Sample review
See what a hiring partner sees in your portfolio.
Verdict from the sample below
“A sectionally-literate young portfolio held back by an indecisive cultural-centre project and a placeholder about page.”
Below is a complete sample review of an example architecture portfolio: the same rubric, page-cited evidence and action plan you get for yours. Upload a PDF and get your own in about three minutes.
Overall
73/ 100
200+ portfolios reviewed·Average score 58/100·Your PDF is encrypted, never used for model training, and you can delete it any time
How it works
Three steps. One PDF. Page-cited evidence.
Upload your portfolio
Drop in a PDF or images. We extract every page, scan the text (even on scanned PDFs), and analyse against the brief you tell us.
AI review
Ten weighted categories, scored with page-cited evidence. Strengths, weaknesses, project-by-project triage.
Action plan
One-week, one-month, and three-month plans — concrete tasks, expected impact, hour estimates.
Three minutes. That's it.
Upload a PDF. Get ten scored categories with page-cited evidence.
Elevator summary
Four projects, three of them defensible. Your sectional thinking and restraint in representation are your edge — that's the story this portfolio should tell. The cultural centre weakens the set; either commit to its thesis or cut it. The about page is undersold for what's effectively the second-most-read spread of any hiring portfolio.
Your portfolio has a story too.
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Category breakdown
Ten categories, weighted by impact. Three shown below.
Each project leads with a clear conceptual diagram, and the housing scheme on p.6 explicitly traces program decisions back to a site analysis on p.4. The cultural centre (p.14) is weaker — the diagrams imply an idea but never name it.
- p.4
- Riverside Housing · Site-analysis diagrams establish the wind/shade brief.
- p.6
- Riverside Housing · Massing iterations link directly back to the brief.
- p.14
- Cultural Centre · Concept page reads as a render reel, no stated thesis.
Plans are competent and legible. The duplex (p.22) resolves circulation cleanly, but the public layer on the cultural centre (p.16) sacrifices the entry hierarchy to fit a parametric facade.
- p.22
- Hillside Duplex · Clear public-to-private gradient in plan.
- p.16
- Cultural Centre · Entry sequence reads as residual to the envelope.
Sections and axonometrics are consistently strong. Hatch language is restrained, line weights stack cleanly at three depths, and figure-ground (p.5) shows you understand context drawings.
- p.5
- Riverside Housing · Figure-ground reads at thumbnail size.
- p.11
- Riverside Housing · Long section communicates section logic without text.
Strengths & weaknesses
Strengths
- 01
Sectional thinking is your edge
Three of four projects lead with a long section. Pages 5, 11, and 22 read more clearly than the equivalent plans. Lean into this — sections-first storytelling is rare at this career stage.
- 02
Site analysis is unusually disciplined
Riverside Housing (p.4) goes beyond climate diagrams into program-relevant analysis (commute corridors, school catchment). Few entry-level portfolios show this.
- 03
Restraint in colour and line
Monochrome palette holds across all four projects. This is the right call — it makes the spatial argument carry, not the styling.
Weaknesses
- 01
Cultural Centre concept never lands
CriticalPages 14–17 show a parametric facade in service of itself. The brief is implied but never stated. Either lead with the cultural thesis or cut the project for hiring-focused submissions.
- 02
About / CV page reads as a placeholder
HighThe about page (p.2) lists software and one sentence of bio. For a hiring portfolio this is the second most-read page after the cover — it deserves a thesis paragraph.
- 03
No physical-model or hand-drawing presence
MediumAll output is digital. Including one process page with sketches or model photos signals tactile thinking — relevant at concept-driven firms.
Which side does your portfolio lean?
See your top three strengths and the gaps holding you back.
Action plan
What to do this week, this month, this quarter.
One week
Minimum viable revision
- 01
Rewrite the cover page so Riverside Housing leads the portfolio.
CriticalHiring readers spend the first 8 seconds on your strongest work. · ~2h
- 01
Replace the Cultural Centre concept page with a one-line thesis + section diagram.
CriticalForces you to either commit to the project or cut it. · ~3h
- 02
Add a one-paragraph thesis to the about page (p.2).
HighReviewers can place your interests within 30 seconds. · ~1h
One month
Focused rework
- 02
Add a process spread (sketches or model photos) to one project.
HighDemonstrates tactile / iterative thinking. · ~6h
- 03
Rework Hillside Duplex cover spread to lead with the long section.
MediumAligns the project's strongest drawing with its first page. · ~4h
Three months
Structural rebuild
- 01
Replace the Cultural Centre with a stronger civic project, or develop a process essay.
CriticalResets the project mix toward your demonstrated strengths. · ~60h
Your revision roadmap is ready.
Concrete tasks, hour estimates, priority levels — all cited to your actual pages.
Questions before you upload
What do I get for free?
Your first review is free and shows a preview: the verdict, your score range, the area holding you back most and one key finding. The free PDF check (file size, image resolution, fonts) is free as often as you like. Pro ($9.99/month or $99.99/year) unlocks the full report with all ten categories, fix guides, PDF export, Job Match and up to eight reviews every 30 days.
Is my portfolio private?
Yes. Your file is encrypted at rest, never used to train AI models, and you can delete it at any time from Settings.
What can I upload?
A PDF up to 50 MB and 50 pages, or images (JPEG, PNG, WebP) up to 10 MB each. Scanned PDFs work too; we read the text with OCR.
How long does it take?
About three minutes. You can close the page while it runs; we email you when your review is ready.
Who is it for?
Architecture students, graduates and early-career architects preparing internship, job or master's applications. The review is calibrated to the level and goal you give us.
Is this sample a real person's portfolio?
No. The review on this page is a sample written for an example portfolio, so we can show every section without sharing anyone's work. Your review is generated from your own pages.
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