So far, I've been accepted to the M.arch program of Virginia Tech, Northeastern U, SUNY-U Buffalo and New Jersey Institute of Technology. Well, I have no idea which school I should go. As an international student, I don't know much information about these schools. It seems that VT has a high ranking in architecture schools. But the locations of Northeastern and NJIT are good for finding job. I also heard that U Buffalo has a serious comparative literature department including famous contemporary theorists such as Gasche (who wrote on deconstruction).
Could you share your opinion about these schools? Thank you!
Amazing facilities, excellent professors with excellent connections, state of the art technology, beautiful campus, great people, cheap cost of living, and cheap tuition. I've had an awesome time there.
Let me know if you need to know anything else about it.
Oh and according to the 2007 Design Intelligence it was ranked the #10 architecture grad prorgram overall and #2 public right under UVA.
NJIT is a good school in some respects, it shares factulty with Columbia and Cooper a lot and it has made a big committment to technology...but if you're interested in theory, I doubt it is the best program.
well, you are right about Comp Lit and I'll add English Lit/Poetics at Buffalo. If that is an interest of yours, then definately they are the shit! and yes, do it.
try and do a semester @ WAAC! although MArco Frascari is long gone, it's still a pretty great experience to spend a semester in Old Town Alexandria and consume lot's of Misha's coffee.
Good luck!
Heyser, you made an excellent decision. The other two school are fine too, but I think you will find that VT CAUS is one of the strongest programs in the nation. Also, you will get to take an advantage of studying a semester in Switzerland and much of Europe as well as the Mediteranean. And as someone pointed out, you may take the option of finishing thesis in the Washington Alexandria center.
Very minor things I would change, but it was an awesome experience. and you will also get to take an advantage of the newly renovated main architecture building.
archmed, how is it living in blacksburg though? i reeeally like the program, but am worried about feeling isolated and stranded from civilaization. will a city girl lose her mind there? :)
There is a big emphasis on sustainability, but like Buckity mentioned, it's not big on theory. (Although that depends on the individual studio critic and the electives you choose to take). The cool thing about the program is that it is not like other schools where they are known for one thing and all the student work looks the same. You get the opportunity to choose your own path.
The studios are not that great. They are running out of space so some of the grad studios are in the basement of the parking deck (yes, I said parking deck), which is the dumbest thing they could have done, in my opinion. (They used to put undergrad studios there).
Campus life is almost non-existent. But Newark is an awesome city. There are a lot of cheap places to live, lots of great places to eat and great public transportation. It's very easy to get to NYC, Jersey City, Hoboken.
Oh, and NJIT as a whole caters well to international students. There are lots of opportunities for on-campus employment and things like that. My favorite thing about the campus is that it is very diverse. You will meet people from all over the world.
Kabean, it's actually pretty refreshing being in a small college town rather than a city. Most people who go to VT are from big cities like DC, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Baltimore, etc and they all seem to love it here. I moved from a slightly larger town so I'm used to it. Blacksburg is your quintisential college town with great school spirit much in evidence to the success of the football and basketball teams. There are plenty of bars and restaurants downtown and everything is super cheap save for a few places here and there. Roanoke is only a half an hour away so if you want to be around a big city you're not stranded from civilization.
Also unlike other programs, many of your building projects will not only be in bigger cities like Roanoke or DC, but also in rural and less dense areas as well. It's a very nice medium to have and impresses the hell out of many firms you will apply to.
Either way, you're only here for three years and then you can work wherever you want. Again you can even opt to do your final thesis year in the Washington D.C./Alexandria center and go to Switzerland for a semester. I got job offers from as far north as NYC and as far south as Jacksonville, FL. You'll get an amazing degree from an amazing program. Looking back on it, I would go no place else.
To J3: Yes, I also heard about Misha's coffee. : )
To Medusa: Well, thank you for your kind reply. Wish you good luck too. : )
To Archmed: You are sooooooooo kind. Thank you! After read your reply, I think many students will go no place escept VT either. : )
BTW, you mention the off-campus programs. Is it a elective program or every graduate student will attend these programs? The opportunity to study in Switzerland looks great! I am only worried about studying another language with my poor English will send me to hell. - -|||
Also, could you share me with more information about WAAC please? Will it take a great advantage to do a semester there?
Both programs are completely optional for the M. Arch.
We had a large class of about 35 people and just around 10 or 15 of them went to Switzerland. I actually did not go there and stayed in Blacksburg. I probably would have had an awesome time there, but I just felt like staying because I felt I had much more to learn from the faculty there. The people who did go thought it was an incredible experience. They didn't just stay in Switzerland, they went everywhere including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, and even Morocco.
