Hmm. I'm interested too. They gave me a pretty good scholarship, but I'm still waiting to see if Pratt or Upenn will give me a better one. RISD is my dream school, but god are they expensive. 

Being from Chicago, I've walked past SAIC many times, but I've never gone inside. I will say that if they gave you no money, the cost of living is hard up there and Chicago is not doing much in regards to new innovative architecture. At least RISD is close to New York and Boston. 

And as much as I love the city, those winters are brutal. I was in Toronto over winter break this year and that was nice compared to the Chicago winter. I've asked a few RISD grads (not for arch, but other things) and they say if they gave you the money, go. They rarely give scholarships. 

i suppose big city vs big town is a factor as well. But congrats on getting into both. I just know growing up in Chicago, I'd never go back unless I was in love with Frank Lloyd Wright and I wanted to be really damn cold or really damn hot all the time. Everything the city has to offer, New York has as well. It's cleaner and there are less tourists, but I don't know if it's worth it. Almost makes me glad my dad told me to turn down IIT for under grad. 

I would say go to Chicago because I'm on the waitlist at RISD and I want to get in ;]

Truly, you should think about the settings because Providence Vs. Chicago is a huge difference. They are both good schools and you're only going to get out of it as much as you put in.

good luck!

Hi Everyone!

I am a current undergraduate at RISD, finishing up a BFA in Sculpture (and hopefully beginning an M.Arch next fall). Though I'm not part of the Architecture department, I thought I might be able to offer some insight into the school. I also lived in Chicago for two years before coming to RISD, so I can shed some light on the differences between the two cities as well.

Our architecture program is essentially open in nature and you will have a lot of freedom to follow your own particular interests, especially in the later part of the program. RISD is also very much a conceptually grounded school as opposed to being technically minded. Incoming graduate students in the 3 year program are placed in the same classes as undergraduates, which is probably not something that appeals to everyone-- you're going to be doing some traditional drafting in addition to learning computer programs. As far as software, there's a list here on the website, but it could include others as well. That should also give you an idea of the facilities here. (BTW, RISD uses Macs-- I know some people are against this.)

As far as job preparedness, the real world is always going to be different from school and there's no one program that will prepare you completely for life outside. Since you are comparing two art schools, I would say that they are likely to be similarly focused. That being said, I think our career services is a good resource and they'd probably be happy to talk to you if you called with these questions.

I think Providence is a good city. Sometimes a bigger place like Chicago can be tiring as a student, especially if you end up living outside the South Loop and commuting, as you likely will be-- depending on where you live you could spend an hour on the train every day. However, Chicago has a very different architectural history than Providence, if that's a factor: this area of Providence is very historical with a lot of houses from the 1700s or earlier. Providence has the best of both worlds to me-- its smaller scale makes it easy to navigate, but its proximity to Boston (1hr)  and NYC (4hr) also makes it easy to take advantage of those resources. Honestly, the weather here is about the same as Chicago, which shouldn't be a problem given that the OP is from Canada. I will miss Providence once I graduate.

Hope this was helpful! Let me know if there are any other questions I can try to answer.

I would also like some input on this because I'm currently trying to decide between RISD and UPenn for M.Arch I. They seem to be polar opposites: 

UPenn: very focused on computer-based design - I believe this will help me learn how to make kickass CAD drawings and renderings to land a sweet job after graduation. But I won't have the opportunity to explore my creative potential to the fullest. And I'm worried about ending up as a CAD monkey for a corporate giant. 

RISD: as someone with a non-arch or even art related undergrad degree, the ability to explore other artistic disciplines at RISD is a huge draw. I believe it'll help me develop as a creative designer. But it's just as expensive as Penn, and I really don't want to take out $150,000 in debt to go to "art school" and not be guaranteed a job at the end of it. 

What do you all think? Please keep in mind that I'm looking for perspective on RISD as a MASTERS program. I know people who went there for B.Arch, loved it, and ended up going to GSD or Yale for M.Arch. Yeah, I can't really do that. RISD is going to be the extent of my architectural education if I go there. Will it get me a good job?

@video_killed

Neither school is going to guarantee you a job. My advice would be to visit both schools if you're already on the East Coast. I think that will help you get a better idea of which one suits you better and which might be more worth it to you in the end. Our graduates definitely find jobs-- wether or not they're the kind of job or at the kind of firm you're aiming for is a different story. I might also recommend doing some searching around LinkedIn to see where RISD M.Arch grads have ended up after school. Here's the website maintained by the department and a student run tumblr if any of these are helpful resources.

Hope this was somewhat helpful.

The tumblr isn't really a resource, just silly.

Thanks @windupbird I think I will end up going to both open houses and seeing what people say. I'll post back here if people are still interested in RISD's. 

And the tumbler is great!

Hello all,

A huge thank you to everyone for the great replies! They were all very informative and are a great help in my decision making process. The department website was very useful and the tumblr is hilarious. Best of luck to everyone with their admissions and future career prospects. 

Before we close this chat I would really love it if w could hear from a current M.arch student. I'm international so cant do any open days or visit the school before hand.