I started my studies in 2010, but had to interrupt them multiple times due to serious health and financial problems. I just now managed to get my BA in Architecture with a very low GPA.
My question is how do I present this in my CV and covering letter to employers?
Can a good portfolio + good Revit skills outweight this?
Do I stand any chance to get even a CAD technician job?
citizen
Aug 6, 16 2:27 pm
Instead of "BA in Architecture, 2010-2016"
write "BA in Architecture, 2016"
No one cares when you started your degree.
David Cole, AIA
Aug 6, 16 2:42 pm
What citizen said. It took me 15 years to finish my BA degree (also mainly due to health and financial problems). Most of my degree was earned via part-time evening classes while working full-time during the day, with a few extended breaks from school lasting more than a couple years. Now that I've gotten my MArch degree and I'm registered as an architect, it's mostly a non-issue.
If the issue comes up and somebody asks why you took an extra year to get through school, simply tell them you had some health and financial issues. Anybody who holds that against you isn't worth working for anyway.
Do you plan to attend grad school and become an architect? Unless you have an MArch degree, you may find yourself permanently pigeonholed as a CAD technician. If/when you apply to grad schools you may need to include a few brief words in your personal statement explaining the circumstances of your low GPA and how it isn't indicative of your overall academic ability. My own GPA from undergrad wasn't great, but I still got accepted into my top choice grad school.
Non-ASD Jequitarchitectur
Aug 6, 16 4:12 pm
David, I plan to get an MArch however I doubt that any decent school will accept me into their program, since I have a very low GPA.
null pointer
Aug 6, 16 4:18 pm
1. Work really fucking hard to get your skills up.
2. Enter a few competitions. Get amazing at rendering projects, both in 2D and 3D formats. Schools put an awful lot of weight in representation.
3. Read read read. Your narratives should show that you are aware of contemporary discourse; pick a subject and be good at it (parametrics, urban planning, sustainability, autonomy, methods, materials: there are a million things you can focus on and become an expert in a matter of weeks. A good architect is an on-the-fly expert at whichever subject the client requires him or her to be).
4. Work out your portfolio, and make sure you get real critiques of it.
If you don't have the drive to do this sort of shit, you're not going anywhere.
David Cole, AIA
Aug 6, 16 4:37 pm
^ Ditto that.
Your portfolio, personal statement, and recommendation letters are far more important in MArch admissions than your GPA and GRE scores.
And getting an MArch in general is far more important than getting an MArch at a top-tier school. Any school that offers an NAAB-accredited MArch degree will be "decent" by definition, but not all schools are equally hung up about GPA numbers.
Josh Mings
Aug 6, 16 4:40 pm
Just go for it. Show the right attitude and drive, and it will take you places.
I was an older student. I was 25 when my fellow classmates were 18. I was one of those that coasted on talent in high school and had no work ethic. When I started at the University of Cincinnati way back when, I simply wasn't ready and only lasted a year. I spent the better part of the next 5 years working in the real world (at a photo place, Menards, the Indy Zoo) while going part time in a Construction Management program as I needed the step to get a far better GPA.
I learned that work ethic, moved to New Orleans to go to Tulane, graduated Magna Cum Laude, and I'm a project architect managing projects 4 years out of school, and I'm licensed. How you got there doesn't mean a damn thing. It's all about what you do when you get there.
Said drive is why I'm currently in the office working on specifications.
MyDream
Aug 6, 16 6:26 pm
I am in position to where it is taking me a long time to finish my studies. I am looking at it as a life journey to complete my architecture education and not just a quick in and out. I do not knock down people who can finish quickly I'm just saying that this is going to be a life journey for me, anyways. I think employers like the skills set more than anything else if you have experience or unique design skill: rendering, drafting, design, animations, this will wow an employer and make him/her overlook everything about you that is negative in order to put your skills to work for the company.
