept. but now that I've gained more perspective and had some time to work in the profession, I've realized it's not that way at all. in fact, we need each other, or will need each other. our profession is too hard to knock each other down all the time.

and about the Yale letter-

I think it makes sense that they're waxing on and on about themselves. At this point, they've shown their cards by saying "we want YOU," but now the admittees have to bite back. All the top tier schools are competing for the same batch of highly-talented people, so now it's a 'persuade em why they should choose us game.'


After seeing so many outstanding portfolios, I honestly feel like these schools are looking to admit people that will make THEMSELVES look good. Like, 'damn, she can draft, with a few more years she'll give us great stuff to show off about.'

As opposed to- 'this portfolio looks rough but i can see his potential, let's let him in and see where he develops.'

I don't know, I just keep getting the sense that they want finished products, not works-in-progress, which doesn't make sense if you're coming without an arch background.

villain- you had me going before, too, i thought they'd admitted you! way to psych us out.

sorry, i don't check this often so i'm just now seeing all the comments...
didn't mean to be "show-offy" with my post, it just seemed like everyone was looking for GSAPP "accepted" information so i thought people may want to know that apparently the time has come...
i think that people who have not heard yet should maybe expect good news, not bad...it seems the first wave was rejections, and now the acceptances are rolling in...
good luck to all!! again, didn't mean to offend, i promise.

Hello All-

I've been lurking in the wings all week. I'm feeling too ebullient after hearing from Princeton this morning though so...

Yale - In
Princeton - In

GSD - ?
GSAPP - ?
RISD - ?

Apparently the schools with acronyms for names are slower? Anyway a bit of other info:

Undergrad at University of Michigan- BFA and BSArch
Graduated last year. Currently working in NYC for a small residential firm.

Congrats to everyone who got in to schools they wanted to get into! And for those who haven't yet, remember there's still lots more to come!

sorry, i don't check this often so i'm just now seeing all the comments...
didn't mean to be "show-offy" with my post, it just seemed like everyone was looking for GSAPP "accepted" information so i thought people may want to know that apparently the time has come...
i think that people who have not heard yet should maybe expect good news, not bad...it seems the first wave was rejections, and now the acceptances are rolling in...
good luck to all!! again, didn't mean to offend, i promise.

Sbeth85, what you said is true, especially for the top-top-notch programs like princeton, gsd, yale, and mit. even if a person may seem to have a lot of potential based on the stuff they have done, they have almost zero chance of getting accepted into these schools if they have little to no architecture experience whatsoever.

i have seen lots of portfolios by ppl accepted into these schools, and all of them had some significant architecture experience, beyond just a design studio here or there. most of them had a b.arch or else had some significant arch experience elsewhere. u can't expect to get into the top by being just a dabbler. these ppl were at the top of their leagues at what they did.

@emmarch: as a gsapp-decision-waiter, no offense taken :P. thanks a lot for sharing. any shred of news is useful. it's just bizarre to me that it's being drawn out like this, rather than released all at once like yale/mit/princeton seemed to have done.

jizzy,

I've been told informally by an admissions person at one of the schools you listed that they gladly accept applicants with absolutely zero architectural experience. their portfolios then must show how well their background will translate into the architectural process, and the committee then takes a chance with them. besides, these applicants are considered in a separate group for what I suspect is a set quota, so there's a chance for everyone who's applying.

I agree sixtrain, it seems quite odd. i got no "merit-based" aid, but i was offered "need-based" aid, as was the fellow classmate of mine who also was accepted...maybe there's a trend there? i don't know...just reaching at a guess

pult - interesting, thanks for the info. which school was this? if i had to guess it was either gsd or mit, based on what i've learned about their programs. do u know any examples of stuff that non-arch-bg ppl had that got them through?

wait mmarch13 you got accepted to GSAPP? or just your classmate? just now? today? ahhhhhhhhhhh I want in!

wouldn't that be something: they're not debating whether or not to let us in, rather how much dough to give each of us! .. at any rate: thank you for the info and congrats on your acceptance mmarch13

jizzy,

I've been accepted to Yale and MIT so far with no architecture or design background. I took a few continuing ed classes and a grad prep class at LAIAD. My portfolio consisted of 3 self-started projects and 2 from LAIAD, which I posted on page 6.

Getting into these schools is doable!

When people start giving their lists, please put your GRE scores, GPA, and portfolio, if possible... I am very curious

from what I've heard, gsapp gives out need-based aid more than merit. so hm. strange things are afoot..

Just got rejected from my own school.

has anyone heard from UPenn yet? it's been frightening and resolute silence from them, as well as harvard...AND UT...and i am not a patient person

I just remembered my friend who started Columbia GSAPP in 2008 was originally admitted to the masters of science in architecture. She had to call them and they changed it to the Masters in Architecture... and she still got her scholarship money (it was only like 10000 a year)

and lol waqas that happened to me last year. Then I realized I didnt want to stay there any longer anyway.

and ADavin if you can find my list from a few pages ago my gpa is like 3.2 ish maybe a bit higher now (3.3?) and gre is 1170ish. I can't remember exactly. i also posted my portfolio forever ago. maybe page 9 or 10.

UPENN (just got an email)

We are currently evaluating applications and will be making decisions in the next few weeks. On March 22 after 12 noon EST, you can log back into your online application and view your notification letter. In the meantime, if you are applying for financial aid, be sure to submit your FAFSA or Penn International Financial Aid Application if you haven't done so already.

yeah. gsapp definitely seems more need based.

speaking from the fact that though i really do need i had a high tax report since i still have a job (though i have received a couple of pay cuts)

i have a friend who got in with me and due to his high debt (student loans from undergrad) and being laid off last fall, he has gotten a significant offer.

Ah Waqas, don't fret, you got into another great school! You can diversify your ivy background!

whatttt did you email Penn first or is it a standard email?