Going to Berkeley, Declined GT.

Good Luck Waitlisters!

woop woop! just told my boss that i'm leaving at the beginning of june! yay for grad school.

So... am I the only one on here who's going to VTech?

afrdzak - declined to VTech today! woop woop!

jsun - you can have my spot

anyone else on here applying to TU Delft?

I got my official acceptance letter from JJ @ SCI-arc today, no info on financial aid.

It's my top choice right now, but I won't be able to attend the open house this weekend. Anyone going care to post info afterwards?

la_la- I'm in exactly the same boat!

Someone please go and let us know whats going on!

Fellas, looks like i'm a Bruin. See you out there.

I'll be at the SCI-Arc open house on Saturday. I'll give you the low down.

BTW you should have received an email about filling out your financial aid forms.

do we have to have them filled out by the open house? will they be accepting them?

i clearly didnt get any such email..although they always end up in my spam.

ill be at the open house too

Hi all! This is my first post and I am new to Archinect.

I wish i had found this forum much earlier. Its so inspiring to find so many people excited about architecture all together. But I guess im catching the end of this thread.


I guess here are my specs:


I am a professional wait-lister. . .

Berkeley: waitlist
UCLA: waitlist
Sci-Arc: waitlist

and finally

Cal Poly Pomona: accepted


But my #1 choice would be sci-arc. Therefore, I will cross my fingers and join whoever at the Open house this weekend.

nxdegree:

Well, I just gave up my spot at Berkeley, UCLA and SCI-Arc, so the prospects are looking better for you! Good luck.

did anyone on the yale wait list get any word?

tkoshow
good luck at berkely! and i will gladly take your spot at gt!!

So I just got back from a trip out to USC and Sci-Arc. I was truly impressed with both schools. USC obviously has the main stream campus feel and some big time names in the department. Also I was impressed by where they are taking the program and what seems to be endless opportunities. Sci-Arc though I was incredibly impressed by the work of the students, probably some of the best Ive seen, I didn't feel as much of a connection to the school. So I believe I am still leaning towards Pratt. So I'll see any of you New Yorkers there soon enough! (probably) hah

Just confirmed at Yale... will be turning down Harvard (for those of you on the wait list).

I declined Toronto and Sci-Arc today. Hope you waitlisters get some good news!

thank you supersquare thats what i like to hear

billib... where are you going?

just got off the waitlist at Yale.

I know I posted a separate discussion on this earlier, but I figured I would ask this wider audience for some input:

Anyone have any feelings either way on Sci-arc vs. UCLA?

I like the location and general direction/vibe of Sci-arc better, but three years of in-state tuition makes UCLA a total of 40 grand cheaper than Sci-arc. What would you do?

okay. i was on the waitlist at Yale and today i got this pdf attachement of a letter from the financial aid office starting with "Congratulations
on your admissions to the Yale School of Architecture." i've
never heard anything from the school itself about getting off the wait
list though. really hope this letter was not a mistake.

redward:

just saw your post. how did they let you know?

I was called this afternoon, and then was sent my financial aid PDF afterwards.

will be going to Berkeley, declining offer at GSAPP...kind of sad...

Turned down M.Arch II @

AA
The Bartlett
U Penn

Now i need to decide if I shall go to Columbia AAD or reapply next year

redward: when you say got off the wait list....i am assuming you have a spot....any news haano? i would call them.

turned down Yale this morning, gut feeling. I'll be at UVa in the fall. good luck fellow waitlisters.

skycaptain:

got in! accepted the spot.

I'm done here. Goodbye everyone. Final verdict: MIT.

lol. maybe I'll get redward's spot...although I don't think Yale will offer as much money at MIT. boo. Later.

So the SCI-Arc open house was yesterday. I thought it was a little underwhelming but that may be due to my familiarity with the school. The open house seemed to be more geared toward the undergrads because they are the ones walking in with thier parents. I was disappointed that EOM, Hernan, Tom Wiscombe, or any of the other "names" were not there to field questions. I wanted to meet with Hernan just to discuss his direction of the MArch 2 program. I guess I'll just have to find out when I am there.

But I would say that the graduate work looked very good and eclectic. I am also excited about the visual studies projects that were posted as well.

