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Master of Architecture (MC-ARCH2Y) // Entry and participation requirements
About this course
Contact
Email: donald.bates@unimelb.edu.au
Melbourne School of Design
Currently enrolled students:
Contact Stop 1
Future students:
Further information: http://msd.unimelb.edu.au/
Email: http://msd.unimelb.edu.au
Coordinator
Prof. Donald Bates
Entry requirements
1. The Selection Committee will evaluate the applicant’s ability to pursue the course successfully using the following criteria:
- an undergraduate degree with a major in architecture or architectural studies with a weighted average of at least 65% in the final two years, or equivalent, and
- a personal statement of up to 1000 words outlining relevant prior study and work experience, and motivation to undertake the course, and
- a design portfolio in a format as specified by the Selection Committee.*
2. The Selection Committee may conduct interviews or tests and may call for referee reports and employer references to elucidate any of the matters referred to above.
Note: It is highly recommended that students obtain at least 16 weeks of documented relevant full-time professional work experience, before commencing the final 100 points of the degree.
Guaranteed Pathways into Master of Architecture for BEnv Graduates (available for masters entry from 2011 to 2014)
- BEnv graduates with a major in Architecture and a weighted average of at least 70% in their final two years will be guaranteed a fee place in the 200-point Master of Architecture.
- BEnv graduates with a major in Architecture and a weighted average of at least 75% in their final two years, and who are eligible for a Commonwealth Supported Place, will be guaranteed a Commonwealth Supported Place in the 200-point Master of Architecture.
Guaranteed Transfer into Commonwealth Supported Place
Students with a fee place in the 200-point Master of Architecture who complete 100 points of the course with a weighted average of at least 75%, and who are eligible for a Commonwealth Supported Place, will be guaranteed a transfer to a Commonwealth Supported Place for the final 100 points of the course.
*The design portfolio of not more than eight A3 pages should focus on design work rather than, for example, life or still-life drawing skills. Portfolios should be drawn largely from the design studio subject the applicant has completed. Applicants submitting work done in the context of employment should explain their role in the work produced with brief notes. Images and drawings presented in the portfolio should be reproduced at sufficient scale and resolution to be clearly readable. Elaborate formats that reduce the available page space for the design images should be avoided. It is most helpful to see a variety of kinds of drawings and images: free hand diagrams, computer images, two-dimensional (plans, sections, elevations) and three-dimensional studies, photographs of physical models.
For information about the three year Master of Architecture program, designed for students with an undergraduate degree in any discipline, click here.
For information about how to apply click here.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The Melbourne School of Design is the graduate school of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. It offers professional entry programs in Architecture, Construction Management, Landscape Architecture, Property and Urban Planning. It offers specialist development programs in Property Valuation, Planning and Design and in Urban Design.
The Melbourne School of Design welcomes applications from students with disabilities. It is the University and Faculty (Architecture, Building and Planning) policy to take reasonable steps to make reasonable adjustments so as to enable students’ participation in degrees offered by the Melbourne School of Design (MSD).
A candidate for degrees offered in the MSD must have abilities and skills which include the following: observation; communication; motor; conceptual, integrative, and quantitative; and
behavioural and social. Adjustments can be provided to minimise the impact of a disability, however, particularly at Masters level, students need to be able to participate in programs in an independent manner and with regard to their safety and the safety of others.
(i) Observation: Candidates must be able to read text, diagrams, maps, drawings and numerical data. Candidates should be able to observe details at a number of scales and to record useful observations of environmental contexts.
(ii) Communication: Candidates should be able to communicate with fellow students, professional and academic staff, members of relevant professions and the public. Candidates must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively. Communication includes not only speech but also reading and writing, presenting one's own work in front of a large group, receiving and responding to feedback about one's own work in a public setting. Assessment in studio subjects will involve 'crits' where students present their own work in front of a large group, where they will receive and respond to feedback about their work in a public setting. Crits are an integral part of working in the industry and are an inherent requirement of the course.
(iii) Motor: Candidates should have sufficient motor function to elicit information from environmental contexts. Off campus investigations may include visits to construction sites,
urban, rural and/or remote environments. Candidates should have sufficient motor ability to prepare documentation of analytic texts, drawings and models of findings and for the
preparation of proposals for environmental interventions via digital or other means. Candidates should have the ability to actively participate in appropriate site and/or design
studio-based activities.
(iv) Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities: These abilities include measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, synthesis and, importantly, the ability to
interpret results of such work. Problem resolution, the critical skill demanded of graduates, requires all of these intellectual abilities. In addition, given the disciplines pursued in the
MSD, candidates should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships in environmental structures of a wide range of scales –
from smaller than the individual through individual buildings and urban spaces to large geographic areas. Further, graduate study entails learning to master one’s own abilities and
skills and to deploy them strategically. This requires further developing skills in both reflective and reflexive thinking and being able to practice these skills.
(v) Behavioural and Social Attributes: A candidate must possess behavioural and social attributes that enable them to participate in a complex learning environment. Students are required to take responsibility for their own participation and learning. They also contribute to the learning of other students in collaborative learning environments, demonstrating interpersonal skills and an understanding of the needs of other students. Assessment may include the outcomes of tasks completed in collaboration with other students. Assessment in studio subjects will involve 'crits' where students present their own work in front of a large group, where they will receive and respond to feedback about their work in a public setting. Crits are an integral part of working in the industry and are an inherent requirement of the course.
Students who feel a disability will prevent them from meeting the above academic requirements are encouraged to contact the Disability Liaison Unit.
Last updated: 30 January 2024