Master of Science in Architecture Studies

The Master of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS), a two-year program of advanced study beyond the first professional degree in architecture, is founded on research and inquiry in architecture as a discipline and as a practice. Emphasis is on inquiry into contemporary problems of architectural design and practice in the US and around the world.

SMArchS in Building Technology

Building Technology offers students the opportunity to explore critical topics for the future of the built environment and resources. This area explores ways to use design and technology to create buildings that contribute to a more humane and environmentally responsible built world. Strategies employed toward these ends include integrated architectural design strategies, resource accounting through material flow analysis and life cycle assessment, building and urban energy modeling and simulation, human comfort analysis and control design and engineering and other technologically-informed design methods. Students interested in any of these strategies will be challenged to address topics of clear and important relevance to the future of the built environment through creative and analytically rigorous approaches.

Research areas supervised by the faculty address innovative materials and assemblies, emerging and nontraditional building materials, low-energy and passive building energy strategies, innovative analysis and modeling of historic structures and various issues of energy and material resources at the urban scale, including urban environmental sensing, the urban heat island effect and urban metabolism. Ideally, students entering into the program will be incorporated into active and ongoing research projects while pursuing their own intellectual and career agendas. These projects change regularly and individual faculty are best informed of current research position opportunities.

Students will often work alongside students from other departments, including Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Material Science and Engineering, Urban Studies and Planning and others. The only class requirement stipulated by the BT group, 4.481 Building Technology Seminar, is offered during the first semester. BT SMArchS students will be accommodated in the Building Technology student lab area and will have the opportunity to work with and share their interests with BT students in other degree programs.

These areas of study are offered with the primary intention of providing the tools and perspectives necessary for changing the nature of the built environment toward a resource-efficient future. Students of diverse educational backgrounds and interests are considered.

Admissions for SMArchS

Applicants compete each year for the approximately 25 places available in the SMArchS program. An admissions committee made up of both faculty and SMArchS students evaluates applicants individually. There is no specific "type" of applicant.

Deadline and Submissions

The application deadline is December 15. All application material must be received by deadline, with the exception of portfolios, which might be submitted by January 3. Late applications will not be reviewed. It is the responsibility of the applicant to be sure that the completed application forms and all supporting materials are at the following address by the deadline.

  • MIT Department of Architecture
  • Attn: Admissions
  • 77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 7-337
  • Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
  • Telephone: (617) 715-4490

SMArchS Admissions Requirements

Virtually all students entering this program hold a professional degree in architecture. However, since the Master of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS) is not itself a professional degree, students from other backgrounds may apply. The program requires the following academic preparation:

  • At a minimum, a bachelor's degree with high academic standing from a recognized institution. In most cases SMArchS students hold professional degrees in architecture from accredited universities.
  • Excellence in design, previous technical studies, proven facility in a computational environment and other specific skills may be used as admissions criteria depending on the area of study being pursued.
  • In the statement of objectives, applicants should indicate clearly which SMArchS area of study they seek to enter and why. Statements should clearly outline the applicant's qualifications for research in that area. The study areas of choice include:
    • Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
    • Architecture and Urbanism
    • Architectural Design (new)
    • Building Technology (On the online application, choose "Architecture and Technology")
    • Design and Computation
    • History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art Arch and Art

Online Application

Although we accept paper-based applications, we strongly prefer that all graduate programs applicants use the MIT graduate application website.

http://web.mit.edu/admissions/graduate

The graduate application for 2011 is first processed through CollegeNet. To access the CollegeNet system, applicants will need to create a profile. Once begun, the online application can be completed at any point up until the December 15 deadline at midnight. Try not to begin your application on December 15. You don't want something to happen at 11 p.m. before the system closes. After submitting the application, applicants will not be able to alter the CollegeNet version of the application. CollegeNet will send a confirmation email upon submission, but this does not mean the Department has your information.

Application Fee

Application to MIT requires a non-refundable fee of $75 USD. You will need to submit a credit card number on CollegeNet to process this fee.

