<p>I am considering applying to architecture graduate school after college, to the MArch 1 program. This is a very recent decision. Unfortunately, information on the net about applying to arch grad schools seems relatively scarce (when compared to info about applying to college, law, med, biz school, etc.), and I am almost finished with college, so any help would be very appreciated.</p>
<p>Some information about myself:
- Apparently I am a good artist (according to what I have heard) but have had not any SUBSTANTIAL training in art (as in, art school or whatnot) with the exception of a high school class, which did not really teach me much new technical information (although I was already technically proficient with the art that the class involved anyway).
- I have spanned across multiple categories of art, such as drawing, painting, pastel, collage, sculpture, web design, animation, videogames (i.e. everything in the game, including graphics), music, etc., and will soon begin to experiment with 3D modeling. Within some of these categories, of course, I have experimented with various sub-categories (such as realism or surrealism in fine art). In most of these categories I have achieved what I believe to be an intermediate to advanced level of technical proficiency, and should be able to achieve an advanced level in all of these given a little more time (which I don't have much of when I am in college). I'm not sure how much my varied experimentation will help my portfolio (I'm guessing they focus relatively more on fine art as opposed to something such as music or videogames?).
- I don't have any portfolio work or job experience relating specifically to architecture yet, but apparently (from what I have learned) this is okay for MArch 1. My current concentration in university has virtually nothing to do with architecture (or art, for that matter).
- I specifically have my eyes set on TOP architecture graduate schools (such as Harvard, Columbia, or MIT).</p>
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<p>Here are some questions regarding admissions to MArch 1 with specific reference to schools in a similar league as the aforementioned:</p>
<p>(1) What are they looking for in your portfolio? Yes, this is broad. Let me elaborate by breaking this question up: With respect to various art forms, do they care more about variety in itself (i.e. including fine art and other types of art), or is there a specific art form that they focus on more than others (such as fine art)? If there is a specific art form they care about, what do they care more about with regards to this art form? Creativity? Originality? Technical proficiency? Versatility? Of course, they must care about all of these to some extent, but what are the relative weights of each? Also, how much should be included? How should it be presented? How much external detail should be provided (such as medium used, intent behind the piece, etc.)?</p>
<p>(2) How much do your undergrad grades matter, both absolutely and when compared with other factors in the admissions process? Do they matter for some undergrad classes more than others, and is this dependent on whether it's a required class (e.g. an arch grad school says they require a certain class to be taken during undergrad in order to be admitted -- is the fact that you took the class with a passing to an above-average grade sufficient, given that they care more about the fact that you have taken the class? Or are excellent grades in such classes almost a necessity when applying to top arch grad schools?)?</p>
<p>(3) How much weight is the GRE, both absolutely and when compared with other factors in the admissions process? How much weight is applied to each section of the GRE? What would you say is a sufficient GRE score, on average, to be accepted to a top arch grad school?</p>
<p>(4) Apparently, MArch 1 doesn't require you to have any prior architectural knowledge/experience. Is this true? Will it hurt you if you don't have anything substantial with respect to this? (In any case, I will probably work on some architectural stuff prior to applying, but I was just wondering.)</p>
<p>(5) What other factors do they care about in the admissions process besides (potentially) the aforementioned?</p>
<p>(6) Where can I find some more information regarding arch grad school admissions? It would be nice to see some actual statistics. They have a ton of statistics for admissions to law, med, biz, etc. schools. I guess the scarcity of statistics relating to admissions to arch schools is understandable since it seems much less down to just grades, etc., and relatively more focused (when compared to law, med, biz, etc. schools) to factors that require a more subjective eye (such as whether this is good art, etc.). Still, it would be nice to be out of the dark.</p>
<p>Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>(I have already posted this is the Architecture forum under College Majors, but thought I would post this here as well in order to increase my chances of obtaining sufficient answers).</p>