<p>ps. hawaiiarch, im going to be totally corny and 80's-movie-ish and say go with your heart! it would be so wrong not to. the only mistake i made thinking miami was where my heart said to go when really i had just wanted it for so long it was just what i was used to. or maybe my heart changed its mind. and money's a legitimate concern and all but for me i'd rather take on an extra loan or two instead of going to, say, asu honors for a couple thousand less.</p>
<p>Hey yall, I was accepted into Cornells architecture program and I had a few questions. Im well aware of how extremely intense their program is, and Im totally up for the challenge. However, is it equally intense week-in and week-out throughout the whole semester or does the intensity exponentially pick up as deadlines approach? Im asking this because Im curious if it is possible to stay on top of things and at the same time pursue some other hobbies and have a social life when deadlines are not within a week. Also, can many of the all-nighters be prevented by not procrastinating and just keeping up with the work from the beginning rather than putting something together in the last few days? Im sure all-nighters are inevitable because there is always a way to make a project better and architects, usually being the perfectionists they are, are always consumed in endeavoring this. However, the idea of pulling four all-nighters in a row is a scary prospect. So to sum up, I realize how rigorous the program is, and Im sure Ill see the projects more as a really fun hobby rather than work. But is it still possible to maybe play tennis once in a while or go skiing over the weekend? Also, on a side-note, how common is it for students to go to New York City (or somewhere else out of Ithaca) over weekends and such? </p>
<p>Thanks for your comments! </p>
<p>Oh yea, and Im from Texas and in no way is it like the stereotypes placed on it (unless you go out into the countryside, which is probably another story). The cities are really urban rather than cowboy towns. Houston is pretty cosmopolitan and Rice is in a really nice part of it. Im thinking the cities are more of a mix in political leanings and I know Austin is quite liberal. However, it does get extremely hot so if youre into a lot of outdoor activities that might require a little getting used to. But if you like to stay indoors, there is air conditioning everywhere so you cant even tell its hot outside. I got waitlisted at Rice so Im mostly down to UT Austin or Cornell right now (still waiting on financial aid from Cornell).</p>
<p>Hey everyone.. I got waitlisted at Cornell for arch.. does anyone know approx. how many ppl are in the architecture waitlist/got off the waitlist? Also, do you guys have suggestions of what to do? </p>
<p>I know that I'll have to accept other school's offer before I know if I get off the waitlist or not... I'm considering rice/cmu/usc.. and maybe uc berkeley even though I'm not leaning towards the 4 yr program... </p>
<p>btw jcro that was a good review regarding rice/cmu|houston/pittsburgh :D</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your help! haha, Jcro, I'm going with my heart, but now my heart is so confused that it's hard to follow :-p </p>
<p>boxster, every arch program is super intensive. I mean the "archies" get their respect because they give up so much in the way of social activites to pursure their career. Cornell, being known as one of the MOST intensive programs, will probably be crazy. Not to mention that every school in Cornell is already known as super hard (I'm pretty sure Cornell has the highest suicide rate in the country ;-) ) I think that if you have the oppretunity, you should take it, especially if your only other option is UT Austin. If finincial aid is a concern, wait for it and see what happens but Cornell isn't known for their aid. Good luck and congrats on getting in! Also, thanks for the TX review. Comming from HI I really want to live a "real winter" haha, and I've loved the snow whenever I've experienced it. I dont' know if I can handle more hot weather (and tropical hot is so much better than continential hot i hear.)</p>
<p>arabesque, the waitlisting really depends on who goes to Cornell. Most people who get accepted into the program, accept the offer so there aren't many open spots for those on waitlist. But there's a chance! Berkeley has a really good grad program, but I'm not sure about their undergraduate stuff... Oh! and on suggestions, you NEED to write a letter if you're waitlisted, every college says to do it and they'll look over your letter when they go over the waitlisted applicants. Basically show that you still have interest in the program and maybe even, if you can, show how you're application has improved with senior year... pretty hard for most to do, damn senoritis... heh ok thanks!</p>
<p>later</p>
<p>arabesque - congrats on your other acceptances though that bites about cornell... if youre thinking what to do, take into consideration if you think you;d want to try and transfer after a year... does cornell accept transfers to arch.? well if so, and if you might want to do that, see which school has the closest curriculum setup to that of cornell. </p>
<p>people, im going to go look and see who accepts transfers and who doesnt. im way to bored for my own good.</p>
<p>k heres some data...
