im just going to be patient and wait til 5 or so. (yeah right)

How much are we going to wager on that one, Franklsw? :)

@w2011b

Berkeley's Open House is on April 4.

I can't contain myself now, many people seem to be hearing from univs and for good, big congrats!! But I am getting no notification from any school -cornell, penn, berkeley,rice. On the verge of insanity, I am refreshing my mail every 2 mins. Not helping.

I haven't heard from Berkeley either.. it looks like 5 out of the 6 posts on Grad Cafe are for the M. Arch II program anyways so Im not worrying too much. Its the last school I'm waiting for. I'm a CA resident so it would be nice if I got in with some funding, otherwise its NYC for me, M. Arch @ the GSAPP!

@rcvino I think Yale's Financial Aid stuff will come from Joel Sanders.

@Vizious- Berkeley is not my top-ish choice either. But I just wanna get over with it at once- in or out, no matter what.

Regarding Berkeley:

I know a lot of people from last year's summer program. I am one of them. I only know of one that has been accepted. If number of entries on grad cafe is any indication, it does seem a bit low. With that being said, I'm fully anticipating rejection now.... judging by past years on grad cafe it looks like their process is truly evil.

Any word MIT Smarch candidates? I called the admissions office last week and they said letters will go out by march 16th

@pclaystudio- Thanks for the heads-up. The wait is absolutely torturing!
I had my fingers crossed for "Π" pie day 3/14 (as mentioned earlier in this thread).

Now you got ME all worked up about pi day.

I'm new here. Got the rejection from GSAPP, waiting on Rensselaer, PennDesign, and MIT.

Got my BA in arch from UC Berkeley. Currently have a short term gig here in the Bay Area at a firm.

I got accepted to Cornell University's M.Arch 2 !! [rejected by GSD, and still waiting on Columbia and UCLA]

I have been spending a lot of time reading this thread, exciting times indeed! However, it seems the main emphasis is on the GSD, Columbia and Yale, and nothing on Cornell? - personally through the app process I'm getting a pretty good vibe about Cornell, I'm just wondering what everyone else's impressions about studying architecture at Cornell?

@johnlem87 - Heard anything from Wash U yet? Has your status changed online?

own1221

Cornell is going through a huge transition period. They have just switched deans. I was advised not to apply to Cornell for this reason. There was a time when Yale was not the place to go, I think in the early 90s. And a time when Columbia wasn't doing well. All for the same or similar reason -- when schools are in transition, switching deans and have an interim chair, etc, their core curriculum is undetermined, question marks everywhere, their reputation is kind of put on hold. The first batch of students under the new dean are like guinea pigs. Exciting for some, but risky for others. This is just what I was told -- my former boss, a Harvard alum doesn't like Cornell's new dean, so, I may be operating from a completely biased perspective.
Cornell is highly esteemed for their undergraduate architecture more so than grad.

Somewhat of a tangential comment, but I really have to commend UPenn on how they manage their admissions process.

Their staff has been both incredibly prompt and professional in every interaction that I have had with them, and they have been clear about what their timetable is from day one. Other schools can learn much from this type of respect.

@Persimmons

I remember chatting with you a few pages ago in this thread- I really liked your portfolio and assumed that you would be a shoo-in for one of the non-arch background students to be selected.

Based on gradcafe, it looks like most Berkeley students that were selected were those in the M.Arch II equivalent.

It seems that a 3-year M.Arch program would be pretty weak with only 3-5 students. That isn't even a full studio. I'd say it isn't worth getting worked up over until you get a rejection.

@cjw5027

Thanks. It really is pointless guessing what is to come. I was actually going to comment to you that, if rejection does happen to come our way with Berkeley, you should look back at what I said. The information aag2022 recently gave coincides quite well with my experience there. I still have mixed feelings about the program, but it's the only ivy-esque school to which I applied and, much more importantly, the only school that I can afford. So it carries more weight than the others, but I think I'm actually pretty calm about it.

Other than my early acceptance to CCA, I'm still waiting on everyone. Are you still waiting for an acceptance? Hope you get good news sometime soon. I've heard that the faculty at Minnesota is awesome. It makes me wish I had broadened my research before applying. Depending on how it turns out, I already have a plan if I am going to apply next year. Right now, I'm just trying to get out and avoid grad cafe as much as possible.

have any of u guys received the mail packages from any university???

did anyone apply to university of utah? i got something from their financial aid office implying that i had been admitted, but i haven't actually heard anything from anyone else...

@israelias ---Columbia vs Cornell----

Thanks for sharing that info about Cornell! - it's definitely not something I'd hear about normally.

