MArch in Architecture

Transcripts from all previous university degree programs (official or unofficial)

A Declaration and Certification of Finances for Admission to the Graduate College is also required.

Three (3) letters of recommendation from persons who can evaluate the applicant’s academic qualifications, motivation, and potential for a career as an architect

All applicants are presented with a series of short-answer personal statement essay questions. Each essay has a 250 word maximum. Questions 1-2 are required from all applicants, while questions 3-4 are optional (your response is voluntary and not answering these questions will not affect your admissions decision). Question #1: Please describe pivotal experiences, opportunities, and/or challenges (including any financial or access barriers) that have influenced your educational and professional development. Question #2: At Illinois, we value a student’s ability to contribute to a community of inclusion, belonging, and respect where our graduate students can learn and collaborate productively and positively. Please provide an example of how you contributed to or engaged with a community of students or colleagues with different perspectives, abilities, and experiences to achieve a positive outcome, and reflect on what you learned from this experience. Question #3: If you believe that your academic record does not demonstrate your true capabilities, please explain why. You may also discuss any gaps in your academic and professional experience. Question #4: If there is something that you would like to share with the admissions committee that you have yet to discuss in other areas of the application, please do so here. If needed, you may also use this space to expand upon the topics discussed in the above essays.

A portfolio of student and professional work is required of all applicants to the M.Arch program. Examples of work should include undergraduate design studio work, sketches, free hand drawings, construction drawings, photos of architectural models, and digital models and drawings demonstrating the applicant’s abilities to use architectural graphic programs such as Sketchup, Sketchbook Pro, Rhino, and others. Portfolio content should meet the following minimum requirements: - Show at least six (6) undergraduate design studio projects completed as a student. - Show introductory analysis, conceptualization, project context, and project development as well as final products for each project entry; a short narrative must accompany each entry - Demonstrate two- and three-dimensional design development - Demonstrate increasing complexity across the projects - Demonstrate increasing attention to detail development of the design across the projects Please submit the portfolio under the “Program Essay” section in the admissions application. Portfolio Specifications Required file format: PDF Maximum number of sheets: 25 spreads (50 numbered pages) Maximum file size: 20MB

To receive full consideration, professional work should include a statement from the employer indicating the extent of the work performed by the applicant. All examples of design studio work should state whether the project was completed individually or by a student team. For projects completed by a student team, the applicant must include a statement outlining the number of team members and the applicant’s responsibilities as part of the team.

Please write a statement that answers the following questions (1,000 words max): How has your academic background, including any training, research, or other educational experiences, prepared you for graduate study? What are your intellectual interests, and what scholarly questions are you interested in exploring in graduate study? Are there any specific faculty members whose research interests align with your own with whom you would like to work? How will our program help you achieve your academic and professional goals?

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