remind me which type is M.Arch I and which type is M.Arch II?

There were a few things that I remember about the masters people from when I was at undergrad there: 1) If you're impressed that it's run by Scott Johnson, you're there for the completely wrong reason, because he's only there part-time. 2) A lot of the M.Arch students were able to get a certificate in Historic Preservation with their electives, so if you're interested in that side of things, then that's a plus (but not a necessity, there are plenty of other sorts of electives). 3) Many of them were required to take classes with the undergrads to make up for deficiencies in their undergrad curriculum, like the advanced structures classes, thermal, lighting, and environmental classes, and sometimes arch history.

Aside from that, they just put a whole new floor onto the architecture building for the masters students, so the facilities have gotten a whole lot better from that standpoint. Everyone is pretty excited about Dean Ma, but he's only been there a couple of months, so he hasn't actually made much of a difference yet. The two things I've heard of that he can take credit for thus far are a friday night happy hour in the architecture building, and investigations into doing a new study abroad program in China.

i didn't think the graduate program was accredited?

neither did I, and is the programme stepping up at all? I mean they've always (from what I can remember) been subpar at best. I know many sc grads like to boast about their school and that they are from that institution, yet......what do they have to show for it??

Just a question.
(hence, the reputation of the school and it's programme might be suspect)

I'm sorry, are we talking about the same SC? I'm talking about the University of Southern California, which I am sure is accredited, and I assumed the original poster was talking about as a result of the reference to the new dean. Are you guys talking about South Carolina or something?

from the website, here:

"Two Degree Programs Are Offered
(1) An accredited Master of Architecture, First Professional Degree (+2) for students who have completed a pre-professional architecture degree and

(2) An advanced Master of Architecture Post-Professional Degree program for students who already hold a professional degree such as the Bachelor of Architecture or its equivalent.

The goals for both of these programs are very similar. However, the exact degree requirements differ. Verify that you are reading the correct sections and requirements on the side menus.

Master of Architecture +2, First Professional Degree
Students admitted to this NAAB accredited professional degree program must already hold 4-year architectural studies degrees from U.S. schools with accredited professional architecture programs or from international programs that are deemed equivalent. All students must matriculate in the fall semester and must be in residence for a minimum of two years (four semesters).

Master of Architecture, Post-Professional Degree
Candidates for admission must hold a five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree. The MArch program typically takes three semesters to complete. Applicants with exceptional qualifications and experience may be admitted with advanced standing. Qualified students who are admitted to the graduate programs in both the School of Architecture and the School of Policy, Planning, and Development may complete both degrees in a highly integrated four- or five- semester program."

This school is one of my top choices for my graduate degree, and although i am not going for my MArch (the one I applied to was for M of Building Science), I've seen their new facilities, and I have no doubts that they are committed to quality architecture education.....

USC has a masters program, oh, for those of us who haven't been in the market for a while evidently they have been accredited since 2002.

http://www.naab.org/cal_cat1724/cal_cat_show.htm?doc_id=14888

When I was applying for grad school in 2001, they weren't accredited, good on them for getting that fixed.

j

I'm choosing between USC and another school for my masters.

I have some q's about USC, thought I'd revive this thread to see if I could get some feedback:

+ What is GRS?/is it fun or a waste of time?
+ Does anyone graduate paying sticker price? [is funding easy to come by once you are there?- they've offered a merit scholarship]
+ Are the studio projects mainly very real? A lot of the older student work on the website looks like development pitches... which is fine but I'm hoping to make some some academic type things as well.

Thanks for any feedback.

Oh look! It's me from two years ago! And I'm AT USC now! How exciting.

la_la, are you serious? "Is it fun or is it a waste of time?" Well for one thing it's not optional so your question is moot. For another thing, it's the way you get funding for your education - the so-called "merit scholarship" you mentioned. We all get GRS assignments and we all get scholarships in return. If you opt out I'm sure that the school would be happy to take your cold hard cash and give a GRS assignment to someone who needs it.

With regards to student work I don't know where you're looking but the projects the MArchs work on are, indeed, quite rigorous. Have you visited the school? I would strongly suggest a visit before making a final decision on any school as USC's MArch is in a massive growth period right now and may not be "fun" enough for you....

WonderK thanks for your feedback.

I only asked that about GRS because the projects featured on the GRS website were not so impressive. Also, the amount of scholarship is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of attendance. It seems like a great idea though.

I have visited the school. I think I went at a weird time because the studios were very clean and I saw only 1 person there. Maybe I should go back and check it out again.

* not so impressive to me

WonderK
Is there way to summarize the schools agenda(s) and pedagogies somehow? What sort of specialties or genres are emphasized? i.e. Scripting Environmentalism,Urbanism..anything specific you can say about these.

I think an issue is no one ever hears much about USC, aside form the fact that Gehry went there..which they repeatedly remind on their website.

And ..well its seems a lot of people I have talked to are familiar with about how much it costs, of course.....but not so much about what you "GET" for the $$$....I would be very curious to hear your thoughts.

Is there anyone else along with or besides Emily,..thats feels free enough to jump in the conversation and help out in educating the potential applicants to your school... maybe clear up questions,,,