<p>lol smagster - a dirty hippie eh? well, unless you go to a military academy or deep springs or something there's room for partying everywhere - its just the architecture type kids who are less likely to be out of control partiers on the weekends ;) so i mean, the kids were already on vacation when i went, but the people i saw/met were a ton less uptight than say when i visited harvard. go find jiminey is my suggestion... he's lived with the people for 4 months already</p>
<p>great list Smagster. Wow, you're really down for Rice!</p>
<p>grats! bneg. yeah, that feeling of leaving out something...it's all sweet :) no worries.</p>
<p>Hey guys....thanks for the compliment on the schools jrock. I am really down for rice, your right. Oh and congrats Bneg. Jcro, yeah a dirty hippie...you love it...jcro did you get my message dude?? I just started using this forum site so im still working out the bugs with it, not sure exactly if im doing it right.<br>
Well i got my psats back yesterday. I take my sats january but was very disappointed with my psats. Some say sats are easier and some say there harder then the psats so im hoping the sat is easier for me. I got around an 1800. not horrible but not what I was hoping for, ecspecially for rice. However, i haven't taken any prepatory classes yet and i hope that those will boost me up at least 100 points ( goal of a 2000 ).<br>
Feedback please (raise my spirits, but don't lie if possible :) )</p>
<p>wait, smagster, i just need to get this out of my mind: when you say pot-smoking, are you serious or is that just an adjective ? :)</p>
<p>regarding SAT's, the rule we've come up with so far is: an average of 680 or above is excellent, and after that it's presonality, pf, and passion. also, i think this is true for SAT II's as well, so even if you don't do well again on I you have a chance to prove yourself with II's. also writing is supposed to be a bit icky from what i've heard so colelges aren't considering that much this year; it might change soon, but the PSAT score you got is still the icky score, so i hope that raises your spirits!!</p>
<p>standardized testing sucks. in both the PSATs and SATs math sections, they're not allowed to ask anything you didnt learn in algebra II, geometry, or lower so instead they make everything as complicated as possible with wording - one of the questions in the last test i took was really asking what 13 + 4 was. so it's all about cutting through the excess complication and budgeting your time. vocab, unless you study really hard there's nothing much you can do about that and writing and reading comprehension are also about 80% time management skills. oh how i hate the system. the best (and in my opinion, the only) way to prepare for either test is practice tests over and over. its not like theres anything to learn. its also alot about luck - what day you take it and who else takes it that day (cause its scored on the curve), what order your sections are in (cause if you get stuck with 3 reading comprehension in a row, i dont know anyone whose brain wouldn't be fried by the 3rd one), and oh yeah - my favorite - the random elimination of one of the 10 sections... was is the one you did worst on? cause that would significantly raise your grade... or was it the one you did best on? cause that would do the opposite. it's a tough world out there with all that SAT junk. so practice, practice, practice!! my score went up 110 pts from the first to second SAT run, and of course it couldve been luck but i also took 5 practice tests in between. if you get the college-board printed review book you get 8 practice tests in the back (and about 300 pages of review too, but those are mostly useless). so there's my SAT haters club speech hope you dont think im too much of a whiner now... lol. and everyone that reads this has no excuse now - you have to see the movie "the perfect score" (its about these kids who steal the SATs cause one of them, the main guy, doesnt do as well as he wanted and hes afraid he wont get into cornell's architecture program. oh sure, it's a completely horrible movie, but i can relate, and there's this awesome character named Roy who is hilarious.)smagster especially you would appreciate this movie lol so go rent it! right now! haha and watch for roy!</p>
<p>is there seriously a movie like that???!!! out of all these programs in the states they chose cornell arch!! what a coincidence~</p>
<p>anyway, let me add to the luck thing: i took it twice and my math score alone dropped by 110 the second time, and i seriously did not forget any of my math between the two testings.</p>
<p>well guys... by the likes of it i just might drop out of highschool...ughhh</p>
<p>MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! HAPPY HANUKAH!! AND CRAZY KWANZA TO YOU ALL!</p>
<p>hey, so im glad to see so many (well...two people atleast) want to go to rice.
did i meet you jcro? i may have, i own that studio, so you would have seen me. im kidding.
