Stuzzie and Droselle -

Seems like UW is notifying people in several different ways. How did you guys here? mail, email, phone? I'm starting to guess what my odds are this late into the game.....

MArch4April - I'm in upstate NY. Got the package today! Where are you?

tecture - maybe you're onto something...i've gotta call them on Monday to see what is up... thanks!

I'm in Seattle. It'll probably take a bit longer to get all the way to the left coast.

probably true. It seems like the mail takes forever nowadays.. Good Luck on it though!!

if you're wondering about risd, send them an email inquiring about your application status. i followed up a couple of days ago and received a congratulatory email saying i was in and that packages were sent out on 3/24

MABARCH

I'm in the same situation now.
My first choice has always been the GSD, but Princeton began to seem more suitable place for me than the GSD during this long-long wait for the letter.

Looking at the posts on Gradcafe, it seems that the GSD started sending only rejections. So, I'm heading up to Princeton, and now I'm really looking forward to study at Princeton rather than being miserable ;)

Anyway, Good luck! and I hope you will be in the right place!

yea, it seems that risd is on the slow side with their post and most importantly how the notify. i called their admissions office and was told i was in and that they were sending the packet, which can take a couple of days since im in seattle...hopefully tomorrow.

thinking about going to the open house but not sure.

Yah...still on the fence about the open house at RISD...I guess I want to go to see whats up with the Arch. Dept. there (website does not really share a whole lot about what they're doing)...but I've also got Cornell...and I love Cornell!! hmmmm...I guess i'll figure it out this week

Has anyone heard from UCLA......rejections/acceptances. I'm starting to lose hope.

On another note click this link to check out a t-shirt and flip-flop design I made...vote if you'd like :) thanks

http://www.threadless.com/submission/263198/FOOTmap/comproll,94

tzara--- are you going to the Cornell open house? I want sooo badly to go especially since mr. hyper-rational Rem will be there... but alas, advanced studio project due later that week :(

I'm on the fence with them and their neighbors to the north at Syracuse. Maybe I'll be seeing ya!

a.sorell - sweet design!! You got my vote!

rqtect10 - I'm going! I live 4 minutes away from campus...ditch studio! Come! Is Cornell one of your top picks?

@ sounder: sorry, don't know much about the Urban Design course so can't really help you there!

Seems like GSD is taking their sweet time... here's what I recommend reading while waiting for GSD decision:
"Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools" Jonathan Kozol
"Infinite in All Directions" Freeman Dyson

Some one on Grad Cafe posted that they got accepted to GSAPP off the wait list, yesterday. On the other hand GSAPP told another wait listed student that they will only look at the wait list list after 15th April, iff their class is not filled. I'm confused. Anyone help !

Request to all those who are definitely NOT going to GSAPP. Please decline offer even if you are on the wait list, so that other waiting students can get a chance.

Thanks ! Aron

a.sorrell-

i know, wtf UCLA? why are you keeping us in the dark?!

Just got RISD mail with student info and notification of no summer program required. Anyone know if you can request advanced placement or class waivers? Also does anyone have any idea when sci arc will be sending out admission decisions?

pepto & miamiDC -

I got accepted to the Tech 3 yr. MArch via email this Friday. That's my post on Grad Cafe. Another guy I know also got accepted Friday, but I think he's post-pro...in any case my status site still says "no decision."

I have heard their admin staff is a skeleton crew due to budget cuts...speaking of, they don't even know what tuition is going to be this year because the Georgia university system has a massive deficit.

There's no open house planned, so you're on your own to schedule a visit to the program. From talking to people in ATL, it sounds like the GT program is quite a bit scattered and without direction at the moment - can anyone comment on that?

I know a thing or two about the budget woes - I graduated from a georgia university last spring. Last i heard (about three weeks ago) there was no plan to increase tuition at the state schools. The Board of Regents thinks they can deal with their budget deficit by eliminating staff and services that are deemed 'unnecessary'. So I wouldn't worry too much about any massive tuition hikes this year.

I definitely agree with the 'scattered' analysis. I tried to put together a visit at GT last spring when I first decided on grad school since they were just minutes from my apartment, and had a hell of a time getting in touch with anyone. They just transitioned to a new dean recently as well.

