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Bad idea to apply to both, MLA and M.Arch?
Hi All!
Recently i have applied for U of T's MLA and M.Arch program for the Fall 2019. After speaking to my friend regarding this, he stated that applying to both may have been a bad idea and may affect my chances of receiving acceptance. His justification to this is that considering my Environmental Design (ED) background, U of T's MLA program is beyond the skills i currently possess (and i agree). Furthermore, he added that applying to two programs in the same institution may make me come up as less serious about both programs, as it would be assumed that one program is my backup. He concluded by saying that this may cost me my acceptance, especially if committee consist of same people for both programs.
That said, during my ED undergraduate, I have not only focused on architecture alone but the program allowed to me to take on landscape programs as well (my thesis is strictly landscape). My portfolio contain variety of projects, architecture and landscape. Lastly, I minored in Ecology at Ryerson University, which seems to be focus at U of T based on their curriculum. I'm truly passinate about both and plan to pursue both Master programs, which i have explained to the institution in my statement intent.
So, my question is... well, is my friend correct? Should i have not applied for both?
What do you want to do.... become a licensed architect and work on buildings... or become a landscape architect and, besides being the butt of many real architect's jokes, draw up planting diagrams and pick paving stones? There is a big difference in future employment paths here so you probably need to set your focus straight.
You can't just keep hiding in academia forever. There is a real world out there.
I think you missed the point of my post. the question if applying to two programs at the same school hurt your chances of getting an offer.
That said, I been in the "real world" for the past 4 years working for a design and planning firm. I work along side of architects and landscape architects on residential, commercial, parks, etc... and enjoy all aspect of design. Matter of fact, my UBC offers a 4 year dual masters program (MLA+M.Arch), which seems very appealing to me, however, I'm not willing to move for many personal reason.
schools don't typically have the time to review applicants' other choices... I really could only see that being a factor if they need some sort of arbitrary tie-breaker between equivalent applicants. This being UofT... I doubt they need to. Stick to the M.arch path, it's the only way you'll get to chase an architect license.
Thank you! I agree and my first option is M.Arch.
no clue about u of t's admissions processes but i can say your friend is an idiot. how can you be "less serious about both" if a) a joint degree is offered and b) you clearly explain why you want a joint degree in your sop? iirc u of t has about half of their incoming class coming from non design backgrounds, so "beyond your skills"...that just makes no sense.
also, a joint degree will absolutely be more valuable than an m.arch alone. lots of offices are onboarding landscape architecture staff / building an internal la studio, because its a colossal growth area. see: toronto. the don river project is ~1.5 billion dollar project for mvva, no architecture project comes close in terms of billing, and the contracts span 10+ years, with payments from a government (i.e. you're getting paid). landscape arch is quite a bit more than planting plans and pavement details, much like architecture is more than bathroom elevations.
if you can live in both worlds, you're valuable to these hybrid practices, much more so than a simple m.arch
Thank you for the helpful comment. I totally agree, as i mentioned my thesis was a landscape project(funny that you mentioned Don River, that is what my thesis focused on). I very much enjoyed working this project and like you said, it is a lot then just about planting.
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