trailerwrap is great. i love seeing projects like this. hope i get to participate in something like this in grad school.

afrdzak - where'd you go?

Our local mountain, Big Bear/Snow Summit. Went for 2days/1night.

Managed to smack into someone on my 2nd to last run. Poor thing, she flew and then slid about 2 feet down the slope. No one was harmed.

laurilan,,,..oh yeah you should....I am going to stay away form them for a year so , myself...I did SD twice and am burned out.

oh shit, trailerwrap yeah... dont know much about it, but a woman at our work is married to Michael Hughes. she's the other half of catovic hughes design :)

yeah, hughes had a very good reputation at CU before he left...

afrdzak - ouch. i managed to avoid hitting anyone on this trip.

c leigh - congrats! when were apps due? that's nice that you found out something this early.

ff33 - yeah, i missed that whole thing in undergrad. they didn't start sd until after i left.

congrats Leigh!

now it's our turn to get acceptance letters!

too early

Apps for ASU were due Jan. 15th. It's actually the "recommended for admission" letter. I wasn't expecting anything that fast, but they contacted me about a missing rec letter at the end of January. Here's hoping some of the other schools are moving that quickly....

ahhh congrats! that's awesome.

why can't all of the other programs be just as fast!

Out of interest, assuming I get into a school for September for the M.Arch 1 (with an unrelated undergrad), should I be going into the course with any pre-existing knowledge? Or should I assume I'll get taught everything from the ground up?

not to rain on your parade or anything c.leigh but I didn't realize the "recommendation for admission" letter was an official notice of acceptance...I received a similar email from ASU today and I was under the impression that it was a general letter they sent out to applicants when all their materials have been received/processed...I could be wrong though-in which case it's great to hear back so fast! Did anyone else apply to asu who might be able to clear this up for me? thanks

although i'm sure your first studios will pretty much start at "the beginning," my understanding is that the first year of m.arch 1 advances from basic design fundamentals into real projects at a seriously accelerated pace, so it probably wouldn't hurt to familiarize yourself with some of the terminology and drawing/modeling conventions before you get there. you might want to grab a book on architectural drawing from the library - francis d.k. ching is always a safe bet, esp. "architectural graphics." his books are pretty focused on drawing and drafting by hand, which may or may not be your thing, but they're also pretty good for learning how to read and construct plans, sections, perspectives, etc.

you could also try and test drive some 3d modeling software (you can download sketchup for free, it's a good one to start out with), but learning more complex programs like rhino and maya will be a lot easier once you're at school and can take courses or school tutorials in how to use them effectively.

i wouldn't worry about trying to teach yourself structures or any building tech stuff unless you're really really interested in it and can't wait. it'll be a lot easier to absorb at school and will definitely be part of your required coursework.

i guess generally it's probably a safe bet that as an m.arch 1 you'll be given all the instruction and resources you need in september, but doing some dabbling over the next few months certainly can't hurt, and could help you get going in grad school more smoothly. plus it's a good way to channel your inevitable excitement about jumping into a new discipline.

chop, everything youve ever known/shouldve known (in the eyes of profs) will be fair game. i'd say 90% of what they expect you to know, you'll need to go learn on your own time. there's also the "catalogued" stuff, like construction/structural stuff, that they dont want to waste yours or their time teaching. However, those will be fair game at any given time also.

good advice snar...add to that:

look at shitloads of stuff
diagram/sketch shitloads of stuff
always look at something you did and go research at least 10 things that are similar and find out why they do/dont work.

chop,
Go get (legitimately or otherwise) :

dual core laptop or newer MAC
CS3
SU (free)
RHINO ($180)
CAD
Microsoft Office

vray and maxwell would also be good to get.

Rhino is just 180 USD?

student version is 180$. Do you know it? I learned it last fall. I love it. technically you don t need SU AND RHINO, but I woudl just learn RHINO if you dont know it. It handles meshing and solids, orthogonal and NURBS...and has great plug ins.

Once you know Rhino, CAD will be really easy too, they share a lot of commands and shortcuts and the same ways of approaching the model (whether 2d or 3d). I probably wouldn’t sweat it too much though if you’re thinking about learning stuff like this as preparation. You’ll pick it up really fast under fire and you’ll learn the media because it expresses your ideas, as opposed to learning media and then trying to find ideas through it.

