Ask me anything about architecture school applications

College Majors Architecture Major
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Hi,

I’m posting this because I want to answer your questions about applying to architecture schools.

I’ve finished undergraduate (Bartlett UCL) and postgraduate (University of Cambridge) architecture school. At the Bartlett UCL I served as Senior Mentor to first year students, and at Cambridge I taught the University’s annual summer school to high school architecture applicants. I’ve worked for UK and US-based architects and artists under scholarships. In my own applications to undergrad and postgrad programs I was admitted to The Cooper Union, Cornell, SCI-Arc, the Bartlett UCL, the AA, Edinburgh, Glasgow School of Art, Cambridge and the Royal College of Art. I’ve also studied on Harvard GSD’s summer intensive, though that was a while ago before I started at the Bartlett for undergrad.

If you’re a potential architecture school applicant, you may have questions about how to put together an architecture school portfolio, how to go about writing a supplemental essay, what to study, which schools to look into, what to start thinking about…

Feel free to ask those questions here, and if I get anything wrong feel free to comment. I genuinely just like this stuff so feel free to ask away.

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My son committed to RPI architecture (B. Arch), and RPI offered 33k scholarship. Today he got email from Syracuse architecture (B. Arch) for an opportunity to be off the waitlist. Is Syracuse program much better?

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Hi,

Sorry for the late reply - I didn’t get a CC notification for some reason!

Your son has probably made his choice by now. Essentially, both schools are very reputable and attending one over the other would not be a help or a hindrance. It’s going to come down to his own preferences. Things to look out for in architecture school that can help make a decision include:

1- How much time is devoted to studio. Some students prefer 100% of their time in the studio, and some prefer much of their time dedicated to writing and other electives etc. This depends on his interests.
2- What is the school’s pedagogical approach? Does the faculty teach mainly on sustainable design, or history and theory, or computation, etc? He may already have a preference.
3- Are there any field trips? He may prefer a school with more of an international scope.
4- Facilities. If he likes to design/create all of the time then he may want a school with a great workshop and fabrication lab. If he likes to write a lot then he may want access to a wider University library.

He’s in a great position because these choices are all personal. They’re less to do with the school’s reputation, because both have great reputations. I hope this helps!

If you search for Architecture Prep you can find more info about how to go about selecting an architecture school in their blogs.

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S24 is interested in applying to UT Austin, Rice, USC, and Notre Dame for bachelor of architecture. Can you recommend some safeties / target to balance out these reach options?

We’re in state for Texas, so UT Austin might be a target.

How important are extracurriculars for BArch programs?

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Hard to know what’s a target or safety if we don’t know anything about your son.

Need his academic and EC profile.

Is he top 6%? If not UT is not a target.

Some schools don’t evaluate ECs. For others they matter. For your list, they’ll matter.

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Yes. He’s auto admit to UT. but we know major is not guaranteed.

SAT 1540. Honors/ AP all 4 years (6 + 5 in senior yr); probably National Merit Semi-finalist

Marching Band - Snare line / drum captain / All Area selection
Peer Mentor - percussion
leadership positions in Mu Alpha Theta, NHS, youth group
Habitat for Humanity volunteer + other volunteer programs
ACE (Architecture, Construction, Engineering) Mentor Program
a selective summer internship with the city
an internship at a local real estate company
homegrown project for Habitat Restore
homegrown project for church’s youth building

Thanks.

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We’ll seems like he has good ECs so that will be good.

There’s many solid architecture schools that will be less selective.

Is there a cost consideration or area of the country that matter ? I know someone at UTK who has a great experience. That would be safe.

I know Syracuse and Miami are strong. He’s a safety for the school but not sure of the program. Its admission might be harder.

I’m sure there’s lots of great programs depending on your desires.

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If your son wants to go the B. Arch route, then look and see which schools are NAAB-accredited for that degree (not that many). Then take a look at the specific program to see if they require a portfolio or not. If they do, all bets are off in terms of estimating your son’s chances, as the portfolio is of tremendous importance. If no portfolio is required, then the regular chancing odds would stand. U. of Houston, if it does not require a portfolio, would probably be a safety for your son.

https://www.naab.org/accredited-programs/

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I would agree with @AustenNut that the portfolio could be a determining factor in admissions. Since your son’s shortlist leans toward schools known for design prowess, can we assume that he will be able to assemble an impressive portfolio?

(UT Austin is a bit unclear on this point. At one place on their website they note “Portfolios are not accepted from freshman applicants.” and in another “We do not require portfolios for freshman admissions, though supplemental uploads are allowed.”)

UT Austin also notes on their website that first year admission to the School of Architecture is 8% (not clear if that includes Interior Design), but either way it’s a tough admit.

I didn’t search for the BArch admit rate for the others on your list. If you’re unable to get statistics on BArch admission rate and enrollment size from the schools’ websites, I’d suggest you reach out to the programs directly.

I wish architecture schools would be more transparent with this information, but for some reason they’re not. Since BArchs have notoriously high drop out rates, schools are increasingly more intensive in the way they vet applicants and, for the most part, helpful in providing information when contacted (just not on their websites).