At the WAAC, several people went there as well. Again, I opted to stay in Blacksburg to finish my thesis and that is mainly because my thesis committee was in Blacksburg. Everyone I keep in contact with loves it there. I've even visited it and looks like a great facility with excellent faculty. Plus you have the entire DC area right at your fingertips as an experimental site for architecture. I believe only the University of Maryland and Cathlolic U. of America have architecure programs in the immediate area.
When you arrive next year, things will be different because they are renovating the main architecture building (Cowgill Hall) so you will temporarily be in a new facility they constructed just for the arch school in Blacksburg. But you will get to use the newly renovated facility your second year.
I hope this helps, and let me know if you need any other info.
Archmed, I read more information about this off-campus program on the school's web. It looks like a long-time field trip more than theory study. So I think your decision of staying in Blacksburg to learn more from the faculty is not bad. Maybe I will follow this way. Thank you for your help. : )
Because I participated in the Europe Studio in spite of not whole semester, I have some information to share with you.
That is an absolutely awesome program.
I dare to say the program is one of the greatest programs even in the whole country. The program consists of two design projacts and trips around europe.
Also the professor who leads the students is very solid and very well prepared to give as much as information within limited schedule.
More importantly, the trip is always fun.
In spite of a little touch, the professor always made the trip exciting and took his students to the place where they must be, so that gonna be never boring.
Basically, all day long, we had traveled around the places which we have to visit in each city and country, but we never wasted our time for the meaningless.
At the end of the semester, you are going to cover basically whole europe continent except England (but if you want you can go to England at the spring break).
Also, the studio building is located at a very beautiful swiss town close to Italy and France. That is a very peaceful and quite place which will help you to relax from the touch trips, but around the town are lots of good buildings to visit including Mario Botta's early works which will make you never idle.
In my experience, I dere to say, if you afford, you must never miss that opportunity. That is a little more expensive than VT's regular semester but still inexpensive compared with other schools' programs.
But its quality and amount of experience are incomparably high with any other programs about which I have heard from my friends studying around the USA.
Help! VT vs UB vs NJIT
Hi
So far, I've been accepted to the M.arch program of Virginia Tech, Northeastern U, SUNY-U Buffalo and New Jersey Institute of Technology. Well, I have no idea which school I should go. As an international student, I don't know much information about these schools. It seems that VT has a high ranking in architecture schools. But the locations of Northeastern and NJIT are good for finding job. I also heard that U Buffalo has a serious comparative literature department including famous contemporary theorists such as Gasche (who wrote on deconstruction).
Could you share your opinion about these schools? Thank you!
Easily Virginia Tech.
Amazing facilities, excellent professors with excellent connections, state of the art technology, beautiful campus, great people, cheap cost of living, and cheap tuition. I've had an awesome time there.
Let me know if you need to know anything else about it.
Oh and according to the 2007 Design Intelligence it was ranked the #10 architecture grad prorgram overall and #2 public right under UVA.
NJIT is a good school in some respects, it shares factulty with Columbia and Cooper a lot and it has made a big committment to technology...but if you're interested in theory, I doubt it is the best program.
well, you are right about Comp Lit and I'll add English Lit/Poetics at Buffalo. If that is an interest of yours, then definately they are the shit! and yes, do it.
Thank you for all your opinion. I have accepted the offer of admission from VT. Hope I will have an awesome time there too. ^_^
try and do a semester @ WAAC! although MArco Frascari is long gone, it's still a pretty great experience to spend a semester in Old Town Alexandria and consume lot's of Misha's coffee.
Good luck!
Heyser, you made an excellent decision. The other two school are fine too, but I think you will find that VT CAUS is one of the strongest programs in the nation. Also, you will get to take an advantage of studying a semester in Switzerland and much of Europe as well as the Mediteranean. And as someone pointed out, you may take the option of finishing thesis in the Washington Alexandria center.
Very minor things I would change, but it was an awesome experience. and you will also get to take an advantage of the newly renovated main architecture building.
Good luck
archmed, how is it living in blacksburg though? i reeeally like the program, but am worried about feeling isolated and stranded from civilaization. will a city girl lose her mind there? :)
don't worry... you won't have time to loose your mind - it's an M.Arch honey :D
I'm at NJIT now. I also did my B.Arch there.
There is a big emphasis on sustainability, but like Buckity mentioned, it's not big on theory. (Although that depends on the individual studio critic and the electives you choose to take). The cool thing about the program is that it is not like other schools where they are known for one thing and all the student work looks the same. You get the opportunity to choose your own path.
