@cedar congratulations! 

Hi all, this thread has really been helpful. Congratulations to all who have been accepted! 

I've been accepted to Penn, UMD, Parsons and Northeastern. Out of these I know Penn is the top, but I'm still indecisive. Any thoughts on the others? Financial aid hasn't arrived yet and only Northeastern has given me a scholarship. So out of these, which would you say is better for M.Arch? 

no news from smarchs architectural design and columbia gsapp yet... am i rejected or waitlisted or accepted??? what are they trying to say??/

I have the same question. "What are they trying to say?" Even no replies to my emails that I sent to the admissions office. Still hanging on.

I am on a wait list at Columbia.

Nothing from SCI-arc neither form Pratt.

Question:

Can someone clearly explain for me what "wait list" means and how it works?

I have a clue but not a total understanding the way it works. 

I had to call MIT to ask for a change in contact information as my office email hasn't been working properly. 

They have informed me that the admissions decisions should be released by this week or early next week.

For all you guys out there still waiting ...

Unamuno, did you find out from GSAPP today about your wait-list? I'm wondering if they sent another wave of responses.

Wait lists operate differently at different schools. In general, a school will accept more students than there are spaces in the program. They do this because only a certain percentage of students will accept the offer. This is called the "yield". Schools may also place some students on a wait list in case the yield that year is lower than expected. Waitlisting is an easy way for schools to manage uncertainty and ensure full enrolment without committing anything to the students involved. It sucks for the students.

In my understanding there are two main types of wait lists: ranked and unranked. Ranked lists arrange the students in order of desirability and the schools just move down the list if spaces open up. The entire pool of students on an unranked list may be reconsidered if the school needs to make additional offers. This makes sense for smaller programs where the school is more concerned about the composition of the cohort.

If you are on the wait list it means you are "admissible" to the school. You are qualified enough to attend but for whatever reason were not considered as competitive as applicants who were straight up accepted. I've heard of some programs in other non-architecture disciplines wait listing students who they have no intention of accepting as a sort of "consolation prize". 

I'm currently on the wait list at Harvard for M.Arch I. I emailed them for more information about the list and learned that it is a ranked list (though they weren't able to tell me my position). They also said that a grand total of zero students were accepted off of their wait list last year. That gives you an idea of how high their yield is. 

If anyone else is on a wait list, I recommend emailing the admissions office to learn more about how their specific list operates. You can also check for grad cafe acceptances that come in april or may. These are often students accepted off the wait list. You may also be send the program an updated CV if you have any accomplishments of note since you submitted your application. 

Good luck to anyone on a wait list!

does anyone have experience (or an understanding) of how to leverage aid at different schools, to get a school you really want to attend give you more money in light of a higher offer somewhere else? thanks!

@Roshi 

Yes, it was in this morning 10 AM.

@cedar

Thank s for info

@ Unamuno, 

Sci arc sent out an email that final decisions will be sent out by first week of April. So far away!!

@mkt680

If anyone could shed some light on this, I also would love an answer to this question. I looked through old posts, but it was pretty vague. Thanks so much. 

@cedar

So cedar there is a very little chance to get out of the wait list and get into the "accepted" list?

Am I correct?

I'll send those those questions to them  for sure. 

p.s. I live almost next to Columbia, just few blocks away... it would be so easy to go there.... 

@Bwatson

I've just seen it.

Thank you

@Unamuno 

it depends on the specific school, the strength of the applicant pool this year, the number of available spots, and how many people accept offers from Columbia. My guess would be the chance of being accepted off the wait list is very small but I'm just a guy on the internet. You should ask the school directly how many people were accepted off their wait list last year.

@cedar

Thanks man.

I hope we'll get shifted to "real" list.

p.s. got into pratt (MS Architecture & Urban Design) with $15000.

No intention to spend my time in Brooklyn... have already spent my time in that jungle...

Just got an acceptance from UW. Looks like they are slowly starting to trickle in, finally.

