I thought it was awesome

It was pretty amazing. I've read before about the atmosphere of pretension but I didn't get a bit of that. Talking to students, everyone is genuinely interested in the school and what they're producing. The kinda ambiguity of the school is great as it helps to foster diverse interests.

Was anyone at the open house for the MSAUD program. I was unable to attend so any info would be great

i was relatively neutral for a good portion of the day... not over- or underwhelmed by anything i experienced, but my overall experience was pushed disappointedly to one side of that balance after my last stop of the day: the studio space.

Really? How come?

georgev: not sure if you were referring to the studio space or just the general comment, but regarding the space: terribly cramped... both individual and group space. esp for the first years who have more 'stuff.' i've seen other studio spaces (ucla and gsd) and perhaps those spaces are on the opposite end of the studio space spectrum, but considering columbia's reputation, tuition, and comments during the student panel (regarding on-campus grad aptmts being much larger than typical ny apartments... and for $800! - and i'm familiar with typical ny aptmts' having lived in a few), you would expect more from the school. especially considering that you're going to spend 24x7 in the studio and never see your aptmt.

if ucla has a supposed 'pink eye room' or something to that affect -- despite all that space students have -- i can only imagine what columbia's studio space is dubbed.

perhaps gsaap students can weigh in.

the studio spaces are dense with work, and it adds to the atmosphere of all the diverse energy that occurs within the studio spaces. The only people I have heard severely complain about the studio spaces were outsiders visiting the school. Sure, it gets crowded, but there is a character to it, and one which puts our work in our faces, at all times. The studios are like the city...if you can't get use to overcrowded spaces, maybe it isn't the place for you!

Abstraktura - I have heard plenty of GSAPP students complain about the cramped studio spaces. Compared to other Yale, MIT and the GSD GSAPP has by far the worst studio space.

You can of course argue that if you aren't man enough for the cramped spaces, maybe it just isn't for you. But that argument is pure horseshit. Disliking crowded spaces and not enjoying New York City or the GSAPP are two entirely different things.

I am gonna have to go with abstraktura on this one, facilities do not make an architecture school they are just a perk. One desk or two desks makes no difference. The people make the school not the amount of space you have.

I showed up to GSAPP's MARCH open house and was flabbergasted by how much activity was crammed into such a small space. The building and--above all--the Studio Spaces are a hive of activity posing a challenge for some while others may find it more enriching. My one bone to pick about density: a lot of students commented about how the close-quarters mean you can pretty much tell what everybody around you is doing but this isn't necessarily the case all the time. With so many students working primarily via computer, if they're not there, their computer is blank. There weren't a lot of drawings and sketches posted on walls or lying on desks but there were a few models perched atop desks.

My biggest concern: finances. I would probably be trundling off to GSAPP in a heartbeat if not for the fact that they offered me no funding for my first year. I've heard this tends to change after your first year but I'm still not sure I can bite off that much in loans right off the bat. A lot of students indicated that they felt it was worth the debt but I still wonder whether being tied to so much debt would prevent me from taking lower-paying job opportunities after school.

When asked why they chose GSAPP, a lot of students simply responded "umm, location". While I suspect that most students are probably too busy to really take advantage of the city, the school is able to pull some highly talented individuals in from the street--whether to lecture for two hours on a Wednesday evening (anybody else impressed with Doug Aitken's lecture) or to give studio crits twelve hours a week.

Hello all. I sense this thread may be dead but I'd like to comment anyway.

I'm working in the cramped first year studio in question as we speak and have been doing so for the past year. It is true that we all complain about the lack of space and we are all jealous of the facilities that many other great institutions have.

But I have to further the opinion that this is not what makes or breaks a great program. Just the same as having 3 or 4 or 10 laser cutters is meaningless. The ideas you create at whatever size desk you have will come to fruition through a combination of hard work and rich meaningful dialogue with your critics and studiomates.

Granted the majority of you who chose GSAPP for next year are going to complain mid way through the first semester and I GUARANTEE that it will make you crazy at times. but rest assured that great ideas come from this madness and the more intense it gets the more you're getting out of it IMO.