<p>Info from 2005~2006, on schools, chances, portfolios, SATs, scholarships, and other messy bits.
Not intended to replace the other Architecture thread; do search the other thread for more specific information.
Not intended for discussion, though I may not be able to control myself from participating!
Not intended to be completely true (I did get rejected!), and I apologize for any mistakes/omissions.</p>
<p>Itll be a good idea to keep deadlines and addresses/email whenever you see them on school websites. Make sure that it is not last years info though~</p>
<p>Some schools offer timelines; itll also be a good idea to combine these timelines preferably in the summer when you have the time for this kind of stuff. There will be quite a few documents that you will need someone else to complete for you and therefore it is always good to get organized asap (you might have to allow quite a lot of time for teachers to complete recs; they might even forget); same goes for registration for tests like the SAT, TOEFL, APs etc. </p>
<p>Also, do take a look around on CC to check on what other have accomplished. Dont be overwhelmed though; its just good for you to know in advance. Keep in mind that location/prestige of high school is a rather huge factor in student accomplishment, so dont feel too bad. Anyway, you are likely to revisit whatever feelings you may have when seeing the stats of other students, so its just good to be prepared.</p>
<p>Professional: B.arch program. 5 years to complete. Good for those interested in saving time/money and escaping irrelevant studies, though different programs will still vary with different focuses. </p>
<p>Non-professional: Various 4 year programs; will need you to take around 2.5 years of professional graduate studies (time will vary from school to school; also, some course work from the non-professional undergrad may be given credit)to have status of B.arch program graduates. Good for those with very broad interests.</p>
<p>Note: STILL, there may be NO undergraduate programs relevant to your other interests; in this case, there might be relevant GRADUATE programs, so it might be a better idea to take the 5 year professional, and you will save time and have access to many more graduate programs that might interest you. </p>
<p>After a professional program (either undergraduate or graduate), you will need 3 years of work experience to be eligible to take the ARE licensing exam.</p>
<p>Group 1 Superior</p>
<p>Cornell considered best of the best
Cooper Union also best of the best; however, schools has financial problems and admission requires a home test that have very abstract (and therefore rather difficult) assignments.
U Cincinnati perceived well simply because it has a unique co-op program. It is the only non-professional program that is consistently ranked higher than most other professionals. Out of four years, you only have one long summer break; all other times are devoted to work experience (that the school helps you arrange for these as it they mandatory). Those work years (maximum one) count towards the mandatory three before taking the licensing exam, so it balances out (5+1) at the expense of your breaks. </p>
<p>Group 2 Excellent
Rice
Syracuse
Texas at Austin has a DUAL PROFESSIONAL degree with architectural engineering.
Cal Poly
Kansas State</p>
<p>Group 3 Great
Carnegie Mellon non-professional: has interesting graduate studies options that are professional.
RISD
Virginia Poly</p>
<p>Group 4 Good, still top 15's
Illinois IT trying hard to improve program, good location
might become more prestigious soon.<br>
Penn State
Notre Dame
U Kansas
Pratt
Auburn
U Oregon
Iowa State</p>
<p>Also Consider:
McGill - best in Canada, cheap tuition. Professional, yet it takes 5.5 years to complete. However, if you have advanced credit for calculus, chemistry and physics, it will only take you 4.5 years, which is one year less!