about accepting transfers:
princeton - no
rice - yes, very rare though
cornell - yes, very rare
usc - yes
cmu - yes
iit - yes</p>
<p>conclusion: the smaller the program, the harder it will be to do a transfer... so no second chances! how terribly harsh</p>
<p>I want to go to one of the top Grad schools for architecture after doing the BA. Should I do my BA at one of the top LACS(Smith College), where many students get into one of the ivy's for grad, or shoudl I go to England(I got into UCL-The Bartlett, Edinburgh and Sheffield)?
Which program would give me the best chances for going to the grad school of my choice?
Thx Johanna</p>
<p>Jcro, I heard that it's possible to transfer to Cornell, but they don't accept studio credits, so if I transfer second yr, I'll have to somehow take first yr studio (summer, etc). This will be very painful, plus every school has different styles of teaching. Right now, I don't consider transfer, since I'll prolly be happy whereever I end up at...but I'm still in love with cornell :D</p>
<p>usjo,
i dont know anything about the colleges in london, but i do know if you want ivy grad, they all know and love smith just for geographical reasons. my friend who is going to smith is planning to major in arch, but she said its really a lame arch prog, its more like engineering and libarts thrown together in a really nice building so you forget about the program. she just loves smith cause its smith and one of the best places in the country to go to college cause its like collegeland in w. mass
now i read that over it seems pretty useless but sorry, i did try :)
~~jcro</p>
<p>yeah, I'd say once you're in a program, stick it all the way through unless you're getting a really bad education... because they all have their individual focuses and changing after a year or two will throw you into totally different dynamics...</p>
<p>Hi, I'm a second year archie at IIT. I've been watching this forum for a while.</p>
<p>A couple notes on IIT's program:
-Contrary to the rest of the university, the architecture school is 50/50 male/female, which means more than half of the girls at IIT are archies. For what it's worth, archies tend to be more social than the rest of the school. The architecture school doesn't really see itself as part of IIT anyway - it kind of runs its own affairs.
-The architecture school is very much Mies van der Rohe-centered. Also, since it is the only B.Arch. program in Chicago and the city's largest architecture school, the program tends to focus a lot on Chicago architecture. A big chunk of the Chicago architecture community works as studio professors at IIT. Therefore, getting a job in the city will not be hard, but it is true that the school is fairly little known outside Chicago. The reason I came to IIT over other schools was its engineering-based focus as opposed to very artistic focus of schools like Tulane. In my opinion, such a focus has the potential to make you a lot more able to keep your creative ideas intact when the realities of the profession come knocking.
-It is as hard as other people on here have said. Last semester, I pulled an all-nighter pretty much every week and then 80 hours on one final drawing and 100 hours on another. There was one drawing we had a week to do and there were a couple of people that stayed up for 5 nights straight and didn't finish - most people just didn't get it done on time. But, as far as I can tell, this is normal for archies across the country. I'm sure Cornell is harder than IIT, for example. It's part of the major, and it's fun in a way because you stay up many nights alongside a lot of really amazing people, and you get to know them really well.</p>
<p>Overall, archies are some of the most dedicated people I've ever met, and some of the most creative, interesting and talented. I had thought, in coming to IIT, that since it didn't require a portfolio for admission, the people here would be less creative than elsewhere. That doesn't seem to be the case.</p>
<p>Um...yeah, didn't plan to write that much. If you have any questions, ask.
-laldm</p>
<p>hi,
im an archi at rice. the architecture school sounds similar to the one at IIT. we manange all of our own affairs, and are separate from the rest of the school.
the archis here, including me, pull all-nighters regularly, working alongside some of the most talented people they will ever meet and simultaneously generating the most ground breaking work of their life.
i couldnt imagine life not being an archi, or atleast not having gone to architecture school, since that is the main concernat this forum. go do a B.Arch.
