So is anyone planning on going to Pratt? Also does anyone know how big the entering March1 class is?

i think i am about to die of boredom @ my job now. i'm dying to leave. they think LEED is the be-all end-all of sustainability. so i have posted articles about pvc, etc and the ridiculous hazardous effects of such materials - which are currently being used in our "LEED Silver" building.
just one small stab at a time in the gut of corporate architecture...

there is a possibility that i may go to pratt.....i have to see how much money they offer me and make another visit. do you know if they have an open house for admitted students?

no Pratt for me...

there is an extremely slight chance i might go to pratt. i have to deal with the money issue as well. has anyone called the department of architecture about scholarships, ta's, etc.? i haven't gotten a chance yet (still fighting with uf to find out about acceptances and waiting to hear more about cincinnati's waitlist - who do these people think they are?). do you think the only money they're giving out is what they already did?

I got an email from UCLA, but on the website it links, I cannot figure out where the online acceptance/decline of their offer of admissino is (the form where you tell them if you're coming or not.)

If anyone would graciously provide step by step instructions, I would be most grateful.

I called Pratt AGAIN today. Left a message with the head of graduate admissions. I don't really know why. It never promted a response the first 3 times I did it. I would call the architecture dept, but I am not sure how to get to someone that would actually be able to help me.
Laurilan, have you had any luck finding someone to speak to in the arch dept there?

Just called graduate admissions to ask about anticipated class size for the fall and if they have an open house.
A. no open house just an orientation in August.
B. they don't have the #of applicants or accepted rates. The woman I spoke to was very nice but how does admissions department not know how many applications they have recieved or how many people they have accepted?

I'll try calling the architecture department during lunch.

UCLA Kids -

https://www.gradadmissions.ucla.edu/newapp/

Click on Decision Status and sign in to view your letter. There should be a "Statement of Intention to Register (SIR) and Statement of Legal Residence (SLR)." Link within the letter.

You'll use the UCLA ID # that came in your acceptance letter to create a UCLA URSA account. Once you sign into the URSA system there should just be a button on the main menu that directs you to the SIR and SLR.

Hope that helps!

"Attending architecture school will require me to sell my house and quit my six-figure environmental job with Shell Oil. Some have told me this would be a mistake. I couldn’t disagree more. In my opinion, there could be no bigger mistake than to continue on without giving greatness a chance; never living up to my potential or finding out what gifts I could have given."


Initiating self-destruct sequence...

baboomba! Yay!

*e-hugs*

Congrats, Baboomba! I doubt you'll regret it.

tumbleweed-

i still have no decision status either. i was in the arch office on friday and they said that hopefully the main administrators would get to the arch dept's stack of acceptances very soon. not sure this helps (i'm getting nervous too) but at least you know you're not alone.

(Responding just so I can un-check the email notification option, which was checked by default for some reason last time. Carry on.)

wonderk - do you have any idea what it means to be waitlisted at cincinnati?

No, but I have just found out - literally just now - that my concerns have been passed on to the director of the grad program. Have you spoken with anyone named Ellen? I basically just mentioned that I was concerned since I had heard through the architecture "grapevine" that we were in danger of losing students to other programs due to some lax communication with students. I have a strong allegiance to my alma mater and I want to see it do well, in spite of any bureaucratic difficulties....

no, i emailed (basically so i could get it all out and i'm terrible on the phone) amberly miller - assistant dean of student affairs for DAAP about how i understand waitlists are part of life, but it would have been nice to be told this? and that no one has returned any of my attempts at communication. thought this didn't reflect well on the school and i'm not the only one thinking this.

i haven't heard anything back.

i mean - told that i was on the waitlist.

but i can call someone - i will if it means getting more information.

i'd just like to know - does being on the waitlist mean probably not? or possibly? i'm kind of confused since they had such an early acceptance date - if this means some real reevaluation for waitlisters or basically because they just want to know early.

sigh... it's just getting old not knowing. especially when it seems like everyone else does.

sorry to kind of harp on the subject.