Good programs in Australia UNSW, U Sydney, etc. Cheaper tuition, interesting experience, and good prestige. </p>
<p>Note: I heard that traveling is good for architects because your period of stay may help convince a client that you are familiar with certain styles of architecture and cultures. </p>
<p>These rankings are primarily based on all Design Intelligence rankings.</p>
<p>I think Harvard, yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford arch programs are only good at the grad level and ones at the undergrad level is not as impressive as you would think; they all offer non-professional programs, so unless your parents are making you or that these programs happen to combine various interests/provide good aid, its not a good idea to apply. I dont think theyve ever made top 14 for undergraduates best from DI.</p>
<p>If a school requires a portfolio, it is likely that they will not put a lot of emphasis on your SAT scores. An average of 680 for Is and IIs are good I think. If a school only decides based on GPA, rank, and scores, then they are a *bad school so they probably wont have high standards anyway. *Bad as in not interested in architecture but their own rankings.</p>
<p>Portfolios and personality is probably the most important thing for those schools that require a portfolio. You would need to show passion and a little bit of talent (note, not fine art skills). Should take advantage of essays to present that. </p>
<p>You can tell what the schools want by their applications.</p>
<p>TOEFL:</p>
<p>If you are international and you did horrible on SAT CR/WR, take the TOEFL, which is easier. It gives you a second chance. </p>
<p>Most schools require the TOEFL anyway for students whose first language is not English. </p>
<p>If you did well on CR/WR, these schools will waive/not require the TOEFL:
Cornell, U Cincinnati, UT Austin, Kansas State
maybe more</p>
<p>I think TOEFL is only used to see if you meet a minimum standard, so a stellar score wont really help your application. </p>
<p>APs</p>
<p>Plan real early. </p>
<p>It was sossosososo confusing had to think about credits given (for an elective or a requirement? If only for elective credit, how much is enough for a certain type of electives? Will it even save you time if money is no concern (Expected Family Contribution stays the same?), about placement out of courses (the two above are actually not the same), and which one to take: physics B or C? Calc AB or BC? And of course, different schools have different rules. </p>
<p>This will be a REAL pain to decide if you are applying to different programs, say an engineering program and a architecture program. The usefulness of an exam is almost opposite for two programs. </p>
<p>For architecture, I think Calc is more important than physics. Physics B will be enough, but then again, if you already have a science elective like chem, I dont think phys will do any good (even though phys is supposed to a lot more related to arch!). Most arch programs wont require calc BC, but you get that extra credit and you get a subscore for AB, so even if you dont know the C, your subscore might be considered (again, varies by college/program) as if it were the AB exam. Two in one is not bad, but can certainly freak you out as qs are more complex and there are no easy qs (A questions) on the BC. </p>
<p>Also, the Lit course offered by high school might be surprisingly irrelevant to the AP Lit exam. And studio art APs are generally useless. </p>
<p>AND REMEMBER TO CONTACT THE AP PEOPLE BEFORE MARCH FIRST IF YOUR SCHOOL DOES NOT DO THESE THINGS FOR STUDENTS.</p>
<p>It is unlikely for portfolio to help you at all if the school does not want a portfolio. You can try emailing them just to make sure, but if they say they will not look at it there is no point in wasting 30 dollars printing, putting together, and mailing a file portfolio. If it is in a digital format and all it costs you is a CD, you can send it but keep in mind it is even more bothersome to review than a file (printed) portfolio, so they can jut throw it away. THERE IS A SLIM CHANCE FOR THEM TO RETURN THE PF TO YOU TO SEND TO ANOTHER SCHOOL, SO DONT WASTE YOUR TIME/MONEY.</p>
<p>You can try the following:</p>
<p>Take college-level course work relevant to architecture </p>
<p>Send in a supplemental stuff relevant to architecture. Make sure it is good though~</p>
<p>You can take distance education for high school to take full-time relevant college courses (they probably wont count for credit) There is another danger: if you transfer in your senior year your school reports and teacher recommendations will be written by people who dont know you that well .though that can be a good thing, ha, but its probably going to be later than usual to get your stuff in.</p>
<p>Show that you can sketch free hand. After youve done just enough to convince them,
stun them with your creativity and potential. That can mean a lot of things, but arch is so wide that any solid work in design would show your potential.</p>
<p>They are most likely less impressed with: pieces that show only fine art skills (like drawing photorealistically from a photo), un-catchy housing plans (can be done by anyone who knows how to draw boxes and label them), and autocad (drafting) pieces. </p>
<p>So:
Include just enough pieces that demonstrate strong free hand skills
For the rest, use your strongest medium to express creativity and ability in design</p>
<p>Remember the two things above are not mutually exclusive
Also remember that a broad range of media can create the illusion of creativity
Not a bad idea to do 3D pieces that demonstrate ability to manipulate space and form</p>
<p>Finally, work on the layout. It is not impossible to be spending more time on the layout/graphic design than the pieces of artwork.
