haha... I know.. the count is so measly right now... but how can I keep up with three posts in a row?

I'm actually visiting cambridge on Wedneday, and driving to NY on Thursday to visit Columbia... what do you think are the chances that I can try to grease some palms to get answers from the admissions offices? I think I'm going to write and schedule some time with someone. That way if it's somehow possible that they haven't come to a decision, I might be able to persuade them to let me in?

ann_culture: i applied to 4 and got into 1 last year.

Has anyone got a decision from the GSD about their M.DesS application? I see that the M.Arch and MLA people have already heard. Thanks in advance. (Sorry for asking in the M.Arch thread but it seemed like the best place).

a51abductee,

i too am waiting for GSD's MdesS decision letter. have yet received anything. someone on gradcafe.com did post an acceptance to MdesS, letter dated 16 March. i'm in singapore, snail mail may take a while to reach.

Good luck Fuzzy!!!!
I'm sure it's in the middle of the Pacific by now...=D

BTW for those asking, I just got my copy of GSD student works by another Fedex bubble pak, dated the 20th. So hmmm, 6 days to cross the ocean and get here.

thanks Balagan. how's the packing going?? will you be visiting Yale in the upcoming trip? i'm very calm now, no more fears. lol. most likely i'll still be sun bathin on the building site this coming september.

thanks for the reply, fuzzy, if it was dated 16th March then there still might be hope for us. Let me know if you hear anything further, good luck.

mctwist and catcow - i have yet to hear from cincinnati either and it is making me sad.... i emailed them asking when they might be sending information out and have yet to hear anything back.

well, i have had yet to hear anything back about anything... grr.

even the bf is starting to get anxious.

catcow - i thought miami lost accredidation? this might have been a lie and it was a couple years back.

good luck to everyone this week! i hope we're not quite into rejection week yet...

i think this is rejection week for harvard... seems everyone whos gotten in has heard at least something, either phone call, package, or email... not to be pessimistic but ive given up on GSD

Ann_culture: Hey there...i'm in same boat with you concerning sci-arc wait list.....did you find out jj's gender?

Hi guys, Back from the weekend.

I don't have time to read everything on th 2+ pages I missed but I wanted to weigh in on what JBond brought up.

There is an individual in my office that has been like a mentor to me. He had his own firm in Cincinatti for many years untill the market there droped out and there simply wasn't any more work there.

In talking about the GSD he talks about that the most important thing in going there is hobnobing with other non-arch students. This is the important part. They will be the ones with money and potential to be future clients. By going to the GSD you will always be a step above, in the public eye, anyone else in the field making it easier to bid on public jobs etc.

When you go to the GSD you are buying status that goes hand in hand with your eudcation.

That makes it hard when you feel the program dosen't quite fit. At the moment I feel RISD fits me the best but no matter where you go the general public will generally pick the Nike of architecture over other brands. My gut feeling at the moment is that the GSD will make the decision for me and I will be ok with it as I am looking for fit of program foremost over other factors.

Vapor,

Did you reapply or did you go to the one you got accepted to?



Andrew,

Someone here told me that JJ is a man. What other schools did you get into and what do you think of SCI-Arc?

WILL MIT ROLL IN TODAY??

ann_cult-

I applied to SCI-Arc and GSD....I fired off an email to JJ last week and addressed as Mr. I hadn't even considered he being a she bc I had a guy friend in college named JJ. As far as what I think of SCI-Arc...I haven't visited yet...I live in NYC so thinking about heading out there in next few weeks to check it out...the admissions office said there was an open house 4/21.... I like the fact that they are doing off the wall shit...even if it's not "buildable"....I checked out a bunch of student work online from various schools and only a small percentage looks buildable(I have a construction background). Considering buildability while designing would only inhibit the imagination??? I dunno...I applied there because of the renegade rep.....sounds like there's lotsa drama going on within the school too.....sounds like fun....

I haven't heard anything from GSD MArch1.....having a hard time discerning between AP and non-AP peeps on here.....sounds like APs received their decision and non-APs waiting to hear? I hope?

clemson,

what GSD programme did you apply to?

it's the other way around. AP's still waiting.

oh ....that doesn't sound comforting....yikes

"its a man baby yeah!"

Buildable nothing. When I visited Sci-Arc it was scarce to find anything occupiable. Don't get me wrong, strictly from a design standpoint they were doing some cool shizzle. Facinating textured skins and constructions etc. I think sci arc is a great place if you want to focus on such things as many of us I believe would agree that you already have the design training otherwise.

Here's to everyone doing some kind of off the wall shit in grad school :o)

wonderk, your posts are hilarious.

What if we're not in grad school and doing off the wall shit?

As somebody who's been a professional CAD monkey for the past decade, I'd be grateful for the opportunity to do some unbuildable off-the-wall shit once in a while, provided that it somehow informs the buildable shit I end up doing after grad school.

then while you are at home, I hope you do off the wall shit.