So that's it for me (besides an expected rejection from GSAPP since I haven't heard anything yet). Lots of acceptances, really great choices, and 100% rejection from Ivys. #haventchangedsincehighschool

In at the University of British Columbia.

That also rounds out the notices for me. It looks like my future will be at a large public research university. I'm really excited about my options and have some very tough decisions in the next few weeks.

IN: UBC, UofT, Berkeley, Michigan

WAITLIST: GSD

OUT: Princeton

Congratulations to everyone on making it through (or almost through) this crazy process.

@cedar Ha, your choices are as equally geographically diverse as mine! 

IN: UCLA, Tulane, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, UW

OUT: GSD, UVA, (GSAPP?)

Now for the hard part...

@iematraveler They are indeed! 

What factors are you considering as you make your decision?

@cedar

How specific was the wait list descriptions from the GSD? My letter from Yale asked explicity for "patience as the process unfolds", basically encouraging you not to bug admissions staff too much. I was thinking about sending a mailed letter of intent to the school, reiterating my enthusiasm for the program. What do you think?

Checked grad cafe... only one person accepted off the waitlist last year :/

@samwise

The overall tone of the GSD wait list notice seems to be "don't get your hopes up". It not so subtly hinted that I could and probably should accept an offer from another school. They asked me to express my continued interest in the program, which I did, and said that I would receive a final decision by May. I asked a few questions in my email and received a prompt, polite, and informative response.

I don't think it can hurt for you to communicate your continued interest. 

thanks @cedar

Both Yale's and Berkeley's seemed fairly positive, although I have no idea of my chances- or when I might know for sure. Yale's implied a ranked list, Berkeley's didn't.  I'm an Australian and have just started Masters back here anyway (my decent and very cheap fall-back) so technically, I can wait.

Have people sent updated cvs, a nice new sketch, etc in the past? I'm tempted to send something over from what I've been working from here... but don't want to jeopardise my chances.

Anyone here planning on attending USC or UW (Seattle) admitted students open house? Just trying to link up with some people who have interests in both colleges as I'm pretty torn on who to choose. 

Quick thoughts that come to mind...

SC: prestige, network, more business oriented

UW: nicer facilities, more artsy

I would love feedback from anyone! Also, feel free to direct message me if it's easier.

@C. Watts

I emailed the Grad coordinator Laarni last night, hoping to get a response today. I'm going to call today to see if they've released the date. As of now, their undergrad open house is April 5th, so I'm hoping it's earlier since UW's is April 4th.

Once I find out, I'll be sure to pass on the info.

Anyone going to UMN Visiting Program? 

Hahahaha, today got my official UCLA acceptance and they updated my status online. Ya know, after they called to tell me way back on FEBRUARY 8.

@cedar Lots of things. Tulane offers the best adventure. Oregon is probably most akin to my values. Michigan is the most prestigious. All of those are important to a degree. I'm examining each curriculum to try to decipher real differences in the program and reading up on professors to look for ones who might align with my interests, which are specific. I'll attend UCLA, Tulane, and Oregon's Open Houses, and will drop by UW on the Oregon trip. I have only just started examining UW closely, and I don't know the offer details yet. I don't have AP status at UCLA or UMN, so I'm less interested at this point. Some of these programs are very big and some are very small, and I see pros and cons to either. I'm trying to weigh how important all these different factors are to me.

So, yeah, if we could turn this into a discussion of what distinguishes each program and how we're all making decisions, that could be really helpful.

@cedar And what about you? How are you choosing?

Hello. Does anyone know what's the status for university of Berkeley's MLA program? I know a few people have gotten acceptances. I haven't heard anything from them yet. Any information would be helpful. Thanks!

Anyone who hasn't been accepted OR rejected yet from UCLA know whats going on?  I'm thinking of calling them today... are we on a secret waitlist or something?  

