WASHU

shay

thanks for respond, but can u tell me the reasons ?

I think Wash U is a better school with a much better reputation... more well-rounded. Great global focus. St Louis sucks but it is a beautiful case-study for "how a city went wrong"... its all how you look at it.

WashU is essentially a mid-west Ivy league school... its facilities are top notch and very impressive. Pratt has its location going for it...

Look at the websites, research the professors, and examine the student work.

When it comes down to it you need to go wherever you feel the most strongly about.

Good luck!

thank you guesswho,

I could see many negative comments about Pratt here and in the Internet. Is Pratt really wack??

If you guys get same admissions with me, can you choose Washu easily???

I am an int'l applicant. So I dont know about the US well and definitely St.Louis is very strange to me,, but NYC,,,attractive,,,

It is really hard to choose one school,,,

any advice would be helpful!

wash u. I visited; it's a great school.

zga thank you!

are you going to enroll at washu? and have you ever visited other schools?

I heard that Pratt got the old prof. of Columbia and there are prof. who give lectures both in Upenn and Pratt. I am also accepted to both of these schools, I would choose Pratt over WashU however WashU offered generous scholarship to me. Oh btw. i guess i am not going to go there too.

delirious

have you decided to attend at Pratt finally??? Or do you have another option?? And any other reasons except prof.??

di.k.

I am still trying to decide between WUSTL and another school (UO) for very different reasons not worth mentioning... but I was at the Wash U open house and it is really a fantastic place. Very engaging faculty, beautiful facilities, and just a very solid program overall...

I would say wash u over pratt... reputation-wise Wash U is a better school and consistently shows up high in the rankings...

While there are definite pros to studying in NYC, WUSTL def sold its location well in terms of using St Louis as a paradigm of failed urban policy and as a laboratory to experiment and reimagine troubled urban enviornments.

Good luck

I haven't visited any other schools, but I chose Wash U over Upenn and Michigan. It seems like Pratt is mainly focused on experimental investigations having to do with (parametric) fabrication. Pratt is an art school. Wash U has that if you're into it (I am); but it has other focuses, more diversity. My impressions are that Wash U also prepares students better to practice architecture, to build buildings, than Pratt. Nothing against Pratt; I have a friend who is there and he really likes it.

ADavin most of people say universities are better than design schools or art schools. but I have wanted to attend art schools for a long time. this is the dilema,,,,, I even didnt know anything about washu but I feel this is good sooooo hard, but thanks for good info..

zga thanks for your respond! I feel washu is really good. most people recommend it. actually I think I wanted to see many good words about pratt,,,kkk,,, yeah I feel washu is attractive,,, but I amd like,,, I still dont want to go to st.louis.:( thanks!



any other opinion???

hey di.k...

I'm currently in graduate school at WUSTL and am very pleased with my decision to attend. Email me if you have any specific questions about St. Louis or the graduate program at WUSTL (just click my username for the profile page and email link). Otherwise, I'll restate and add to something I said in another thread:

Living in St. Louis is actually better than I expected. And keep in mind--you'll be in architecture school (not working a 9-5 job)...for the amount of free time you'll have, St. Louis has plenty to offer. Low cost of living and a lot of quality housing near campus are a big upside in my book...

I lived and worked in New York for a couple of years before moving to St. Louis for grad school (and was a juror for a couple of undergrad reviews at Pratt). The two cities can't really be compared, but you'll be in school for a few years, and can always work in New York during summers or after graduation. Each of the other schools that I was accepted to was in or near to a city far more appealing than St. Louis, but since this was only one factor among many in my consideration of where to attend, I ultimately picked WUSTL--in spite of its location. Now that I'm here, I see St. Louis as more of an asset than I could have imagined. As a laboratory for studying pressing urban issues, it is among the best places in the states to be. Plus, with international semesters, etc., you'll have plenty of opportunity to be directly exposed to world class cities.

AP Thank you for good info.. what do you think about pratt??? Actually I dont know whether I can get a job in the US or not after graduation... so I think my situation is quite different from the US students.

di.k .. Don't know where you got your estimate for cost @ Pratt per year average but I think the 16000 is per semester. Finishing up my 1st year here at Pratt -- btw .. my choice was between Pratt and UPenn last year. I think alot of the neg. comments aim at Pratt is towards the administration, not the quality of education at the school.
Also, to clear up some misconception ..
No .. we don't only have professors that use to teach at Columbia .. most of them teaches studios and seminars between Columbia, UPenn, and even as far as Sci Arc .. My studio professor last year commute weekly between Sci Arc and Pratt.
It is a very conceptual school of course but not because ITS AN ART SCHOOL .. Our concentration is heavy on the parametric fabrication but our curriculum is aim at pushing the limit for architecture. We do have classes that teaches you what you need to know as an architecture and your third and forth semester rotation are Mixed Used and CAP ..
We are also a technology heavy oriented school so be ready to drop 3000 on a new computer coming here.
I agree that you shouldn't put location as priority..but the ability to visit top notch museums galleries has been a great bonus to my time here so far. We also had a great lecture series this semester. Calatrava was just here today .. Brett Steel, Steven Holl, and Daniel Liberskind also visited this semester.
I understand the Pratt bashing to a certain extent but the education has been great for me .. just need to get their act together with the administrative part. Hope this helps

ZeroPulse Thanks,, this is the first good comment about pratt,,, are you at graduate school or under..?? And can you tell me how did you estimate the $16,000/se?? without tuition?? And now are you satisfied about your decision-pratt instead of upenn??

di.k. ..
I'm a MArch 1 grad. You have to realize that their estimate tuition is for master program in general and most of the art program here only requires you to take 9 credit hours ... If you are entering the MArch program, you will be taking 14 credit hrs/semester. I think we pay something like 1175/credit hr .. that adds up really quick ..
To be honest, I think you will always swing back and forth between what could have happen when making a decision like this. The classes so far has been challenge and engaging enough that I don't think I made a wrong one. In any case both school are pretty top notch ( as in the decision you have to make) so whatever you decide, make sure that there are some incentive for making it. Good luck ..

zeropulse Thanks actually I estimated $1,700/m for my living expenses in NYC without tuition. I can share a studio with one of my friends, if I stay in there. Do u think is it enough???


And in St.Louis, $1,300/m- Can any body advice about this??? In St.Louis, I wanna use a studio by myself coz I don't want to share with person who I dont know,,,

di.k ... I'm probably the worst person to ask about budget for living expenses. I would guess you need around 1100 (generally) for rent which leaves you 600 for food, utilities, supplies and personal spending .. To be honest that might fly if you are really careful with you spending. Since starting here, I really don't have the time to cook and have been eating out every day .. my spending is roughly 2000/m for living expenses .. including supplies and material for school. If you are doing a studio share, I 'm pretty sure that would be cheaper .. a decent studio around Pratt cost 1300/m split between two would make it 650 -- if thats the case you're good to go with your budget ...

$1300/m in STL is really high for a studio (apartment?)
A quick search on apartments.com turned up a one bedroom close to campus in a nice area (clayton) for $675. There are way cheaper apts than that to be had, depending on where you want to live.

and even if you're est $700 just for rent, I doubt you'd need an additional $600 for other expenses.

but seriously, you'll spend so much time in studio, sharing should be an option you consider.