Like, mayonnaise in a burrito is pretty off the wall.

Even if you are designing crazy unoccupiable, unbuildable stuff at SCI-Arc, do they at least tell you how to build buildable occupiable structures? Do you come out of there with just a head full of ideas and no practical knowhow?

I have to admit..the only reason I really get excited about Grad School is the off the wall shit. My perspective of the Industry and Profession
is a little bleak...

practical and sci-arc are not really compatible.

fuzzy,

I applied MArch I without AP. Even though I have a background in Architecture, I didn't think I would get AP so I just applied for the 3 year program.

jason,

where are you going again?

Is SCI-Arc then better for people who have construction backgrounds or who have been CAD monkeys, rather than greenies like me.

i only briefly looked into sci-arc, so i cant speak on the matter specifically, just on grad school as a whole + the issues at hand.

i think in some respects you have to view studio as a lab--- just like in the scientific community, they conduct research and experiments, and sometimes they are successful and something develops, and sometimes it's not but it doesn't mean you didn't learn something valuable which informs your next "experiment". the problem with architecture is that we dont experiment enough in practice--- risks are too calculated and we resort to the "same old" or easier way of solving the solution- very rarely do you hear of "research core studios" within a firm- performing actual research on behalf of the development and progression of architecture as a practice.

can you imagine if Pfizer had no research labs???

ann-

I went to Career Discovery program at the GSD in 2005. The instructors were grad students. Very few of them had any "practical" knowledge.....seemed like grad school is more about conceptual thinking and exploring/defending ideas in studio....not sure if this applies to other crad schools....

Thanks FROCCLI. Although to his credit, andrew1974 brought up the "off the wall shit".

+i, this is definitely the approach I take in studio. Which is why I am so excited at the prospect of studying as a building scientist! Can you imagine being in a "building lab"? Taking building materials and putting them into beakers, lol.....talk about coming up with off the wall shit!

thanks for the cred WonderK!

I have no idea. My wife would love me at UT-Austin, but I am not into the vertical studio or the advanced studios with undergrads...I just do not want to share studio experience with those who, more than likely, are still going to be in "it's UT, its friday and I am ready to party" phase.

I am 35 and just want to design...I have no interest in partying.

So, I am still waiting on Rice, MIT, and Harvard...and would say for the current programs I am leaning towards UCLA today.

Sciarc I think would be good for someone with no creative background at all. I think it would challenge someone to think creatively, outside of scope.

Being the classic high school art kid, then graphic design education and 10 years of professional life, I am more interested in more tangible aspects.

If I was interested in just the art side of architecture I would go to Sciarc, but I have a pragmatic interest as well and fear that it would get largely ignored at a place like sciarc.

All of these statements are just personal assumptions based on single visits and talking with students at the school and on here. So, please take them with a grain of salt, or whatever you would like. Jellybeans maybe?

fuzzy and a51abductee,

got a usps priority mail package from GSD last Tuesday (March 20). Accepted to MDesS AP.

jasoncross- in my experience (not at UT, so take with some more jellybeans), when the grad students are put into undergrad classes, they still congeal as a group, and tend to be working on a different level than the undergrads. So even if most of the class is out partying, you could still end up with a hard-core group of grad students.

sorry...forgot to say I'm in the US.

Yeah, but it is not something that really excites me.

damn, I hate licorice jellybeans.

andrew1974,

Did you enjoy the summer prgm at GSD? Did you find it valuable?

wonderk, awesome :) thats how i view it as well and why i have to go back for a post-pro!
(my other name is autonomous) so maybe CMU will accept both of us + we can do amazing things with beakers :)

+i,

do you learn at least why something wouldn't be buildable. Where do you learn about all the construction type stuff? Does someone just design something and then go to an engineer and say, "hey how can I build this and what materials would I need to use?"

in some sense, yes. Arup works with a lot of big names on how to take a pie in the sky idea and make it actually executable.

Without Arup many a building would still be on paper.

But doesn't one at least learn about materials and basic elements of construction?

+i, you are sneaky! I thought there was another one of us!

Maybe I want to be a building scientist like WonderK.

u will learn a lot about construction. materials. methods. etc. but you have to work in a firm or design/build program or solar decathalon competition or even apply for a fullbright/grant, etc to see how it goes together: design + construction. they are interrelated- but school cant teach you this alone (obviously) and their job is to give you an introduction and make you see the connections: not to have you pouring concrete (although many programs incorporate this type of hands-on experimentation). learning how to put it all together is what IDP and other profession-furthering experiences are for.

dont get me wrong, im not entirely for the whole "IDP" process- there are many ways to get experience and see how it all comes together- i guess it's just what you want to put into it. you will have plenty of time to learn how it goes together...

Did you guys consider the Building Technology program at MIT? Seems like almost engineering. Just curious.