Hey moratto

I was at the SCI-Arc open house as well. I have a question that I wasn't able to get a good answer to. Maybe you can help me out since you are familiar with the school.

It seems to me that the Grad. programs are geared towards abtraction and really futuristic concepts. (At least from the work that was posted) Im not sure if it was just that individual design studio. But what about the more technical stuff or should I say the more "practical?" As I was watching some of the undergrad thesis reviews a common thing that I noticed was that the students weren't prepared for the technical aspects when the review panel judges threw questions at them.

Don't get me wrong the work looks fabulous. But because I dont have a architecture background, I guess I want to make sure that the school of my choice can give a good all around education.

This could be just me but what are your thoughts?

Hello, I already chose MIT, but anyone know what's going on with the Columbia waitlist?

I'm on the Columbia waitlist, too... haven't heard anything yet.

moratto / nxdegree /anyone else who attended SCI-arc's open house - I was @ Portland grad day for Oregon and couldn't attend SCI-arc open house - but I have some Q's:

+ Was most of the work presented along Hernan's aesthetic?

+ did they talk about sustainability at all? [even writing a script about solar aspects, etc...]

+ were there any masterplanning/site design/urban design projects presented?

+did they talk about the future of the program at all?

+ did they say anything about financial aid?

thanks!

la_la...

1. more like Tom Wiscombe's aesthetic... (i dig)
2. yes but in Sci arc speak sustainability = performance
3. no
4. the future is now @ SCI-arc ;)
5. you get none

peas...

hi all, noob here that's been lurking for a couple weeks now catching up on this thread. warning: long post ahead.

for columbia waitlisters, i just gave up my spot earlier last week as they wouldn't extend my response deadline despite what i thought was a very compelling request. i still haven't heard from one of the schools i applied to and was having a difficult time deciding between columbia and sci-arc. i have no idea on how their list works or when you might hear, unfortunately. good luck!

i was also at sci-arc's open house and agree with moratto's comments for the most part. i was a bit disappointed that none of the big wigs made even a cameo, but i was glad that the faculty panel consisted of more of the "everyday" faculty to get a feel for how they are, since that is mostly whom we'll be working with. it was good to hear from the students that the faculty are very available and overall great. i knew of all the big names but wanted to see how the faculty in general fared in the students' eyes. i was similarly impressed by the visual studies work and glad to see something besides just the theses on display. overall, i was impressed by the level of work. i was able to also take a look at the b.arch. student 4th year portfolios last weekend when i went just to wander about a bit to get a vibe for the school and was similarly impressed.

nxdegree--
i agree that the direction of the grad programs seems more concept- and design-driven as opposed to more practical/technical aspects. for me, i was happy as that is exactly what i am looking for in a program because my undergrad in a related design discipline was very pro-practice oriented, and after 5 years of practice under my belt, i am feeling very uninspired and mired in those technical aspects. i was speaking with one of my mentors earlier this week, and she did say that sci-arc will probably prepare us students less for the more technical aspects of professional practice than certain other programs might. it seems we will get the basics from hard tech classes, and there is one pro-practice class in the last year of the m.arch.1 course sequence. however, i think most of what you're looking for is hard to find in other programs and never truly learned until you're on the job, unfortunately. i think if you actively seek internships and push to get those experiences during them, you should be able to supplement the education you get anywhere.

la_la--
- the work was actually pretty eclectic within the aesthetic and overall direction sci-arc is known for. not all along hernan's aesthetic, but a good amount of it was. disclaimer: i had an appointment that afternoon and had to rush through looking at the work and only sat in on about 2 mins. of one thesis presentation.
- one student asked about sustainability, and the answer was kind of evasive. the prof that answered basically said that sustainability has always been a concern in the a+d world since before this wave of consumer awareness, and that it should and is addressed in all studio projects. she did say that recently, some students have chosen to focus their projects on addressing those issues more specifically, but she didn't address whether there is the support for that in their pedagogy and the specific resources available.
- i didn't see any specifically, but again, i practically ran through the 1/4 mile only stopping to look in-depth at a few projects due to time constraints.
- not really beyond their quest to continually "redefine the edge of architecture"
- the head financial aid woman did a little spiel about it. basically, she said file your FAFSA if you haven't yet and get the other forms filled out. if you don't have them, they have them all linked on their website. i spoke with her one-on-one later, and she said if i had all my paperwork in by the march 2 deadline, i should hear from them via email by the end of this week regarding my aid package. unfortunately, it seems like i won't be getting much besides some unsubsidized loans due to having worked for awhile and currently in a dual-income family.

