Some LA schools provide educations that are more mobile then others. Programs with lots of travel studios (both domestic and international), tend to teach a broader understanding of ecologies and landscape, so you can adapt to a myriad of locations. Programs like the GSD, UPenn, and UVA have very strong alumni networks around the world that can assist you where ever you land.

On the other hand, many public universities are very regionally focused and don't offer much exposure to landscapes/ecosystems/cultures outside of their state. There are exceptions, and you often find clusters of alumni in specific places.

However, you can overcome any bias or lack of knowledge with persistence.

Personally, I moved from the east coast to Los Angeles, then to Minnesota. east to west was easy. heading into the midwest was much more challenging. From the culture shock, to learning a new plant palette, different building code, adjusting to the continental climate, each place has a learning curve.

Of my current students, it seems that 80% will be staying in the upper Midwest. the other 20% are from elsewhere and are likely to be leaving after graduation.

I've heard that UBC has a significant asian student population, along with many practitioners from the other side of the pacific.

as a real world example of barry's point about programs like the GSD, Penn, etc... one of my good friends graduated last year from the GSD... he spent a few months working for a small studio in a tiny town in switzerland... he wasn't able to get a work visa from switzerland and is now moving to work for a big firm in hong kong...

Thank you! UBC's significant Asian population is quite a draw for me, although I'm also considering University of Washington - I know Seattle has a fairly good-sized Asian population as well, although I don't know how well-connected internationally the MLA department is (they have a few study abroad programs...) It's too late to consider the other programs and they would have been too expensive for me anyways...

It's encouraging to hear that your friend has been able to find work in both Europe and Asia... even if it was GSD that did it for him.

Hi Kyara,

I have the same concerns/goals as you, and have also been accepted to the UBC MLA program for Fall 2010. I know there are several exchanges (none with schools in East Asia, but a few in Australia/New Zealand), and I believe there is a Japan studio every 2 years or so. As far as international opportunities post-graduation: I have no idea, but let's share information if we come across anything else!

UBC has exchanges with schools in Asia I believe... Not sure about the landscape architecture school in particular, although I believe one of the landscape architecture students was an exchange student from Japan who ended up staying in Vancouver... There is a permanent exchange with Ristumeikan University in Japan I believe... In fact there is a Ristumeikan residence building at UBC that was built to house those exchange students... A couple of my architecture colleagues lived there when I was there, although they were not involved in the exchange program...

The Asian Studies program at UBC is also I believe one of the top schools in north america... Not sure that any of this relates directly to the landscape architecture program, but the larger university certainly has ties to a bunch of the schools in Asia... I know Hong Kong U is one of them...

I do also know of a guy who I think graduated from the MLA at the University of Toronto who went on to work in Boston and then London...

middleamerica, are you planning to attend UBC then? I'm really torn. I know Vancouver has that great Asian Studies program that brink mentioned, and UW has a great Japanese program and a technical Japanese certificate program (and I also know I'm kidding myself if I think I'd have time to pursue that while doing my MLA), which makes me think other departments might have Japanese connections as well. I should probably just email the LA department at UW and ask them.

I would suggest visiting the schools and having alook around... Both are good schools... I know the architecture school at ubc has a study abroad in japan every other year if your interest is to study in japan... Not sure if landscape students can do that study abroad, you might call and ask... The campuses of u w and ubc are quite different also, maybe worth visiting...

I live in Japan now... visiting is, sadly, not an option... I've been to (and loved) both Seattle and Vancouver before, though.

I'm studying architecture a little now (very informally and part-time) at a Japanese university... my interest would be to work here someday. So the study-abroad aspect of the MLA department I choose is interesting, but not really crucial for me. I'm more interested in how easy it will be to move around in a future career. Landscape architecture as a career doesn't seem to be as established here as it is in North America...

Well, I went to school for M Arch at UBC in Vancouver, and I currently live in Seattle working, not too familiar with teh landscape architecture programs, but I would say both UW and UBC are internationally known schools... I think UBC is well known in Asia, like in Taiwan and Hong Kong for example, there is a large population of chinese immigrants in Vancouver...

Regarding Japan, my impression, from what I've heard of the Japanese people I know is that in Japan the big name American schools are probably more well known there: Berkely, Harvard, UCLA, etc. simply because people are not as familiar with north american schools in Japan... As far as the *elite* landscape architecture schools go, I would point at Harvard, U Penn, and Berkely on the west coast, although they are all pricey... And I'm not sure how much it matters where you go, IMHO it's more what you do and who you might know generally (I think it's alot of individual initiative)...

I think there may be some people on this forum who have studied in north america and gone on to work in Japan: *jump* is one... maybe you can message him... He went to I believe University of Manitoba and then an IVY league school and is now practicing in Japan... I do also know of, at UBC one friend of mine who studied at UBC, and is currently doing a PHD (on sustainable lighting design) remotely from Vancouver with a school in Japan, so I think you can manage that... As far as recognition goes, I do know that some of the profs at UBC have connections in Japan... I recall one of my profs was entering an international competition with one of the big name Japanese architects, I forget which one... Maybe it was Fumihiko Maki... The prof who worked on that was Jerzy Wojtowicz...

We also, at the school, had one studio which I believe were a *joint* studio, also with Jerzy (via webcast) with a school in Japan (in the architecture school)... You might consider sending Jerzy an email to ask his opinion on this if you are going to apply, I'm pretty sure he knows some people in Japan...

If you email message me I could also connect you with a Japanese colleague of mine who did landscape architecture at UBC, I believe she is now working in Vancouver though...

I don't know anybody in landscape at UW...

One other thing I might add is that, I think out of school, if you were to land a first job at am internationally well known landscape firm here in the States first, I'd imagine the work experience might be equally as important, or more recognizable to landscape firms in other countries... You might want to look ahead to gaining some north American landscape firms you would want to work for long run... The job market right now is very tough in north America... But I'd say the meccas of landscape architecture here are Boston, San Francisco, and New York as far as top firms go...

Wow bRink, thanks a lot for that detailed response. Lots of threads to run with there. I am leaning UBC at the moment, so your information is super useful. Thank you!!

Just occurred to me that another tenured UBC faculty member you might talk to in the architecture school who has an interest in landscape and also Asia I think, is Bill Pechet... http://pechetandrobb.com/ He's an architect, but does some interesting designs for cemetaries and urban public art... I believe he used to organize the study abroad to Japan for the architecture school... Has won some landscape design awards... I recall he did a design for a large cemetary in China also...