Find inspiration from online print stores these stores include more than the regular fine art pieces. You can also learn a lot about how to make something technical and functional visually appealing: they can be more appealing than photorealism. </p>
<p>At this stage every applicant is looking for examples of admitted portfolios; there really is no point in looking at these because they are neither good enough to inspire you, nor bad enough to make you confident about yourself. Do it for fun later, focus your time/energy on yours first!</p>
<p>Touch up with digital programs (increase contrast to show lines more clearly; whiteout the off-white background with paint fill). Dont worry about resolution, its all stupid because it is unlikely that you will find or afford printing that can compare to the quality you scan and touch-up the pictures. </p>
<p>Different schools have different technical requirements.
I think the easiest way to bind is to print them all, staple them together, and staple the final book thing to a large piece of colored cardstock (the ones that sell or a dollar in a dollar store) that is folded like a duo-tang. You can then paste stuff on the cover to decorate. Please mind the margins (leave space blank for stapling, and printing). </p>
<p>Its really expensive to make: 40 dollars for a pf is possible, so watch your budget!! They may not return your portfolio. THEY CAN EVEN LOSE IT, OR TOTALLY FORGET YOU SENT IT. </p>
<p>Do the typing on a word-processing program like MS Word, and then copy-paste to image file; it takes a long time to type in the image editing programs (and theres no spell-check)</p>
<p>!!!Always save complete back-up copies before doing anything drastic. </p>
<p>With the second folder you can flatten selections or save it as jpeg to reduce size and save processing time, though there will be no redoing individual parts (this is considered *drastic.)</p>
<p>MS photo editor and MS word automatically reduces resolution drastically: bad for small/complex fonts.
Heard that macs are real real fast in processing images!</p>
<p>For essays, always do the ones for the school you like most LAST. It is amazing how the essay changes as we leave the over-excited newbie stage. </p>
<p>For both essays and interviews, I think the most important thing you can do is to imagine that YOU ARE ALREADY ACCEPTED. Note: not you will be, but you are. This way, you dont sound naïve, over-excited, nor arrogant, but appreciative and natural.
For interview, prepare these toughies in advance: what are your strengths and what will you qualities will you bring to the school? What are your weaknesses? List three of each (just in case~!)</p>
<p>I am a newbie, but I think you should ask your interviewer what to bring. I think they usually want a resume, which is basically your application in resume form with updated stuff .they will tell you what they want to see. Itll be nice to be allowed to take a portfolio or something like that which can be easily reviewed anywhere to an interview youll have more to talk about. I had a seven minute one.</p>
<p>Read books on the following: Green architecture, sustainable design, and new urbanism. These are new and exciting architecture theories that are under development and open for your creative interpretation and thinking. They should capture your interest; if not, choose something other than architecture (just kidding, but semi-serious). Look for books in the architecture section or even real estate section. </p>
<p>A lot of architecture is stuck in what we did before. These new fields focus on what we can do to our world now. </p>
<p>You can also choose to present your studies of such books, combined with your interpretation and thoughts as a supplement. You should put as much effort into the supplement as the portfolio, because this supplement means more work to do for the admissions people. Having to do more work is bad enough; more work to do that hurts your eyes and wastes your time is a real bummer.</p>
<p>Remember to ask how to apply for in-state resident status. Also, keep in mind that full-rides may not be full rides as tuition increases year after year. </p>
<p>U Cincinnati has a Cincinnatus scholarship that offers a so-called full-ride. The award looks at your portfolio of activities (much like a resume of ECs and awards), and you performance in an essay and group activity (when you fly there). Internationals allowed. You can make more than 20000 over four years during co-op. because of co-op, your starting salaries are likely to be higher than others.</p>
<p>IIT has Crown and Camras, which are full and up-to-full awards that require an interview.
