Just made a comment on this on "Is 3.5 years Worth it?"  Sure, I'd want to know why, but don't get testy with them in case that ends up being your alma mater.  How long until U. Mich. clears its wait list?  Do you have any other decent safe schools where you were a 2-year guaranteed admit?

For M.Arch., work experience is practically irrelevant, having seen 4s go right into 2s with minimal work experience.

Is it possible for me to ask RISD or Syracuse to put me into two years program, since there should be some people who were admitted to two years program but going to turn down the offer?

This scenario isn't possible.  RISD and Syracuse don't have two-year programs.

What you can do, however, is contact the school and ask about advanced standing, and opting out of classes which you have taken already through your undergraduate program.  You'll want to track down the syllabus of any course you want credit for, and have it ready to submit to the school.  Most likely, you won't be able to opt out of studios (due in part to accreditation requirements), which will mean you're still there for 3 years, but you may be able to do it part-time (nothing but studio for the 2nd half), or take electives instead of retaking things you've done already.

You could also ask if anyone has turned down scholarship money that you can snatch up.  Worth a shot, right?

You can ask for advanced placement in some classes that are duplicate just email or call and see

I can't speak for RISD but I am at Syracuse now so I can shed some light on how things work here.  While there isn't technically a 2 year program, if you are able to get enough classes waived, and take the summer, "Three Cities", studio, it is possible to finish the graduate program within two years. This is, however, only possible if you are able to get the entire first year of studio waived (those who were accepted with advanced standing into the 2.5 year program)

Most students, especially those with architecture backgrounds, are able to get a good amount of their non studio classes (theory, structures, systems, etc.) waived. Now to answer your question directly, you can certainly give it a shot and try to ask to get the second semester of studio waived (from what i understand you already have one semester waived).I must warn you though, that the chances of this happening are very, VERY slim. In the past students have attempted to do this, but to no avail. In my class specifically, 14 of us were initially given advanced standing (accepted to the 2.5 year program) 8, including myself, accepted, and no one was moved up to fill the shoes of those 6 who decided to go to other schools.

As far as getting non studio classes waived, that isn't taken care of until orientation which takes place a week before classes start. During which time you are able to meet with professors who teach each coarse and show them your old transcript and material you have from your old program and they make the decision on a case by case basis.  Again, if you attended an undergraduate architecture program it shouldn't be too difficult to get a lot of those classes waived. 

I'm not sure if this makes a whole lot of sense or not, but if you have any questions about Syracuse feel free to email me or ask me on here!

@Nathan Geller

Thank you so much for your info! I also have some questions.

I'm in at Syracuse this fall with 15k scholarship for the first year. With a 5-year B.Arch, I was expecting to receive advanced standing into the second year of the 3,5-year M.Arch, which makes the program length 2,5 year only as in your case. However I received only one semester advanced standing in the studio sequence. As I understand, I'm supposed to study for at least 3 years. The problem is my financial situation could not allow me to do this.

-Is is possible to graduate in no more than 2,5 years?

Also, the school said there are numerous sources of scholarships and graduate assistanships possible for contunuing semesters. Could you please tell me more personal experience about these funds? How much is the average amount could I expect to receive from them? How hard is it to get them? How many percent of your peers received them?

Thank you in advance for your time!!! I look forward to hearing from you!

@rrnkenshin

Receiving one semester advanced standing is a little tricky. With the two semester advanced standing you basically skip a year and join everyone who entered the previous year who is starting their third semester. What you will be doing is having your first semester without a studio, and then joining up with the students in their second semester of studio. This doesn't really give you a shorter amount of time than them, just one less semester of studio. What this does do, however, is allow you to take more non studio courses off the bat, and free up your time later. Your case is somewhat unique, as only 4 or 5 students received the one semester advanced standing, so I am not exactly sure if you will be able to graduate in 2.5 years. Because you have an architecture background, I assume you will be able to get a good amount of the non architecture courses taken care of, so the question comes down to the studios.  For a straight forward and exact answer I would email Speranza at Syracuse. If she hasn't already had contact with you, let me know and I can give you her email.

As far as funding goes there are indeed many opportunities. In addition to the straight up scholarship money that you can get (which can vary from probably 2k to 15k) there are Research Internships (RI), Research Assistants (RA), and Teaching Assistantships (TA).  RIs give you an 1800 stipend for 5 hours a week helping a  professor. RAs are 3600 for 10 hours a week helping a prof. TA positions pay for 6 credit hours, plus about 3600 (about 10k total) for helping teach a non studio course. Almost everyone receives help in one of these forms. Towards the end of every semester, Speranza (mentioned above) sends out an email in which you fill out a spreadsheet where you rank what classes you would like to TA for or if you would like to be an RI, RA or just receive scholarship money.  They are pretty good about making sure everyone does what they want to do, provided they have the time available.  It usually tends to go be seniority, so if you are just starting, you will probably get an RI or RA and then start to TA your second year, as long as you want to.

Hope this helps and makes sense!

@Nathan Geller

Thank you so so much!!! Your info is greatly helpful!

I email Speranza and got the answers similar to what you said here. Just one different point: students with 1 semester AS will start the studio right from the first semester at school. In any case, there is no possibility to finish in less than 3 years...

Again, thank you!

@Nathan Geller

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I got a lot of class waived , I can finish all the required classes early, except studio. Then I can take less credits in my third year, my tuition will get  cheaper since syracuse charges by credit.  Is this right ?