Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Pratt Institute
University of Southern California (USC)
Tulane University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Temple University
University of Oregon
Cranbrook Academy of Art
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
Kansas State University
International student: advice on summer programs
First post at Archinect, yay! So glad I discovered this amazing resource and community.
I'm a 21 yo guy, in college in an animation and design program in India. I will be receiving my bachelor's degree next year. Over the past couple of years, I've become fascinated by the study or architecture. I'd love to get an M. Arch degree, but it is literally impossible for students from non-architecture backgrounds to apply to M. Arch programs in India. I thus began looking into M.Arch programs in the US, and was glad to notice how accepting the universities were of non-arch majors into their respective M. Arch 1 programs.
As a first major step toward this goal, I'm applying to summer programs in the US. From the extensive list compiled on archcareers.org, I narrowed it down to 3 programs that take international college-level students and provide documents for obtaining a student visa for the summer. They are:
1) [IN]ARCH, at UC-Berkeley
2) Jumpstart: Intro to Architecture, at UCLA
3) Intro to Architecture Summer Program at Cornell
As a student with limited financial resources, limited guidance from my college and from family, and limited time left to put together a strong application, I'd like to make the best use of every opportunity I am fortunate to get.
My question to you guys is: among these programs, which one would you consider especially strong, or especially beneficial in furthering a grad school application? 'All' and 'none' are acceptable answers, too.
Thanks in advance!
I can't really comment on the programs but almost all VISA is waivered up to 90 days. So you don't need a VISA to study for the summer programs - should double check though. Harvard Career Discovery or Columbia Summer Intro, too? No?
I was just looking at summer programs this morning and the one thing that was helping me determine which program I wanted to enroll in was where I would want to go for grad school. Well, ideally that would be the one driving factor but money always turns out to be huge as many of these programs do not come cheap.
I would suggest doing research on the faculty and work coming out of those summer programs and decide if what they're doing is along the lines of what you would like to be doing as a graduate student. Make sure it is a program that will allow you to develop a good portfolio since it is the part of your application for grad school that will hold the most weight.
Personally, I think all three schools are great; I believe Berkeley's program focuses on environmental design so I would put that as my 3rd choice. UCLA has good architecture school and it is located in Los Angeles where you may have more opportunities to network so I would put it on top of my list. Cornell is also a great choice and I would not mind getting into my #2 if that was the case.
@issacrhim: I'll be sure to look that up again, but from what I've inquired so far, F-1 student visas are required for students from India for doing coursework in the US, regardless of duration. I wish that wasn't the case! It would open up many more possibilities...
@konkreet: thanks so much for the valuable advice. I agree that the choice of grad school should be a factor in deciding summer programs, and will evaluate the schools more carefully along those lines.
If anyone here attended any of these programs, your input would also be hugely beneficial. pretty plz :)
Other words of wisdom/advice?
Also, if I were to do something other than an intro-to-architecture program this summer, what would you folks recommend?
Hey Girish .. I too am from India , thinking of going to columbia or SCI-Arc for the summer program .. got an admission in both .. where are you going ..
What kind of visa will be req for such a program .. ? coz an F1 VISA needs an I-20 to be issued from the university .. but neither SCI-Arc or columbia issues one for the summer program .. what kind of a visa u applied for ..?
I applied to M.Arch 1 programs this year .. I have a BE in IT from pune so didn't have any design exp either .. email me if you wanna know anything bout the application process and schools @ ayan.shah33@gmail.com .. i got into SCI-Arc, UT Austin and RISD ... but deferring the admission for a year .. goin to summer school this year instead ..
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