The critical point that makes this decision really difficult:

In the Cornell Acceptance letter: "We were impressed by your qualifications and are able to offer you financial assistance in the form of a partial Teaching Assistantship for the fall and spring semesters in the total amount of $14,750 for tuition; subject to review of summer semester performance. The Teaching Assistantship requires an average of 7.5 hours of work per week. This award entails an additional stipend of $11,118."

- is it normal to have the line: "subject to review of summer semester performance" ? - do most people who are given this "partial Teaching Assistantship" opportunity in the acceptance letter - actually get it in the end? [I honestly have no idea because in my country things are done slightly differently]

----------------------

Additionally regarding Columbia, after seeing many portfolios from Columbia grads on issuu - it seems there is a significant emphasis on parametricism at Columbia: rhino, grasshopper and scripting, and applying these to extremely hypothetical projects (maybe similar to the AA) - is this a valid impression of the school?

Is Columbia undeniably more well known than Cornell, but is it that much more better? - in terms of an education and finding a job afterwards? - what are your thoughts everyone?!

---Columbia vs Cornell----

P.S. if any admissions officers see this - love both schools very much!

@Persimmons

Unfortunately, I have only heard the two rejections from my long-shot choices- I still have yet to hear from UCLA, UCB, Minnesota- all of which have already sent acceptances to at least some students. I will find out about UPenn tomorrow.

Prior to applying, I was warned by architecture faculty at my university that I would a) have to overcome admissions committees' negative preconceptions of engineers and b) hope that they didn't see a BAE + MAE as prior architecture experience and bump me up to M.Arch II, as my portfolio would not compete against those with pure Architecture backgrounds. I can only hope that neither of these occurred.

Regarding Berkeley, I can see where you are coming from. I applied for similar reasons. While it may be all over the place curriculum wise, I think having already gone through a graduate program that I will have the focus to use that diversity to my advantage. However, I feel that they should have had a more organized approach to releasing information to applicants.

On the bright side, I just had a few full time engineering job offers come in. If i end up getting shut out from M.Arch I programs, I won't be staring down debt and may get myself a nice home/ car- good news will be had one way or another.

Best of luck- I have heard nothing but great things about CCA.

@cjw5027

i know you've probably heard this before, but stay in engineering! in my firm all of the PE's with my same years of experience (4 years) already make 20k more than i do and that gap will only continue to grow...

and i already make good money for an intern architect...

unless of course, you don't want to be an engineer and money isn't your primary motivation...

own1221

I'm a little confused about the summer semester thing. I'd call em up and ask. It sounds like you would just need to maintain a good GPA to qualify for teaching assistantship, but you have already been approved. They are giving you 14,750 financial aid under the condition that you put in 7.5 hours of work per week. On top of a regular load of 18+ units a semester.

WUSTL offered me something like this. They put me in AP and offered me a dual degree (m.Arch/MLA) Sounded great but it was just more work in less time.

um.. consider what's written the fine print and then call em up to clarify.

I have questions regarding prerequisites.

Months ago, in September, I made a list of which schools required which prerequisites prior to admission. I called each of the schools specifically for this info. If you guys remember the application forms we filled out online, many of them had a section on how we intend to fulfill certain requirements (Art history/calc/physics/etc).

RE Calc/Physics prereqs

GSD: Calc 1 and Mechanical Physics
Princeton: Calc 1, Physics 1 and Physics 2 (One year of Physics)
Yale: Calc 1
Penn: Calc 1 and Physics 1
GSAPP: Either one year of Calculus (Calc1+2) OR just one sem of Physics 1


I'm 85% sure I'm locking down Columbia, so here's what's going on in my head..
Has anyone actually been explicitly told in their acceptance letter that they must fulfill the reqs prior to matriculating? I ask because, the GSAPP's online application was one of the few that didn't have a section clearly asking you to list how/when/where you are taking whichever class(es). And I only got the GSAPP prereq information after calling them (it is nowhere in the actual website.) I'm inclined to believe it is often waived. (I heard this has been done before). I would have never known about their prerequisites had I not called -- so was I misinformed? The GSAPP acceptance letter (along with the emails that followed) have no indication and/or reminders that I have unfinished prerequisites.
I'm not about to enroll in a physics class this summer and find out that I could have done without it or that it could have been waived. Right now it is not sounding like a deal breaker on their part.
So what's the deal? Anyone else in a similar situation?

Thanks guys. And congrats again.

Big day for Penn tomorrow!

@israelias Did you already receive your financial package from WUSTL? In my admissions letter they told me it would be coming by the end of march, and i haven't heard anything...