/novel

sayyess said it all much more concisely than me. crap, i did really write a novel.

columbia AAD waitlisters - i gave up my spot so good luck. now i want everyone to give up their GSD spots and go to all other other great schools out there. :)

thank you sayyes and potato!

just found this.... I am having a hard time deciding between Rice, SCI-Arc and Wash U. I'm leaning towards Rice (i like the size and the thesis work I saw in their book but i haven't met any students or profs.) any insights/info would be appreciated. thanks in advance.

NX- I think you impression is correct. SCI-Arc is not a place where you will get a heavy dose of building technology. It is purely a design school and strives not to be all things. This is what attracted me because I did get a building systems/tech/engineering heavy architecture education for my undergrad. Therefore I am complementing my previous education with the opposite. No offense, but I think you are asking a lot to have a well rounded education in a period of just three years. I've already had five and still feel that my understanding is lacking. I think most people feel the same way.

la la- I would agree that I did see a lot of Tom Wiscombe and very little Hernan.
The sustainability question I thought was handled wonderfully. It has always been a part of good architecture, even before it had a buzz word to describe it. It is not the focus or concept that drives your project but just common sense that always should be utilized.
There was a masterplanning project that I saw presented by one of the undergrads. I believe it was his thesis. I caught the end of it so I really didn't get a full grasp of what he was trying to accomplish.
Exactly what sayyes said: the future is now.
Financial aid, FAFSA will help you with that. And there are a few employment opportunities.

moratto- where did you do your undergrad? I'm curious because compared to the other Grad schools I've visited in the last few weeks, Sci -Arc attracts me because they do attempt to make sense of the edgy designs they produce... far more than anywhere else I visited except a few projects @ Wash U which were far more conventional and even then not as detailed as the plans and sections of the SCI-arc hard tech classes...

@ Columbia, Steven Holl was praising a 3rd year grad student 4 weeks away from graduating for producing a model that looked like it was made of french fries...

I like SCI-arc because they are plenty focused on design. And I think they are in the top in experimentation in the world.

After eleven semesters of a strong Civil Engineering program it was that I wanted. I am really glad to be admitted in SCIarc.

You know how many students will be in the first year of the m.arch 1 program?

Thanks for all the constructive advice. So all in all would you say that SCI-Arc wouldn't be the best place in my situation? Being that my undergraduate education wasn't in architecture.

Would you say that its important for me to focus on the technical side of architecture first, ie (finding a school that guides towards that direction) before I get into the more design and experimental side?

Thanks for all the help, I just want to be sure of myself buy asking questions and getting good feedback.

nxdegree,
I would venture that you should evaluate criteria such as personal attraction to experimental or avant garde with regards to aesthetics, architecture, and art. i know from a distance you may see a lot of digital tools being used to make fantatstical ways and think its dominated by a theroetical polemic.

If you want to save money, and just get a straight forward and common education in the current mainstream of Architectural pedagogy, you can just pick several schools.

I think sci arc's strength is that you get a deeper education in critical thinking, that is not concerned with just getting you a job after 3 yrs. It appears to be concerned with making a real path to innovation.

Well said fx33, on your last paragraph.

I question buildability in the first place, and how it even came about in the first place. Critical thinking and text has been marginalized by the public.

Nxdegree: Interesting question. I guess, no matter which starting point you take, always keep an open mind and question things, and do your own research on your interests that are outside the curriculum.

Personally, I came from a more technical side. It allowed me to work in-depth with a large architectural firm on large-scale commercial projects, and from there I developed a better understanding of commercial architecture. It is public architecture, yet 'gated' in many ways.

From there on, I moved on to a very design based school in Melbourne. It was good, awakening transition. It was thriving.

Nxdegree: My advice for you? Go to Sci Arc, but get an internship a driven architectural firm. It will be at totally extreme ends and you will learn alot in that struggle.

ff dude. Where are you going finally?

YbTH dude, i am going to UCLA!...I am sort of jealous for you guys going to sci arc though..I am want to learn scripting, etc.


When you get to LA lets gets some LITs and talk about robots!