i'm seriously considering attending the MArch I program at syracuse next fall and i want to know what your thoughts or experiences are with the program
I know of only two people who attended the undergraduate school of architecture at syracuse and well one of them is a mail man walking a
mail route everyday. He dropped out his last year of school. The other guy he could never pass the design portion of the registration exam. So listen closely to what people have to say, and back check it if you can.
Snooker, that is a ridiculously one-sided snippet to post, although it may be true.
One thing to note is that the grad program and the undergrad program are vastly different, although the undergrads seem to believe otherwise.
The grad program is definitely on its way up and is getting exponentially better each year. There is definitely a lot of experimentation going on, and although there is a sense of pluralism in the pedagogy, the program is small enough to not ever feel lost. The new building is a plus (although with some caveats, but those should mostly be ironed out by the time you arrive). The location is an issue, but the isolation of Syracuse can definitely lead to a much greater productivity than if you were in a more interesting place. Post your e-mail if you would like to talk about it more.
I had a friend who started the MArch I program at Syracuse 2 years ago...things were so bad that she left after 1 semester, and about half of the class followed her.
i heard about that class. That's one of the negatives about the program. If the class is only 20 people and there is a general unhappiness it will spread pretty quickly. Class dynamics play a pretty big role here and unfortunately, sometimes it isn't for everybody. On the other hand, I haven't heard of any classes being as drastically unhappy as that one. My class only lost 2 the first year and that is a pretty average number.
Thanks every one for the feed back. I've found Syracuse to be the most accomadating through out the application process. They been very accessable and always quick to respond to my questions/ concerns. I feel that accounts for a lot along with the fact that while it may not be the top school in the nation it is still up there in the ranking.
Half the class dropping out is a bit disturbing but that had to be extenuating circumstances, right?
zero1, thats funny, when i was at syracuse it was the grad program that was the real eye-sore. especially on the thesis level...not one grad student made super-jury. maybe its different now, but when i was in the BArch, the overall quality of our students were vastly superior to the grads. i always though it was because there were less real choices for high quality undergrads...there is no BArch at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. so the BArchs usually want to go to Cooper or Cornell, and then places like RISD, Syracuse, Carnegie Mellon, etc. are usually back-ups to those schools. although, when i attended, we had a few students who chose syracuse over cornell, but that is rare. from my class we have had people go on to different types of grad programs at harvard, ucla...and i'm at yale now, where two syracuse BArchs are on the faculty.
bnev, i think you'll find the quality of the faculty and education at syracuse to be very high. the real difference between syracuse and the top tier, in terms of faculty, are the lack of super-star studios. but, that may change too. i know they had lotek last year... so, my only concern would be the quality of your peers in the grad program...but zero1 indicates that this isn't a problem anymore. someone said it really depends on what you want to do, and i think that is true. whether the faculty like it or not, syracuse has a really great professional reputation for creating both designers and technical personnel. the syracuse grad program does not, right now, have a reputation for producing super-stars or academics. all of this is both a strength and a weakness. the good part is that you would never have too much of a problem getting a job. i assure you that the mail-man story is very rare. my graduating class was almost all recruited before the end of our thesis years. i've worked in new york and chicago, and have always found good firms very welcoming.
and although the school isn't known for producing academics, there are some great academics on the faculty. mark linder, the grad chair, is really great...as are several others. and the new dean is creating a real buzz...so i think things are only going to get better.
i'm making the move from Retail/Business Systems to architecture. my take is that syracuse is a school that is really attentive to helping the student find their way and would be a good place for some one like myself making a career change. although, i may be projecting that on the school because that's what i want to believe.
coming out of my first grad program and working in business consulting i found that a lot of emphasis was put on what school you went to. i assume this to be true in architecture as well. i want to make sure that the school i go to won't limit my oppurtunties, but i also want to make sure i go to a school that will be good for me and is an environment that i will be able to succeed in.
i had an interview with Prof Linder and i agree he seems really amazing. their temporary home at the warehouse was a wonderful space. i could see myself becoming an architect there.
but, i want to alert you to a typical (at least when i was at syracuse) 'problem' with the grad class: when i was there, many of the grads were attracted by the very good reputation syracuse has in the professional world, and were really expecting a very conservatively professional education. and...that isn't the case at syracuse, especially with the people they have teaching in the grad program now. i can only speculate that this may have contributed to all those grads dropping out? what i mean is, just because you may be able to easily get a job at SOM when you graduate, it doesn't mean you'll be doing SOM work while your there. there is 'theory' and experimentation...the grad chair is a 'theorist'...