Internationals allowed for Camras, but not Crown (which is architecture-specific). </p>
<p>Cornell has finaid. Internationals allowed.</p>
<p>Cooper waives tuition for all admitted students. However, living costs are very high (around 20000?). Because of their generosity they are having financial problems: they have raised student fees (to 7000, thats what a student said) and stuff like that, and some professors are leaving the school. Internationals allowed. </p>
<p>McGill, and Australian schools are a lot cheaper. </p>
<p>If you decide to apply to HYPMS, Princeton has the best finaid that replaces loans with grants. Others are starting to get on the free for students with income under x0000 train, which I personally think will only exacerbate the problem of poor students being under-represented. </p>
<p>Im using cynical common sense here: when theres money involved, whatever the schools says will be incompletely honest. I dont think they will want a stellar class along with a financial disaster that will influence their research and therefore their prestige. If youre international, I believe chances are even slimmer that you will be able to be accepted with enough aid/scholarship. </p>
<p>Ill clarify that these opinions may not be true either, but there are just too many *coincidences if they are not at least partially true.</p>
<ol>
<li> Ask them if they will reimburse your flight/room, and find ways to secure that. Even if they tell you they will, they can be very good at denying everything so kindly with a frustrated and concerned face when you get there.</li>
<li> If you are out of state or international, full-rides may not be full rides. Determine whether or not it is worth attending. Ask them how much you will really have to pay before hand. Ask how to apply for state-resident status. </li>
<li> When booking tickets online, remember to take the seats in the front if you need to catch anther plane at the airport!! Also, online prices can vary drastically from day to day. Also, you might be sitting at an exit seat and will be REQUIRED to perform some life-saving duties. </li>
<li> Ask hotels if they have free shuttles to the school/other places you intend to visit. </li>
<li> Pack really really light because you might have to run in the airports!! After the event I felt that I didnt need to bring clothes, since no ones is going to sniff you. (Unless, simply breathing can detect your presence)</li>
<li> Bring a book you didnt get a chance to read; there is a lot of time for doing things like that. </li>
<li> Some of the jets are surprisingly small/squishy, and the toilets look like theyre not suitable for pooing. So do before you have to!!<br></li>
<li> Just in case that there is a radio thing and a movie during the flight (rather slim chance to get on a big plane that has these things), you might want to bring your own headsets, so you dont have to pay for a headset. </li>
<li> Ask for an extra bottle of water when they come serving drinks or when youre about to descend. They cost so much in the airports. Also, ask for those unpopular drinks so you can get a can instead of a little cup of it. You can share your parents drinks and save the can for later. Hide it though! They might want it back. Ours apple juice got taken back
but they were nice to give us two cans of it in the first place since apple j is popular.<br></li>
<li>Houstons Bush airport has some really inconsiderate and unhelpful staff.</li>
</ol>
<p>SATs are not as indicative as CB says. Dont be jealous of anyone who gets a real high mark: this person who got 800 on SAT I math AND Math IIC got a 690 on SAT I math the third time (thats a 110 point difference); after self-studying for grade 12 physics, he then beat his computer-scientist classmate who writes programs with physics equations by 30 points on SAT II Physics. They can also screw up grading your test because of OH, NO, NOT MOISTURE, giving you a score a few HUNDRED points below your actual score. </p>
<p>Written stuff (like essays): submit as late as you can; when youre finished with them, leave them. It takes time to perfect them: time not working and not time working!! </p>
<p>When filling out fin aid forms, use online EFC estimators to fill out the difficult blank of how much are you paying next year. (Isnt that for them to decide? Anyway, you can avoid being too generous or outrageous) Princeton has one. </p>
<p>Fax everything first, and save yourself money because some schools do accept faxed reports, even though CB tells you not to (they just want the money). </p>
<p>Always hate College Board. Never trust anything they say: ASK THE SCHOOLS THEMSELVES. Dont bother calling CB, youre not studying there. They charge your calls and theyre not nice. Always email the schools and ask if the schools have received your score report. </p>
<p>If your SAT account name is not your passport name, just tell the schools and ask them what to do: CB gives you wrong instructions. </p>
<p>You can change SAT II subjects, and you can always take more than youve registered for. You can take less, but THERE WILL BE NO REFUNDS. HOWEVER, THEYLL HUNT YOU DOWN IF YOU TAKE MORE, so no worries. </p>
<p>Rolling admissions in public schools is PROBABLY mostly for applicants from that state. If you are not from that state, or even that country, expect a non-rolling, just-before-deadline reply, and EXPECT QUITE A FEW LESS-QUALIFIED APPLICANTS TO BE ACCEPTED BEFORE YOU. </p>
<p>Again, use common sense. Money and prestige is involved, so dont expect all schools to be honest and complete with the information they give you. </p>
<p>Remember to submit financial aid applications, which include CSS and FAFSA! They take time, but upon delay theyre easy to forget!</p>
<p>You need to pay for CSS. </p>
<p>MCGILL HAS A DEADLINE FOR THEIR ENTRANCE SCHOLARSHIP STATEMENT THAT THEY REQUIRE. </p>
<p>mcgill doesnt look at SATs whatsoever if you are a Canadian citizen, so dont bother sending them reports. </p>
<p>mcgill requires the portfolio to be labled: architecture portfolio, and also no commercial value if sent from overseas.</p>
<p>They can vary from school to school though</p>
<p>Architecture: Mostly related to design. Structural sciences will be secondary to design. There will be boring courses like history/criticism, which are quite prevalent.<br>
Industrial design: Very broad and varied, yet if you like design with function and technology and do not want architecture ID is also interesting.
