1. professors are wonderful-loved them (most of them, one or two i could do without though) students are active, motivated, and competitive, but in a good way. everyone in studio is usually pretty helpful. i wouldn't say it is cut throat, but a good competitive feel.
2. don't live by the lake-try hyde park or north of campus-easy to get to by bike. west campus is close too but it full of undergrads and can be overpriced.
3. many people do residency outside of texas. new york, san fran, london, india, chicago, etc.
I loved it there! Good selection of studios and classes. Congrats and best of luck!
Definitely go visit if you can-and there is a grad student yahoo group you will be added to once you accept and many people will post rentals on there ...also check out craigslist for rentals.

Agreed for the most part with tinydancer.

I lived in both West Campus and North Campus, and i preferred the latter. Many good options just north of campus.

But, while there are opportunities for internships and connections outside of Texas, the school centers its job placement efforts inside the state. You'll most likely have to form your own connections elsewhere.

Still, I loved it there as well.

Agreed with Leonel. West and North Campus are great places to live. You can also try areas around Manor Rd., a neighborhood on the East side that is on the rise. The residency program forms a great opportunity to boost your CV. You should also be making connections as much as you can while you are there. And find ways to get involved and diversify.

Thank you so much! This is great information.

tinydancer - Can i ask why you say not to live near the lake? Is it too far from UT or do you dislike the area for a particular reason?

I'm hoping to find a neighborhood where I can walk to get a cup of coffee, buy groceries, etc. and also be able to bike or take the bus to class. I'd also like to avoid areas with a strong undergrad presence... a mix of mostly grad students and young professionals would ideal. Sounds like North Campus has that?

Again - thanks so much to all of you. I've yet to talk to anyone who doesn't have wonderful things to say about UTSOA and Austin in general. It has me very excited!

lakewest1196, thanks for the thread! I just got the e-mail from UTSOA. So excited. Still waiting on a few other schools to compare financial packages, but SOA is fantastic. Maybe I'll see you there?

Likewise, I've only heard good things about Austin. Especially from Texans.

Hey sixtrain! I'm really excited as well. Are you a fellow NYer? (sixtrain - 6 train?).....

sixtrain... to actually answer your question... you may see me there! I am also waiting on fin. aid information and to hear from other schools. That said, I'm really excited about the program and the SOA at UT so there is a strong chance I will end up there. Are you going to the OH on the 26th?

same.. good chance that I'll end up at UT. fantastic program, great city, AND cheaper tuition is a huge draw. If in a couple weeks I don't hear back from other schools, I'll definitely head out to the open house. tix from JFK to Austin are ridic though, $300 something dollars! but worth it. how 'bout you?

and yea! the one and only 6 train :P

technically a Californian, but living and working in the city after graduating from nyu.

yeah, tickets were surprisingly expensive. im planning to head out though. If you do end up going, let me know. We can swap horror stories about the six train... ha.

Lakewest1196: Congrats on your acceptance to UT. I am a recent graduate who didn't live near campus, but instead lived about 3/4 mile south of Town Lake. It was a great experience all around...since I was on South Congress there's a lot of places to walk to, and the bus goes to campus in about 15 minutes. Another great location is around West Lynn and 13th.

As for UT kids leaving Texas after the Masters...I'm in Chicago, and loving it.

Good luck!

i'm a current ut grad student

1)students/faculty are helpful, accommodating, collaborative, and rarely cut-throat. the atmosphere is somewhat laid-back, which occasionally online here is seen as exhibiting a lack of rigor, which is silly. austin is not nyc, thankfully, and that fact pervades the general attitude. you will work your ass off, but you will not want to jump off a bridge into an icy gorge.

2) live anywhere you like, within reason. if you have a busline, bike, or scooter, you can live just about anywhere. if you're the type to stay in studio all the time, home only for showers and sleep, live in Hyde Park. if you like to work from home now and then, check out the east side and south austin--basically anywhere just east of I 35, anywhere not far west of Mopac Expressway, anywhere north of the 71, and anywhere south of the 50s up north. you'd be fine within those rough boundaries. check out the bus schedules when you look at places http://www.capmetro.org/planner/

3) still figuring this one out myself. the professional residency, as far as i know, is without parallel elsewhere. so exploit that however you can. as far as connections, there are many, but they're not as obvious as some of the eastern school's connections are.

congrats. ut is great.

boundless- pretty much see ocotillo's post on where to live...good advice. if you do plan on staying late in studio, buses don't run terribly late, so plan on that (can't remember what time they stop)..find somewhere easy to ride your bike too..and remember austin ain't flat like the rest of texas!!

congrats! I hear this year was especially competitive, with around 600 applicants, and about 40 spots to fill.

