Anita Sellers
From Strategic Financial Analyst at UBS, to M.Arch. Candidate at Harvard GSD
- Arch. School Attended: Harvard GSD, M.Arch. Program
- Began working with ASR: Mid-career, after four years in finance
- Design Background: None
- Focus: Architecture and Urban Design
- Previous Career: Finance
- Today: GSD Graduate, Architect, Associate at NYC Architectural Firm
“The team of Architecture School Review has the rare ability to harness inborn talent. When I began working with them, I knew it would be a challenge, especially considering that I had no design experience, but I did not expect it to be such a rewarding experience.
Given my math, languages and finance background, we crafted a strategy that focused on pattern recognition and development and allowed me to explore ways of generating form from pure abstraction. This concept completely redefined my understanding of this new world of architecture, and allowed me to bring forward my own talents and turn them into powerful works.
We worked exclusively on my Strategy for about one week, and came up with an approach, which encapsulated my passion for pattern recognition. The entire process of building the portfolio and application from scratch took about four months, during which we kept revisiting the strategy, and perfecting it little by little. It was an enlightening process. It really helped me be more competitive and learn a lot about myself.
Their essay development process also seemed to have the strategy at its core, and the portfolio in the periphery. I managed to develop my statement of purpose without really noticing it because it was so well integrated with my entire application.
The team of ASR and their studios were truly instrumental and helped me build an amazing portfolio from scratch, which got me into Harvard GSD.”