I would agree with many of your assessments and I think you point out some key aspects.
The grad and undergrad programs are pretty different and both have their pros and cons. The undergrads can craft (draw, model) like nobody's business and are world's ahead of the grads in that respect. But there are definitely some disparities in conceptual thinking which to me is the key to most of what we do here. The time in Florence when the studios are shared really highlighted this. But from sheer numbers alone, there are always more superstar students in the undergrad than the grad program. My point isn't really to say that one is better than the other, but only that the experiences are vastly different, which does not seem to be common knowledge.
A greater separation is beginning to happen with the grad program becoming highly theoretical and acting more like a bridge between a first prof. degree and an m. arch II in its positioning (greater research projects, etc.). I agree, that when I first came in most of my peers wanted that conservative professional education that you are noting as a problem (and which I agree with). But in the first day of the first class they made it a point to debunk that reputation as the sole reason to come to Syracuse.
As far as academics go, many of the top profs here are also alumni, chief among them, the dean himself is an M. arch grad of this program. Along with Robbins, you have Rosa, Smith, Pell ( I believe he is now at yale) and a few others so the shift to academia can be done.
yep, agreed that the problem with the BArch is the lack of rigor in theory. that's why, when i had to choose for grad school between several great MArchII programs and a research/theory/history program, i chose the later.
as another syracuse grad from the mid to late 90's i agree with ice9's sentiments. syracuse's legacy has shifted over the years...i'm firmly behind what robbins is doing at syracuse...will be an exciting place...rumor is that he is attracting much more visible talent for the upcoming academic year.
I applied 3 years ago, and was put on the wait list for the M.Arch 1 program. I had 3 phone interviews with the chair of Arch, I think his name was brown or something. After all that, I was rejected. He said they took like 18 people or something ridiculous. I absolutely believe that class dynamics play a huge role there. They should take more people to allow for different cultures to develop. Or maybe I'm just pissed off that I wasted my peak-minutes on my cellphone at .45 a minute to the dean. =)
wow- i drive upstate and i come back to all of these great comments. thanks for all the responses. i'm feeling like i'm leaning more and more towards syracuse.
I work at a boutique arch/interiors firm in San Francisco where both principals are Syracuse MArch I graduates. I think they were there in the early to mid 90's.
One had come from UCLA with a BFA in Illustration, and the other had her BFA in Interior Design I believe.
They are both very talented, technically proficient architects who speak highly of their time at Syracuse.
The first one that I mentioned is from Guatemala, and he had never been to Syracuse before! In fact, he hadn't ever really been anywhere in the US except greater Los Angeles.
Sorry to stray off topic, but the thought of this poor little Central American guy stepping off the bus from the two-strip airport in Syracuse with 'naught but a couple of mangos in his backpack is just too much.
robbins is bringing name-brand talent to the school and he is bringing the technology up to par with the top-tier. as the former design director for the national endowment for the arts, he's a pretty well connected guy...as well as being a very talented architect.
wow i didn't know robbins was an architect, what has he designed? what brand names is he bringing to the school? and what technology is he into? it does sound like things are changing. thanks for the info ice9.
again thanks for all the great input... does anyone have suggestions on where to live in syracuse. if you were to buy a house what section of the city is up and coming.
there are some options downtown...armory square area...otherwise
maybe the burbs...fayetteville and/or manlius...close to green lakes state park and WEGMANS!!!!!!!!!!
housing stock close to campus is a little rough...
THere are also some fairly straight forward modern buildings on
James Street. Heard some of the apts. there are accomodating.
i was thinking like a multi-family house close to the warehouse (new architecture school building)... i could use the rental income since i won't be earning for a few years.
Mar 27, 06 12:18 pm ·
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Syracuse Input
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i'm seriously considering attending the MArch I program at syracuse next fall and i want to know what your thoughts or experiences are with the program
depends on what you want to be doing grad school, i.e. what your ambitions are as an architect...
