Hey everyone I am a recent graduate looking into possible graduate schools and I just wanted to see if I could get any feedback from some people with experience either in the field currently or in grad school on the process.
So far I have compiled a list of reach, high probability and safety schools just like in my undergraduate selection process, however, I have a particular set of circumstances that might be a decision maker (or deal breaker) when I decide to apply to these different architectural programs.
Positives
I just graduated from Occidental College, which is pretty prestigious, at least on the west coast with a major in history.
I took one architectural class and several art history classes which helped me to collect some writings on the subject.
I have been working for 3 years under the tutelage of my father who is also an architect and runs his own small firm in NYC
I redeveloped the company website from scratch
I have started my own expediting company and have several large clients
I have a high school some photography and extra college course worth of a good portfolio
My grades gradually improved throughout my college career, I ended with a 3.4 in my last semester - 3.8 in extra college courses for credits at Montclair State University in the summers
High level of interest in architecture and creativity
Negatives
I only graduated with a 2.8 GPA mainly because I couldn't balance my collegiate athletic life and school work well enough.
My highest scores on GRE as of now are 153 V 151Q 4E which I hope I can improve within the next month or 2.
I do not have a BArch
Based on what I have provided what programs would you suggest if any?
I know the graduate process isn't as straight forward as undergrad but following a set plan helps me to stay organized and see what my chances might be. Because I will not be playing football as a graduate I can focus all my intellectual capacity on succeeding in grad school.
If anyone can take a look at my case and make any suggestions that would be a great help. I greatly appreciate and respect all of your opinions.
Thanks for taking consideration.
SpatialSojourner
Aug 20, 15 8:39 pm
1. Look at NAAB accredited Master of Architecture programs - you'll have to do 3+ years of schooling (depending on the college). So, visit the college's websites that you're interested and view their student work/faculty/foci and select ones that match what you want do. If you want to know banter on certain colleges, search Architect's forum and their's probably a thread discussing it and vs another college.
2. Work on your portfolio, it's going to have to be stellar with those stats to get into one of the more reputable programs. Focus on spatial imagination, art, designed objects - not "architecture".
1. No one cares about Occidental College. You'll be applying with students from much better schools.
2. No one cares about the one "architectural class" (?) you took or the art history courses either. Applicant pools are full of art history majors.
3. No one cares that you worked for your dad because a) you worked for your dad, and b) you didn't do any design work there.
4. No one cares about the website you "redeveloped." You plugged some shit into a Squarespace template. It's called Damask. It's everywhere. That's not design, it's color-by-number, and you didn't even do a very good job (http://cusumano-architect.com/).
4. No one cares about the small business you started. It has nothing to do with design.
5. No one, like at all, cares about your shitty photography. That's the weakest possible content for a portfolio and again, you'll be applying alongside students with degrees in photography as well as a few professional photographers.
6. No one cares that your grades improved to a 3.4 in your final semester. 3.4 is still not very good. And you still graduated with a 2.8? What was your GPA before that semester? Why did it take you 3.5 years to figure out how to prioritize academics? Why should anyone think your time management (an absolutely essential skill in architecture school) will be any different from how abysmal it was in college?
7. No one cares about your "high level of interest." I think it's safe to say that every single person applying to architecture graduate school is assumed to have a pretty fucking high level of interest.
Some people take advantage of the academic opportunities college affords them. But on the other, dumber hand, football!
Volunteer
Aug 24, 15 8:32 am
As a general question would it not be financiallly better for someone with an undergraduate degree not related to architecture to just go to the state school they reside in and pay the average in-state undergraduate tuition of $12,000 a year for three or four years and get a BS in architecture rather than going to a $50,000 a year graduate program for three years? The amount students can borrow for undergraduate programs is capped; the amount for graduate schools is not - hence the gross tuition overcharging for the graduate programs that are endemic.
placebeyondthesplines
Aug 28, 15 3:07 am
From Mr. Vincent Cusumano himself:
Dear placebeyondthesplines, Thank you for your honest feedback. Its really good to have a pessimist in the group to help balance it out. After all successful people do need some motivation to prove people like you wrong. However, if that post was meant to put me down I am afraid you've failed; pretty miserably. But I am sure that was all apart of your plan originally. So once again, thank you.
Vincent Cusumano
FOOTBALL YAY
l3wis
Aug 28, 15 1:13 pm
placebeyondthesplines, are you a teenager? you're disgracing yourself and acting like an adolescent bully.
Vincent, your credentials are more than viable enough for a competitive application to many schools. However, I would off the cuff say the top 1-5 will be very difficult to get into , and the next 5-10 of architecture schools will be a reach if your portfolio is not very good. I wouldn't let this stop you from pursuing a degree, however. The status and quality of education at the handful of ivy leagues in comparison to other institutions is overrated in my opinion. If you're serious about applying for an M.Arch, then I would suggest you apply to an Intro to Arch. program at GSAPP, UCLA, GSD. This will give you more mature fuel for your portfolio. You should not rely on your photography as the mainstay of your portfolio -- rather it should be design work and drawing. The content will ideally be more conceptual than it is literally representational, although that is fine too as long as it is skillfully done.
BulgarBlogger
Aug 28, 15 1:29 pm
I still don't get it... do people really like paying 100,000 dollars for 3 years of Grad School in addition to the undergraduate programs they went to?? Why don't people just go to a 5-year program and save some goddamn money??!!
l3wis
Aug 28, 15 1:38 pm
Some further advice:
If you aspire to work on stadiums and arenas, research the sorts of firms and architects who design those. Gear your path for the next 5 years to reach those firms and get a position there. Go meet for coffee with architects at those firms and ask them for advice. There are not too many firms that do that sort of work and I believe most of them are large corporations.
