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PennDesign vs Rice
Hey guys, I am a M Arch I applicant this year with GPA 3.0, pretty bad GRE but a decent portfolio. I got waitlisted on both schools.
Just wanted to get more insights about both of these schools, I know Penn requires you to take 2 digital heavy studios in the first year, is it still like this now? What about later years, I saw some people still staying on the digital while others are having other approaches. I also saw there is Advanced Studio option in AA but only 15 people can get in.. How is it?
I don't know too much about Rice, but their work seems less digital and more emphasis on physical modeling. Also what do you guys think about the small class environment and location in Houston in general? I am a international student and I wanna explore around the globe after graduation.
I personally leaning towards PennDesign, although I am not at all familiar with Maya and those crazy forms but I think it is a valuable tool to learn and it all depends on how you use it.
Hey there, since nobody has responded yet, I'd be happy to provide you some insight into the PennDesign program.
I graduated from Penn's M.Arch 1 program last year. I was accepted with Advanced Standing, meaning that my program length skipped the first year.
From what I have seen and heard, many of the studios offered in the first year are very digital heavy, and you may be encouraged to learn Maya as a program medium. From what I have learned about Penn and its philosophy, is that no particular course or instructor will force your hand in any medium unless it is absolutely beneficial to your work.
I was not crazy about the odd formal Maya stuff either, but did take one studio that encouraged it, and had a blast learning something that could be valuable in certain applications of architecture or product design. You absolutely do not have to use it, and can take studios in subject, aesthetic or application that you wish to. It is truly a freely thinking, freely practicing graduate school career.
As for the AA program, don't be deterred by the "only 15 people", most of the applicants that decide to go, will get an opportunity to go. I did not participate as I had just completed a study abroad program in my undergraduate just a few months before. Most of those that went loved it.
Let me know if you have more questions and good luck!
mmarktfsi,
Thanks for your response, I am in a similar situation,
I think I will go to Penn if I ever got off from the waitlist, but I have as little knowledge as you can imagine, about parametric and digital driven design process. In this case it would be really beneficial for me to learn something that I always tend to avoid and energize my design ability.....
Is there any good reads you think will be helpful before I go to the digi-blast in the summer (let's pretend I got off from the waitlist hah
Appreciate it mmarktfsi~
Hey no problem!
I think watching some simple youtube tutorials on how to get started in grasshopper, Rhino, and Maya will be enough. Ezio Blasetti and Danielle Willems, who teach the digiblast course, are excellent at guiding you through these programs from scratch. Remember there will be people there that have no background in architecture or design and are in the same boat.
Good luck and feel free to contact me for any extra questions about the program.
markmat@alumni.design.upenn.edu
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