i graduated from the barch, i hear things are moving up, and the faculty is getting better. go and visit like you said, just carry an amount of skepticism with regard to anything the admin tells you - look for the core group of quality people and ask them a lot of questions. it's cheap, close to everything - all good things. newark - bad thing. just watch your gear and you'll be fine. if you can seek out Don Wall, as i have said here many times, he is reason alone to go there...

Thanks for your input. I've never heard of Don Wall before now -- what, in your opinion, makes him so great?

well, for one he taught at Cooper Union, has a Phd from Catholic University, wrote a wonderful thesis and book on Paolo Soleri - that in the opinion of many is one of the important graphic achievments in modern architectural texts. he was also the friend to John Hejduk referred to as The Gentle Inquisitor in Mask of Medusa, and he also has a piece of text in Education of An Architect.

but forget all that. Don Wall is not a theoretician in the traditional sense, he espouses no singular point view, he merely asks the right questions and has the ability to shine the light on a different way of seeing than you ever will imagine...he is demanding, caring, a bit uncouth[sp], at times unforgiving, inquisitive, insightful, knowledgeable....you get the point. to top it all of, he is the only guy - person - i know that wears black fall and winter, and then white spring and summer - i mean either all black or all white.

NJIT offers the blend of theory and practical knowledge that career professionals are looking for. The school has been in the fore-front of offering its students the latest in the programs used in the field such as AutoCad, Rhino, Illustrator, 3dMax, Viz, etc since they have been introduced. As these programs change, the administration takes note and makes sure students are caught up and are capable of fully utilizing them. Through this the faculty has been able to capitalize on these immense resources and have pushed harder and harder to have their students produce and compete in more creative competitions such as the Caddy awards and a few others on the West coast. With every student having a computer linked to this network with storage room available, and a large print room with supplies, this has been possible. Now that all of these computer programs and advances are commonplace in most schools, the school has looked into the realm of 3d printing. This current effort has yet again thrust the school forward on the East Coast, and making the prominent 600+ architecture students highly desirable by many of the top firms in the tri-state area. Most of the faculty maintain practice in New York city and give immense help to students looking for jobs during and after their education. The price you pay(pennies) is by far the best deal for me seeing fellow students being highly successful in their career paths. Graduating with 10k in debt after 5 years would make anyone happy.

Now like any school, there are its downfalls. The building(Weston Hall) was designed and built as Hillier started its nose-dive, slowly losing the few good experienced lead architects it had. Obviously along with this was the consideration of putting shading devices on the 3 sides of a glass box which face East, South and then West. As a graduate student you will not have to worry about baking, for you would be in a different grouping of studios with smaller, more easily-controlled fenestrations.

Faculty and administration-wise, the NJSOA holds a cast of characters that keep the school flowing with donated money, grants, and competitions that can total 20k a shot, with sometimes 2 or 3 a year. The head dean, Urs Gouchat, attends every event in the tri-state area to make more contacts for the school and gain more donations. The associate dean, a former politician from the state of Connecticut, also has his way in the publics eye, but is better with dealing with students on a one on one basis to show them the inner workings of the school.

The negative comments about the school do not come from the architecture school. These comments come from students that commute that need more to do on campus while they wait in between classes. The majority of non-architecture students are male(79%) engineering and computing students which never leave their rooms and never participate around the school. Thanks to this there is little school spirit and sense of community. The campus is small but is close to NYC(5 minute walk to subway from campus, $2 total each way including PATH train into city) and is being relandscaped as we speak. Architecture students are completely happy because we stay in Weston Hall, studio has an immense sense of community, and there are actually females.

And on an end note there's Don Wall. The name Don Wall is a noise that echoes through your brain as you sit in studio once seeing him on a review assigment sheet. If you sleep, you see his face. For some reason you fear having him on a review, but you yearn for review to hear what he has to say. The entire school holds respect for his witty comments and insight, as well as a very extensive knowledge of architecture, all without leaving the United States.

I know that was a lot of unnecessary info but for some reason the architecture community hasn't caught up with the NJSOA at NJIT. Kinda hope it stays this way, but more acknowledment wouldn't hurt.

Don Wall is like the 5th Beatle, or more appropriately, the 6th of the NY 5, too far advanced for all of them.

Yeah, and being one of the 3 people he feels like passing out of a comprehensive studio of 12-15......I think I'll hide here at work and not go back. Just so that people understand there is more than Don Wall, there are other faculty of note. Personally I would take Pelsinski any day, he's phenominal. Ristic is an easy A, knows his structures, and a great guy to get to know. Just a little too easy for those who like to be challenged though. Dart is one of those ackward critics that you never understand but learn to love anyway. Then in the mix are a lot of young new-age "designers" that are all about the idea of pods and pre-fab, which has given the school a new stamina for undertaking issues that plague the New York/North Jersey area. They've really helped students come out of their shells and completely free your creativity while keeping you practical. There are a few critics out there to avoid, but that's for another day.