Our associate dean here, John Casbarian gave me some good advice when I was asking him about BA's in architecture, and why I should even do a BArch. HJe just told me, look, youre young. you wont regret doing the extra year for a professional education. and its true. because of the BArch programme at rice, kids go on preceptorships in their fifthe year, and gain valuable work experience and a sick job.</p>
<p>Yeah. For me, there is no point in doing an M.Arch. I know what I want to do, so why waste $100,000+ on getting a degree I'm not interested in anyway, when I can go full on into what I want to do with the B.Arch? And as far as I can tell and have been told, professionally, there's little difference between a B.Arch. and an M.Arch.</p>
<p>IIT doesn't have the year preceptorship that Rice does. It seems like a good idea. I'm not sure I'd enjoy an extra year being mandatory, though.</p>
<p>laldm and jiminey -
you guys say you pull allnighters all the time, but is it because you're procrastinators or perfectionists or both? this isnt a shot at you because personally i am both. but the archi i stayed with at rice said she had only had one night the whole year where she didnt sleep at all. i was pretty much shocked cause i'd already had to do 3 or 4 this year in high school!
but i guess theres also a difference between say, staying up finishing a project with cool people... or... as i did two nights ago, working for freakin 14 straight hours on a set of freakin 200 problems for a 8th grade math class i had to teach slash my other homework, all by myself. (not that im bitter or anything). but anyway i found that highly un-fun.</p>
<p>also - three questions for arch undergrads...
1) how much do you blow off class to either sleep or finish stuff?
2) should i use ap credits to get out of calculus? or take it anyway cause its useful?
3) should i try to take physics at a community college this summer? (a bunch of people at rice said theyd rather burn in hell than take physics there)</p>
<p>boxter - "However, is it equally intense week-in and week-out throughout the whole semester or does the intensity exponentially pick up as deadlines approach?" - as deadlines approach students get alot busier with projects. </p>
<p>"Im asking this because Im curious if it is possible to stay on top of things and at the same time pursue some other hobbies and have a social life when deadlines are not within a week." Yes, you'll have time to join a few clubs, go out on the weekends, hang out with friends on weeknights, etc. </p>
<p>"Also, can many of the all-nighters be prevented by not procrastinating and just keeping up with the work from the beginning rather than putting something together in the last few days?" YES!</p>
<p>The stereotype of the arch. student at Cornell is that they are always doing work and never sleep. In reality, this happens alot, but its their own damn fault. Whenever i've heard of people staying in the studio all day and all night, it's usually because they've waited until the very last minute to do a big project. My girlfriend is in arch. at Cornell, and she's never pulled an all nighter. There have been times where she's been rather close to one, but I can only think of it happening once or twice. She'll always prepare well in advance ideas for a project and then work on it a little at a time. The only time she wouldn't get to bed on time is the few days before a major project is due. It's the students who don't come into the studio until 11:30 p.m. that are up all night doing work. </p>
<p>hawaiiarch - the suicide rate at Cornell is the same as the national average for college students.</p>
<p>does anyone know how many ppl are in freshmen architecture class at rice?</p>
<p>haha, ok, yes, the whole suicide thing is hyped up... I have credits at UHawaii for Physics 151 and math 140... Should I try to transfer those credits or just take the classes again?</p>
<p>hawaiiarch - if you're talking about credits for cornell, try to transfer them if you can. This will free up some more electives that you can take. Though i'm not sure what the arch. students are required to take for sciences, i know they have to take a calculus class, so try and see if you can transfer your math if it's calc. </p>
<p>also, for a true number, the suicide rate at Cornell is about 4-5 students for every 100,000 compared to the national average of 7:100,000 and MIT's of 20:100,000.</p>
<p>arabesque - right now, i believe, there are 24 freshman archies at rice... they always go between 20 and 25. From what the department head said when i was there, they only accept 35 so it ends up being a little risky. i was the only one at "owl weekend" that is definitly going, plus this other kid that sent in his deposit because i guess he was planning on not getting into yale, but then he got in(to yale) so now hes considering telling them he changed his mind. and the other people i met sounded kinda like they wanted to go where they got more money or closer to home or somthing so basis of the story, this freshmen class coming up might be smaller than normal, that would be my prediction.</p>
<p>that's a really small class (rice)... even smaller than any of my classes in high school. I'll go to owl weekend next week :) jcro, are you definetely going to rice or still considering other schools?</p>