SneakyPete
Aug 28, 15 2:08 pm
Ignore place.
You'll do fine.
Volunteer
Aug 28, 15 3:17 pm
Why don't schools stop the 'Masters" crap and offer advanced placement in their undergraduate architecture programs to their students who already have a useless undergraduate degree? You certainly couldn't get into an engineering master's program without an undergraduate degree in engineering. Couldn't be because schools can charge exponentially more for the architecture graduate courses? Of course not, it is all for the students!
Hey everyone I am a recent graduate looking into possible graduate schools and I just wanted to see if I could get any feedback from some people with experience either in the field currently or in grad school on the process.
So far I have compiled a list of reach, high probability and safety schools just like in my undergraduate selection process, however, I have a particular set of circumstances that might be a decision maker (or deal breaker) when I decide to apply to these different architectural programs.
Positives
Negatives
Based on what I have provided what programs would you suggest if any?
I know the graduate process isn't as straight forward as undergrad but following a set plan helps me to stay organized and see what my chances might be. Because I will not be playing football as a graduate I can focus all my intellectual capacity on succeeding in grad school.
If anyone can take a look at my case and make any suggestions that would be a great help. I greatly appreciate and respect all of your opinions.
Thanks for taking consideration.
1. Look at NAAB accredited Master of Architecture programs - you'll have to do 3+ years of schooling (depending on the college). So, visit the college's websites that you're interested and view their student work/faculty/foci and select ones that match what you want do. If you want to know banter on certain colleges, search Architect's forum and their's probably a thread discussing it and vs another college.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Architecture#United_States or http://www.naab.org/architecture_programs/home
2. Work on your portfolio, it's going to have to be stellar with those stats to get into one of the more reputable programs. Focus on spatial imagination, art, designed objects - not "architecture".
See:
https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/pdfs/architecture/march/grad_portfolio_workshop.pdf
Good Luck!
Thanks a lot for the suggestion!
1. No one cares about Occidental College. You'll be applying with students from much better schools.
2. No one cares about the one "architectural class" (?) you took or the art history courses either. Applicant pools are full of art history majors.
3. No one cares that you worked for your dad because a) you worked for your dad, and b) you didn't do any design work there.
4. No one cares about the website you "redeveloped." You plugged some shit into a Squarespace template. It's called Damask. It's everywhere. That's not design, it's color-by-number, and you didn't even do a very good job (http://cusumano-architect.com/).
4. No one cares about the small business you started. It has nothing to do with design.
5. No one, like at all, cares about your shitty photography. That's the weakest possible content for a portfolio and again, you'll be applying alongside students with degrees in photography as well as a few professional photographers.
6. No one cares that your grades improved to a 3.4 in your final semester. 3.4 is still not very good. And you still graduated with a 2.8? What was your GPA before that semester? Why did it take you 3.5 years to figure out how to prioritize academics? Why should anyone think your time management (an absolutely essential skill in architecture school) will be any different from how abysmal it was in college?
7. No one cares about your "high level of interest." I think it's safe to say that every single person applying to architecture graduate school is assumed to have a pretty fucking high level of interest.
Some people take advantage of the academic opportunities college affords them. But on the other, dumber hand, football!
As a general question would it not be financiallly better for someone with an undergraduate degree not related to architecture to just go to the state school they reside in and pay the average in-state undergraduate tuition of $12,000 a year for three or four years and get a BS in architecture rather than going to a $50,000 a year graduate program for three years? The amount students can borrow for undergraduate programs is capped; the amount for graduate schools is not - hence the gross tuition overcharging for the graduate programs that are endemic.
From Mr. Vincent Cusumano himself:
Dear placebeyondthesplines,
Thank you for your honest feedback. Its really good to have a pessimist in the group to help balance it out. After all successful people do need some motivation to prove people like you wrong. However, if that post was meant to put me down I am afraid you've failed; pretty miserably. But I am sure that was all apart of your plan originally.
So once again, thank you.
Vincent Cusumano
FOOTBALL YAY
placebeyondthesplines, are you a teenager? you're disgracing yourself and acting like an adolescent bully.
Vincent, your credentials are more than viable enough for a competitive application to many schools. However, I would off the cuff say the top 1-5 will be very difficult to get into , and the next 5-10 of architecture schools will be a reach if your portfolio is not very good. I wouldn't let this stop you from pursuing a degree, however. The status and quality of education at the handful of ivy leagues in comparison to other institutions is overrated in my opinion. If you're serious about applying for an M.Arch, then I would suggest you apply to an Intro to Arch. program at GSAPP, UCLA, GSD. This will give you more mature fuel for your portfolio. You should not rely on your photography as the mainstay of your portfolio -- rather it should be design work and drawing. The content will ideally be more conceptual than it is literally representational, although that is fine too as long as it is skillfully done.
I still don't get it... do people really like paying 100,000 dollars for 3 years of Grad School in addition to the undergraduate programs they went to?? Why don't people just go to a 5-year program and save some goddamn money??!!
Some further advice:
If you aspire to work on stadiums and arenas, research the sorts of firms and architects who design those. Gear your path for the next 5 years to reach those firms and get a position there. Go meet for coffee with architects at those firms and ask them for advice. There are not too many firms that do that sort of work and I believe most of them are large corporations.
Ignore place.
You'll do fine.
Why don't schools stop the 'Masters" crap and offer advanced placement in their undergraduate architecture programs to their students who already have a useless undergraduate degree? You certainly couldn't get into an engineering master's program without an undergraduate degree in engineering. Couldn't be because schools can charge exponentially more for the architecture graduate courses? Of course not, it is all for the students!