<p>I'm a junior interested in studying architecture. Yale seems like a perfect fit, and they sent me one of those letters indicating that I basically met the grade/test score requirements to get in, but of course that's just a fraction of the application (and the odds are overwhelming). I am aware of the Yale SOA's enormous foothold in the profession, but how would undergraduate study fare? </p>
<p>I am positive that I will apply SCEA, but should I send my art portfolio? I am worried that the admissions committee will think: "oh great, he's trying to make up for something with this..."</p>
<p>You should send the portfolio only if it is very good. A quick chat with one of the local architects or art teachers/professors in your area could probably determine that.</p>
<p>Yale has the best architecture school in the country (<a href="http://www.di.net/article.php?article_id=173%5B/url%5D">http://www.di.net/article.php?article_id=173</a>) and it has been named "the center of the New York architectural world" by New York Magazine. The undergraduate program is small, but it is very good. Because it is only 20 or so undergraduates per year, the teacher to student ratio there is about 2:1 and from what I've heard, you will never have to worry about finding a thesis or studio advisor or waiting to get into someone's office hours. Keep in mind that like many other liberal arts colleges, Yale's undergraduate architecture program is a B.A., which means you will need to continue on to a master's after graduating if you decide to pursue an architectural license. Although this means you will be in school longer, even if you save on a year by taking graduate coursework as an undergraduate (which you can do and is encouraged by Yale), it also means you'll have the ability to go to one of the greatest architecture schools (Yale, Harvard and Penn are among the best, and they offer Master's in Architecture exclusively) as well as focus on other things besides studio courses as an undergraduate. Instead of being stuck in grueling studio courses for five years as an undergrad like you would be in a B.Arch. program, you will instead have the freedom to take pretty much any classes you want throughout your four years of undergrad and really enjoy them. Yale offers three tracks within its architecture major - design, theory, and urban studies - which means you'll have even more flexibility than any other program out there. You can also decide to major in something else, but still take graduate and undergraduate coursework in architecture. Before you look at alternatives to Yale that might have 5-year B.Arch. programs, such as Cornell, you should first ask yourself, do you really want to be stuck inside one building for your entire undergraduate career, interacting mostly with people in the exact same major as you? Most people don't, which is why I would argue that most of the best and most creative architects in the world typically did their B.A.s in architecture, political science, English, music, art or any other field and then only later decided to pursue the 3-year M.Arch.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>WOW. Thanks a lot, posterX. Very informative indeed. </p>
<p>On that portfolio, I think I'll take your advice. My art teachers have adored me since kindergarten as one of her best but an outside opinion might be nice. Also, I should hear from AP Art: Drawing this July. (Crossing my fingers...)</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>Check the format they want the portfolio submissions in, since it may change from year to year.</p>