GOOD LUCK
accesskb
Aug 6, 16 6:41 pm
In our field, it doesn't matter what degree you have or how long it took you to get it. Having the skills to do the job properly will take you far.
6 years for a bachelor's isn't that long considering most bachelors take 4+ years in North America. Many universities in Europe aren't structured like American universities also. You can take 10 years to finish a degree if you want. You can take as many semesters off as you want.
Gloominati
Aug 6, 16 9:46 pm
I never put my GPA on my resume, and was never once asked for it by any potential employer, nor was I ever asked how long my degrees took. I can't recall ever asking anybody about these things when interviewing them either.
Cover letters should be short (three paragraphs, on page), and focus, in a few sentences each at most, on: indicating that you know about the firm, why you're a great fit for that firm, and what skills and experience you can bring. I wouldn't waste any space on discussing your academic career at all in a cover letter, even if it was stellar. Just list your degrees on your resume.
As for "very low GPA" - how low are we talking about? If it's 3.0 or above then you can have a realistic shot anywhere. If it's between 2.5 and 3.0 then you still have a shot almost anywhere (even if they say they have a 3.0 cutoff most have been known to make exceptions) as long as you can drum up some great recommendations and have a fabulous portfolio. If it's under 2.5 then you may want to take a few for-credit courses as a continuing ed student at a local university, to show that you've matured as a student and now have the potential for success when you apply yourself. If there's some really good excuse for the low GPA (for example a serious illness that's now resolved) then you might work it into your statement of purpose when you apply to M.Arch programs - but if there's no really universally sympathy-worthy and compelling reason for the low GPA then it's usually best to treat it the same way you would in a cover letter for employment: don't mention it at all, and focus instead on your strengths and the reasons why the school is a great fit.
Non-ASD Jequitarchitectur
Aug 7, 16 6:22 am
I did not attend school in the US but in the UK. It was a 3 year program but I graduated in 6 years. My degree classification is a 49% which is a 3rd class degree, or a 2.2 at discretion. In the US it would be a 2.30.
Archlandia
Aug 22, 19 9:27 pm
Hey bud
cipyboy
Aug 8, 16 10:11 am
the ultimate example- Tadao Ando.
passion and perseverance always sticks out above the rest.
...and luck too
sameolddoctor
Aug 8, 16 5:07 pm
Just start working somewhere, think about Grad School later. In this old man's profession, 1 year more is nothing.
I started my studies in 2010, but had to interrupt them multiple times due to serious health and financial problems. I just now managed to get my BA in Architecture with a very low GPA.
My question is how do I present this in my CV and covering letter to employers?
Can a good portfolio + good Revit skills outweight this?
Do I stand any chance to get even a CAD technician job?
Instead of "BA in Architecture, 2010-2016"
write "BA in Architecture, 2016"
No one cares when you started your degree.
What citizen said. It took me 15 years to finish my BA degree (also mainly due to health and financial problems). Most of my degree was earned via part-time evening classes while working full-time during the day, with a few extended breaks from school lasting more than a couple years. Now that I've gotten my MArch degree and I'm registered as an architect, it's mostly a non-issue.
If the issue comes up and somebody asks why you took an extra year to get through school, simply tell them you had some health and financial issues. Anybody who holds that against you isn't worth working for anyway.
Do you plan to attend grad school and become an architect? Unless you have an MArch degree, you may find yourself permanently pigeonholed as a CAD technician. If/when you apply to grad schools you may need to include a few brief words in your personal statement explaining the circumstances of your low GPA and how it isn't indicative of your overall academic ability. My own GPA from undergrad wasn't great, but I still got accepted into my top choice grad school.
David, I plan to get an MArch however I doubt that any decent school will accept me into their program, since I have a very low GPA.
1. Work really fucking hard to get your skills up.
2. Enter a few competitions. Get amazing at rendering projects, both in 2D and 3D formats. Schools put an awful lot of weight in representation.
