MS in Advanced Architectural Design

We do not have a cut-off for the GPA although we prefer to see at least a 3.3 or above for the GPA.

Applicants who have attended international institutions must upload transcripts or certified attestations of study. If these documents are not written in English, certified English translations are required. Once translated, the original transcript as well as the certified translation should be scanned into one file and uploaded to the online application.

You must submit three letters of recommendation with at least two from college instructors. Applicants who have been out of school for several years may submit recommendations from employers or others in a position to evaluate their professional abilities and academic potential. You will need your evaluators’ e-mail addresses when you fill out the recommendation section of the application.

You must upload a personal statement, no more than 500 words long, describing your background, interest in your field, and your academic and career objectives. You should be as specific as you can about the area in which you plan to study. If you are an MFA applicant, you should include your ideas, as well as the stylistic and conceptual priorities for your work.

Paper portfolios will NOT be accepted, and if submitted, will not be returned. The portfolio is a synopsis of one's creative work. As a visual essay, it tells a story of a person's interests, skills, and development over time. It should include projects that best express one's visual, spatial, and constructional abilities. These projects might include drawings, paintings, sculpture, or photography; graphic, industrial, or interior design; architectural, landscape, or urban design. The faculty who evaluate the portfolios look less for competence in architectural or landscape architectural design and more for a coherent demonstration of visual and spatial abilities expressed through a basic understanding of material and construction. Applicants to the MSD programs should include at least five fully developed projects done solely by the person submitting the portfolio; other group work can be added. If this is a school project, you must clearly identify the professor who led the project, along with his/her contact information, email, and phone number.

You must upload a résumé including employment, activities, community service, education, and academic or professional honors.

IELTS/TOEFL

must submit one sample of writing and a description of their computing skills and software proficiency. The latter can be either a paragraph or a list. These writing samples can be examples of papers you have already written or they can be prepared new for the application. We suggest that each sample should be no more than 10 pages.