Oh yeah,

For everyone who hasn't looked, and those interested in looking over and over and over.... and over again.

Here are the results from last year on GradCafe

Architecture Results, Notification Dates, and Some Financial Data

Atty, you're leaving law for architecture?

Here, I thought I wanted to leave arch. for law! XD

also searching for "arch" there gives you some slightly different results
and "arc" is all the sci-arc results.

Hope to leave the law for architecture....of course pending application results.

I want out because I want to be in a more creative field...I want to be able to make something. I am also realizing that I find the corporate world really boring.

Fingers crossed...but now...after looking at this board I am thinking I may need to find plan B.

jk3hl...if you have any questions about the legal field I am happy to answer them.

atty, good for you to drop everything and pursue something, I hope, you are passionate about. I just hope you're not expecting the same stability out of this profession as your last. I'm sure you've given it plenty of thought, and you should do fine with admissions given your unique background. goodluck.

caveat emptor!

Architecture for most is just as corporate as law, beware...

I started out in law and have been around the profession my entire life (my grandfather is/was a district attorney and state district judge).

Also, Atty, be sure to read up on your imminent and drastic decline in wages, plus the 30+% unemployment!

Law is #3 on my alternative careers chart if I don't get a good amount of money accompanying any acceptance I may receive this year.

lore: imminent decline in wages? I think they're already here. and they didn't start out very high.

...imminent decline in relation to law wages...

lore, what is #1 and #2?

My only alternative career move was urban planning masters and then government job and then private planning firm. I think I had my back up plans more fleshed out than the primary ones.

I am aware of the issue of instability and the drastic pay cut I will take. Sometime you need to just take the plunge. Also the legal profession has been hit particularly hard by the economy...last I saw 15% of lawyers had been laid off.

My list fluctuates a bit, but here are some of my options :

1. Inventor
2. Consultant
3. Real Estate Law
4. Web Developer
5. BIM Manager (present occupation... bleh)
6. Artist
7. Restaurateur
8. Critic/Writer
9. Rap Music
10. Construction Estimator
11. Virtual Construction Manager
12. Graphic Designer
13. Marketing / Advertisement
14. Art Direction / Curatorial
15. Architectural Illustrations
16. Architectural Animations
17. Drifting / Travel / Whatever
18. Teaching English

All of these are highly viable options, being an actual architect is by far the least sane of any of them... but sanity didn't get me where I am today, so, here's to hoping that I get some reciprocal acceptance and investment from my top choices!

hey lore, where are you a BIM manager? if you dont mind me asking.

lidandan

nice portfolio......like it matters at this point. haha

As a career Law seems to follow more of a linear path. You pick what you will practice and find a firm......it's not as direct as dentistry or something but seems to have a pretty set course.

Architecture on the other hand seems to have become a set of skills for a million different career paths. It's like going to school to study civilization. This is good and bad, good because you can fit into many molds, but bad because it is sometimes not specialized enough.

TheVillian,

I don't like to post the name of my employer because Archinect is highly ranked and indexed frequently on Google and other search engines, but, if you click on my profile you will get a whole treasure trove of information about who I am, what I do, where I live, what I eat, who I sleep with, etc.

Thanks voneckht! I know it doesn't matter anymore, but people are always curious and since the pressure is off me what the heck might as well link it finally.

My least favorite question has become "what kind of architecture do you want to do?" of course these questions come from lay-people, so they mean houses or skyscrapers but it's such a loaded question.

At least it's more focused than anthropology or sociology, which means a career as a paper salesman or franchise manager or admin assistant. Although my fantasy back up career is starting over in forensic anthropology and becoming Bones, like the tv show. That or a reality tv show star.... such dreams.

And lore, #9 sounds like your best option.

wow this thread has really picked up over the past couple days. It's nice to see everyone being pretty active on here.

I was able to put all my applications in the back of mind until I came on here yesterday and read the posts and then realized that its getting to be the end of february and we should all be hearing back from schools within the next 2-3 weeks or so. Now I'm just getting anxious.

Good luck to everyone though and I hope everyone is able to pass the time.

And loremipsum I agree def. go with #9

My best backup plan is getting into business development for arch firms. Have a.friend in. it and he's done really well for himself.