The studios are not that great. They are running out of space so some of the grad studios are in the basement of the parking deck (yes, I said parking deck), which is the dumbest thing they could have done, in my opinion. (They used to put undergrad studios there).
Campus life is almost non-existent. But Newark is an awesome city. There are a lot of cheap places to live, lots of great places to eat and great public transportation. It's very easy to get to NYC, Jersey City, Hoboken.
Oh, and NJIT as a whole caters well to international students. There are lots of opportunities for on-campus employment and things like that. My favorite thing about the campus is that it is very diverse. You will meet people from all over the world.
Whoops, I just read that you selected VT. Good luck!
Kabean, it's actually pretty refreshing being in a small college town rather than a city. Most people who go to VT are from big cities like DC, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Baltimore, etc and they all seem to love it here. I moved from a slightly larger town so I'm used to it. Blacksburg is your quintisential college town with great school spirit much in evidence to the success of the football and basketball teams. There are plenty of bars and restaurants downtown and everything is super cheap save for a few places here and there. Roanoke is only a half an hour away so if you want to be around a big city you're not stranded from civilization.
Also unlike other programs, many of your building projects will not only be in bigger cities like Roanoke or DC, but also in rural and less dense areas as well. It's a very nice medium to have and impresses the hell out of many firms you will apply to.
Either way, you're only here for three years and then you can work wherever you want. Again you can even opt to do your final thesis year in the Washington D.C./Alexandria center and go to Switzerland for a semester. I got job offers from as far north as NYC and as far south as Jacksonville, FL. You'll get an amazing degree from an amazing program. Looking back on it, I would go no place else.
To J3: Yes, I also heard about Misha's coffee. : )
To Medusa: Well, thank you for your kind reply. Wish you good luck too. : )
To Archmed: You are sooooooooo kind. Thank you! After read your reply, I think many students will go no place escept VT either. : )
BTW, you mention the off-campus programs. Is it a elective program or every graduate student will attend these programs? The opportunity to study in Switzerland looks great! I am only worried about studying another language with my poor English will send me to hell. - -|||
Also, could you share me with more information about WAAC please? Will it take a great advantage to do a semester there?
Thank you!
Both programs are completely optional for the M. Arch.
We had a large class of about 35 people and just around 10 or 15 of them went to Switzerland. I actually did not go there and stayed in Blacksburg. I probably would have had an awesome time there, but I just felt like staying because I felt I had much more to learn from the faculty there. The people who did go thought it was an incredible experience. They didn't just stay in Switzerland, they went everywhere including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, and even Morocco.
At the WAAC, several people went there as well. Again, I opted to stay in Blacksburg to finish my thesis and that is mainly because my thesis committee was in Blacksburg. Everyone I keep in contact with loves it there. I've even visited it and looks like a great facility with excellent faculty. Plus you have the entire DC area right at your fingertips as an experimental site for architecture. I believe only the University of Maryland and Cathlolic U. of America have architecure programs in the immediate area.
When you arrive next year, things will be different because they are renovating the main architecture building (Cowgill Hall) so you will temporarily be in a new facility they constructed just for the arch school in Blacksburg. But you will get to use the newly renovated facility your second year.
I hope this helps, and let me know if you need any other info.
northeastern ain't bad either. it's stock value is climbing last I checked.
Archmed, I read more information about this off-campus program on the school's web. It looks like a long-time field trip more than theory study. So I think your decision of staying in Blacksburg to learn more from the faculty is not bad. Maybe I will follow this way. Thank you for your help. : )
Hi, I also graduated from VT,
Because I participated in the Europe Studio in spite of not whole semester, I have some information to share with you.
That is an absolutely awesome program.
I dare to say the program is one of the greatest programs even in the whole country. The program consists of two design projacts and trips around europe.
Also the professor who leads the students is very solid and very well prepared to give as much as information within limited schedule.
More importantly, the trip is always fun.
In spite of a little touch, the professor always made the trip exciting and took his students to the place where they must be, so that gonna be never boring.
Basically, all day long, we had traveled around the places which we have to visit in each city and country, but we never wasted our time for the meaningless.
At the end of the semester, you are going to cover basically whole europe continent except England (but if you want you can go to England at the spring break).
Also, the studio building is located at a very beautiful swiss town close to Italy and France. That is a very peaceful and quite place which will help you to relax from the touch trips, but around the town are lots of good buildings to visit including Mario Botta's early works which will make you never idle.
In my experience, I dere to say, if you afford, you must never miss that opportunity. That is a little more expensive than VT's regular semester but still inexpensive compared with other schools' programs.
But its quality and amount of experience are incomparably high with any other programs about which I have heard from my friends studying around the USA.
syp, I really appreciate your reply. I will consider that. Thank you.
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