Deadlines
All application materials must arrive at Cornell before the January 15 deadline. Complete applications must be received before an admission decision can be made. All applications must be accompanied by payment of a nonrefundable application fee.
The master of architecture( professional and post-professional), master of science in computer graphics, and the Ph.D. in history of architecture and urbanism, are applied through Cornell’s graduate school. Applicants are highly encouraged to apply online via the graduate school website.
Requirements for Admission
Master of Architecture (Professional) - in candidacy status
Individuals must hold a bachelor's degree in any field. Some students may have previous backgrounds in a design discipline, or may hold pre-professional undergraduate degrees in a design discipline. The course of study is an intensive, 3-1/2 year curriculum which includes study in design, visual representation, history and theory, technology, and professional practice. The design studio is the core of the curriculum, and integrates materials from the several disciplines into the resolution of architectural problems.
Admission with No Previous Architectural Education
Admission will be offered to individuals with no previous experience in design, also who exhibit talent and promise in a design-related activity or interest. Individuals who have completed a four-year bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree in a field other than architecture are eligible for admission to the professional degree program. Preference for admission is given to individuals who have completed a balanced undergraduate education, including studies in the arts, sciences, and the humanities.
Admission with Advanced Placement
To be considered for admission with advance placement, the applicant must apply for advance placement by selecting Architecture (Advance Placement) under the subject or concentration section of the online application and complete a pre-professional bachelor degree program in architecture or design. Admission with advanced placement will only be considered for individuals who demonstrate fundamental skills of building design and demonstrate a facility in advanced tectonic composition. This is often demonstrated through plan and section representations of complex building proposals that also indicate an awareness of more advanced structural and programmatic relationships.
If advanced placement status is granted an equivalence of 12 credit hours (two semesters of architectural design) will be given and the student will be placed in the first semester of the second year design studio.
To be considered for Advance Placement you must do the following:
- M.Arch.1 applicants must apply online and choose Architecture (Advance Placement) under the subject or concentration section.
- Applicants who are accepted into the M.Arch.1 program will be conditionally accepted into the program until the Admissions committee approves all advance placement material. Once approved, an official letter of acceptance into the advanced placement program will be granted.
- Submit all course syllabi (history, building technology, professional practice, etc…)
- Submit all official transcripts
- All international material must be translated into English before a review will be conducted.
Applicants should be able to demonstrate fundamental skills of building design and demonstrate a facility in advanced tectonic composition. This is often demonstrated through plan and section representations of complex building proposals that also indicate an awareness of more advanced structural and programmatic relationships.
Equivalency Evaluation
To be considered for equivalency credit for previous coursework, applicants must submit course syllabi and transcripts from that previous coursework for review by a faculty member charged with reviewing that area of study (history, building technology, professional practice, etc…). This faculty member will then determine if equivalency credit is appropriate for equivalency credit in ARCH 5511: Analog/Freehand Drawing and Arch. 5512 Analog/Digital Constructed Drawing, samples of academic or professional work must also be included for review.
Note on Professional Accreditation
In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The
National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: bachelor of architecture, master of architecture, and doctor of architecture. A program may be granted a six-year, three-year or two-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.
Doctor of architecture and master of architecture degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.
The NAAB grants candidacy status to new programs that have developed viable plans for achieving initial accreditation. Candidacy status indicates that a program should be accredited within six years of achieving candidacy, if its plan is properly implemented. In order to meet the education requirement set forth by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, an applicant for an NCARB certificate must hold a professional degree in architecture from a program accredited by the NAAB; the degree must have been awarded not more than two years prior to initial accreditation.
Cornell's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Department of Architecture was granted candidacy status for the professional master of architecture in 2004.
M.Arch.1 (pre-professional degree + 115 graduate credits) continuation of candidacy granted: 2007. Projected year of initial accreditation: 2010
Master of Architecture (Post-Professional)
Students holding a professional bachelor of architecture degree (B. Arch.) or a professional master of architecture degree (M.Arch.1) may be admitted as candidates for the post-professional Cornell M.Arch. degree program. International students must submit an official certification that the degree held is a professional degree entitling them to practice architecture in their country.
Master of Science in Computer Graphics
In addition to an undergraduate degree, applicants are required to have prior knowledge in computer graphics and must submit scores from the GRE and the specific computer science test. For more information, see the program website.
Doctor of Philosophy in the History of Architecture and Urban Development
Applicants should have an undergraduate degree in architecture, archaeology, history, history of art, anthropology, or an undergraduate degree in any area and appropriate experience in the field. Degree candidates must have proficiency in two languages other than English before beginning the second year of study.
Summary of Application Requirements
- All Cornell Graduate Student requirements
- Three recommendation letters
- Transcripts: Submit completed and official transcripts from each college or university previously attended to the field to which you are applying. If it is against an institution's policy to send transcripts to the applicant, the transcripts can be mailed by the school directly to the field to which you are applying.
