Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Pratt Institute
University of Southern California (USC)
Tulane University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Temple University
University of Oregon
Cranbrook Academy of Art
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
Kansas State University
M ARCH 1 question
as an interior design student wanting to apply for an m arch 1 program at the top 10 schools such as harvard, columbia, yale, mit and ucinn etc... what are my chances of even getting a shot at these top schools? i would be an international student coming from toronto, female, filipino and visually creative. ive had studio work chosen for CIDA (council for interior design accred) student shows and have close relationships with studio profs.
what i really want to know is... how important are test scores/portfolio/gpa as a whole?
also... with gpa percentages, do schools in graduate levels look at overall average? average at 4th year? or both 3rd and 4th year? this would be useful so i could try even harder to get better grades
portfolio wise.. i would like to think i would have a "better" chance into getting into the m.arch1 course due to the fact that i understand structure, codes, human dimensions, space rendering, lighting conditions, ect much more in comparison to art majors or other fields of study. this would definitely show though s good portfolio. is this all completely true?
thanks for any future feedback
Hey Amar1E,
I think you have a good shot at getting into one of those top 10 schools. I know a couple people who are getting their undergrad in art who got accepted to UCinn. I don't know what their gpa's were, but I think other parts of your application are a little important than your gpa. I'm not sure about what averages they look at. I went to a graduate recruitment weekend at UCinn (however I'm applying for the MS Arch program) and at least a third of the recruits (for MS Arch and MArch combined) there had undergrad degrees in something other than architecture.
You're letters of recommendation are important, so you should do well since you have good relationships with profs. Your portfolio and statement of purpose are important; that's what got me accepted to University of Texas. If you're portfolio is visually well done, that's a plus. Also, I recommend you only put projects in it that you're absolutely proud of. Quality over quantity. That's what I did, and it paid off.
From what you wrote here, it sounds like you're in good shape!
The way I understand it, this is how MArch I admissions committees typically rank various general application factors:
1. Portfolio
2. Statement
3. Letters
4. GPA/GRE
Besides the above, there are also factors such as the following which I'm currently unsure where would fit:
Experience
Diversity (ethnic, geographic, philosophic)
How graduate schools look at GPAs depends on the department, but I think architecture departments usually just look at the overall GPA and take into account any major dips or rises. A constantly rising GPA looks better than a falling GPA.
Hope that helps.
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