All that being said, congrats on the acceptance! It's an interesting program to me - the fact that the CoA is in a university full of engineers and scientists gives it a much different feel than the other programs I applied to. A large majority of the practicing architects in Atlanta went there, so there are good local connections to be had. Hopefully I'll hear from them soon as well, I'd love the chance to move back to the A-Town.

e4d1c :

oh, cool. that's awesome. Had Paul for studio actually in 1st year. and Colin for quite a few classes.

good luck with everything.

cheers

r

What I don't get is, if GSD did send out all offers by March 16th the latest (based on the results posted here and on gradcafe), why do they have to wait till a week later for all the rejections to go out?! Does it really take them that long to prepare rejection letters? Or did they just take a long and nice break right after they picked the ones they want!

yeah, that's pretty messed up. come to think of it, schools should take columbia's lead and send out rejections before admissions. a friend and i were discussing this even before columbia send rejections. i mean just let everyone know already.

personally, i'm still waiting on an expected rejection notification from ucla and any type of update of sci-arc, though these are irrelevant at this point.

i emailed ucla and called a few times this week. no response to my email + no one picks up the phones = everyone had themselves a lovely ass spring break. awesome, how considerate!

And does the GSD send out their wait list letters?

was anyone able to make it to Umich's open house?
I'm overseas, so couldn't make it.
any comments about your visit?

trying to decide between Umich and UVa..
a really touch choice

I think the GSD is shooting themselves in the foot. At this point in the game most people have already decided where they will be going in the fall (or at least narrowed it down to 2 options). If I were to get a wait list letter in the mail from the GSD, I wouldn't even entertain the idea of going there for a second.

On that note, I've heard from all but one...

GSD - ?
AA_DRL - In + $
GSAPP_MSAAD - In
UPenn_MArch2 - In
UT_MArch2 - In
MIT_SMArchS - Rejected

I'm pretty sure I'll either be going to the AA_DRL or the GSAPP. I'll decide after open house. I'll see you guys there.

Hi everyone. I am trying to decide between Cornell, Syracuse and Pratt. Which one should i choose. Syracuse is giving 20 000. Pratt 6000 on the other hand Cornell gives no money. I lean towards Cornell but i hear not very good thing about its March program. I heard its history and theory teachers are worse than the others. I also waitlisted for Upenn. Which one should i choose? Is Syracuse is a good university for March?

If you help, I would be really glad. I am an international applicant so It's really hard to find correct info about the universities from here.

word2bird-

i was actually thinking the same thing... getting a swift rejection letter upfront and then having the time to process through it is WAY BETTER than this indeterminate waiting game!

I mean, seriously, it's usually pretty clear who the schools DON'T want, and the true whittling happens between the "yes"es and "maybe"s. So, they should start off with rejections right off the bat. Good for Columbia.

Completely agree!

Dear voneckht

We regret to inform you that you are rejected but it was super hard to write this letter so we crafted it over the past two weeks to warrant you paying 80 dollars to apply.

We as the GSD are not going to lie.....we're pretty sweet. And you're pretty sweet....just not sweet enough. Seriously though thanks for the portfolio. It looks custom made and time consuming. We have a very large room here at the GSD for those. It's called the dumpster bitch..... unless we can sell it on eBay.

To sum up:

regret
super hard
your rejected
80 dollars
CRAFTED
we're sweet
you're not
large room = dumpster w/ your work
bitch

Sincerely,

GSD

voneckht - Read this at work and laughed out loud! That was probably the best post in 44 pages!

Got into University of Washington (3 year program)!!! I received a package in the mail (yellow envelope).

Berkeley - In
UW - In
Sci-Arc - ?

aveclaudenum-

where are you planning to go if accepted into sci-arc?

@Stuzz: Probably Berkeley because I have a good grasp on my potential there, having taken part in the 2009 Summer Program. However, I'm not 100% sure yet.

aveclaudenum-

sounds great! i have a friend that did his undergrad in arch there and he loved it. doing their summer program probably got your decision taken care of. good luck!

delirious----

I'm also deciding between Cornell and Syracuse.