My best backup plan is getting into business development for arch firms. Have a.friend in. it and he's done really well for himself.

My best backup plan is getting into business development for arch firms. Have a.friend in. it and he's done really well for himself.

My best backup plan is getting into business development for arch firms. Have a.friend in. it and he's done really well for himself.

My best backup plan is getting into business development for arch firms. Have a.friend in. it and he's done really well for himself.

woah quadruple post jk3hl...

If last year is any indication, we could start hearing back next week from UVA, UT Austin, and Michigan, with more coming early March. Yikes.

Based on that link (which is oddly reassuring as far as timelines go), I'm assuming I'll hear from most of my choices around mid/late-March.

I guess I won't hear from SCI-Arc until mid/late-April?

Hope I get into a school by then. <Heavy sigh>

For the non-arch undergrads (I think there are a few of us on here): What types of projects did you include in your portfolio?

Go with #9...

This is coming from a former rapper, actor, artist, and most recently a senior recruiter for law/legal technologies...

Between all 4 of those, I was lucky to even make 40K/year.

Something tells me I won't be disappointed with a 40-50K salary after school. Even if I end up a CAD monkey. ;)

watercolors, ink conceptual sketches, color pencil drawings, furniture design sketches and renderings, a trail map I had designed, a cubicle window I deisgned, photography, an ink wash.

I also put in a small architecture project I had worked on, I'm an engineer. I made a small conceptual model, sketched a site plan, section and floor plans. I did this to show I know how construction drawings work but at the same time I didn't use AutoCAD, they were free hand.

Lots of pencil drawings, water colors, collage with sketching, clay stuff...based on advice I stuck mostly with free hand drawing.

I'm a non-arch grad... don't know if that helps.

I used a 4 page spread to introduce my previous art, style and aesthetic. And the rest of the portfolio focused on my work this summer for Intro-Arch at GSAPP/Columbia.

I started in September... took one month to take a bunch of new photos, scan and cull through my jpeg's, another month to clean everything in Photoshop, another month to import/format in InDesign, and the final month to do a handful of test prints until I thought it perfect.

Granted that's an excessively long time to devote to the portfolio, but I'm anal-retentive and wanted to do this right (whatever that means) ;)

All in all, I had paintings, sculptures, data-point mappings, site/plan sketches, a sh*t-load of small conceptual models, and a final large model with plan and section.

Non-arch majors-

how long were your portfolios? Mine was about 15 spreads and I'm wondering if that is too short. I figured that because I (/we) don't have many/any architecture projects we have less to put in.

Also, do you think our GREs and GPAs will count for more?

My non-background portfolio was about 20 pages. It was comprised of photographs, freehand drawings, paintings and a few paintings that I blended with photographs.

I had no art background prior to about a year ago, when I started trying to develop this portfolio. It's pretty eclectic, but overall I think I was able to convey a sense of how I view the world around me. I think that's what's important for us non-background applicants.

I don't think GPA/GRE will count for a lot more. I think SOP and portfolio will still be most important. Although, I had a low GPA and high GRE, so for me, ideal weight would be GRE/SOP/LOR/PORT/GPA.

That could happen, right?

"If it's your dream school, just apply, cuz what if you do get in?"
stefjam i don't know if u're still following up with this thread, if u are just want to thank u. i read this every time i scroll down to go to the last page (argh..archinect should do sth about that) and every time i actually get more hopeful. what if we do get in?
cheers to that

Who knows? Though I am assuming the most weight goes to portfolio and SOP.

I think I kicked ass on those two... Not to mention my LOR. I had two faculty from GSAPP pen me something really good.

I'm happy with my GPA (from ten years ago)... less happy with the GRE (since I'm 14 years removed from Calculus/Algebra...)

For me, the ideal weight would be PORT/SOP/LOR/GPA/GRE.

wow y'all are way more confident then me! I just have my fingers crossed that at least one place comes through!!!!!!!

