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M.Arch RISD or Taubman?
I have my B.S. in Conservation Biology and I've been accepted to both of these programs for the fall.
On the one hand, I'm really attracted to RISD's conceptual nature and the idea of being immersed in a school of design after so many years in the science and biology field. RISD has also offered me more money, as well as an assistantship, and I appreciate it's proximity to NYC and Boston.
On the other hand, Taubman's focus on research and academia may help me get into my field of choice. Taubman also seems to have more variety in the electives available and there is the potential of applying to due a dual masters program with some form of environmental management.
My goal is too dive into bio-integrated design, as well as biomimicry, and biotechnology. I'm still new to the field and I would love to hear peoples opinions on the pros and cons of these programs. Thank you!
Hello!
I did my undergraduate degree at Taubman and the University of Michigan truly opens doors. You have the opportunity to participate in research and create the research that you want to do. They award research grants for architecture students in the summer and it is very easy to get involved in interdisciplinary work. The University of Michigan name helps with professional networking as well as there are 600,000 living alumni who love to hire Michigan grads.
The professors at the University of Michigan are so diverse in interests, research, teaching methods, and integration of technology. It is very easy to develop a community and to place yourself within the discipline and practice of architecture. Ann Arbor is also such an incredible place to live! It has amazing food, a beautiful campus, it is easy to get around, and you can enjoy the city and find your niche.
Thank you for the insight, yeah the faculty and flexibility is incredible so I am going to see if I can leverage my other offer for a bit more funding.
i went to risd. great school, great network on the east coast (and even internationally), and they're giving you more money.
at the end of the day though you should go to the school that has the lowest total cost of attendance.
Thank you for the reply, I think you're definitely right about choosing the lowest cost, especially since both are great programs. I'm curious, if you did your masters there, how was the flexibility? Were you able to create your own niche of interest?
you won't be able to open up your schedule without waiving courses, which requires previous arch courses. in that case the program gets a bit more restrictive, but there are wintersession courses and a few electives in which you can take classes in any other department, as well as at brown.
btw the newish department head at risd was previously at mich for a long time, which probably only confuses things.
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