@rcvino and laurem

yale fin aid is in the mail. I got the same acceptance letter+retrospecta package and talked to someone at admissions on thursday - they said fin aid was coming in a different package going out 'this week'.

good luck.

@jetvancake

Thanks. Waiting patiently for more information. Hope to hear soon.

Got an acceptance phone call from MIT SMarchS arch&urbanism Sunday afternoon!

@LHaak - Congratulations, well done.

Hope the rest of us will hear from them very soon!

Just received my GSD MDesS package. Financial assistance 10K.

Anyone from Europe or countries outside the US planning on attending GSD's open house on April 8th? Or other universities for that matter.

@maryagnes

No I haven't heard anything. The status on the website is still the same. It's odd because I've seen both rejections and acceptances on the grad cafe. I applied for a dual degree there for arch and urban. I've been actually trying to not look at any of these sites - I've become too unproductive and it sort of is driving me crazy. I'll hear soon enough I guess... we all will huh?

Does anyone know anything about Princeton financial aid? Know anyone who goes there ect? I really want to know roughly what region it will be in.

Penn's decisions are up. Finally an acceptance! thank the lord!

IN AT PENN!

Hi guys,

Accepted: GSAPP, MIT, Parsons, UPenn

Rejected: GSD


Woot!

Also in at Penn 5/5. Woo!

In at Penn: dual MArch/MCP

@johnlem87 - I only asked if you had heard anything because my status hadn't changed either, and on Saturday, I received the dreaded rejection letter. I have to say, I'm a little irritated that they wouldn't either change the status so as to not lead people on, or that they just wouldn't have the status field there at all. Hopefully, you get better news than I did. Anything new today?

I was fully green lit for Columbia. but Penn just offered me 14K/yr Scholarship.

I'm a little disconcerted.

Attending open houses for both and it'll be down to the two.
I'm convinced that I shouldn't tell my parents about the $$$ from Penn because they might just make the decision for me.

@israelias congrats! but i wouldn't count too highly on gsapp's open house tho.. they are always horribly planned... and they don't "wine and dine" their potential students.

@maryagnes

I still have no news. Did you get an email or a letter? I'm sorry for the bad news. They should get rid of that status update - it's a bit bullshit if you're not going to actually update anything at all.

@johnlem87 - It was a letter via postal mail. I agree on the bullshit status. I'm half-tempted to let them know how I feel regarding the issue, but I'm trying to concoct a way to do it without sounding as though I'm just bitter at being rejected. I wasn't happy about the news, but I wasn't terribly upset either - mostly just frustrated that I held on for so long thinking that some better news was on its way than what I ended up getting.

On a different note: did you say you have an arch background?

@maryagnes - I do have a background in architecture. I started at Wentworth here in Boston and then moved across the street to Massachusetts College of Art + Design for three years. I graduated this past May. Yourself?

Now I want to run home and check my mail! Let's look at it on the brighter side of things, at least we're hearing some sort of news on the biggest drinking holiday of the year! We can either celebrate, or we can celebrate!

@jetvancake thanks for the info. I'm really curious to see the numbers from Yale. I've heard mixed opinions on how much support the give.

@johnlem87 - My degree is in interior architecture, and I also graduated last May. I graduated from CSU Sacramento. I know we talked earlier about not applying anywhere near our current homes. I did that because I'm not from California, so I don't have a lot of allegiance to the state.

I hope I didn't make you feel too anxious for what you may find in your mail. I just knew that you were also waiting for Wash U's response, so I thought I'd give you a heads-up. Let me know what you find out - hopefully your fate is better than mine!

I will probably have one of my favorite treats tonight - a Guinness float (maybe with extra Guinness?)! Nothing better on earth...

mitboi

are you saying i should disregard any negative impressions I might get from the GSAPP open house because it is entirely misleading and is not indicative of the true Columbia experience....

if so, should I disregard any overly positive impressions from Penn's open house...

@maryagnes - I like your style! I've actually never had a Guinness float. Maybe I'll have to try the same when I get home tonight, haha, sounds delicious.

How do you like Cal? Are you living in Sacramento? Wash U isn't my favored choice, and although the program is fantastic, I'm not a huge fan of the location. If I'm going to be spending the next few years working my ass off, I'd like to be in a good city. Whatever happens in the next week or two, though - I'm gonna chalk it all up to fate and just go with it.

The hardest part about all of this is, up until now, I haven't even thought about a back-up plan. I only thought about back-up schools! Let's talk more about that guinness float...

U of Washington calling people now? So says grad cafe.

is anyone here waiting to hear from UVA?