I am not sure yet if I will be attending UCLA next year but I will be going to the Open House! Booked a room through airbnb for 3 nights.

If I end up going I will definitely do the Jumpstart because of the Architectural History prerequisite that I am missing!

Does anyone know if Greg Lynn and Thom Mayne teach M.Arch 1 or just the Suprastudio?

I'll be at the Open House, although I'm not necessarily leaning towards UCLA.

When I lived in LA in 2009-2010, craigslist was a good way to find housing. I think UCLA has their own site for places around campus, too.

See you both there!

Bumping this back up to the top with an ask that people provide thoughts after the open house this weekend! 

I unfortunately cannot make it down but am 99% certain I'm accepting at UCLA, so I'd love to hear final thoughts before I do next week.

^ditto. Can't make it to the open house due to geographic and financial reasons. However, I'd love to hear about the feedback after the open house!

I can comment on any questions you guys have since I was an arch. undergrad there and i was roommates with arch grad students throughout their graduate years.

-thom mayne and greg lynn sometimes teaches M.arch 1 studios (most of the time third year, but thom mayne has though a 2nd year studio before). Its very random. i think last year thom mayne taught a m.arch 1 studio but it was research heavy. A lot of research was focused on Haiti. But Neil Denari teaches M.arch 1 regularly. 

-For Housing - There's UCLA Graduate Housing that is  near campus, or there are UCLA apartments which is scattered about within a 10 mile radius.

-If youre looking for an apt, I think it would be best to actually go there and check around the area. 

TIP: IF you guys are DONE WITH HANGING AROUND UNDERGRADS AND SHIT, you want to live SOUTH OF WILSHIRE. North of Wilshire is where MOST of the undergrads live and the apts are usually dirtier, but its walking distance to campus.  Parties are pretty popping in that area, louder, and more lively.

If you live in some areas of South of Wilshire, they have a Free shuttle, but it usually stops around 8-9pm so if you stay in studio beyond that you have to walk home. But the apartments are usually clean, bigger, and cheaper. the area is quieter, more mature, still a good amount of students from grad students to undergrads who are just done with that shit (usually in their 3rd/4th year).

FOR THOSE WHO ARE GOING, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE ONE OF THE BEST TIMES IN YOUR LIFE. IF YOU NEVER EXPERIENCED LA OR CA, OR UC SYSTEM, IT IS GREAT. GREAT CAMPUS SPIRIT, GREAT RESOURCES, GREAT AREA. GOOD FOOD.

Thanks for the tips, batman. (I feel a bit like Officer Gordon saying that...)

I'm going down for Jumpstart so hopefully those 6 weeks will give me a good idea of the area, since I've only been for their October open house and didn't wander off campus at all. Balancing not bringing a vehicle, wanting a decent apartment, and wanting to get home from studio late at night with ease sounds like a challenge. I shall start the hunt south of Wilshire.

to FULLY ENJOY LA - Definitely get a car.

but you can get to studio  from south of wilshire  blvd with a bike in like 15-20 min.

Bump

So did anyone of you guys ended up going to UCLA's open house? What's your impression?

@shte89 and @iematraveler - any insights from the Open House?

I just registered for Jumpstart and am trying to hunt down my official acceptance from the Graduate department (apparently applying to dual degrees causes all sorts of delays and errors so I still haven't received the Graduate department letter). I guess I've made a final decision!

Yes! Sorry. I didn't have an alert set for this conv.

UCLA really paraded their faculty around and made them VERY available for two days. I had several nice chats with Neil Denari (he complimented my earrings :) ). I was at the lunch table with Hitoshi Abe and Dana Cuff. I really connected with Dana Cuff's work through cityLAB and it's definitely something I would pursue if I went to UCLA. I only heard excellent things about their theory profs, especially Sylvia Lavin. Craig Hodgetts and Greg Lynn are mainly involved in the Suprastudio, so don't go expecting facetime with them, but Neil Denari always teaches M.Arch 1.

I snuck off from all the lectures at one point to visit the studios. The facility feels older, but it's got charm, with studios up in lofts with totally non-ADA spiral staircases and stuff. Getting into studios is done through a fair lottery, getting TAships is done through a process noone understands. Didn't get a chance to see the shop at UCLA (just the Suprastudio one, which felt tiny and empty compared to what I know at Berkeley).

I heard mixed reviews from the current students. Some loved it. They liked that the quarter system allowed them to produce LOTS of work, things were fast paced, they had lots for put in their portfolios. Others said that the school had bad studio culture (which makes sense to me when going to studio might mean being stuck in traffic for an hour), but others said it varies a lot per class. Some students had just gotten back from a studio that traveled to Albania (!) and they all couldn't stop talking about it. Dana Cuff just took a group of M.Archs to Japan on a fully funded trip. A student told me that he was surprised by how many travel possibilities there are, since it's not something that was touted. 

And LA is an interesting place. I lived there for a year a while back. It wasn't for me, but I respect it. It has lovely weather, great, diverse food, and lots of interesting things to see and do. It still has great radio (KCRW!) and great DVD rental stores.  However, you have to like driving, people are flaky (mainly because the driving makes getting together a big commitment), and people are weirdly celeb-focused. Architecturally, since no one ever made any strict rules, there is lots of opportunity to be really creative and build wild things, so that is inspiring to be around. You also can feel surrounded by suburbia, which is less inspiring.

The open house was very useful. Although, in the end, I am still against going back for three years when I can go elsewhere for two. I left feeling more positively about being able to pursue my interests within their program, but less positively about their studio culture. I tried to keep an open mind, but my visit did not counteract my feeling of not wanting to be in Los Angeles. But that's just subjective.

Hope this helps!

On a side note, what is Suprastudio even for? Why would you get 2 M.Archs (and it's not accredited, either)? If I want more school, I'll get a PhD or M.UP. Suprastudio is segregated in this chilly warehouse with the robots on the other side of town, surrounded by tumbleweeds. Seriously, tumbleweeds. It seems like something to make the school lots of money (no instate tuition!) to spend a year with a couple famous architects and robots. And I'm not sure why they took us there since there were only M.Arch 1s on my bus.

Now that April 15th has come and gone... bumping this thread back to the top to see if I can find any M.Arch I classmates.