I know of only two people who attended the undergraduate school of architecture at syracuse and well one of them is a mail man walking a
mail route everyday. He dropped out his last year of school. The other guy he could never pass the design portion of the registration exam. So listen closely to what people have to say, and back check it if you can.
Snooker, that is a ridiculously one-sided snippet to post, although it may be true.
One thing to note is that the grad program and the undergrad program are vastly different, although the undergrads seem to believe otherwise.
The grad program is definitely on its way up and is getting exponentially better each year. There is definitely a lot of experimentation going on, and although there is a sense of pluralism in the pedagogy, the program is small enough to not ever feel lost. The new building is a plus (although with some caveats, but those should mostly be ironed out by the time you arrive). The location is an issue, but the isolation of Syracuse can definitely lead to a much greater productivity than if you were in a more interesting place. Post your e-mail if you would like to talk about it more.
I had a friend who started the MArch I program at Syracuse 2 years ago...things were so bad that she left after 1 semester, and about half of the class followed her.
i heard about that class. That's one of the negatives about the program. If the class is only 20 people and there is a general unhappiness it will spread pretty quickly. Class dynamics play a pretty big role here and unfortunately, sometimes it isn't for everybody. On the other hand, I haven't heard of any classes being as drastically unhappy as that one. My class only lost 2 the first year and that is a pretty average number.
Thanks every one for the feed back. I've found Syracuse to be the most accomadating through out the application process. They been very accessable and always quick to respond to my questions/ concerns. I feel that accounts for a lot along with the fact that while it may not be the top school in the nation it is still up there in the ranking.
Half the class dropping out is a bit disturbing but that had to be extenuating circumstances, right?
Zero - i'd love to talk more please e-mail me at [email protected]
thanks again everyone.
bnev, e-mail sent.
zero1, thats funny, when i was at syracuse it was the grad program that was the real eye-sore. especially on the thesis level...not one grad student made super-jury. maybe its different now, but when i was in the BArch, the overall quality of our students were vastly superior to the grads. i always though it was because there were less real choices for high quality undergrads...there is no BArch at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. so the BArchs usually want to go to Cooper or Cornell, and then places like RISD, Syracuse, Carnegie Mellon, etc. are usually back-ups to those schools. although, when i attended, we had a few students who chose syracuse over cornell, but that is rare. from my class we have had people go on to different types of grad programs at harvard, ucla...and i'm at yale now, where two syracuse BArchs are on the faculty.
bnev, i think you'll find the quality of the faculty and education at syracuse to be very high. the real difference between syracuse and the top tier, in terms of faculty, are the lack of super-star studios. but, that may change too. i know they had lotek last year... so, my only concern would be the quality of your peers in the grad program...but zero1 indicates that this isn't a problem anymore. someone said it really depends on what you want to do, and i think that is true. whether the faculty like it or not, syracuse has a really great professional reputation for creating both designers and technical personnel. the syracuse grad program does not, right now, have a reputation for producing super-stars or academics. all of this is both a strength and a weakness. the good part is that you would never have too much of a problem getting a job. i assure you that the mail-man story is very rare. my graduating class was almost all recruited before the end of our thesis years. i've worked in new york and chicago, and have always found good firms very welcoming.
and although the school isn't known for producing academics, there are some great academics on the faculty. mark linder, the grad chair, is really great...as are several others. and the new dean is creating a real buzz...so i think things are only going to get better.
ice - very helpful.
i'm making the move from Retail/Business Systems to architecture. my take is that syracuse is a school that is really attentive to helping the student find their way and would be a good place for some one like myself making a career change. although, i may be projecting that on the school because that's what i want to believe.
coming out of my first grad program and working in business consulting i found that a lot of emphasis was put on what school you went to. i assume this to be true in architecture as well. i want to make sure that the school i go to won't limit my oppurtunties, but i also want to make sure i go to a school that will be good for me and is an environment that i will be able to succeed in.
i had an interview with Prof Linder and i agree he seems really amazing. their temporary home at the warehouse was a wonderful space. i could see myself becoming an architect there.
bnev, sounds like a good place for you.
but, i want to alert you to a typical (at least when i was at syracuse) 'problem' with the grad class: when i was there, many of the grads were attracted by the very good reputation syracuse has in the professional world, and were really expecting a very conservatively professional education. and...that isn't the case at syracuse, especially with the people they have teaching in the grad program now. i can only speculate that this may have contributed to all those grads dropping out? what i mean is, just because you may be able to easily get a job at SOM when you graduate, it doesn't mean you'll be doing SOM work while your there. there is 'theory' and experimentation...the grad chair is a 'theorist'...
so, if you go, go with an open mind.
what are your other choices?
good luck!
ice9.
