Thank you- it's good to know that admissions committees don't have bias towards big names. Yes I would work in the US long-term. I think that these immersion programs do offer something valuable to someone like me with a bachelor's and career experience in another field- it's a solid start to design thinking that will help shape my application and portfolio, plus the potential for relevant recommendations that would be hard to come by otherwise. And, like another user said, it's less of a loss to spend the money over the course of a month and realize that architecture isn't for you than to do so after a few semesters of school and after a move, etc.

I agree with that analysis. If someone's doing it to get a sense of whether they like the type of tasks they'll encounter in studio, and see if they might have the stamina for it and be able to stand the crit environment and the types of faculty and classmates they're likely to encounter, then it's probably good for them, if they can afford it.  If they're doing it because they think it will look good to future employers I'd say don't do it.  No M.Arch admissions committee or potential employer conflates doing Harvard Career Discovery with attending the GSD. 

Do architects in your area take on interns with no experience? I've spoken to firms in cities I've lived in and have always been told they look for someone with experience in Revit/AutoCAD and at least some code or materials classes under the belt. From the outside, it seems like a good summer program will offer the most accessible glimpse into the life.

Yes, these days firms are pretty desperate for help. I don't expect the current situation to last forever, but at this particular moment anyone who shows a genuine interest will probably find someplace willing to try them out and train them, at least for the length of a summer internship. BIM and CAD experience are helpful, but I'm not sure where the people you're talking to are coming from that even offers code classes. Most architecture programs have no such thing - you might have some nitpick studio professor who actually cares about a fire truck's turning radius or something, but most people learn code on the job. Sometimes I think architects try to scare inexperienced people out of applying for jobs.

Ha, that specific issue of a firetruck's turning radius has been an issue for me in my unrelated field- at least I won't make that mistake again! A local community college near me has a decent arch drafting associate's program with both a residential and commercial code class, so maybe there's just a surplus of entry level people with that experience here. It's good to know that the opportunities are out there though- because my experience has led me to believe there was not.

I wasn't necessarily suggesting you seek employment with an architect, it could be more along the lines of a few days of job shadowing and informational interviews. Some offices do have very basic clerical/errand-person type positions that you could possibly fill for a summer in order to observe the workings of an architectural practice.

Thank you for responding- it sounds like you got exactly out of the program what I'm hoping to. Congrats on getting into your schools too! How many projects did you do at Columbia, and did you work mostly with professors from the actual program or more so with grad students? Also did your friend who attended the Harvard program have any prior arch experience? Sorry to bombard you with more questions

Just adding to this - I also did Intro at GSAPP last summer, and entirely agree. It was expensive, but much less expensive than attending school and hating it. I also got in to all of the schools I applied to. I enjoyed the studio visits, had a great professor, and a TA who was an invaluable resource for answering questions about the application process.

Thanks for the input!! You guys are putting GSAPP higher up on my radar- it's hard to gather information about UCLA's Jumpstart besides the info they're putting out. You guys live in Columbia housing or just rent a room in the UWS area?

I was living pretty far from NY at the time so I did Columbia housing - you get access to their housing portal and might be able to find a sublet with aligning dates. If you have luck with a sublet in the area it might be cheaper! It was very nice to be able to walk to the studio though.