can anyone give me a hand

can anyone give me a hand

well out of the 4 schools you have been accepted too.

SCI ARC i would say is the most "artistic", while many of the professors at Pratt use to or have taught at Columbia.

RISD is a good school and you will be able to take your GE courses through Brown i believe.

In general all the schools are quite good, but none really excel in everything.

I would recommend email the schools you have been accepted to and ask them to provide names of notable people who are teaching at that school, and people who have graduated. See the student work on there websites to see where you fit into best.

Personally, If i was you, I would major in something else, and if i was really serious about architecture get a masters in architecture at more notable schools. So i would go for a school like USC, get a degree in like business admin, then between your undergrad degree and grad degree i would take some classes at USC for design , architecture, art use that for a portfolio to apply to schools like YALE, HARVARD, COLUMBIA, UCLA, PRINCETON, and UPENN which are really top notch places over second tier schools like RISD, USC, PRATT.

Thanks Vu,
I really appreciate your advices, very useful to me.
I will do as you said, connect with those schools and find more information....
and about your plan, sounds great but I prefer learn architecture in college..architecutre attracts me more than anything else at this time..:)...and as far as I know, there are two kind of master degree in architecture, one is for those who learn arch in college, another is for those who study in other fields in college. I plan to choose the first one.
I care about something like the ranking and the fame of the school, but honestly, the most important thing is whether a school can bring out good and creative architect...and which school is welcome by most architecture studio...

anyway, thanks very much, you help me a lot Vu~!

I'll pass on commenting on the schools/reputations, but I do agree that you should broaden you education aspirations. "Artistic" architect will not help you get a job later on.


I had more fun in Providence than I did in LA, but that's just me. I would suggest going to RISD's summer Intro to Architecture (which I did). Fantastic experience, but I would not have wanted to get my bachelor there (got that at UF, much more well rounded, I think). RISD, when I was there, was just too "artistic" for me.


Still, probably can't go horribly wrong with any of those schools. Just read the forums here about the profession in general and don't put all your eggs in one basket. Entering the idea of architecture with the word "artistic" is a sure recipe for disappointment.

Thanks trace Yeah, just as you said, artistic architect is not good for finding a job..however, my idea of artistic is more creative and more cutting-edge I guess. I heard from many people that learning something else in undergrad may better for building a well-round understanding of architecture. I think so, but I choose learn more liberal art things during my summers. You know, if I choose study other things in undergrad, I have to go for master degree if I want to be an architect..the whole process takes 7 or more years...too long for me I now narrowed my schools, only choosing between Pratt and RISD.. I found RISD may not so strong in B.arch BUT Pratt have exremely low graduate rate which is 34% and found Pratt kid may a little bit party.....not arcihtecture major, but other departments.... Really NEED some help~!!!!!

xinru,

Stay on the east coast. RISD is awesome, they are poets. tell them about how pratt is offering you money, but you really want to go to RISD. see if they offer anything. They dont give much in scholarship i believe, but see if you can bargain.

Pratt is great too. they might not be as brainy as RISD, but the architecture program produces decent grads, that go artsy or corporate if they want to.

If it comes down to money, go for the one that offers you the most. Pratt's location in NY  is one of the best things it has going for it. It is also pretty tied with Columbia, whereas RISD has some connections to Harvard GSD

The whole 'you cant make money out of your art' thing is a bunch of bull. I believe that cause I went to art school.

Hi blackoe

Good avice for me! Yeah, I should definitely tell RISD my struggling!

Money is important, but at this time, money is not the first thing I'm going to concern...You mentioned RISD has some connections to GSD...can you please tell me more about it? And I'm curious abt the liberal art study is RISD...I think highly abt liberal art study..although I'm going to study architecture, I think liberal art study is as important as architecture study......

Thanks for all of you again~!