The thing I hate about the response you got, that "If you haven't heard anything by now, you're on the waitlist..." is that what if you're NOT on the waitlist and your response just got lost in the mail? If they don't look up your specific application to see the status, who's to know?

yeah - you could tell that she was told by someone else to say this (someone who didn't want to deal with the calls) and was getting really pissed off that she had to deal with something she a) didn't know a lot about and b) involved talking to pissed off applicants who couldn't get any information.

And how hard is it for someone to just enter your social security number or application number into their little computer, and pull up your record? This was the same sort of speech I got from Pratt- "it's probably in the mail, but we can't look it up for you", and low and behold, once I got in touch with the right person, it turned out that they absolutely could look it up for me. So now I'm wary of any office that won't at least pull up your file and check.

well, i did just that. and got a little more information this time. i def. haven't been sent anything - therefore not some secret rejection i didn't know about. and there will be a second round of admissions or rejections or whatever, but no clue when those will be sent out.

ooookay. at least it's something.

gahhhhhh! I HATE transcript people. When somebody pays for a fucking rush order, how do they not understand that this is a very, very important thing that absolutely MUST be done on time? Now I have to leave early from work to go pick up a transcript, when it should have been ready by lunchtime.

and my boss is NOT going to like that.

Man, that Pratt stuff sounds like bullsh*t. Sorry you guys are having to deal with it.

So, yes, I've decided I am going to school. I will, however, have to defer for a year. UT this morning told me it's likely my deferral request would be granted. Thank God. Otherwise, I don't think I would have made it.

I am truly excited about studying architecture. I feel like I will finally be doing what I was destined to do. Whether I end up a CAD monkey or a great architect, I feel like my soul has been saved. Cheesy maybe, but true.

Regardless, thanks for all the support. It has really made the difference.

So now I will be one of those 40-year old students about whom everyone wonders. Hopefully you guys will still invite me for drinks. You're all welcome to stay at my place when you come to Austin.

I finally heard from PRATT!!!!!
But, it is not so good.

I got a call from Bill MacDonald, the Chairperson of Graduate Architecture, and he informed me I am on the waitlist.
So this means that I have to wait until a week or so after the May 1st deadline to call back and ask one of the assistants, if my name has been slotted up yet.

So I really don't know what to do now? I guess I will have to accept enrollment at the BAC, and if Pratt does come around, revaluate my situation at that point.

Has anyone else been put on the "waiting list" at Pratt? I am guessing that there isn't a great chance of anything coming from it.

Plus, I'm a young 40 (actually 39 right now). Most people think I'm about ten years younger than I am. Besides, like I tell everyone, older people are like fruit trees during times of drought. Even though the tree is withered and dying, the fruit is still fat and juicy.

Hooray baboomba! I'm so happy you decided to do it!

baboomba....awesome...I can feel your happiness in your message. No worries about the age. I'll be 37 when I'm done and I strongly feel youth bring fearlessness and energy but old age brings wisdom and experience. So I'm going to bet colloborations between us and some of the young'ens could result in some wicked architecture.

For any Pratties out there I just found out that physics and calculus are both NOT required. The structure courses require one but not both. Yahoo, I'm dropping physics today and focusing all my energy on Calculus. I may still take physics in the future but taking both 2 nights a week each plus working full time is killing me.

I was also able to find out that Pratt is hoping on getting a March1 class of 35 and 40 people.

By the way I don't ever want to tell people what to do but some of you have made it clear that you have no interest in Pratt. Try to let them know as soon as possible. That "may" open up a spot for some of our peers who have been waitlisted. Just a thought.

Well off to another fun night of Calculus and once again baboomba glad to hear you'll be joining us next year.

Thanks for the update on the class size alfrejas!
It looks like we are all piecing the Pratt puzzle together slowly.

Is a class of 40 a fairly average number for an incoming MArch class?

Arrgh, I'm still getting an email every time somebody responds to this thread! Make it stop! Make it stop!

Just to prove that this is entire process is annoying, no matter how far you get on it: I emailed UW that I was accepting their offer (in case the mail gets bogged down by people's taxes and it didn't arrive in time), and got a reply that included the following.

