Aspiring Archiectuecture student, looking for my chances at USC, Cornell, VT and others

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone, I am currently a senior and trying to find what my chances are at some of the the top architecure schools. Here is my info:

Gender: Male

Race: Middle Eastern and Latin American

UW GPA: 3.55 (Spanish killed me)

W GPA: 3.9
Has improved every year, not sure if that matters

ACT Superscore: 31 (35 reading, 30 science, 29 Math, and 28 English)

ACT Nonsuperscore: 30

No class Rank

Of APS, Dual enrollment, and honors: 16

Freshman Year: English 1 honors, Geomertry honors
Sophomore year: Algebra 2/trig honors, English 2 honors, AP world (4 on ap exam)
Junior Year: Pre Calc Honors, English 3 H, AP Computer Science(3 on Ap exam), Dual enrollment US History.
Senior Year: AP Calc AB, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Econ, dual enrollment art, AP Environemental science, advanced steam

ECS:
Varsity rugby all 4 years
2 week architecure internship
2 week Architecture program at Notre Dame
2 week Architecture program at Georgia Tech
1 week Architecture at the NewSchool of Architecture and design.
Computer science club
Robotics team

Volunteer Work:
Serving food at a homeless shelter
Volunteer at a retirement home
Packing food for haiti and other islands that are in poverty
Collecting donations of stuffed animals at the fair for poor children.

Awards:
NHS
CSF
Top 10% on entrance exam to highs school
Two time honor roll junior year for having above a 4.0
Seconds honor roll sophomore year for having above a 3.6 gpa

Have a portfolio for schools that need it

Top 10 are numbered, those are the ones I’m definitely applying to.

Schools I’m applying to:
Auburn
Cal Poly SLO 7
U of Cincinnati
Clemson 10
Cornell ED 1
Georgia Tech 8
Notre Dame 9
Rice 4
USC 2
Syracuse 5
UT Knoxville
UT Austin 6
Ohio state
Virginia Tech 3
UW

I plan to apply early action for all that have it.

So yea that’s pretty much everything, let me know what you think. Thanks.

2

Also I already interviewed with Syracuse and did the optional USC interview

3

What state are you in and how much can your family pay?

4

California and price is not an issue

5

@1andonly California and price is not an issue

6

Bump

7

IMO, being a California resident you should have Cal Poly as your number #1. CPSLO is ranked #2 for undergraduate architecture (Cornell is 1 and Syracuse is #3, Rice #4). Being in state, your total cost would be around 25k for an excellent architecture school (maybe a low reach for you because of GPA). Below is the link for 2017 ranking from the industries leading trade publication.

http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/11865-americas-top-architecture-schools-2017

8

Bottom line, narrow down your top ten to maybe five, as they lean more toward reaches (arch can be hard admit, due to low number of colleges offering major). Definitely apply to some of the ones you have which are not top ten, also consider CPP.

9

Bump and question. Should I consider the university of Minnesota twin cities? I keep getting calls and emails from then for a free application

10

Also I am taking the act again in October

11

First, you need to decide if you want a 4 yr program or a 5 yr program. A 4 yr program is known as a pre-professional degree or a 4+2 because it requires you to get a 2 yr MArch degree to become licensed (U of Mn offers this type of degree, as does Clemson). Most of the schools on your list are 5 yr professional degree programs (BArch) which prepare you for licensing without getting a masters degree. If you are fine with going to a 4+2, then U of MN is a very good school located in the middle of a large city.

12

Yea I’d definitely prefer a 5 year

13

@rugby1562; here is my take based on your grade. I did not see is portfolio (drawing - creative, etc). Some school may not need it. But most top school will expect it.
I will rate your changes in - Safety (70%+ chance of getting in); Target (30-70%); Reach (<30%)

Auburn - Safety
Cal Poly SLO 7 - Safety (due to CA resident)
U of Cincinnati -? which it does not have a 5 yr B.Arch – I may be wrong
Clemson 10 ?
Cornell ED 1 - Reach
Georgia Tech 8 - Reach
Notre Dame 9 - Reach
Rice 4 - Reach
USC 2 - Target
Syracuse 5 - Safety
UT Knoxville -?
UT Austin 6 - Reach
Ohio state - Target
Virginia Tech 3 - Safety
UW - Target

14

I guess you have a pretty good chance with allot of the colleges you are applying to, maybe if you get a 34/36 on your ACT could improve your over portfolio. Cornell Might be a little hard considering the entering GPA is above 4.04, but there is no harm in trying. Have you considered applying to Carnegie Melon?

15

@vaish209, I have not considered Carnegie melon, but will take a look at it. So far my portfolio has a lot of architecture drawing due to the programs and internship I did but I’m going to add some more.

16

@bk1366 thanks for ranking all my chances, what do the question marks mean? Also would you like me to upload my portfolio if you wanna take a look?

17

Carnegie Mellon has a great architecture program, last time i checked. It’s a great school over all :3

18

bump

19

Bump

20

Of your top ten I see only 3 as matches (Clemson, V Tech, Syracuse)–your GPA is on the low side for the other 7. Maybe, you should switch out a couple of the highest reaches and add some you don’t have as top ten. Try providing a revised list, as you have already said you do not want to apply to a 4+2 (like Clemson and possibly others).

@bk1366 - Cal Poly does not give any preference to CA residents (will get slight bump if a local SLO resident)