Does anyone know AAP acceptance rate for Cornell, Cal Poly, MIT, or Harvard? If you got into any of the program it will be great if you could post your stats 
@LettuceBeBananas, Are you aware that MIT and Harvard don’t offer the undergraduate Bachelor of Architecture (BArch)? At MIT you can get a BS in architecture or architecture studies; at Harvard a BA in architecture studies.
With a BS or BA you would need to get an MArch in order to become a licensed architect in most states.
In both cases, you don’t apply directly to the architecture school. You apply to the university as a whole and general admissions requirements apply. MIT’s acceptance rate is 8-9% and Harvard’s is 5-6%.
You may submit an arts supplement which will be evaluated by the art department and may or may not help in general admissions. An undergraduate architecture degree from MIT or Harvard won’t guarantee admissions to their own MArch programs, though it will presumably prepare you for admissions to any MArch program.
Admissions to Cornell’s BArch program depends heavily on the excellence of your portfolio. The interview is also very important. These criteria are in addition to general admissions requirements of the university. In another thread a poster gives the Cornell’s architecture admission rate at 12-14%. I think this is on the low side for the BArch since the acceptance rate for the entire university is around 16%, but I’ve never seen the figures for architecture broken out.
In all cases, diversity factors such as gender, race, religion, economic status etc. may give you a boost in admissions.
As always, the best approach is to have a balance of reach/match/safety, and, if you’re not 100% sure that you want to pursue the 5.0 year BArch, a balance of difference degrees.
@momrath Thank you so much! I am trying to find information about AAP, but not a lot of them are out there ;( Do you know any other good BArch Programs besides Cornell? Thank you again!!
@LettuceBeBananas, My understanding is that acceptance to Cornell’s BArch program is in the 8 to 10% range. You asked in your other thread about the relative importance of grades, scores, portfolio etc. Actually in this very competitive environment, they are ALL important. Since retaking the SATI may improve your score, you should do some prep and retake. Because the fall-out rate for BArch programs is high, Cornell is looking for students who demonstrate (through their portfolios, essays, interviews) that they have a good understanding of what they’regetting into and a good chance of sticking with it.
If you’re not sure about whether you want to go for the BArch or the BA/BS+MArch, I’d strongly suggest a summer architecture career exploration program.
There are about 45 BArch programs in the U.S. and many more BS/BA programs, so it’s hard to give you recommendations. Design Intelligence ranks the top BArch programs. The BA/BS programs tend to cluster around universities with good MArch programs.
Some programs require portfolios; some do not. At some you are accepted directly into the school of architecture. At some you transfer into architecture after a year or two of liberal arts education. The BArch curriculum doesn’t vary too much from school to school, but the atmosphere and environments of the individual schools can be quite different. Some are tech schools, some are art/design schools, some are big public universities, some are medium sized privates. You need to think about the environment that best fits YOU.
Money is also an important issue for architecture and in general. If you need or want financial aid, this should be the primary consideration in making your short-list.
Hi LBB –
Here’s a link to Cornell’s AAP admission statistics for the years 1990 to 2011:
http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000145.pdf
In 2011, the most recent year listed, there were
1,099 Applications
176 Acceptances (16% acceptance rate)
114 Enrolled (64% yield)
I’m pretty sure that the acceptance rate for Architecture is lower than the overall AAP rate which includes: (1) architecture, (2) fine arts and (3) urban planning.
Architecture enrolls about 50 students, meaning the other two departments enroll about 60.
If at least 500 of the 1,100 applicants applied to architecture, which is pretty likely I think, than the acceptance rate for architecture is less than 10% (50/500).
My son is studying architecture there and really loves it.
Good luck!