<p>Hey there,</p>
<p>I couldn’t locate your message so I’m leaving my response here. Wow, it’s already September… I totally remember freaking out about university admissions and Common App and especially writing essays. </p>
<p>First of all, I applied to and got into CMU, USC, Syracuse, Illinois Institute of Tech, and Washington U in St. Louis. The only university I got rejected from is Rice. I was thinking of applying to Waterloo as my backup (WashU was my backup as well) but when I discovered that they required a 30 minute video of you explaining your portfolio, I removed it from my list.</p>
<p>In terms of stats, my GPA was 3.8, just because I’m from BC where 86% or higher is considered 4.0. For SATs, I had 2160 for Reasoning, 800 for Physics, and 750 for Math II. Since my high school didn’t offer the courses I wanted to take, I only took 2 AP exams.</p>
<p>The point of all this is to let you know that it’s not just about scores. Compared to other applicants, mine are not that highly competitive. However, this makes sense because for most of architecture schools, it’s not only about results, but also extracurriculars and most importantly portfolio.</p>
<p>Looking at your stats, I think you’re in a pretty good position. You’ve got good extracurriculars, such as awards, and I like how you have leadership experience (Chess Club). This is key because being an architect requires leadership cooperation skills. One thing that would help you is scoring a little higher on SAT Reasoning and Physics. 2100s for Reasoning and 700s for Physics will make your resume even more outstanding.</p>
<p>For portfolio, try to use as many kinds of media as possible. Using pencils for most of your pieces will make them think that your artistic skills are limited. In my case, I used pencils, color pencils, pen, conte, pastel, oil pastel, poster color, etc. I even had a few 3D works in my portfolio.</p>
<p>Going back to your question about CMU, their Architecture program is great (at least so far). I’m really appreciating my decision these days because I find that CMU Architecture is a perfect mix of art, history, and science. I’m glad that I didn’t go to IIT (although they offered me $60,000 in total) because they’re more focused on math and science aspects of architecture and I’m also glad that I didn’t choose Syracuse since the program’s all about theory and history.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>PS - I recommend considering IIT. They replied a month after I submitted my application. Syracuse also is quick at getting back to you (it took them only 2 months).</p>
