Admissions Information
Undergraduate students enter the Landscape Architecture Department as freshmen or transfer students. Landscape Architecture is part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).
Incoming Freshmen
For general freshman application information, visit the CALS First Year Students page. This page contains links for how to apply, requirements for admission, selection criteria, and timetable for admission.
Transfer Students
For general transfer application information, visit the CALS Undergraduate Transfer Students page. This page contains links for how to apply, special and visiting students, timetables, transfer agreements with other colleges and universities, transfer credits, transfer day, and transfer criteria. Students who have already received an undergraduate degree should apply to the three-year Master of Landscape Architecture curriculum.
Transfer Students (from within CALS ONLY)
If you are already a student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and would like to transfer to the Landscape Architecture undergraduate curriculum, you will need to fill out this LA Transfer Application and submit it, along with a portfolio (see below), to:
Landscape Architecture Department
440 Kennedy Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Portfolio
Applicants to the Landscape Architecture program are required to submit a portfolio. The portfolio is used to assess your aptitude for visual thinking and design.
The portfolio contents may represent a wide variety of media, including freehand drawings, travel sketches, painting, printmaking, photography, garden design, pottery and other creative endeavors, as well as evidence of any knowledge of graphics software programs, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, AutoCAD, and 3D modeling. The total number of works should be 10-12. Please include a brief caption with the title, size, project intention and medium of each work.
The portfolio format is flexible but the department prefers high-quality printed pages of images, spiral bound or displayed in a simple portfolio, 8.5" x 11" or 11"x 17." Please make sure your name clearly appears on all materials and portfolios submitted.
Please send your portfolio for:
Undergraduate Admissions directly to:
Professor Kathryn Gleason
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Landscape Architecture
440 Kennedy Hall
Ithaca NY 14853-4203
klg16@cornell.edu
(607) 255-1649
Financial Aid
Financial Aid for undergraduates is need-based. For information related to financial aid, visit the CALS Financing Your Cornell Education page.
Curriculum
The undergraduate landscape architecture curriculum is a broadbased course of study that provides the skills necessary for professional practice. In addition to the required Landscape Architecture courses, students are expected to fulfill college requirements in biological, physical and social sciences, humanities, and written and oral expression.
The core Landscape Architecture undergraduate curriculum is centered on a sequence of design studio courses. Studio teaching involves students and faculty in a one-on-one relationship. This close interaction typifies the program. Each studio requires a different set of principles and theories and mastery of aspects of the media of landscape—land form, plants, water, engineering, and construction. The subject matter in each studio builds on the subjects of previous studios.
Concentration
Landscape Architecture students are also required to develop a concentration to extend their knowledge of design.
Study Abroad Options
Students may avail themselves of study abroad opportunities during the Spring semester of their Junior year. Cornell offers several opportunities for study in another country through Cornell Abroad. In addition, the Rome Program and other summer programs of study abroad are made available to students through the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.