22/30
United StatesThe Master of Science (MS) in Architecture degree program requires the completion of 30 credits, typically completed over the course of three semesters.
The degree is structured around a highly focused core of studios, research seminars, and a thesis that collectively expand upon students’ architectural knowledge. These courses teach students how to put advanced design and research methods at the service of critical, productive thinking for energy-efficient design for our global future.
In a student’s second semester, we work with each individual student to craft a suite of electives, drawn from both the school of architecture and across the university, to support a student’s specific interests in preparation for their final thesis/directed research experience.
This capstone experience embraces the complex multi-disciplinary nature of architectural projects in the 21st century by providing a framework for students to explore individual research + design interests around a series of topics supported by faculty expertise from across the university. Led by School of Architecture faculty, small groups of students working in these shared topic areas are given the opportunity to advance their work in the kinds of multi-disciplinary contexts and conversations that drive innovative practice today. Through this degree-culminating experience, we prepare students to seek, initiate, and lead these conversations upon graduation.
Design | Energy | Futures is a concentrated research + design program that leads to a post-professional Master of Science (MS) in Architecture. The program focuses on energy and the built environment with research + design projects ranging across many scales, from urban design to high performance buildings, from VR and computational simulation to building material research and product design, and across a range of disciplinary and practice areas.
For the duration of the program, students are directed by faculty actively engaged in externally sponsored research and design projects, and have numerous opportunities for research internships in the faculty’s various research facilities.
Coursework consists of one required studio paired with an architectural research seminar, followed by a set of individually curated electives meant to complement the design + research studio projects as well as contribute to the students’ final projects, and concludes with a paired capstone studio and research seminar.
Students have the option of applying to the interdisciplinary Certificate of Advanced Study in Sustainable Enterprise (CASSE) offered with the interdisciplinary Syracuse University Sustainable Enterprise Partnership. Students who complete the certificate will be fluent in the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability and their interdependence; systems science and its relationship to sustainability; and the natural, financial, technical, legal, and social drivers of sustainability strategy in businesses and other organizations. The joint MS in Architecture and CASSE requires 36 credits.
Our MS is a STEM Designated Degree by the US Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
APPLICATION PROCESS
– Apply to Syracuse University Graduate School
Online application is preferred. Application fee of $75. Deadline: January 3. Admission decisions will be sent via email in March.
– Submit an online portfolio of creative and/or professional work in architecture, the visual arts, design, and/or affiliated fields.
– Submit a short video response to one of three questions. This complements your written and graphic material, and provides our admissions committee with additional insight into your application. (Optional; strongly encouraged)
– Submit an application essay.
To better understand the unique strengths of your application and the goals that have motivated you to pursue graduate study at Syracuse Architecture, we require brief answers to two essay prompts. Please answer each in approximately 500 words.
What are your primary academic interests, how do you see advancing them in the MS program at Syracuse Architecture, and how do wish to incorporate them into your future plans after you receive your degree?
Within the specialization area of the MS you are applying, what do you see as the most urgent issue that architects are facing, and how could you see yourself addressing this?
– Writing Sample
Please submit an English-language writing sample that you have already completed and that you believe represents your personal interests and writing skills. This may be anything from a brief, one-page academic assignment or self-initiated writing to a published or presented paper. The writing sample helps the admissions committee understand not your written communication abilities and how you write outside of the graduate admissions process.
– Transcript(s)
An official transcript from every college/university you have attended is required. Transcript request forms that can be mailed to prior institutions are included in the online application.
– Three letters of recommendation
Individuals providing recommendations should be registered through the on-line application process to submit their letters of recommendation electronically. If this is not possible, a confidential letter of recommendation may be directed to the Graduate Admissions Processing Center in a sealed envelope with the person’s signature written across the seal of the envelope.
– GRE recommended but not required. The exam scores will only be accepted when sent electronically by ETS (Educational Testing Service). Please go here for more specific information about GRE exam dates and times. The Syracuse University institution code for submitting GRE test scores is 2823.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS
– Form SUIA, included in the graduate application form. Form SUIA must be submitted along with the graduate application. Please be sure that the spelling of your name is consistent on all application materials and is written exactly as it appears on your passport.
– To enable Syracuse University to issue the I-20 form for obtaining a student visa, international applicants must submit financial documents with their application demonstrating that they have secured sufficient funding for at least their first year of graduate study.
A current bank statement on official bank letterhead signed by an authorized bank official, indicating that sufficient funds exist to meet at least the first year of expenses, should be submitted as evidence of such funding.
– TOEFL exam scores for all students whose native language is not English. Admission to the M.Arch program requires a TOEFL IBT score of 100 or higher or an IELTS score of 7.5 or higher. If an international student has a TOEFL or IELTS score that is below the required score they may be conditionally admitted and then fully admitted upon completion of summer sessions at the Syracuse University English Language Institute. For more information about classes offered through the ELI please visit SU English Language Institute.