@iematraveler

I'm trying to weigh finances, future employment opportunities, departmental culture, curriculum/pedagogy, facilities, reputation, location (so basically everything) and figure out which of these factors are more important. I'm mainly trying to figure out the relative costs and benefits of staying in Canada or heading down to the US.

I agree. It would be productive for us to share our impressions of the programs we are considering.

Obvious disclaimer: my opinions of schools are cobbled together from people I've spoken to, things I've read online, personal knowledge, and unadulterated rumours so please take these with a grain of salt.

Michigan - strong focus on fabrication and material experimentation and unparalleled facilities to support this emphasis. There's a real culture of "research through making," which drives their design process and the structure of their curriculum. I've heard amazing things about how supportive they are of helping their students develop individual interests. In general, it seems like a rigorous but very healthy intellectual community. I think it's the biggest M.Arch program in the country. By all accounts Ann Arbor is a nice place to live but doesn't offer the benefits of a big city. I'm unsure of where grads go to work when they're finished but suspect many leave Michigan.

Berkeley - emphasis on the social and ecological elements of design. I think they used to be cast as more of "theoretical" school, but are now an emerging leader in digital design and fabrication (especially on the west coast). They've added a number of faculty who are doing really interesting stuff with 3D printing, for example. A lot of the profs are also actively practicing, which opens up amazing opportunities to the bay area professional community. Berkeley as a whole and the College of Environmental Design in particular are on the cutting edge of a lot of sustainability research and thinking. The facilities at Wurster Hall are older but definitely adequate. Most of the studios are big and bright with lots of air and natural light. I've heard troubling reports of the financial situation in the UC system and am unsure of how that will impact student funding opportunities.

Toronto - strong academic culture with a focus on research, urbanism, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Lots of the faculty are young and come from top schools in the US (Harvard mostly). The dean is also a GSD man and some say is trying to remake the school into "GSD-north". The campus is right in the centre of Toronto. A lot of schools pay lip service to the idea of using the "city as a laboratory" but I think this is really the case at UofT. Toronto is one of the most exciting and vibrant cities in North America and would be awesome to live, study, and work in. Architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and visual studies/fine arts all share spaces and actively collaborate. The current building is old and cramped but they have plans to (and have maybe already started constructing) a great new facility. I'm unsure of whether grads are limited to working in Canada or if the name has an international reputation.

UBC - a stereotypical west coast slant towards the social and environmental components of design. The school offers some amazing mentorship and co-op experiences and seems to be committed to helping you gain a foot hold in the local professional community. I attended the M.Arch thesis reviews last year and thought the student work was only so-so. The studio spaces are fairly limited, but the UBC campus as a whole is beautiful. It's a bit isolated from the rest of Vancouver so you have to be ready to commute if you want to live in an interesting part of the city. I think the program's reputation is prestigious but limited to western canada/cascadia. Vancouver is a great place to live. It's surrounded by mountains, oceans, and forests but a big enough city to have interesting arts, culture, and professional opportunities. There's a ton of building happening in Vancouver but not a lot that is very interesting architecturally (in my opinion).

Does anyone else have any thoughts on these, or other, programs?

PS - i realize I'm becoming the person who writes big walls of text in this thread all the time. Sorry!

@cedar But every time you write a big wall of text, it's super informative. Keep it up. I'm going to have to respond in depth later, when I'm not supposed to be drawing roof details.

@ Logan and @C.Watts

USC will not be holding an open house. They said they have a lot international students so it's not feasible to have an open house. 

"We do not have a single formal open house [as our applicants are international so the focused turn out is not feasible], but rather allow for individual visits where we schedule tours, meeting with students and myself on a case by case basis. You can contact Laarni Cutidioc to schedule this if interested. [cutidioc@usc.edu]" - Gail Borden

Well, that's a bummer.  Got my acceptance email from them today.  hmmmm

@C.Watts

Did they offer you money? Are you going to USC?