Recommendations

All applicants must submit at least three letters of recommendation. Recommenders will also need to create a profile within the CollegeNet system to submit their letters. Once a letter is submitted, the Department will retrieve it and update the application website to indicate it has been received.

We prefer that letters of recommendation be submitted through the website. However, paper-based forms are also available here:

http://web.mit.edu/admissions/graduate/pdfs/MIT_Standard_Eval.pdf

This form is important because it tells your recommender and the Department that you have either waived, or not waived, your right to view the content of the letter. Forward this form to the recommender and have them submit the form with their letter to the Department. Applicants may forward recommendations to us if they are left in the original signed, sealed envelope, but should be sent with the evaluation form.

Transcripts

Transcripts must be requested as original documents from your previous schools. Transcripts may be forwarded by the applicant if they are in the original, sealed envelope. Non-English transcripts must be translated into English, and if necessary, signed by a licensed notary and accompanied by the original version.

Statement of Objectives

The applicant's statement of objectives and letters of recommendation are particularly important. Previous academic work and other experiences should demonstrate the applicant's intellectual achievement, motivation, discipline, responsibility, imagination, perception and open mind. Projects and experiences are judged not only on intrinsic merit but also as evidence of the applicant's ability to initiate and follow through on work that is personally meaningful.

English Proficiency Requirement

Applicants whose first language is not English are required to submit either an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score or a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), regardless of citizenship or residency in the U.S. while attending other educational institutions. No exceptions are made. The admissions committee regards English proficiency as crucial for success in all degree programs. In order to meet the December 15 fall admissions deadline, it is recommended that candidates take the IELTS or TOEFL on the earliest possible date.

Applicants must request that an official copy of their test results be sent directly to MIT by IELTS International or Educational Testing Service. IELTS and TOEFL Scores must be no older than two years as of the date of application. To avoid delays, please use the following codes when having your TOEFL scores sent to MIT:

  • Institutional Code: 3514
  • Department Code: 12

The minimum score required for SMArchS candidates is 7 and the minimum TOEFL score is 600 (250 for computer-based test, 100 for Internet-based test). While either test score is accepted, the IELTS score is preferred.

All students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) prior to registration at MIT. Even students who satisfy the IELTS/TOEFL requirement for admission may be required to take specialized subjects in English as a Second Language (ESL), depending on their EET results. These subjects do not count toward the required degree credits.

Graduate Record Examination

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required for SMArchS applicants.

Portfolio

A non-returnable portfolio is required of all SMArchS applicants, including those who do not have a previous architecture degree or background.

The portfolio should include evidence of recent creative work, whether personal, academic or professional. Choose what you care about, what you think is representative of your best work, and what is expressive of you. Work done collaboratively should be identified as such and the applicant's role in the project defined. Name, address and program to which you are applying should also be included. We expect the portfolio to be the applicant's own work. While there is no strict format, all the material should be contained in one notebook, folder or envelope. We have found that 8½-by-11-inch note fraction (22-by-28-cm) notebooks are most suitable. Select a limited number of examples that are easy for us to look at; do not send slides, CDs or videos. Web-based portfolios are not acceptable and will not be reviewed.

Interviews

Interviews are not required for SMArchS applicants. All prospective students are welcome to visit the Department. If you would like to visit the campus for a student tour of the Department, please contact in advance of your trip:

Annette Horne-Williams

Decisions and Notifications

Applicants will be notified by mail of the Department's decision by April 1. Decisions cannot be given by telephone.

You will receive an email by the third week of December to let you know if your application is complete or if there are any pieces still missing. If so, you will have time to resubmit any missing materials.

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Degree requirements for SMArchS

The following information applies to SMArchS degree programs in all disciplines.

Residency

The minimum required residency for students enrolled in the SMArchS program is two full academic years.