and theres nothing wrong with pot-smoking hippies. smagster, if you ever come to rice, there are quite a few of us there.</p>
<p>yeah jiminey i emailed you before but once i got to rice i didnt have computer access and i was only there for a day and it was after most exams were through so i didnt try to contact you again, i figured youd already be home. unless youre still in texas(?) but anyway i loved it the only thing i wish i coulve seen more of is the residential buildings and plus my parents want to see it so well prolly all go down again in feb. (if i get in) wish me luck!</p>
<p>well, i hope to see you in feb too...if you want to contact me, my email is <a href="mailto:sohael@rice.edu">sohael@rice.edu</a>
thatll be much easier because i dont like cc.</p>
<p>and i did in fact forget something....i forgot that besides CSS/international financial aid app there's a US financial aid app.</p>
<p>Jrock, did your brother talk about the safety of the student campus at IIT?? How is it?? I just heard Cin is horrible.</p>
<p>safety is not a problem at all at IIT...very small campus, very small population and adequate security personnel. while i was there, the security was palpable.</p>
<p>[i'll reply your email soonest. forgive :)]</p>
<p>i am beginning to think that it will be too scary to attend cin with the safety issues and co-op (like "anywhere usa", which by the way is an excellent song)...oh no, baby's going to cry!</p>
<p>no worries about the email; sometimes i have tons to say but i just can't say it at the time~</p>
<p>hi,, I read this forum about a few months before and I've finally registered..</p>
<p>I just want to ask some questions..
but first I'll give a brief intro,. ok,.. I'm Nick, chinese, grade 11, studying in a boarding school in Canada... My school marks are only about 85, going to take SAT in January..</p>
<p>Being an architect has been my ambititon since when i was a kid.. and I've taken some Architecture summer courses in University of Hong kong before... which makes me more firm of my future career as an architect..</p>
<p>I just want to know some universities in the states that are good in architecture..also, i would like to know how many years i need to study... </p>
<p>P.S .. Is UCLA a good architecture school? and how many years required?</p>
<p>THANK YOU EVERYONE!</p>
<p>search the word "rankings" in this thread; there's a top ten list somewhere here but i don't remember where. Oregon, illinois IT and another school is at 11/12 on the list. If you are concerned with money, there are only a few schools that are worth considering. And it also seems like you are concerned with time!! That's what I'm concerned about as well; everything in the top ten list is the shortest you can get (including u cin.), and combining these two factors along with no TOEFL I suggest Cornell, IIT, U cincinnati, U texas at austin and Cooper union (TOEFL required tho).
UCLA is a good school in general but i don't think it's that good for architecture....if you're considering taking 6.5 to 7 years to get your degree (which has its advantages) you might as well try princeton or yale or other programs that suit you academically.</p>
<p>ok.. thx.. </p>
<p>i don't hv much knowledge and information abt colleges in US..</p>
<p>I know Cornell is an IVY league school, hard to get in..
but since i believe there aren't a lot of people trying to get into Architecture
( tat's just what i think as there are only like 2 or 3 people aiming for architectre at my school).. will it be easier to get into Architecture in Cornell then other majors? such as engineering and stuff??</p>
<p>If you're looking for good schools for architecture, University of British Columbia has a very highly ranked undergraduate program of Environmental Design, which you would top off with two years graduate study. Very highly recommended, since you're in Canada.</p>
<p>Also the University of Washington is among the best architecture schools. Very competitive, but well worth it from what I have heard. I myself will be studying Urban Planning at UW, which is housed in the same school as architecture. I believe architecture is a five-year program at UW.</p>
<p>Also consider UCLA, University of Southern California, MIT, UVA, Wash U in St. Louis, UT at Austin, Columbia, Syracuse, UC-San Diego. These schools are very selective, I know, but I'm sure you have good academic stats.</p>
<p>If you're looking for a school with emphasis on New Urbanist design (very popular in the US right now - that's why I'm going into planning myself) then University of Miami is the best school for you. Their whole department is very intensive on New Urbanist theory, and the school's dean (Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk) is one of the movement's most prolific architects. Check out more at <a href="http://www.dpz.com%5B/url%5D">www.dpz.com</a> (Duany-Plater-Zyberk, the architectural firm)</p>
<p>If you need less competitive schools, check out Washington State University, Arizona State, Oregon State, U Mass system, there are many others.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>nic -
hmm, dunno about engineering at cornell, but the arch program is pretty competitive - 5% acceptance. from what i've heard, other than cooper union its the hardest to get into in the country.... coop is also 5%. USC is 7%, Rice is 9%... makes harvard and princeton sound pretty good! (they're both around 11 or 12% for their regular undergrad admission) Once you get into looking at schools for architecture, forget ivies, forget public vs private - its all really different when a school has its own "School of Architecture." Architecture is an amazing field, but tough because almost everyone applying is sooo dedicated. to get into a top ranked school you have to have the stats of a pre-med student, the sketching skills of a fairly good artist, a killer essay and (if you're doing an interview) a memorable personality.