You're absolutely right about the lack of information on Cornell's M.Arch1 program. I'm guessing it's due to the fact that their B.Arch program gets so much hype.
The website is pretty mediocre so I'd suggest contacting the graduate studies coordinator or any of the professors you'd be interested in working with in order to clear the smoke cloud surrounding their relatively new program (somehow they're already ranked in the top 10 even with candidacy status).

On the other hand, Syracuse is fairly transparent with what their program offers. Great publications, professors, courses, technological resources, and a 2-year old award winning building. I'd also say that it seems the program is very keen on individual research which will be indispensable in identifying what kind of work you want to do in the future. Again, if you care about rankings they're in the top 20.

Can't say I know too much if anything about Pratt. Being in NYC is definitely a big draw along with the relatively small size of the program.


In the end, ask yourself what YOU want to get out of these programs.

Is there anyone who still did not get an answer from UT Austin?? They already had an open house and I'm still waiting for their rejection ( most likely). That's ridiculous!

Did anyone attend the UVa or UT Austin Open House on Friday? I'm overseas, so I couldn't go. If anyone has anything to share I'd really appreciate it! Thanks in advance!

vonecht- awesome.

Nope, haven't heard from UT Austin yet! Quite ridiculous!

jazzefina

I finally heard from UT Austin on thursday via the UT eid website.

haven't posted in a while but since I've heard from everyone (almost) I figured Ill post my results and stats.

23 yrs old
3.5 gpa
500v, 590q

Received a B.S. in Architecture. Have some work experience, won a couple competitions

Michigan 2G - Accepted w/$$
Syracuse - Accepted AP
Maryland - Accepted
Cincinnati - Accepted w/$$

Rice - rejected
UT Austin - rejected

Virginia Tech -?? hoping to hear soon

I think it will probably come down to Michigan and Syracuse. Went to UMich's open house and liked a lot of what I heard and saw. I am pretty excited about the program. Im going to Syracuse open house in a couple weeks but from what I know I like.

Cincinnati - I have mixed feelings. I like the co-op and the setup of the program but I haven't been able to find out too much about it. My other problem with them is that I just found out I was accepted yesterday via postal mail, no email or nothing, got a scholarship which is nice, but the open house is friday and they want they're decision by the 6th. That doesn't leave a lot of time as going to visit is almost out of the question for me at this point.

Anyone have any thoughts on UMich or Syracuse??? Or Cincinnati? Im trying to get as many peoples perspectives as possible.

Thanks

mugged---

Just a note...although all schools will give a deadline for their programs, most will also allow 30 days to accept their offer from the time you receive their first official admission letter (probably trying to compensate for their slow processing of apps).

I also mentioned a little tidbit about Syracuse a few posts up. Hope it helps some!

L.Arch applicant chiming in....

I actually heard from GSD March 13 and the letter had the financial package included. Their application process was by far the easiest to deal with (no limitations on portfolio, no SOP word limitation) and when I had to actually speak to a human I always found one as compared to Berkeley (nightmare).

mugged_ how was michigan's open house? what were your first impressions on the school, program, dean, students and overall environment?

i was expecting to make it out, but ended up canceling the day i was supposed to fly out. oh well. i was a little scared of falling in love with the place when i'm already set on berkeley... just didn't want to be tempted.

i don't know anything about syracuse or cincinnati. well, i know bone thugs is from cincinnati, but that pretty much sums up my knowledge of the place. anyway, mich was high up there in my personal choices, so if i were in your shoes, i'd go with mich, specially if you're pumped about the program based on the open house, plus 2g is only 2 years and they're giving you some dough, so hopefully that helps with the decision.

personally, i applied to mich because i'm really fond of their dean. monica ponce de leon is pretty amazing. i've read up on her quite a bit and i really like her philosophy. office dA is really coming up what with their great work, awards, recognition and all that. i also monica pdl her speak at sci-arc and had a good feeling about her there, so yeah. i think the dean and faculty at a school speaks volumes about the program. i've heard the tcaup facilities are also top notch so there's that as well. ultimately, you're going to have to feel it out the other open houses. i'm pretty sure that if i hadn't gotten in to berkeley, i'd be michigan bound. decisions, decisions. how truly lucky some of us are to have choices!