Hey Xinru,
While I am not an architecture student, I am a current planning student at USC interested in M.Arch programs.I can obviously not speak for the other schools, but I can share some insight about life here at USC.
If you're looking for a well rounded undergraduate experience, I definitely think that you can find that here at USC. People tend to let the stigma and reputation of the USC from 20-30 years ago get to them, but in the last 10 years we've had some great leadership and initiative to really take the university to where it is today.I really believe everyone has a place at USC and can find something they're interested in on a student life/activities level. And like you said, I really love the diversity both in the people and academics at the school.Speaking frankly, as we all know, a 5-year B.Arch won't give you a whole lot of room to explore other academic interests period, but there are over 150 majors and 150 minors at USC so if you have other interests, I highly recommend USC. That being said, I still know people who have managed to double major in planning and a B.Arch, as well as many, many kids who minor and are involved in other activities such as Greek life, student orgs, etc.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions about USC in general. Best of luck!

All these schools have comparable reputation, Sci-Arc being the most artsy, unrealistic of architecture programs. The other schools have a more well rounded education. You need to figure out where you want to be after school which will give you the most networking potential, east or west?

All other things being equal, Pratt sounds like the obvious choice if you can save $21K, that will save you a couple hundred dollars in loans every month. Architecture school tends to be artsy no matter where you go and you can always inject your own art into it.

Xinru,

a few years ago, some professors at RISD got a call to go teach at harvard. when they left they took some of their graduating students with them. Machado and Silvetti, i think they still have some ties with RISD, and like some other schools, GSD grads teach at RISD. I think the connection is still there.

If you go to a bigger university, then you have to deal with frats, sports, and stuff like that. So thank god for art school, you will be around people that think like you, with no other distractions.

I am diametrically opposed to fade to blackoe's last paragraph.

i went to Ohio State for my undergraduate education (re:"frats, sports, stuff like that)) and I wouldn't have traded it for anything.  And I attend the AA so I think those distractions worked out.

You're severely limiting your horizons by attending an art school.  None of my architecture friends have commissioned me to design for them.  my college finance friends on the other hand...

funny enough, i ran away from state school for those very reasons, was more of a focus

Thanks all of you, forsan, burningman, blackoe and turtle!

forsan, as you said,  USC must be the best school offering me diversity culture and interdisciplinary learning experience. However, I guess arch kids may not have so many time on other major as far as I know....And I have several friends who will going to USC school of architecture for college study, I hope I can go another school so that my friends and I can share resources from different schools.

And abt SCI-ARC, I may give up this school for B.ARCH...It seems like SCI-ARC lacks the GE..I heared that students in SCI-ARC(only undergraduate) need to go to other school for GE...I may go SCI-ARC for master if I keep learning after 5 years struggling in architecture.

So, it comes to only two schools, Pratt or RISD.

Pratt  gives me money but I think Pratt is not so good at GE...do anybody know any program about liberal art study between Pratt and other institute in NYC?

I may work in East and may not go to graduate school..so which one is better?

Turtle don't get me wrong, AA is a great school but seriously do you honestly believe that your admittance into the AA validates your undergraduate ideals.  Sounds like all the partying you did in college killed some brain cells.    Here is the formula folks:  I got into (place the name of your prestigious school) so all the decisions I made were correct.

That being said, I have enjoyed the diversity of attending a big school.  If you want to meet rich people that will be potential clients then USC would be perfect.  I haven't seen much interesting work come out of there but I'm sure its a great regional program that produces ample competent architects.

As much as I enjoyed a big school, I haven't valued the diversity enough to say that it would make the experience more valuable than an art school.

So I fortuitously came across an interesting USC project last night.  I humbly retract part of my previous comment.  (turtle is still a tool though)

Hi xinru. I was wondering what your gpa looks like? Did you also take any honors classes or extra curricular activities? I'm currently looking into the same schools that accepted you. This also goes for anyone who has been accepted to any of these schools, including cooper union.

Thank you