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M.Arch Decision Insights (Syracuse / GSAPP)
I figured I'd write this post up reflecting on my M.Arch application process to provide my personal experience & insight in return for how much I've gotten from these forums, as well as to help me firm up (or perhaps radically alter) my decision ahead of next Monday's deadline.
I was mainly deciding between Syracuse M.Arch potentially tuition-free & GSAPP M.Arch and/or MSRED for both my arms and legs.
My logical left-brain has made up my mind and I'm planning to attend Syracuse. I went to both school's M.Arch open houses and Syracuse was honestly more impressive and less pretentious in my opinion. GSAPP's open house seemed to polarize between those who left w/ a bad taste in their mouth & those who were enamored by what was always their "dream school." I also met the 2nd person @ GSAPP who said they are selling a family home (hopefully a 2nd home / investment property) to pay for the cost of attendance.
Syracuse offered me AP, full 1st year tuition scholarship & eligibility for an external fellowship geared towards minorities in STEM. I soon found out GSAPP's M.Arch is also STEM designated, but they do not offer that fellowship, despite Columbia engineering and several other Schools within the University doing so. After visiting both GSAPP open houses (Arch+MSRED) and being in consistent contact w/ the administration, I was able to get a bit of scholarship aid, around 30%, up from the original zilch. While this helps, it is a still a hard sell to me at a rough cost of about $123k for a 3 year program.
A big draw to Columbia for me was the MSRED as an avenue to both higher pay and understanding the mechanisms by which architecture has become a tool of capital. Luckily, in my attending Syracuse's open house I met the dean and was told that they may start a similar program based in NYC satellite campus in the near future. Either way, I can see myself completing M.Arch at Syracuse then maybe re-applying to GSAPP MSRED if the Syracuse program doesn't seem as intriguing.
Overall I just wanted to provide a run-down of my experience and get anyone's opinion on if there really are some tangible benefits to the seemingly intangible aura or credibility that comes solely w/ GSAPP's name. I can honestly see why people buy into the branding & reputation of the school, but every time I run the #'s it sits uncomfortably. Anyways, all thoughts are appreciated.
No M.arch degree is worth $100k.
"When 27 budding artists took their coveted spots at Columbia University’s visual arts MFA program in each of the last two years, they expected to spend hours honing their skills and contemplating the meaning of art. Unexpectedly, their supplies melted from excessive heat, they were flooded out of their studios, and they lived in fear of plaster falling from the ceiling....Nearly all of the 54 current students signed a statement expressing disappointment with the conditions and how the school has responded to prior concerns, with many explicitly asking for their money back....In meetings throughout the semester with Columbia’s provost and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, they asked to be reimbursed for their tuition from the 2017-18 academic year—$58,728. The school said it wouldn’t issue refunds." WSJ
This from a school that teaches architecture planning and preservation?
Do not go to Columbia. The amount of loan debt would be a real problem for you after graduation. They are obviously not very interested in having you attend.
And with regards to any imagined GSAPP aura and credibility in the job market, the GSAPP grads I have worked with professionally have been a very mixed bag in terms of knowledge and skills.
It would be awesome to read your thoughts in a year, and I'm sure it will help a lot of people.
I will definitely chime back in once I'm underway or finishing.
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