Pre-Architecture Advising

Whereas application essays for undergraduate study tend to focus on the general character of the applicant, the strongest architecture school application essays articulate the applicant’s relationship with architecture. Think about answering the following questions in your statement:

• In what direction might you eventually take your architecture practice? Why?
• What excites you about today’s architecture? How would you design differently?
• Have you had an experience that prompts your particular interests in the field? Are you motivated by a specific conviction—social, political, personal, philosophical—that you expect to drive your architecture practice?
• Do you have a particular skill or fascination that you expect to use as an architect—maybe facility with complex geometries, or interpersonal abilities, or graphic representation?

Do not use your essay to list your qualifications or your extracurriculars. Also, avoid stories about playing with blocks or Legos as a child, as the topic is hackneyed.

Most students build one essay and adapt it to the particulars of the various schools to which they are applying. The best personal statements do this attentively: rather than simply leaving space at the end of the essay to mention the names of a few famous professors at that school, instead articulate why you would like to study at this particular school, integrating this with the substance of your essay. This requires getting to know each program well and can improve not only your personal statement but also your own process of selecting a school and your understanding of the profession.

Most importantly, give yourself a buffer in writing your essay, both temporal and psychological. Begin writing months before applications are due. A rigorous, well-paced writing process leads to genuine reflection on career, education, and fulfillment, and the resulting essay is self-evidently honest and considerably more compelling than the initial effort. Have others read your essay early and often, and discuss it with people you trust and who know you—including, but not only, your pre-architecture adviser.

Most MArch applications require one or two letters of recommendation. Request these at least a month before your application is due. Choose recommenders who know you and who can speak specifically to your abilities in, and potential for, the study and practice of architecture. This means building relationships throughout your time in college, finding mentors, supervisors, professors, etc., who will remember you and have seen your best work.

Keep in mind that writing a letter of recommendation is a substantial task for the recommender, often taking hours of effort and days of reflection. Out of respect for the recmmender’s time and to receive a strong letter, you should make the process as easy for the recommender as possible. Ask politely and early and be sure to make your request in a flexible way. You might ask, “Would you feel comfortable writing a letter recommending me for…?” This allows the potential recommender a judicious way out if they don’t feel their letter would be beneficial to you. Read the response attentively and never coerce a person into writing a recommendation letter. You may be asked to collect all the work you have done for that person—coursework, designs, etc.; do so promptly and deliver it in an organized way. If possible, send your recommenders a draft of your personal statement; this will allow them to present you along the same lines that you are presenting yourself. After the application process is complete, follow up. Send a hand-written thank you note and let the recommender know whether you were accepted.

Standardized tests and grades matter when applying to MArch programs, but rarely as much as Vanderbilt students expect. This is not undergraduate admissions: most MArch admissions committees use this data to confirm that a student is capable, responsible, and diligent. Few if any insist on the highest numbers from everyone it admits. Therefore: keep your grades strong and study for the GRE, but don’t despair over a low score, and do not give up on a school you are interested in because of imperfect numbers. If your record has outstanding inconsistencies for some reason—such as a weak semester because of a personal situation—consider asking a mentor or administrator to include a note with your application that explains the inconsistency.

A portfolio is a presentation of your creative and critical work, represented in mostly graphic form. Every major MArch program requires a portfolio as part of its application process, and most allot the highest importance to this portion of the application.

The portfolio itself is a major design project. Students should allot, at minimum, a full semester to design and repeatedly, thoroughly revise their portfolios. Preferably, a portfolio is a multi-year project, with the pre-architecture student designing a working portfolio in freshman or sophomore year, then continuously adding projects to the portfolio while also periodically revising or fully redesigning the portfolio itself across subsequent semesters. A portfolio is not simply a series of images of one’s work. To the contrary, its design, sequencing, grouping, omissions, and textual explanations should serve to articulate an image of oneself as a designer. This concept may seem abstract, even naïve, to the uninitiated, but, as with most tasks in professional architecture, the laborious process of creating a portfolio gives its creator new eyes to see and understand both one’s own and others’ designs. The pre-architecture advisers are available to regularly meet with students as students develop their portfolios. Such iterative critiques from faculty resemble the design process in architecture schools and professional practice, and they inevitably result in much stronger portfolios.