Honestly I think you’d be better off reading everything you can get your hands on, theory, fiction, poetry, history, etc but that’s just me.

I work with CAD. Actually with the Civil version.

Shit. Just work in windows....

I dont want to do it... but I will install XP in my MAC. What a sacrifice!!!!!!

dont do that.. you'll have a higher chance of getting a virus.. windows fucks up macs...

leopard is just fine

the problem is ... how may I run Auto CAD and ... now rinho? :)

oh my mistake... i thought they had a version for mac?

Do you know something about the University of Miami? A friend of mine told me that it is wonderful ... I had in consideration but I did not apply finally.

i was goin thru umich's website and was surprised to note their selectivity.
umich is considered a great school and is ranked well too. One would obviously expect it to be as selective as other schools of similar regard ... but the figures on their website are surprising ....

http://www.caup.umich.edu/arch/march_2g_studentprofile.html

............ 2G - 56% (168 admits in 303 applications)!!!

http://www.caup.umich.edu/arch/march_3g_studentprofile.html

........... 3G - 79% (105 admits in 134 applications)!!!

my concern was what it would mean to me (i have applied to umich) ..... apart from the fact that my chances are better .... ???/?

out of their 168 admitted march 2G students, only 52 enrolled, which is a rate of return of not quite 31%. in order to make up their desired class size, they have to admit over 3 times as many students as they want because a lot of them don't end up attending.

i would guess that this means there aren't too many people applying to umich who are underqualified - it's a great school, but they're admitting a lot of people and a lot of those admitted are turning them down, presumably to go somewhere they feel is "better." perhaps the reputation of the school isn't as widespread yet as other similar programs, hence the discrepancy in admission stats. as an example, part of why yale only admits 9% of their applicants is because the program's popular notoriety draws a lot of "oh what the hell, i'll give it a shot" applicants, while some amazing but lesser-known programs are only drawing applicants who have researched their schools and are stronger candidates overall. i think the percentages probably have a lot more to do with how much "brand-recognition" the school has than with the quality of the program.

of course, i applied to yale and not umich. whoops.

that was a well- reasoned response .... i'll be happy to go there if admittted ...

Once you go Mac you never go back.

futurist, random...but so true.

Snar, yes, well put...umich might be as good of a program as yale, but at the end of the day "yale" has a stigma, UM doesnt

more like random troll.

stigma? didn't realize there was much downside to going to yale, other than crushing debt and having certain archinecters tell you "yale blows"......

snark, i think you know that Yale would be amazing...don;t listen to em

whoops, wrong choice of words...I mean it has a Positive stigma (possible?)..an aura? sorry, miscommunication. Its my second choice, so I'd better like it!

ah, ok. yeah, the brand-recognition thing goes both ways - it's sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy in that it makes admission more competitive, but that also ensures a high caliber of admitted students, and it can certainly be a foot (or seven, or twelve) in the door later on.

i'll make a note to apply to umich if rejected...

it's snowing in ny and it's miserably cold. gahh

I think a lot of people might be dissuaded from UofM because of the tremendous price tag. Isn't it one of the most expensive programs?

it is very expensive for being a state school. when i applied there for undergrad (out of state), it was close in cost to usc (private!).

UMich is a good program... I don't like that the Arch school is on a separate campus with the engineering school... it's a couple miles from downtown Ann Arbor.

My little brother went there for undergrad.

well that's gay

this just in.....

SCAD just left a message on my answering machine telling me I was accepted into their M. Arch. I program!.. woohoo! not my first choice, but it's a BIG sigh of relief and i'm excited to hear back from the rest of the programs i applied to... aaaah it's almost over

Congratulations norita that's really exciting! Good luck on the rest of your stuff.

congrats, wait, whats SCAD?

Thank you citrus & ff!

Savannah College of Art & Design.. not a well known program.. but it's a start.

oh duh..
My friend goes there...

Really? What program? How does he like it?

uh,..she said it wasn't that good, but she is ID...so...but uh you should talk to other ppl...I am sure if you search the threads, you find the "low down"

haha.. i've checked.. and thats pretty much what i got from the threads...