The condensed ‘Architecture’ thread: hints for applicants

College Majors Architecture Major
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<p>I was reading the bit about the portfolio, and I think that really, just do whatever it is you WANT to do, like, have fun. That "fun" equals creativity, which is a HUGE thing they are looking for, as far as I can tell, anyway. My portfolio consisted of different angles of a creative dollhouse-sized structure I made (not an architectural model,) a self portrait in pencil, a...creative? table, and some random photos that came from me playing around with my digital camera (still trying to figure out what all the buttons do!) I had fun and apparently I did something right, because I was accepted. I put it all in a nice, neat .5" black binder in those top-loader pages with a cover sheet made by moi for the front. Granted, I did not apply to any of the schools listed in the beginning except for U. of Cincinnati, so I don't have any experience with those programs. Still, I would say have fun making your portfolio, and don't freak out about it :)</p>

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<p>hey y'all, results time...</p>

<p>White girl from private school in Massachusetts</p>

<p>740 V, 740 W, 730 M
720 CHM, 670 FR, 690 M1, 650 BIO, 550 US.H (oops)</p>

<p>senior class of 30
school doesnt rank, doesnt give GPA, no architecture electives available and doesnt offer AP courses but lets kids take them anyway if they want</p>

<p>4 CHEM AP, planning to take CALC</p>

<p>(everyone has the same courseload, which is equivilant to public school honors or AP)</p>

<p>(my opinion) scale 1-10, essay = 8, recs = 9
extracurriculars were the typical ok-at-everything-but-not-outstanding-at-anything... I played national league soccer for a year but I'm not playing in college</p>

<p>portfolio was all right, <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/35257872@N00/sets/72057594076566567/show/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://flickr.com/photos/35257872@N00/sets/72057594076566567/show/&lt;/a>
+ extensive knowledge of new urbanism due to 3 month research project :)</p>

<p>money = moderate to significant concern</p>

<p>Acceptances:
Rice U. (5-year Arch + finaid)
U.Miami (5-year Arch + 1/2 scholarship)
CalPoly SLO (5-year Arch + small scholarship)
Roger Williams U (4+2 Arch + Honors Prog. + 2/3 scholarship)
Arizona State U. (4+2 Arch + Honors Prog. + 2/3 scholarship)
U. Hawaii / Manoa (7-year Doctorate Arch)</p>

<p>Rejections:
Harvard U.
Princeton U.
(one other girl from my school applied to Harvard and got in... we knew they wouldn't take both of us)</p>

<p>I will be attending Rice in the fall.</p>

23

<p>1) Don't trust FAFSA. Even schools that guarantee to give you 100% of what they "determine you need" won't necessarily follow what FAFSA "determines you need."</p>

<p>2) Do yourself a favor and think about eliminating colleges before you apply! I wouldn't say just apply to 2, but 8 was way too many even with wanting a lot of financial options. 4 or 5 is a healthy number. And though its not fun to be rejected, you might be disappointed if you get in everywhere you apply because you might feel like you didn't reach high enough.</p>

<p>3) Do your research and don't be lazy. This is your life, not some homework assignment. (I was just planning on applying to Rice "if I got around to it" but then I just sat down one weekend and did all the work. Now I couldn't imagine going anywhere else.)</p>

<p>4) Make sure you like the school you are considering and not just its Architecture program! True, its hard to have a normal social life being an "arkie" but its even harder when you don't like your surroundings - including the people. </p>

<p>5) Like Bneg sort of said... just because a school has a great Graduate program, it doesn't mean the Undergrad is equally impressive!</p>

<p>6) Make sure you look into what KIND of architecture your schools focus on / are best in... example: Notre Dame takes a very Classical approach, USC focuses on Modern / Californian architecture, U.Miami is a hotspot for New Urbanism and sustainable growth. </p>

<p>And if you're like me and into New Urbanism... here are the top 7 rankings for schools involved with that type of design:
1) U.Miami
2) Notre Dame
3) U.Maryland
4) U.Michigan
5) UC Berkeley
6) Andrews U.
7) Georgia Tech</p>

<p>Also recognized:
Carnegie Mellon
Judson College
U.Minnesota
U.Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Catholic U.
Conn. College
Hampton U.
Miami-Dade College
NC State U.
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
U.Georgia
U.Illinois-Chicago
U.New Mexico
U.South Florida
U.Tennessee
U.Washington
UT-Austin
Yale U.
U.Penn</p>