@cedar I did undergrad at Michigan. After seeing some other architecture school buildings I'm starting to realize how spoiled I was there. Lots of space for pinups, amazing fab resources (like the ZUND cutter, that thing looks like is was designed for space travel). You get a great mix of faculty that come from Boston, LA, New York, Detroit, and all over. I ended up getting a job in LA from a professor there. People get work all over the place. Ann Arbor is a great place to live too. Pretty much the perfect college town. Food is incredible. (if/when you visit, go to No Thai, oh how I miss it so). I would go there for grad school but I feel like I need to branch out from there.

I'm currently in at GSD, Yale, Penn, UCLA, Rice, and Sci-Arc. Didn't get into MIT or Princeton. Still have no idea idea what I'm going choose. I have a feeling the visits will help. 

Good luck to everyone deciding where to go!

@HP87

The email didn't have any financial info, but I'll be getting 2 packets in the mail, so I'm guessing there will be an offer in there (at least that's how UIC did it).  47K  a year is pretty steep, so I won't even consider it unless I get decent $$

I'm still waiting on a few decisions but this is what I've received so far. I don't have a ton of knowledge to contribute to the impressions conversation yet, but I'll contribute what I can in the coming days!

If my name didn't give it away, I am looking for a school that is a best fit for urban design - specifically architecture as a tool for social change and sustainable futures through retrofitting suburbia and public urban spaces. 

I applied to M.Arch and Planning programs, with the hope that I can do a duel degree. As the fates would have it though, I've yet to be accepted to both programs at the same school (still a chance but looks unlikely at this point). Big ask: If anyone out there has a contact who did a duel degree in Architecture and Planning, I'd love to connect with them. I'm trying to figure out whether it's better to reapply to MArch once in a MUP planning, to reapply to a MUP once in an MArch program, or to scrap the duel degree all together and pick one or the other!

Architecture:
IN - UCLA ($$), UW (Unknown)
OUT - Berkeley, GSD
WAITING - Columbia, U of T

Planning:
IN - GSD (No $), Columbia (No $)
WAITING - UCLA

@c.watts

USC offered me a lot of money but I think I'm leaning towards UIC because the program is cheaper and the faculty seems diverse and ambitious. I also like the style of the work that the students are producing, not super parametric but imaginative nonetheless. Seems like a good balance.

@Hp87

UIC is what I am leaning towards right now as well (got some money from they as well).  I like that they are very theory based (But still have technology and structural classes) and i do love the imagination in the work that I've seen.  And it seems like you are free to design as you wish, regardless of what your style may be.   Plus, the design process that is encouraged at the school looks very interesting and in depth.  A

If anyone else is still waiting on UCLA, I called and they said decision should be out by the end of the week.  If not, he said to call them and they would have your decision expedited (not 100% sure what that means, but whatevs). 

Anyone here considering uni. of cincinnati? any information is welcome

Hi, anybody know the chance getting off the wait list from GSAPP, MArch program?

GSAPP just sent out all of their rejections.

Do the universities fund M.Arch I more than M.Arch AP?

Sorry for asking such a silly question.

Anybody planning on going to UW open house specifically for Post Prof?

Has anyone received a confirmation from AA London?

@MBP27 Yes, I have received confirmation from AA London, I am IN EmTech March, I am really enthusiastic and look forward to starting there on Sept. Before, I have to finish my master degree on July here in Spain though, that was the condition.

What about you? What did you apply for?

COSArch, congrats! I have applied to the Housing and Urbanism program. I received conflicting emails saying I would receive confirmation via a bursary application on March 14th, then another email that said the 15th, then one that said by this week. Here it is the end of the week, I'm getting nervous and a little turned off by their misleading correspondence. I also am excited about the program though and hope to hear something soon as I will be relocating from the U.S.

@MBP27 I received first the mail with bursaries info, on friday 14th, that means that you will be shortly receiving an official outcome, so they did. 14th: busary mail, 19th: official decision. 

Have you mailed them?

Best wishes,