College Discussion - View Single Post - How competitive is to get into an undergrad architecture

4trees · 04-22-2008, 06:39 PM

My son, one year ahead of your daughter, has just completed the admissions cycle for BArch programs. The only thing left he has to do is decide where to enroll! He applied to a variety of schools and was accepted to all nine of the programs he applied to, with perhaps somewhat lesser stats compared to your daughter. All the privates offered merit scholarships, the publics were loans only. The key to merit awards is to be someone the school wants....
The top thread on this board has six of the nine schools that offered admissions to my son, (the others he decided against before the acceptance letters arrived.) As well as the schools of a bunch of kids on this board were accepted to. So there's some good contacts regarding specific schools. I think your daughter's list is mostly the top of the selective BArch schools, she may want to add a few less competitive schools depending on what her coursework rigor was and her SAT / ACT scores. Remember the programs are all small, some very small, so much depends on the applicant pool and what kind of kids they are seeking to 'build' their class. I feel most important is her level of interest she presents to each school. She might want to start contact now, first with the admissions office for the schools in general, then the arch department admissions staff and professors. The best advice my son received was to find the person(s) who makes the admit decisions for the arch students, e-mail and call them often enough that they know you on a first name basis. Find out what the school is looking for, explain who and what you are, and ask what you need to do to be a successful candidate. The arch people at all the schools he contacted were very friendly and helpful, usually directing him to specific professors for answers to many of his questions. By last December he had a few professors calling him! One prof. at a school my son did not apply to, told me that he avoids, and often refuses calls from parents, but is always open to calls from prospective students...

Lots of folks here will discuss Cornell, Rice, Cooper and most of the schools on your daughters list.

Good luck to your daughter.

04-22-2008, 06:39 PM	#3
4trees Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 156	My son, one year ahead of your daughter, has just completed the admissions cycle for BArch programs. The only thing left he has to do is decide where to enroll! He applied to a variety of schools and was accepted to all nine of the programs he applied to, with perhaps somewhat lesser stats compared to your daughter. All the privates offered merit scholarships, the publics were loans only. The key to merit awards is to be someone the school wants.... The top thread on this board has six of the nine schools that offered admissions to my son, (the others he decided against before the acceptance letters arrived.) As well as the schools of a bunch of kids on this board were accepted to. So there's some good contacts regarding specific schools. I think your daughter's list is mostly the top of the selective BArch schools, she may want to add a few less competitive schools depending on what her coursework rigor was and her SAT / ACT scores. Remember the programs are all small, some very small, so much depends on the applicant pool and what kind of kids they are seeking to 'build' their class. I feel most important is her level of interest she presents to each school. She might want to start contact now, first with the admissions office for the schools in general, then the arch department admissions staff and professors. The best advice my son received was to find the person(s) who makes the admit decisions for the arch students, e-mail and call them often enough that they know you on a first name basis. Find out what the school is looking for, explain who and what you are, and ask what you need to do to be a successful candidate. The arch people at all the schools he contacted were very friendly and helpful, usually directing him to specific professors for answers to many of his questions. By last December he had a few professors calling him! One prof. at a school my son did not apply to, told me that he avoids, and often refuses calls from parents, but is always open to calls from prospective students... Lots of folks here will discuss Cornell, Rice, Cooper and most of the schools on your daughters list. Good luck to your daughter.