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<p>some schools place more emphasis on new urbanism, whereas schools like cornell have a more broad range for you to choose. overall, good design comes along with many of the principles in new urbanism, but good design isn't just limited to new urbanism. that's why I prefer cornell over schools that simply preach new urbanism because good design is such a vague concept. To be educated in a more broad manner will allow you to explore design in many other possibilities. congrats on rice jcro! i think you'll see two of my friends there =)</p>

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<p>First, I'd say a big "WELL DONE" to bneg. This is a terrifc job. I haven't been here for all while....</p>

<p>Now, here goes...
....Nigerian boy applied for arch 2 years ago: USC [accepted], Illinois Inst. of Tech [Acc], Northeastern [acc], Y/P/Penn/Cornell [rejected], washU [acc]. Those rejections were crushing, I tell you.
Stats [as at that time]: SAT - 1420/1600, SAT2 - 730W/730M2/740Phy. Recs were perfect, etc. Portfolio was terrible, in retrospect.</p>

<p>Then I made this big decision: I can't go this fall. I believe I can play a better game; I'll take a chance...so I thought I could do a better pf and get much better options.</p>

<p>After A-levels, I took a year off, moved to a new country and halfway into the application process, I turned abruptly into the lib arts direction. Retook SATs, and applied schools like Williams, Wes, conncoll - and got in....new stats here are useless since they've got nothing to do with arch. But here's the pf I rehashed in anticipation of reapplying, it's SOOO much better than the old one [that got me into USC, etc]: <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/79535020@N00/sets/72057594077179626/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://flickr.com/photos/79535020@N00/sets/72057594077179626/&lt;/a> Then, I think it was the burning passion i had for arch that gave me a plus...</p>

<p>Big Lessons
[ul]
[<em>]Be absolutely sure you want to pursue architecture and once you've made up your mind, go straight for me. Architecture is not for everybody. You may LOVE it, but just may not be cut out to STUDY and LIVE it. Make sure.
[</em>]Do your utmost to find out all you need to know before it is too late. Schools have various guidelines for everything from portfolios to deadlines. I didn't know a thing about portfolios until I was a month away from my first deadline!
[<em>]Be passionate, and express that passion, bringing it to life on paper, from your essays to your portfolios.
[</em>]My journey into architecture was not entirely useless, as I learnt so much about myself from the process, and discovered the "fire brigade" approach to things is not always the best.
[li]And finally, to all ye would-be arch applicants, don't ever expect everything to go your way. My maxim: Hope for the best, expect the worst. And this is particularly true for intls, because it's extremely hard for intls to get into arch programs, and get MONEY as well.[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Congratulations and condolences to all who've been in this journey. Whew! You've all been great, and your stories equally amazing. I admire Jrco for her pragmatism, and Bneg, for his tenacity. This hasn't been easy for all of us. We, and others, can all learn from each other. And I would encourage others to post their stuff - arabesque and others:)</p>

26

<p>Guess what I'm doing now everybody? I'm considering a myriad of other options like taking distance education for univeristy, looking for credit based on work experience and portfolio, looking at CLEP, looking at Dalhousie's transfer program, and desperately looking for a freelance design job, and anticipating an architecture internship...all this is making me excited again, like when I just started the admissions process! If I got in at the states, I would've have had to go through this, but I guess this is something happy to go through... if God has planned an even busier and arch-related year for 2007 here where all this can happen, then I'd say I'm glad to stay in Canada!</p>

27

<p>Here are SRMom3's reality checks again, taken from the "Architecture?" thread. Great, insightful advice; here they are:</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>wow, this is cool. again and again. [emphasis mine]. note: Fallinwater was an arch applicant CCer SRmom3 was referring to.</p>

28

<p>Here again guys, I've reposted Rabioso's post dated 06-17-2005, 12:06 AM on page 16 of the "Architecture?" thread. It does not necessarily reflect my opinions, but I believe it makes for a very interesting read. This is Rabioso's story, enjoy:</p>

<p>


</p>

29

<p>oh yeah, I'd like to comment on Reality check no.2: if you take the B.arch and not [B.A and M.arch], you are allowed to take [post-professional M.arch's] in a variety of disciplines. Also, if you take the B.arch, you can start working earlier, and chooes to take the M.arch whenever you want in your career; for [B.A and M.arch], the B.A doesn't qualify you for work and thus it is likely you will have to take 7 straight years of school.</p>

30

<p>you're fast Jrock~</p>

31

<p>yeah, i agree with bneg. getting a b.arch is useful if you KNOW you want to do architecture. if you feel architecture is not for you after b.arch, you can always go to graduate school to do something else. and i'm sure your architecture education wont' be wasted! it's an experience few people get =) i'm thinking about a m.arch only if i teach or a mba afterwards</p>