Faculty Advising

A faculty advisor from the Department of Architecture is assigned to each SMArchS student at matriculation. The advisor weighs in on the student's initial plan of study and on each subsequent term's choice of subjects. This individual should be a faculty member with whom the student is in close contact. The advisor monitors the student's progress through completion of the degree.

Subjects and Credit Units

The SMArchS degree is awarded upon satisfactory completion of an approved program of at least 96 units, 42 of which must be H-level subjects, and an acceptable thesis.

Students, with their advisors, construct individual programs of study focused on their particular interests. Subjects that must be taken include:

  • 4.221, Architecture Studies Faculty Colloquium (1st term)
  • One or two core subjects in methods from the list below depending on the student’s area of study (1st and/or 2nd semester):
    • Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture: 4.619, Historiography of Islamic Architecture, or 4.621, Orientalism and Representation
    • Architectural Design: 4.130 Architectural Design Theory and Methodologies
    • Architecture and Urbanism: 4.225 Urban Design Theory and 4.162 Introductory Urban Design Studio
    • Building Technology: 4.481, Building Technology Seminar
    • Design and Computation: 4.580, Inquiry into Computation and Design and 4.587 SMArchS Computation Pre-Thesis Preparation
    • History, Theory and Criticism: 4.661, Theory and Method in the Study of Architecture and Art (HTC students are required to take this subject both fall terms of their residency)
  • Six subjects within the student’s area of interest; in Architecture and Urbanism, two of the subjects must be 4.241J Theory of City Form and one approved option design studio
  • 4.288, Preparation for SMArchS Thesis (3rd term)
  • 4.THG, Graduate Thesis (final term)

English Proficiency Requirement

All students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) prior to registration at MIT. Even students who satisfy the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) requirement for admission may be required to take specialized subjects in English as a Second Language (ESL), depending on their EET results. These subjects do not count toward the required units but will prove helpful to students who need to develop the skills necessary to write a thesis.

Policy on Incomplete Subjects and Thesis Semester

SMArchS students may have no more than one incomplete in a required subject when they register for thesis (4.THG). This incomplete can be no older than one term (received the term prior to thesis registration).

Students who have incompletes from several subjects or incompletes from earlier terms will be denied registration until those subjects are finished and graded. This policy applies to incompletes in subjects required by the degree curriculum or needed for units toward the degree.

Thesis Preparation and Thesis

Students enroll in Preparation for SMArchS Thesis (4.288) their third term of registration. The result of this 9-unit subject is a thesis proposal.

SMArchS students are required to register for 36 units of thesis (4.THG) in their fourth and final term. Before a student can register for thesis, a signed copy of the thesis proposal form and thesis proposal must be submitted to the degree administrator for master's programs in the headquarters of the Department of Architecture. Once the thesis proposal is approved, students are permitted to register for thesis.

The SMArchS thesis committee is composed of at least two and no more than three members. The thesis supervisor must be a permanent member of the Department of Architecture faculty. The first reader must be a permanent faculty member of the Department of Architecture or a related department at MIT. The third member (second reader) may be any member of the MIT faculty or research staff, an outside professional or a faculty member from another institution. Download Thesis Committee Guidelines here.

Co-thesis supervision is permitted as long as one of the supervisors is a permanent member of the Department of Architecture faculty. The other supervisor may be any member of the MIT faculty or research staff, an outside professional or a faculty member from another institution.

Three departmental thesis reviews are conducted for SMArchS students: the thesis preparation review in Week 4; the thesis content review in Week 9; and the public presentation in the last week of the term. These presentations, also known as final reviews, are made to the Department of Architecture community, faculty and students.

Two weeks before the final review, SMArchS students meet with their thesis committees to formally defend the thesis.

The SMArchS degree is awarded after all the degree requirements have been met, and after two copies of the approved, archival-ready thesis have been submitted to the headquarters of the Department of Architecture by the Institute deadline for master's theses as published in the MIT Academic Calendar. Students must adhere to the Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by the Institute Archives.

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