Logistics, conventions, character
Most MArch programs require that the portfolio be submitted as a single pdf file about 30 pages long. It is best created using a desktop publishing application such as Adobe InDesign. A good place to begin thinking about portfolios is to look through examples (see below). Keep in mind that most of the examples below are the result of years of work by experienced designers. No one will expect a MArch applicant’s portfolio to be so elaborate or expert; approach these as aspirational models and as troves of ideas.

• Architecture Daily portfolio tips and featured examples
• Architecture Portfolios shared via Issuu
• Archisoup's Architecture Portfolio Guide
• Architecture Lab's Portfolio Guide and Examples

What to include?
A portfolio need not contain all, or any, architecture, per se. There are a variety of ways to present one’s existing skills, interests, and aptitude for studying architecture. Indeed, often the most appealing applicants present little or no architecture among their creative and critical work. MArch application portfolios usually present a combination of projects undertaken as coursework (often revised after the completion of the course) and those undertaken independently. As you choose classes, consider what courses might allow you to create a portfolio-ready project; as you choose your project within the class do the same; and as you work on that project, continuously reflect on how your work at that moment might best be presented in a graphic portfolio. This might mean creatively diagramming your market research findings, or producing an exceptionally legible map of a poll you conducted, or graphically rendering a 3D mathematical concept you are investigating.

Some examples of non-architecture projects ideal for a portfolio—all completed as recent coursework at Vanderbilt—include:

• A GIS analysis of past and predicted flash-flooding in Nashville
• A brand identity package for an upcycling startup
• A hypothetical 3D reconstruction of lost details from the pediment of the Parthenon
• A campus advertisement imitating the appearance of Soviet socialist-realist propaganda posters
• An exhibition design presenting the original design of a recently renovated Vanderbilt building
• A design for a student backpack
• A coded map of trees on Vanderbilt’s campus, paired with an analysis of campus shade coverage and its environmental impacts
• An imagined ancient Greek monument, informed by the historical study of ancient practices of memorialization
• Logos for Vanderbilt research laboratories, imitating the approaches of historical designers
• A hypothetical renovation of a local park
• A 3D-printed inkpad stamps depicting new designs for personal and family crests
• A 3D-printed children’s puzzle
• A lampshade created out of laser cut plexiglass
• A small robot that navigates using a custom algorithm
• A virtual reality environment presenting the history of gender equality in the U.S.
• A series of woodcut prints
• Wheel-thrown pottery in a variety of firing techniques
• Fragile archaeological objects modeled photogrammetrically then 3D printed for an exhibition, allowing museum visitors to handle the objects

For a list of Vanderbilt courses related to the study and practice of architecture, consult the extensive course listings in the Undergraduate Course Catalog.

Architecture design studios
Vanderbilt does not currently offer dedicated architecture design studio courses. However, in addition to coursework and independent projects, students can use the Department of Art’s various art studios to produce rich material for their MArch portfolio. Also, summer study in one of the many career exploration programs offered around the world will help students produce material for a portfolio and will also expose the student to architecture studio culture and the types of work done in an MArch program.

Some summer study programs include:

• http://designdiscovery.gsd.harvard.edu/
• https://www.arch.columbia.edu/programs/2-intro-to-architecture
• https://www.sciarc.edu/academics/summer-programs/making-and-meaning/ 
• https://ssa.ccny.cuny.edu/programs-centers/other-programs/summer-arch-career-lab/
• https://ced.berkeley.edu/academics/summer-programs/summer-institute/
• https://ced.berkeley.edu/academics/summer-programs/discovery/
• https://arch.uic.edu/YArch
• https://www.pdx.edu/architecture/summer_immersion
• https://architecture.carleton.ca/signature-programs/
• http://cacp.utsa.edu/academic-programs/department-of-architecture/summer-academy-in-architecture-interior-design/
• http://cooper.edu/architecture/summer-programs/introduction-architecture
• http://www.arch.iit.edu/study/introarch
• https://sse.umkc.edu/academics/k-12-programs/design-discovery.html
• https://www.summer.ucla.edu/institutes/JumpstartArchitecture
• https://sala.ubc.ca/design-discovery-online
• https://ifhpsummerschool.wordpress.com/about/