3. Read read read. Your narratives should show that you are aware of contemporary discourse; pick a subject and be good at it (parametrics, urban planning, sustainability, autonomy, methods, materials: there are a million things you can focus on and become an expert in a matter of weeks. A good architect is an on-the-fly expert at whichever subject the client requires him or her to be).
4. Work out your portfolio, and make sure you get real critiques of it.
If you don't have the drive to do this sort of shit, you're not going anywhere.
^ Ditto that.
Your portfolio, personal statement, and recommendation letters are far more important in MArch admissions than your GPA and GRE scores.
And getting an MArch in general is far more important than getting an MArch at a top-tier school. Any school that offers an NAAB-accredited MArch degree will be "decent" by definition, but not all schools are equally hung up about GPA numbers.
Just go for it. Show the right attitude and drive, and it will take you places.
I was an older student. I was 25 when my fellow classmates were 18. I was one of those that coasted on talent in high school and had no work ethic. When I started at the University of Cincinnati way back when, I simply wasn't ready and only lasted a year. I spent the better part of the next 5 years working in the real world (at a photo place, Menards, the Indy Zoo) while going part time in a Construction Management program as I needed the step to get a far better GPA.
I learned that work ethic, moved to New Orleans to go to Tulane, graduated Magna Cum Laude, and I'm a project architect managing projects 4 years out of school, and I'm licensed. How you got there doesn't mean a damn thing. It's all about what you do when you get there.
Said drive is why I'm currently in the office working on specifications.
I am in position to where it is taking me a long time to finish my studies. I am looking at it as a life journey to complete my architecture education and not just a quick in and out. I do not knock down people who can finish quickly I'm just saying that this is going to be a life journey for me, anyways. I think employers like the skills set more than anything else if you have experience or unique design skill: rendering, drafting, design, animations, this will wow an employer and make him/her overlook everything about you that is negative in order to put your skills to work for the company.
GOOD LUCK
In our field, it doesn't matter what degree you have or how long it took you to get it. Having the skills to do the job properly will take you far.
6 years for a bachelor's isn't that long considering most bachelors take 4+ years in North America. Many universities in Europe aren't structured like American universities also. You can take 10 years to finish a degree if you want. You can take as many semesters off as you want.
I never put my GPA on my resume, and was never once asked for it by any potential employer, nor was I ever asked how long my degrees took. I can't recall ever asking anybody about these things when interviewing them either.
Cover letters should be short (three paragraphs, on page), and focus, in a few sentences each at most, on: indicating that you know about the firm, why you're a great fit for that firm, and what skills and experience you can bring. I wouldn't waste any space on discussing your academic career at all in a cover letter, even if it was stellar. Just list your degrees on your resume.
As for "very low GPA" - how low are we talking about? If it's 3.0 or above then you can have a realistic shot anywhere. If it's between 2.5 and 3.0 then you still have a shot almost anywhere (even if they say they have a 3.0 cutoff most have been known to make exceptions) as long as you can drum up some great recommendations and have a fabulous portfolio. If it's under 2.5 then you may want to take a few for-credit courses as a continuing ed student at a local university, to show that you've matured as a student and now have the potential for success when you apply yourself. If there's some really good excuse for the low GPA (for example a serious illness that's now resolved) then you might work it into your statement of purpose when you apply to M.Arch programs - but if there's no really universally sympathy-worthy and compelling reason for the low GPA then it's usually best to treat it the same way you would in a cover letter for employment: don't mention it at all, and focus instead on your strengths and the reasons why the school is a great fit.
I did not attend school in the US but in the UK. It was a 3 year program but I graduated in 6 years. My degree classification is a 49% which is a 3rd class degree, or a 2.2 at discretion. In the US it would be a 2.30.
Hey bud
the ultimate example- Tadao Ando.
passion and perseverance always sticks out above the rest.
...and luck too
Just start working somewhere, think about Grad School later. In this old man's profession, 1 year more is nothing.