Yep Peter Pelsinski is great, Ricky Ristic is good, Jim Dart i hear is good, Konyk is good, Nastasi when he taught there was good, Claire Weisz was good. I heard John DaCruz is good and John Hartman from Freecell is there....Stay away from Jackson, Goldman, Tony Schumman, Sandy Moore and the other feel good social dunces, a waste of time......

Wow, yeah. Goldman can take credit for us having the programs we have, but the man couldn't design a box. The school website somehow allowed him to post photos of his house along with his faculty info page, showing his lack of creativity and design sense. Schuman is an amazing man, took part in the riots at Columbia, but as a critic he doesn't do too much. Hartman has amazing success currently despite his apperance as a 15 year old kid, along with the huge effort made by Richard Garber to be the man who can do anything.

Hell even Farnaz Mansuri is good, she is of course a Zaha wanna-be. there are even stories circulating that as either a student or TA at Pratt she was sexually harassed by the Austrian Raimund Abraham....funny to hear about, maybe that's why she is such a task master....

Thanks for the list of recommended faculty!

Hmm...I don't understand why rumors someone being sexually harassed is funny...is there some reference to Zaha Hadid in it?

i guess you had to be there and know Farnaz...

farnaz.................hell on wheels and i'm being nice. my first ever architectural studio 1st semester, first year. welcome to architecture. some of my best friends came from that studio because we all hated her passionately. in the end she was the best professor i had in my five years there. learned much from her. LMAO about the hadid reference. no truer words

Yeah you never completely appreciate the work critics like her have you doing until later in your education. My friends hated Hartman for their first 3 years and now after 10 quality sketches a week and rediculous hand drawing requirements, they appreciate him every time they have to put the pen/pencil to paper.

While there is an NJIT thread...where the hell should I live? I currently reside in midtown Manhattan. The commute seems a little too long, roommates seem a little too loud, etc. My (ideal) requirements are:

close to NJIT
safe
cheap
solo room

Is it practical to commute with late night studio work (in Newark)?

nyc path runs all night. i believe nj transit trains stop around 2am. also newrk city subway i think stops at midnight (been 5= years since i had to do this) close to njit? thats newark, no really where i want to live although maybe the ironbound section could offer something. i had friends live there. probably the safest part of newark.

Thanks tect75, but....

1. Is the only way to reach NJIT (through public transportation) via the Newark City Subway?

2. Is the Newark City Subway safe at night?

3. Is a commute from NYC practical with the studio schedule?

4. Where would you (pl) recommend living?

There are several nice apartments that have been fixed up by architecture students in the Ironbound and even a few closer to school. A lot of people bike or walk from the surrounding area, but you have to keep your eyes open to catch something before it disappears. There is a system of bus routes that can get you there, but never rely on the city subway because it does not run the late hours you would need it to. If you can get yourself to work around the subway schedule you can live in Harrison, which is a decent place for cheap. A lot of college kids live there for njit and Rutgers, and it's one Path stop away from Newark. From there you take the esclator down 3 flights and take the subway 3 stops right up behind the school. The ideal is to just make friends at NJIT, which is as easy as saying hi, and stay in people's rooms at night when you need to. Studio isn't that bad to sleep in either. There is a huge amount of support for commuting archies after years of them dying on us trying to drive home at 4am, so we always understand your kind of situation.

Right now start to watch the website for housing opportunities, which is a list published once in awhile with available places to consider living. You can find a great deal through it and the school keeps it pretty updated. Should be in the student services poriton of the website. Heck, if one of our rooms in our apartment opens up I can give you a heads up, but more and more APX brothers keep moving in so it's tough to get everyone else in there that is interested. It's a lot less expensive than a one bedroom apt(seriously one room) in Bayonne for 900/month. Let me know how the seach goes, I'd love to help out.

sol,

1. you could drive...............but thats nuts. best and quickest is thru the public transit. you could walk from penn station newark to njit ( i used to all hours of day and night, never alone though.) takes about 15 min.

2. never had a safety problem at night or at other times. the subway has a schedule. i always tried to get there just as the train was getting there.

3. i lived on campus for first 3 of 5 years of barch. living there made things easier. last 2 i comutted from union county. took train and then subway. train was definately easier. i learned how to work smart and adjusted hours accordingly. made the most of studio time. the rest i did in my home studio. spent the night in studio sometimes, also make friends with people in the dorms. (free room for you occasionally)

4. i dont know if i would recommend and towns surrounding newark. the further out u go if you drive traffic can be a nightmare. i recommend being close to a train station. make the hours work for u

Tect75,

Very Helpful. Thank you!

I was considering this school myself-- the only information I have is (1) a phone conversation with Fred Little and (2) comments from NYC architects via an unsolicited email I sent out asking about the reputation of the school. It seems that NJIT is generally accepted as a real architecture school in the area, although maybe not regarded as highly as others like Pratt and Parsons. If you are a NJ resident, it sounds like the way to go hands-down if you aren't able to get significant financial support from the Ivy's or art schools. I am out of state, and am still unclear regarding the residency situation, and since I have a long list already, I may not consider it any longer.