Later this summer, I will be sending a welcome packet with information about the mandatory TA Conference and MFA Orientation which will be held in September (exact dates are still TBD).

I'm sorry, how much later in the summer will I know this? I would really like to know when I'm supposed to move to another state by!

I am officially a Trojan now. Just thought I would throw that in there.

Fight On!

Do you know the fight song yet?

yesss... more condoms... oh wait wrong thread.

congrats WonderK :)

Thanks. Does this mean I am supposed to start liking college football? I don't know if I can handle that.

Wow, I really like exiting places, lol.

Just kidding, that's really fantastic. So it seems like the department has its act together while perhaps the university does not? You should just email him back and tell him you are going!!! You ARE going, right?

The grad students can stay away from football without too much trouble, just beware of trying to park on/near campus on Saturdays in the fall (if you're going to studio, get there really early), and also of all the other random shit that closes down the roads- the Oscars, the Grammys, the Nike Run Hit Wonder, the LA Marathon, some other marathon for breast cancer sponsored by Revlon..... it's a lot, but it's worth keeping track of. I got stuck driving around for like an hour the day before turn-in for my thesis, trying to get to campus so that I could work on my project, trapped by the Revlon marathon. I eventually parked like three miles away and walked, with my big flatpack of foamcore and such in hand.

Thanks to the above poster, I've finally been able to view my UCLA financial aid award, and have now officially declined my UCLA admission offer. Even considering how much more Yale's tuition is than UCLA's, it's still going to be cheaper for me to go to Yale than UCLA. I can't believe it!

congrats on your decision namby

thank you +q... we won't be schoolmates but maybe I'll see you at some 10 yr anniversary things this year. Or some symposia :)

funny nambypam, i have the same situation as you, but with the opposite result. given yale's generous financial offer, i've been questioning myself for choosing ucla - whether i'm just afraid to move back to the east coast or whether it's a rational decision based on where i am in my life (and an ingrained fear of new haven) - since it actually does end up being more expensive. in any case, now i'm freaking out that i haven't gotten the UCLA university letter yet with my password etc before i have to turn down yale. why must they make it torture every step of the way?

whee, I just finished the online component of this scholarship application I'm working on. Now I just have to secure the last recommendation (prof agreed, now won't respond to my email), and mail it all out!

A blob, possibly?

juststarting - it's not just a financial decision for me, although that concretized my gut feelings. I don't mind the idea of living in a small city at all, and would like to live somewhere slower-paced. Additionally, it's more affordable to live in New Haven, and it will be easier for me to move a 2 hour drive away instead of all the way across the country. LA was completely fascinating (and I loved everyone I met out there!!! And WK who is moving there!!!) but I didn't get the sense that it is where I belonged. That's true of both the city, and UCLA, which are both fine places to be, but my intuition says "no" whereas my intuition toward Yale said "yes." I've learned to listen to my instincts on this sort of thing, because every time I don't, things go awry! I really suggest listening to your heart on this... if it's telling you UCLA, then go there. Good luck!

Congrats, namby. Sounds like Yale is the right place for you; sometimes you just have to listen to your gut. The other nice thing about New Haven is that, despite being a relatively affordable smallish town, it's only a 90-minute train ride away from Grand Central Terminal. In a way, it sounds like you'll be getting the best of both worlds.

Once I'm settled in NYC, I'm sure I'll be making at least one visit up to Yale at some point... We'll need to have an archinect meet-up.

congrats namby! thats great you made a decision that feels right to you. i'm sure you'll have a good time at yale.

i made my decision on penn today but i almost had a nervous breakdown. in fact, i missed my flight to visit my friend and the beach (the flight was non-refundable, too). :(

i don't have that gut feeling for choosing penn and it's making me very nervous. i'm also starting to freak out about beginning a new life.

i should be happy and excited, but why am i so upset today?

Yes, I was anxious as hell all day yesterday too. It's just normal, life-changing anxiety stuff but it still made me tense. Fortunately I did not have to get a on a plane though! That sucks miss_j.