Well the Cincinnati campus is in the middle of the "bad part" of town, so knowing bone thugs is from there is relevant.

rqtect10- i am in the same position trying to get info about Cornell MArch course. Here is some info regarding the studio for advance placement, if you havent got that yet.

first studio parametric focused, followed by a traveling studio that will likely look at contemporary housing issues in a foreign city. After that, the third semester will be in their NYC studio with OMA, focused on comprehensive design. The fourth semester is an option studio - there are usually four to choose from. Following that is thesis.

i have heard Cornell is rather strong in theory and theoretical discourse, and there seems to have opposite opinions here on this thread. anyone knows about this aspect?

tzara- do you mind sharing your experience on Cornell open house after you attend? i have no luck in attending the exciting open house events due to work commitment and expensive flight tickets.. i am an international applicant from europe..

currently deciding among Cornell, PennDesign and Columbia. leaning towards Cornell because of money, smaller class size (hopefully more personal attention), nice studio environment (than in nyc) and great selection of classes/electives outside architecture (i am hoping for a boarder education as i only did architecture, only architecture modules in my european uni) any comment/advice will be greatly appreciated.

broader education i mean....

ranveli - no problem... I'll post as much as I can once I've got all the info. Where did you get the AP studio info?

darn- I just typed out a long response to Bird's request for info on the UM open house. then archinect crashed before I could post it.

a shorter summary: good program. great facilities. diverse faculty. lack of connection between said diversity. currently a lack between awesome facilities + Detroit sensibility to exploring means of production AND the work produced in studio. work produced in upper studios is nothing to write home about, and would be ahrd to sell in a portfolio. fear amongst current students (and some faculty) that M PdL is bringing too much of a 'starchitect' feel to a school otherwise not concerned with such. lots of $ for travel. very large. did I mention large? seems way too big. studio is one MASSIVE space.

in summary, for me, is way too much like my undergrad. its good, but i'd like a different experience in my grad.


anyone contemplating rice v. gsapp?

Finally got my UT rejection, nice start of the week

word2bird

I would mostly agree with what villain said but I'll offer a little bit of a different perspective. For me it was completely different then what my undergraduate experience was like. I thought the work that I saw was pretty good, much better then what I remember from the work that was going on in the grad or undergrad studies of the school I attended. I think one of the strengths is the diversity of the faculty and student interests, which allows you to pretty much focus on what your interests are and study what you want.

There did however seem to be a lack of connection between different focuses; urban design, architecture, planning, etc.... I would also agree about the lack of connection with detroit but would also say that if thats what your interests are and you can find the right professor no one is going to stop you from focusing on that.

From what i gathered from other students the strong points were the ability to study what interests you, many projects ranged from practical to theoretical which I thought was nice. Also a strong point in my mind was the range of classes that were offered. (Some schools only offer a few electives in one or two areas; history, theory, tech; whereas michigan offers a wide ranges of courses in a wide range of areas.

It was very large, large open studio space like villain said, but I actually like that aspect, possibility to have a lot of collaboration. The facilities were not as nice as I was expecting. They have a big fab lab, lot of computers, access to different labs and tools in some other buildings, lot of space but overall I was expecting it to be a little nicer. Granted the building is a little older. They did have access to a lot of things and a lot of spaces that my undergrad never had though.

Overall I really liked the program. I went there with it as my #1 choice and I came out basically just reassuring myself that it is where I want to be. It will come down to Umich and syracuse which I have yet to visit.

(Ironically the dean from my school went to UMich and happened to be there so I got to chat with him for a little while and he spoke very highly of the program)

tzara- from two current AP students.. i am not sure if it will be exactly the same in our year. you can probably find out about that in open house. i guess in the mean time i will try to ask for some project briefs/units descriptions to learn more about the pedagogy and the choice of option studio. one thing that i am considering is the diversity of option studios in cornell, as GSAPP has like more than 10 different studios to choose from, so there is always something for everyone. i dont mind there is only one term, but i want to know i will be able to find something that i am interested in.