Architectural engineering: deals with structure, acoustics, lighting, etc. Very little aesthetic design involved.
Civil engineering: deals with a variety of structures and bridges (not only residences)
Urban planning: pretty obvious, like planning communities, traffic, natural areas, etc. but it may touch new urbanism/sustainable design
Landscape architecture: designs gardens and outdoor natural spaces, but it may touch green architecture/sustainable design. </p>
<p>There are graduate programs in sustainable design, and some other post-professional graduate programs that allow you to sort of decide on what you want to study, so theres no need to go into Urban Planning or Landscape Arch just because you are crazy about sustainable architecture and the others.</p>
<p>Although we study one extra year and make ugly money, the combination of design and science, beauty and function naturally captivates us. The application of sustainable design in architecture and planning gives us the ability to merge the artificial and natural environment; not only can we protect and preserve the natural environment, we can extend its boundaries, letting it flow freely into the artificial environment to beautify the cityscape and raise living standards. A symbiosis between the natural and artificial environment a reconstruction of earth - motivates us. We work for the new phase. quote by geeky arch applicant</p>
<p>I got rejected. I will not be attending school in the states. To make the entire process something more than a complete waste of time, I hope this thread will help those with more difficult backgrounds. </p>
<p>To rejected applicants:</p>
<p>I know how it feels, as if your whole life plan has been altered, and that there was no point in working so hard for the last few years, and that you really dont know what to do next. For me, this process has been unexpectedly miraculous~ I know that with God, miracles will never cease to be whether or not things have gone the way youve expected them to be. I only pray that I will remember everything God has done for me; God bless, and I hope you decide to let God be your personal God as well!</p>
<p>Jrock has reminded me that we can also post some stats! So that's the end of the condensed arch thread, but starting from this post we can have something new and helpful. I'll start off with my own:</p>
<p>(International) Taiwanese from Vancouver BC, distance education highschool</p>
<p>710V 800M 650W (<--- I'm positive there was something wrong with the grading for W)
800 IIC 800 CHM 790 PHY (<----something wrong with the grading for physics too, i should've got something lower)
5 on Chem AP so far
3.78 uw GPA, 3.9 something w
school doesn't rank
one architecture college course
demanding courseload as marked by counselor</p>
<p>essays are real straightforward, I don't know if they're good but they're religious (part of straightforward); written-interview/arch essays are extremely Christian/sustainable design oriented.
rec's are the common 'good student' recs that don't really stand out (except maybe for one)</p>
<p>EC's: lots of church activities and lots of self-study, others are church/tutoring volunteering, plus some other interests like fiddling and swimming
Two math awards with national ranking</p>
<p>(I'd say) seriously good portfolio, plus a creative flash presentation on sustainable design, focusing on green skyscrapers. </p>
<p>financial aid needed (income under 30000)</p>
<p>Results! </p>
<p>waitlisted Illinois Institute of Technology architecture, accepted for other majors, no scholarships
accepted University of Cincinnati (since they only look at numbers), 'century' or something scholarship (it's very little by the way)
rejected Princeton civil eng. arch. focus
rejected Cornell architecture</p>
<p>welcoming the stats and results of other applicants who feel like doing this! please feel free to include any advice too~</p>
<p>bneg, this is good info. i'm sorry about your rejection to cornell. this year was an unusual year for cornell because of the increase of applicants and decrease in class size. keep in mind, school is really not that important in terms of how good of an architect you'll be. it's really what you do in life that counts. plus..going to a cheaper school will leave you with a lot less debt...and that's good for starting architects. </p>
<p>i don't think stats matter that much here...well it depends for each school. </p>
<p>for future applicants, really focus on your portfolio. be creative. don't limit yourself to just painting/drawing. have a lot of ideas and have everything you put in there be top notch quality.</p>