The first year of classes are considered open enrolment, which means any student may apply to Montana State University and pursue the first year of the Architecture curriculum without any additional application to the School of Architecture. At the end of the First year of the Architecture program students are required to apply for formal admission to the Environmental Design program.
Acceptance into the program is based on a minimum GPA of 3.0 and a portfolio submission of work from the 1st year design studio courses and a completion of the first year course work. Ninety-one students are accepted each year into the second year of the Environmental Design program. Once a student has been admitted to the second year of the program, they maintain the acceptance status through the remaining three years of the undergraduate program.
Requirements
3.0 Overall GPA
Portfolio of 1st year work - In addition to completing the required first year courses, a student must submit a portfolio of first year work. Portfolios are reviewed each May. The review process is handled by the Second Year Admissions Committee, which is made up of five faculty members who did not teach first year studio. Each portfolio is review by the five faculty members and scored on a 1-12 point system, with a 12 being the highest score and 1 the lowest. A student’s portfolio score is made up of the average of the five faculty members’ scores. To gain admittance to the program a student should score a minimum of six points.
Required Course Work - To apply for admittance into second year, a student must have completed the five required courses listed below prior to the start of second year
ARCH 121 - Intro to Design
ARCH 151 - Design Fundamentals I
ARCH 152 - Design Fundamentals II
PHYS 205 - College Physics I or higher
MATH 151 or MATH 160 or MATH 171 or MATH 181