
The last vital thing to consider is the story you are showcasing with your portfolio and what you are trying to portray through the work within it. So consider this when completing your portfolio: your portfolio showcases the skills that best allow you to adapt to specific programs.Ĥ) Make sure that your portfolio tells a story. However, other schools like Cornell, WashU, and Rice may have used that as a deciding factor when rejecting me because they have more physical drawing-based programs. It didn't hurt my chances at USC because I was accepted (and I see now why because it's a very technology-intensive program). Now I wonder if this hurt my chances because when you read the instructions for the portfolio on the websites of most schools, they recommend not including CAD models, like the ones I did in SketchUp throughout high school. I provided context for the lack of physical art within the additional information section of the common app. When I wasn't in school, I didn't want to waste money on materials for physical art when I could do it on the tablet or computer I already had. This was mainly because I went to a small school that didn't have an art program, so there wasn't an option for me to do a lot of physical art (paintings, pencil, pen & ink, etc.) within school. As you can see, my portfolio primarily consisted of pieces using computer-aided design software, such as Procreate, SketchUp, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop.

Make sure all images are legible, well lit, and on a blank background.ģ) Showcase the skills specific to certain programs. Basically, for your additional details section of Slideroom say what needs to be said and get out.Ģ) Submit high-quality images of your work. Tips for Creating Your Archetecture Portfolioġ) Be concise and choose your words carefully. So, what made my application and portfolio so successful? Within this article, I hope to provide you with the elements that made my architecture school application and portfolio successful.īelow I have provided the complete portfolio I submitted to USC for my application, along with the descriptions I provided of each piece in the additional details section of Slideroom:

From my recollection of the college application process last year as a high school senior, the portfolio was one of the most stressful portions of the application, as I had no input on whether I was putting in the right pieces or describing them correctly.ĭespite my doubt, I’m writing this article as a current first-year architecture student at the University of Southern California, one of my top choice schools, with a full-tuition trustee scholarship.

The portfolio is one of the most critical aspects of your application when applying to architecture school, but there is a limited amount of information online considering the subject.