I'm also a grad student, and loving it here.

1. the professors are generally fantastic here, most with fancy pants ivy league resumes and a genuine interest in teaching, and all of them a fantastic resource. the student body is also excellent, with a very high caliber of work coupled with a very collaborative mindset (I think this has to do with austin being a great place to live and the friday night happy hours)

2. I agree with everything mentioned above, and would add that the east side has been a great choice for me... I pay cheap cheap rent for a pretty nice place, and you can bike or scooter to campus no problem. it's getting gentrified, with restaurants, coffee shops, etc within walking distance. the east side has a bad rep, but if you stay close to 35 you'll be fine. though the bus system running to the east side from campus isn't that great. west campus is expensive and noisy, hyde park is expensive and nice...

3. from what I understand, job opportunities in austin are pretty scant, and apparently many people move to bigger ponds like houston after graduation. there are definitely high-quality firms here, but I get the feeling that competition is fierce for the few open positions.
and yes, residency is awesome... ut students have worked all over the world, in many different types of firms.

Hi, does anyone have any experience with UTSOA's summer program? I havent got the chance to meet with anyone who's been to this program. So if you guys are able to shed some light on the program and its focus (more digital? or more model-making? ), I'd be really appreciative ! Thanks.

a fellow student went to the summer program, and from what i gathered it's all conceptual and analog--encouraging one to think like an architect, model, draw, etc. i think its safe to say that UT in general is not preoccupied with training in digital. a few studios have that focus, but overall one is expected to seek that training him/herself. there are quite a bit of opportunities with workshops in the computer lab for that stuff.

thanks ocotillo. Sounds good! I am in fact looking for a program with a focus on model making, more so than design software training.
Would you know if there's any particular profs class I should get into?
I intend to make good use of the summer program to beef up my portfolio substantially, hence I really need to produce some good projects during my time there. Any there any other insights that either you / your friend may have? Would you recommend this program, as compared to programs in say, GSAPP/ Berkeley/ SCI-Arc?

i'm not sure if there is a choice of profs during the summer program, if that's what you mean. if you have questions, you might want to email Kevin Alter, the associate dean. i think he is in charge of the summer program, and he's a super nice guy (a general trend among UT profs, in my experience).

the differences between gsapp/sci-arc and ut are very, very dramatic and fundamental. that is a big personal choice that you would make, i think. berkeley is probably fairly similar. but i'm guessing on that.

ok, I will do just that. Well, I have sent an email to the guys in the admissions office, and am still waiting for a reply. Proabably, I have too many questions on that email.

Dramatic differences ? Yeah, I have to agree with you on this point. I know that SCI-Arc's program is somewhat similar to UTSOA's, with a focus on teaching students how to conceptualize and construct, while Berkeley teaches more of the digital stuff. Very little on analog/conceptual stuff. Not too sure about what's going on at GSAPP. Seems like they have a bit of everything and it kinda depends on what each individual wants out of the program.

BTW, have you attended any sch's summer program before?

never did a summer program, but seems like a good idea.

I've been accepted into the m.arch.II program and I'm planning on driving down for the open house next friday.

Are there any grads of the post professional program here on archinect? I'm trying to decide if this program is a good move for me. I'll be graduating with a b.arch in may and the job outlook is pretty dim. As a native Texan, the utsoa program is the best bang for the buck out there. One of my professors has expressed concern that the program might not open up as many opportunities outside of the region. It's good to hear that others have had luck with that.

So my questions are for anyone familiar with the m.arch.II

1. Are there ample resources and opportunities for exploration? (Broad question, but I have felt limited by what information and people I have had access to in my undergrad program)

2. Is the m.arch.II program as strong as the m.arch.I?

3. Is it smart to enter the program without a clear definition of what I want to do with it? I applied for the architectural design path. I'm interested in practicing for a while and possibly returning to education in the future. Is a generic post-professional degree valuable?

I know that I'll have a better understanding of the whole picture after the open house on friday, but I'm interested in input outside of the formal setting.

Any thoughts are very welcome!
Thanks!

thisismyname,

I've also been accepted to MArch II. Have you re recieved anything in the mail yet?

I have lots of questions and I won't be able to make it to the open house. I'm curious about the oppertunites to explore beyond our intended path and the oppertunities for collaboration. I'm also wondering about the size of the class, I know MARCH II are usually small in size but I read somewhere that is 7? I'm hoping I misunderstood and the class size is not that small