Architecture – both the education and the career – requires a mixture of the ability to communicate visually and verbally, a facility with STEM concepts and a willingness to work collaboratively. Schools want their students to stick with the program and to succeed after graduation.

Though I wouldn’t say that there are any specific extracurriculars that are better than others, your son’s resume exhibits interest and enthusiasm. I think that’s the point of USC’s writing and video supplement. They want to see and hear commitment and a sense that applicants know what they’re getting into. :slight_smile:

Some other BArchs that he might explore are Auburn, Penn State, Tulane, U of Arizona, U of Miami, U of Oregon. (I haven’t searched for their recent admit rates either.)

He might also consider some of the excellent BS+MArch programs like Cincinnati, Michigan, Northeastern, Virginia, Washington & WUSTL. Your son has the qualifications to be admitted to any of these BS programs which could lead to an MArch at the same or different school.

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Hi @tofuVolley,

I think some of the others here have done a good job with recommending other schools, so I’ll focus on the bit about ECs.

The goal (esp. with BArch programs) is to make a cohesive, consolidated application with an overarching convincing narrative. Admissions committees churn through thousands of these things, so it’s important to come across as a memorable individual. Your son needs to be ‘the guy that was really into x or y’.

The portfolio (very important) and the essays (particularly the supplemental essays) should line up to this consolidated narrative. Perhaps the narrative is something to do with a particular interest of your son’s, or an formative experience he had. I once helped a student with their application and the entire thing was centered around Karate. He made an incredible portfolio of work around the routines, traditions, and choreographies of Karate - all of which are highly architectural topics. His essays also centered on this so there was a clear relationship between the visual and written work (not in an overtly direct way though - it was suitably subtle).

There’s way more info about this on Architecture Prep.

But the point I’m also trying to make is that this guy’s EC in Karate was of particular importance. With ECs, it’s not just quality over quantity, but its also relevance to the overarching narrative of the application materials. So yes, ECs are important, but for BArchs, a good handful of them should be super relevant to his interests, and top quality.

Architecture applications are hard! So many things to think about - but I hope this helps?

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Hi,

I’ve earned my Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and I’m currently pursuing my Master’s here. I’m interested in the MArch program at the University of Pennsylvania and would like to know more about their portfolio requirements and preferred style.

Upon reviewing the student works from PennDesign, there appears to be a unique style. My undergraduate projects heavily lean towards cultural and functional design aspects, and I’m concerned they might not align well with what the design school is seeking. Do you know what the University of Pennsylvania School of Design emphasizes in MArch portfolios?

Thank you in advance!

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Like some others have already said academically (and extracurricular) your kid is in a very strong position. I went through the B.Arch search with S23 last year and for those schools that require a portfolio it’s a complete crap shoot - don’t look at the broad metrics of the school and think it’s a safety for your kid. The admit rate for the B.Arch program might be MUCH MUCH less. We got several declines (or admit to school but not to Arch). I would say my sons portfolio was good (not great) - but I don’t have an experienced eye either.

There’s about 50 schools nationally that offer NAAB accredited B.Arch programs. Some require a portfolio, some don’t, some “suggest you might want to, but not required”. Programs run from fairly small 30/year admit to fairly large 200/year. If your son is clear that’s the direction he wants to follow it does really help narrow down the school search once you layer in school size, financial picture, etc.

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Thank you for all the recommendations and suggestions. After some research, here’s his list of schools to apply as B ARCH

EA - no portfolios

  1. UT Austin
  2. U Oregon - portfolio recommended
  3. Penn State
  4. VT

RD - portfolio

  1. USC
  2. CMU
  3. Rice
  4. Cornell

Thankfully, he doesn’t have a clear favorite. He’s hard at work trying to get those EAs out by Nov 15. Then will be working on his portfolio for the RD deadlines.

Hopefully he’ll have some good options come Jan. I think his backup plan is to study Architectural Engineering at UT-Austin if BARCH doesn’t work out.

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FWIW Virginia Tech is one of those schools that on the surface of it should be an “easy admit” based on general requirements and a mid 50’s acceptance rate. The acceptance rate into SoA is about 1/2 that and can be less depending on demographics.

https://udc.vt.edu/irdata/data/students/admission/index#college (you can play with the different factors to get an idea). Based on your kids stats I suspect it won’t be a problem - just giving this since it’s a good example of how the architecture program can be much more competitive than the overall school.

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Yes. I played with these factors and see that his demographic has a 16.7 % acceptance rate. We realize that it’ll be a challenging admit everywhere he applies. I am trying to convince him to apply to Auburn which doesn’t seem to care about anything but stats. =)

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Correct - Auburn doesn’t care about anything but stats but they also don’t direct admit to Architecture. S23 was admitted and we went for an information session at the Architecture building. It seemed a little opaque to us what exactly their process is for admittance to Architecture. You have to take/pass a couple of Arch classes but it seemed like only about 50% of the kids that took those classes actually enrolled into the BArch program. Couldn’t get a direct answer if those kids self-selected out or if there was a program cut-off. Possibly someone else on here can give more insight.