32

<p>Over the last moths I had to decide between B.arch(calPoly), BA(at Smith College, and studying in Englans(UCL, Sheffield, Edinburgh). I was talking to current students, Alumni, architects and every other person that crossed my way during the last weeks. I love architecture and I am sure that I want to become an architect(I already worked several months in an architecture firm, and had the chance to experience to see what life as an architect is like by following a friends dad around), still I decided to say no to the B.arch and the programs in England to go to Smith College.
Why? yes, I love architecture and that's what I'll be doing, but there are so many other things out there that I am interested in and that in my opinion will help me to become a better architect. As an architect I will be not only a creater of living spaces, but also a teammember, a conflict manager, a financial manager, and most of all a person who works with people, people from different cultures, with different believes and different expectations. The Liberal Arts education will alow me to travel to differnt places, meet people with many differnt interests, take classes in many differnt subject, and practise my writing and thinking skills, while I improve my drawing skills and start to learn different processes involved in architecture.
Yes, I won't have a first professional degree when I am done with school, I will have to go to Graduate school($$$$$) to get licenced, and I won't be able to concentrate immediatly on the prfession I love so much, but I have the chance to follow all my intersts, and this is one of the reasons why I love architecture so much. Architecture allows me to take all my interests and bring them together in one profession.</p>

<p>I don't know if I made the best decission, but I think, for me, it was the best one. Think about what you want to get during your time at school, adn not so much about what rankings say...</p>

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<p>i agree with you usjo2....in fact by the time you finish at smith, you may totally have changed your mind careerwise. that's what college [lib arts] is all about.</p>

34

<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, it’s not a good idea to apply. I don’t think they’ve ever made top 14 for undergraduate’s best from DI."</p>

<p>Of course they don't make the top 14 list. Design Intelligence ranks employability, and a professional program of cours makes someone employable.</p>

<p>Instead, you should probably look at the grad placement of those schools. I believe Penn and Princeton holds the crown for that, and possibly Harvard, though their program is less design focused.</p>

35

<p>To snipanlol: the thing is that if you have a b.arch there's no NEED to get an M.arch so what's the point of looking at grad placement LOL? and for me I think being employed is WAY more important.</p>

36

<p>some more advice: Calc BC is seriously hard if you studied with Princeton Review's book. I suggest downloading questions from previous years from CB's website (might as well since they overcharge you on tests) because PR's practice tests are way too straightforward. However, remember that you only need around 75 to get a 5 and 60 to get a 4...and remember that you get an AB subscore that can also be given credit.</p>

37

<p>
[quote]
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, that’s what a student said) and stuff like that, and some professors are leaving the school.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Cooper's student fee's are $750. per semester, not $7000. The school is redeploying real estate assets which will put it on firm financial footing and provide for some new facilities for the school.</p>

<p>All that being said, it seems to be a rather unique place that wouldn't suit most people's needs. </p>

<p>In 2004 Cooper's school of arch recieved 543 applications of which 19 were accepted for admission (4%) and all 19 accepted the offer (100% yield). Those are crazy numbers.</p>

<p>The school has self-imposed in-state quotas that make admission statistically easier for NY State residents.</p>

<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a different ranking of arch programs (by 'research culture') is here.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.archsoc.com/kcas/researchschool4.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.archsoc.com/kcas/researchschool4.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

38

<p>why isnt USC gettin any love in this forum?
i'm just finishing up my first year there and was just wondering how the leading architectural school in the fastest growing architectural city gets no respect whatsoever.</p>

39

<p>"To snipanlol: the thing is that if you have a b.arch there's no NEED to get an M.arch so what's the point of looking at grad placement LOL? and for me I think being employed is WAY more important."</p>

<p>Well, what I was telling you was that you can't compare a four year program with a five year program. They are very different, and a good four year program will not be ranked high by DI, since DI ranks based on employability surveys. To be honest, I doubt DI even ranks four year programs.</p>

<p>If you had read my post more accurately, especially in combination with what you wrote, you would have realized that I was not arguing that one route was better than the other. I was just saying that they are different, and a blanket statement that those schools are only "good at the grad level" based on DI rankings is a complete fallacy. </p>

<p>Looking at grad placement is the way to rank the four year programs. Whether one route is better than another is an entirely different question.</p>

40

<p>actually, I wasn't trying to say which route is better than which either, though as you can see from my previous posts I'd say 5 year; the thing is that DI DOES rank 4-years, if you check, U Cin is actually a four year B.sc. So what I'm saying is that just because HYPMS has got big name, it doesn't mean that they are good for undergrad arch at all.</p>