Yeah, I agree! Lewisandclark- have you posted your portfolio? I'd love to see it. I dig/admire your confidence!

also non-arch (or art/design) background.

portfolio was 10 pages split between photos that relate to my undergrad major, photos from work (i do some freelance photog), and sketches/drawings from community college art class. all in all pretty simple, but i feel it shows my experiences and the way i see the world, at least as best as i can represent at the moment anyway. i put a lot of time into the layout, which was also very simple. other than the cover and table of contents, which i styled minimally, i made a conscious effort to not be contrived or arbitrary. admittedly that was a struggle.

hopefully everything comes across. don't think i'll be too bothered if i don't get in though, at least i'll be able to work another year, save some cash and maybe do more traveling. can't forget that there's more to life than school and career.

My portfolio was 13 pages only, basically because I didn't have a lot of work to showcase in the first place. However, I still edited and only included work that backed up the interests/focus highlighted in my SOP. The admissions committees don't spend much time looking through them due to the high volume received, so "short and concise" seemed like a good idea anyways.

mine was about 30 spreads...BUT it was small and simple so there wasnt a lot really going on.

getting feedback on my portfolio was hard. most people i showed it to wouldn't let go of the fact that there was hardly anything architectural about it.

i've taken a couple technical drafting classes, but otherwise i don't have an architectural background, so why try to fake the funk? that was my thinking at least. my portfolio (i hope) was more about trying to demonstrate basic design & composition instinct.

NYC: Thanks for starting this conversation. I thought I really had no idea what I was doing with a port, but it seems like I came up with something similar in concept to a lot of these other people.

Zoon: Same here. Thanks Stefjam!

Totally agree with Smile of Fury. I was pretty clueless. Have zero art or architecture background so was flying by the seat of my pants. Seems like I am least in the right ballpark!

Fingers crossed for everyone!!!

I had a fine-arts undergrad going into my M.Arch so I at least had drawing/painting/sculpture material to include. It must be tough for those with other majors but I'm sure they redistribute how they weigh your whole body of work. Regardless of where you come from they are looking for sophistication, passion, and potential.

I'm sure you all will be very competitive

Did anyone else get that MIT application update email? My heart almost popped out of my chest. What a tease you are, MIT!

Yup. My heart was pounding too, haha

me too...mean...

it's kind of off topic
but anyone applying to UMich
have their status incomplete
because of missing transcript from community college?
one beside your arch degree.
UMich requested it about last week or so
Everything beside transcript from cc is complete.
it's not changing.. making me nervous

My letters of rec say incomplete for a couple schools, but I know they are there because I delivered them sealed with my application. I doubt they update each persons individual status as soon as something I received when they have hundreds of open apps.

I'm applying to umich, app is complete. give them a call, they are really helpful on the phone.

NYCBlues, ADavin and Atty -

i applied to mit too, what did that email say? - i didn't get anything

loremipsum - thanks for that gradcafe link.. now i have more distractions..

Dear Applicants,

I have been passing by the resource room these past few weeks, and see several boxes of "things" that the faculty are reviewing throughout the day and evening. I wonder...

BTW I got my acceptance to the program 2/24/09 for your reference. Best of luck.

Love,
a 1st year M.Arch1 @ UCLA

Dear Prospective Student:

Thank you once again for your interest in the Department of Architecture. We
wanted to let you know that our admissions application process is proceeding
smoothly. All applications are in the hands of the admissions committee for
review.

Decisions regarding admission and financial aid will be made before the end of
March. Applicants will be notified of their admission via e-mail by April 1. An
official admissions letter will be sent via post immediately thereafter.

Just a reminder - our Open House for newly admitted Master of Architecture and
Master of Science in Architecture Studies students will be held on Thursday, April
8, 2010. The Open House provides an opportunity to meet current students and
faculty, tour the design studios and the MIT campus. Further information will be
included in the admission letter.

Students admitted to the Master of Science in Visual Studies, Master of Science
in Building Technology, or the Doctor of Philosophy programs are encouraged to
schedule a time to visit:

For Visual Arts, contact Lisa Hickler, lhickler@mit.edu

For Building Technology, contact Kathleen Ross, kross@mit.edu

For History, Theory and Criticism, contact Kate Brearley, brearley@mit.edu

For Design and Computation, contact Daniela Stoudenkova, danielas@mit.edu

With best wishes,

The MIT Architecture Admissions Staff