gizmoh

'I think it's quite a bad idea to go to Yale with the expectation that you're going to move 2 hours away to New York after 2 years. First of all, the coursework might take longer than 2 years to finish.' This.

Architecture

Mine is not a technical field.

I want to pursue a PhD, so I have applied to a number of prestigious US, UK and Swiss schools (I did my MA in the UK) Result: accepted at Yale. ETH Zurich also showed strong interest during the interview and on the 15th will let me know whether I'm in or not. The very same day I am supposed to respond to Yale. Now the dilemma: 5-7 years in New Haven/ NYC or 3-4 years in Switzerland? Got one week to figure this out. I prefer Yale's curriculum - they have terrific courses and Profs - but New Haven is a gritty, unsafe place to spend the 2 coursework years in. There is a huge undergrad population on campus and not many grads of my age, so I don't expect to make many friends there, or even to do things that you do in cities like going out etc, you can't even walk home at night, I've been told when I visited, which I find absurd. NYC is also 2h away - so after 2 years of New Haven there would be 3-5 years of heavy commuting on a weekly basis when I move to NYC - which I would definitely do if I go there. On the other hand Zurich is a small, clean and safe city, and, as a European guy, it is closer to my friends and family and well connected with EU amenities. Profs there are good, but not as Yale's, and many events are in German, which I don't understand a word of (but which I can learn, good with languages). Job-wise, I expect my opportunities to be roughly the same after I graduate from these two schools. Yale probably is better for US jobs, but I'm not keen on teaching in the midwest or in some small suburb (no offense). Ultimately, as a Prof I would like to move between the UK, the US (east and west coasts only), and Switzerland. Thoughts?

Hi all, I am having serious doubts on my career right now. I started studying architecture at 23 and graduated at 27 as a Part I from a minor southern european school plagued by philistinism. Then I applied to a top MA in history and theory in northern europe for a number of reasons: 1) virtually no one I knew in the field had a job in my country 2) I did not enjoy the uncritical approach to design in my undergrad school / felt like I did not know the 'thinking' behind design / felt like I was merely copying starchitecture and/or merely executing my tutors' suggestions without understanding why 3) I wanted to read and get a liberal education in an intellectually stimulating environment 4) did not fancy the idea of becoming a computer monkey and being paid peanuts for it / tought I was smarter than that. However, I got accepted - quite miracolously given the prestige of the school - and after two years graduated with distinction. I have worked insane hours to achieve that, and eventually even published on a couple of reputable journals, an extremely rare thing for a MA graduate. After graduating I have kept reading and researching voraciously while working in fields unrelated to architecture, just to make ends meet in a big, northern european city. Then out of rational calculation ('I did well in the MA, I will do well in a PhD') and out of a lack of options (I am just a Part 1 and after 3 years of reading and researching my cad/adobe suite skills are now laughable = I am unemployable outside academia), I applied to the very top H&T programs on both sides of the atlantic, and the thing is that I have a good shot at getting a place in 2-3 of them, with full funding. Yet, throughout the past month I have been assailed by serious doubts about this doctoral option. I have pretty much solved all the issues I had as an undergrad: 1) where I live now people can actually make a living out of architecture, just a living, but that is fine 2) design studios and the specialised press here spur actual criticism 3) I am a much more cultured man now, and enjoy developing my cultural capital 4) I would like to pick up again digital drafting (I have always been a good designer) and put my theoretical/historical knowledge into practical use in a boutique firm (I don't mind starting from scratch as an intern) AND 5) I don't want to spend 5-7 years in grad school (the US option). I am torn, for at the same time I would like to keep publishing, and get into teaching history and theory, but I know that in my case the situation is either/or: academia OR practice. I've got to sort this out quick because these schools will soon get back to me. And the last thing I want to do is accepting an offer only to turn it down later because I have freaked out. I want to be honest with the admissions committees and my recommenders, whom I highly regard and who vouched for me. I really don't want to piss anyone off because I am undecided. I feel that I will be part of the research community one day, but I would like to explore the world of architectural practice in a dynamic city first. Any thoughts?