Hi,

I'm applying for AADRL this year and I would like to know a bit more about it in terms of what it's like, not just the info I can read on the official site.

Basically I'd like to know what kind of process do applicants go through, what should I pay special attention to in my portfolio, what life in the AA is like.

I guess the questions would be something like this:

Portfolio advice?

Is getting in easy of difficult? (I intend to pay the tuition myself, but I'm not sure my current portfolio is very close to what I've seen there, maybe one project directly employs the strategies of AADRL)

Is it worth it?

What is the environment of the school like? (formal/informal, how do classes work, I read about the structure of the semester but I would like some stories about the experiences there)

What is your typical day like? (basically in terms of classes, workload and so on, also how does the group system work, are you given time to get to know other or are you just paired randomly)

3D software? (I know Rhino and dabble in Grasshopper, but  that's pretty much it for now)

I think what I'm trying to ask is whether someone could tell me a few stories with experiences at the AADRL that go into more detail that : oh it's awesome, it's progressive, it's fascinating. I want the everyday boring stuff too. What should I expect?