Hi I am a senior getting my applications ready for college. I am trying to major in either design (industrial) or architecture. I have early action coming up, where I will apply to MIT and GeorgiaTech. I am dying to know how good my chances are, and confused about them. Any input helps, I have really been getting into the college search and prep for the past few months and I still have so many questions.
I’ll also leave a bunch of info about me to be an open book, so if y’all have anything to say about what I’ve done in hs, everything is welcome. Thanks so much
Location: Texas (Houston)
School: public
GPA: 4.5 weighted(5.0 max)
3.81 unweighted(4.0 max)
Rank: 8% out of 720
SAT: 1570
Math 800
Reading/Writing770
ACT: 35
Subject tests: 800 on math, might retake physics
Essays: they should be good lol
APs: will have taken 14 classes by the end of hs, took 8 tests so far, 5 5s and 3 4s.
Extracurriculars: FBLA (state competitor), NHS, ModelUN, orchestra for 2 years (varsity), tennis, art (my main thing, many competitions), Korean club, and various other clubs i briefly participated in
LoR: I have two teachers who are making me write them and then editing them.
Extras: I am working on my portfolio right now and it probably will be the strongest part of my application
Demographic: male, Asian
Other schools I’m applying to: Cornell, RISD, Brown (RISD/Brown DD), CMU, USC, Rice, Notre Dame, Pratt, WashU
If you guys have any thoughts about chances at any of these schools or any recommendations, I’ll gladly hear all of them.
Tulane has an architecture program but more importantly, offers merit scholarships and is a high-match, low-reach with high-stats, especially if you apply EA and interview.
I go to Brown and your stats are definitely in range (same ACT, same Math 2 Subject Test,) but I can’t speak to your ECs as I applied for Public Health/pre-med. Have you considered applying ED to any of these schools? Brown does not allow you to apply to the Brown/RISD program ED (I mean you technically can, but won’t know till RD if admitted to the actual dual-degree program,) but the rest of the schools on your list do.
Make sure to apply by the earlier scholarship deadline for USC—it still qualifies as Regular Decision but you have the opportunity to hear back in January as opposed to March.
I’d recommend adding a few safeties to your list----as you live in Texas, you should qualify for auto-admission in the top 10% to Texas A & M but not UT Austin, I believe.
Thanks for the reply! Yea, I am planning on applying to Tulane actually, maybe early, but the free application fee and good arch program are definitely worth giving a shot.
Unfortunately my transcript and ecs aren’t the most competitive, but I’m hoping an excellent portfolio would make up for that, do you know if it will?
I’m not planning on doing ED because I’m not 100% set on any of my schools and I like to have options, but if I were to it would be Brown.
My safety is Pratt, and it should be relatively easy to get into, but if necessary I also have Syracuse.
I was already going to apply to USC by December, but I didn’t know about the early January result, thanks for that!
@Somanyrules I am not extremely familiar with architecture portfolios, as I did not apply for architecture.
The early notification result in January is only if you are selected to interview for one of USC’s merit scholarships, though it is still possible to receive one (such as 1/4 tuition) even if not selected to interview.
My understanding is that your portfolio will matter a lot. At Cornell, Arch still has interviews and portfolio reviews that are important. Very hard to chance!
Agree on the portfolio comment above. A friend has a high-stats kid at Pratt and she never referred to it as a safety - she spent a lot of time on her portfolio.
Yea Pratt doesn’t care about stats as much, but I am working a lot lot on my portfolio. Like a lot lol. Pratt isn’t that competitive, so thats why I consider it a safety.
Admissions are extremely unpredictable when it comes to portfolios being an important part of the decision. I’ve seen outcomes all over the place for these types of applications. And basically no one here can really chance you properly as a result as we don’t know what your portfolio will look like.
Ok I understand, thanks for responding anyway. I can’t help but wonder though, if the portfolio wasn’t a big part of the app, how would you say my chances are?
FYI if you look at Pratt”s CDS, “talent/ability” - presumably as judged by the applicant’s portfolio - is checked under “very important”, along with GPA and standardized tests.
These are all reach schools. Even if you managed to get into one or two, you probably won’t be able to afford the atrocious tuition. You’d be much better off going to a school in TX, since you get the same quality education and it’s a fraction of the price.
I admire your aspirations; but for a solid return on your investment, you should at least apply to and seriously consider Texas A&M. It would be a very nice “back up” to have in your pocket.
You may also want to consider Auburn; it is very solid in your desired areas of study. Based on your stats you should get around $15k in OOS merit. Auburn grads are well-represented in the Atlanta job market.
Guys I appreciate the concern but I am very confident in Pratt, and I am probably more knowledgeable in the art field than many of you guys commenting. Also, if tuition is a problem, I’d consider other schools but according to the net price calculators, I should be fine. Just for the heck of it, I did the easy app to UMHB and I got the highest scholarship, so money wise I’m not too worried.