Ok, sorry if I freaked you out there - hmm yeah I'm reading it over and it sounds pretty dismal. But I'm not one to sugarcoat it for you, I tell no lies. I didn't realize any of this last year as a junior - like you, I didn't know architecture was a popular major. In fact I'm the only one in my senior class going out for arch and they all think I'm crazy for doing it. The key is not to get overwhelmed and to give yourself a lot of options...
I knew I couldn't compete with the super-kids who do it all, I mean I have about a 90 grade average, and good sat's, but my portfolio was wayyy sub-par. I tried to make up for it by working extremely hard on my essay and trying to make it really show who it was so they could waive the other less-strong parts of my application. I also come from a school that puts a big emphasis on public speaking and communications skills, so my interview (I only have done one so far, at Rice) went really well.
so, the options! balance, balance, balance!
I applied to 3 "Reach" schools: Harvard, Princeton, Rice
2 "Good Shots," CalPoly (28%) and University of Miami (~20%)
and 3 "Safeties," University of Hawai'i (acc. rate?), Arizona State (80%), and Roger Williams (60%)
None of my choices, however, compromised the quality of the program, they each had something really cool going for them.
For example, Hawai'i isn't the hardest program to get into, but they have an amazing multi-cultural focus and if you stay with them (in their intense program) for 7 years, you come out with an architectual doctorate. you also have the option of spending a year in Italy AND a year in Hong Kong! Roger Williams has this "Bridges to connect the world" program thing going on and there's a lot of work with Mediterranean cities as well as the Rebuilding effort in Afghanistan. Arizona State is a 4 + 2 program rather than a 5, (all of the above are 5-yr except Harvard) but they do a lot of work with Pheonix and there's a lot of freedom to spill over into lots of minor concentrations like auto design and civil engineering ( :) these are the things I'm interested in..) The rest of my places have really cool stuff too but I wont get into it right now cause I'm not trying to bore you I swear!
But I do have to mention, as crazyschtick talked about, University of Miami and how it has its whole New Urbanism thing going on which I'm crazy in love with. Yeah - some of you probably read me saying blah blah blah I love Rice... so if I get into both places I would never be able to decide and I just might cry and not go to college at all. Pray for me I'll only get into one of 'em ;)
ANYHOW....
It's all about what YOU want nic and what you're looking for... ratings are informative and sometimes useful but the truth is you wont make a lot of money as an architect anyway so why not go with the school that has the program you most love and would most enjoy doing....good luck with it all, feel free to send me message with questions here on cc anytime, I've spent a lot of looking at what colleges have to offer in arch (perhaps too much) and I would love to make my "knowledge" useful! again, GOOD LUCK to all!</p>
<p>~~J to the Cro~~
ps. Crazy... can't even try to spell it...
I'm doing this huge project on New Urbanism for my Physics class and I'm currently reading "Suburban Nation" by Duany/Zybeck/Speck... it's pretty much the most absorbing/interesting book I've ever read, defintely the best non-fiction I've ever picked up so I recommend it (if you haven't already read it!) and I recommend it to everyone else, too, who is interested in the city-planning aspect of arch</p>
<p>New Urbanism: Saving the World Through Architecture... GO TEAM!</p>
<p>ok sorry, how very vague of me... just to clear things up:</p>
<p>"Crazy... can't even try to spell it" was an attempt at addressing crazyschteck specifically. oh now see I did spell it wrong, but you know what I mean... from now on I'll just call you crazy. Not to worry, consider it an affectionate term :)</p>