- GRE general test for all, Department Code-4401, Institution Code-2098
- GRE subject test in computer science for computer graphics applicants
- TOEFL minimum score of 250 computer-based or 600 paper-based. The graduate architecture program has set the following minimum scores for the Internet-based test, which measures all four language skills important for communication:
- Writing: 25
- Listening: 25
- Reading: 25
- Speaking: 25
- Portfolio of creative work (professional and post-professional M.Arch. applicants only)
- Sample of academic writing (for example, an essay, term paper or piece of creative writing) of approximately 10 pages (in English). Strongly recommended for Ph.D. and recommended for post-professional M.Arch.
- Statement of purpose for professional M.Arch., M.S., and Ph.D. applicants: A one- or two-page statement, preferably printed on white paper, outlining your research interests and intents for graduate study at Cornell. Please relate these intents to your previous design and academic experience, and to your future goals. Include your full name and your proposed field of study at the top of each page.
- Statement of purpose for post-professional M.Arch. applicants: A one- or two-page statement outlining your research interests and intents for graduate study at Cornell. Please relate these intents to your previous design and academic experience, and to your future goals. Please also indicate which of the following areas you may wish to pursue in the program: Architecture & Urbanism; Architecture & Environment, Ecology, and Energy; Architecture & Technology; Architecture & Contemporary Discourse. Include your full name and your proposed field of study at the top of each page.
GRE Requirements
All applicants to graduate programs in architecture are required to take the GRE aptitude tests of the Educational Testing Service. Scores must be sent directly to the college or to the Graduate School as part of their application materials.
Information about the times and places or test administration may be obtained directly from the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ 08541, (609) 921-9000.
Portfolio Submission
All applicants to the professional and post-professional master of architecture degree programs are required to submit a portfolio. This should represent the applicant's best work, and consist mainly of photographic reproductions of original drawings and models. Photocopies of drawings and models are acceptable, but only if they are of excellent quality.
Applicant's name. address, date, and year must be clearly marked on the cover and any detachable parts. Contents of a submitted portfolio should measure no more than 8-1/2 by 11 inches in size.
Send portfolio to:
Cornell University
Department of Architecture
Graduate Program
B1 W. Sibley Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
Return Portfolio Request
U.S. applicants requesting the return of their portfolios should include a self-addressed stamped envelope of appropriate size. (Do not use postage meter tape, as date and mailing location will be incorrect.) Portfolios will not be returned until June. Applicants from outside the U.S. are encouraged to submit a portfolio which does not need to be returned.
Foreign applicants whose native language is not English, but who received their secondary school or their university education in the English language, must submit a statement certifying this, signed by a responsible officer of a U.S. embassy or consulate or by an appropriate official of the educational institution involved.
All other foreign applicants must take the National Council Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) by arrangement with the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ 08541, (607) 921-9000, or the Michigan English Language Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.
The test scores must be reported by the testing organization directly to the Graduate School as part of the essential application information, and no final action on applications will be taken until the scores have been received. Both testing programs are available throughout the world. Information on times and places for administration of the tests may be obtained from the address given above.
Since these tests are diagnostic, admission to those applicants whose scores indicate unsatisfactory command of English may be denied or be made contingent upon evidence of improved ability in the language.
Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards
Outstanding applicants to the professional and post-professional master of architecture who request consideration for financial aid on their application forms are granted scholarships that offer partial tuition. These scholarships are renewable on application each year, based on academic performance.
Prospective foreign students should investigate awards from the Organization of American States, the United Nations, United States Full Commissions in many foreign countries, and the United States Agency for International Development as well as awards offered by their own governments. The United Nations publication "Study Abroad" lists numerous scholarships and fellowships, many of them for study in the United States for citizens of other countries.
Third-year professional M.Arch. students may also apply for a limited number of partial teaching assistantships (see below).
Teaching assistants provide supplementary instruction and other assistance within the various areas of study offered by the College. Full teaching assistantships carry a stipend plus full tuition; partial assistantships are also offered. The Graduate School’s financial aid web page contains a wealth of information on fellowships (from Cornell or from outside agencies) as well as loans and assistantships for both entering and continuing students. The "Fellowship Notebook" is the Graduate School’s database listing of many of these awards.
Students in the new three-semester post-professional M.Arch. are eligible to apply for special teaching appointments that are granted upon the conclusion of the program in August each year. Teaching fellows are offered for the duration of one or two terms to outstanding candidates in the program. Fellowships come with a monetary award to support continuing design research work and for nominal teaching assistance during the fellowship period. At the end of this period fellows are required to publish their work in the form of an exhibition and/or lecture, and a print-ready folio.
Ph.D. and M.S. students are eligible for support ranging from scholarships to teaching assistantships.
Kristen DiStefano, M.Arch 2007Series of study models for the design of a high rise community college in Manhattan.