I would agree with many of your assessments and I think you point out some key aspects.
The grad and undergrad programs are pretty different and both have their pros and cons. The undergrads can craft (draw, model) like nobody's business and are world's ahead of the grads in that respect. But there are definitely some disparities in conceptual thinking which to me is the key to most of what we do here. The time in Florence when the studios are shared really highlighted this. But from sheer numbers alone, there are always more superstar students in the undergrad than the grad program. My point isn't really to say that one is better than the other, but only that the experiences are vastly different, which does not seem to be common knowledge.
A greater separation is beginning to happen with the grad program becoming highly theoretical and acting more like a bridge between a first prof. degree and an m. arch II in its positioning (greater research projects, etc.). I agree, that when I first came in most of my peers wanted that conservative professional education that you are noting as a problem (and which I agree with). But in the first day of the first class they made it a point to debunk that reputation as the sole reason to come to Syracuse.
As far as academics go, many of the top profs here are also alumni, chief among them, the dean himself is an M. arch grad of this program. Along with Robbins, you have Rosa, Smith, Pell ( I believe he is now at yale) and a few others so the shift to academia can be done.
zero 1,
yep, agreed that the problem with the BArch is the lack of rigor in theory. that's why, when i had to choose for grad school between several great MArchII programs and a research/theory/history program, i chose the later.
as another syracuse grad from the mid to late 90's i agree with ice9's sentiments. syracuse's legacy has shifted over the years...i'm firmly behind what robbins is doing at syracuse...will be an exciting place...rumor is that he is attracting much more visible talent for the upcoming academic year.
I applied 3 years ago, and was put on the wait list for the M.Arch 1 program. I had 3 phone interviews with the chair of Arch, I think his name was brown or something. After all that, I was rejected. He said they took like 18 people or something ridiculous. I absolutely believe that class dynamics play a huge role there. They should take more people to allow for different cultures to develop. Or maybe I'm just pissed off that I wasted my peak-minutes on my cellphone at .45 a minute to the dean. =)
wow- i drive upstate and i come back to all of these great comments. thanks for all the responses. i'm feeling like i'm leaning more and more towards syracuse.
I work at a boutique arch/interiors firm in San Francisco where both principals are Syracuse MArch I graduates. I think they were there in the early to mid 90's.
One had come from UCLA with a BFA in Illustration, and the other had her BFA in Interior Design I believe.
They are both very talented, technically proficient architects who speak highly of their time at Syracuse.
The first one that I mentioned is from Guatemala, and he had never been to Syracuse before! In fact, he hadn't ever really been anywhere in the US except greater Los Angeles.
Sorry to stray off topic, but the thought of this poor little Central American guy stepping off the bus from the two-strip airport in Syracuse with 'naught but a couple of mangos in his backpack is just too much.
He turned out okay though in the end.
Good luck in your efforts bnev..
salty orange: what exactly is robbins doing at syracuse?
robbins is bringing name-brand talent to the school and he is bringing the technology up to par with the top-tier. as the former design director for the national endowment for the arts, he's a pretty well connected guy...as well as being a very talented architect.
wow i didn't know robbins was an architect, what has he designed? what brand names is he bringing to the school? and what technology is he into? it does sound like things are changing. thanks for the info ice9.
vado retro's guitarist is on the english faculty there...
again thanks for all the great input... does anyone have suggestions on where to live in syracuse. if you were to buy a house what section of the city is up and coming.
there are some options downtown...armory square area...otherwise
maybe the burbs...fayetteville and/or manlius...close to green lakes state park and WEGMANS!!!!!!!!!!
housing stock close to campus is a little rough...
THere are also some fairly straight forward modern buildings on
James Street. Heard some of the apts. there are accomodating.
i was thinking like a multi-family house close to the warehouse (new architecture school building)... i could use the rental income since i won't be earning for a few years.
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