kjsmith4ub

Unfortunately I was not offered a GA position with Clemson, however, they said it could still be a possibility - dependent on how many accepted students decide to enroll (although, they did not tell me my place on the ranking list...so it is probably not going to happen). I inquired about a GA position after I was offered a tuition waiver at SUNY Buffalo. It is very awkward asking a department for financial assistance when not offered initially and required a delicately worded email, but it was worth finding out. Pratt's graduate tuition is surprisingly affordable for a private school, but once living expenses and everything else gets factored in I imagine it would cost north of 35g each year, right? Were you given advanced placement, or will you need to spend 3 years at Pratt? CCNY seems like a great alternative especially if you are in state. Are you concerned about being approved for GradPlus loans? This is a bit of a concern for me as a have no co-signer (not that I would want one) and will need to exceed the $20,500 given in gvt. loans.... At the end of the day, I decided to opt for an interesting life vs. a well paid career in finance, engineering or law...and I think I just have to come to terms with the fact that it will cost me. At the same time, I have other priorities such as starting a family (someday), owning a home (someday), etc...which is where my 50-60 grand cap comes into play. If these things are important, it is definitely better to plan for them now rather than 150 grand in debt later. But, everyone has different priorities and different reasons for why they do what they do. All I know is that I refuse to be a financial martyr to my profession. IMO, happy architects = good architects and anyone who says any different probably graduated from Princeton.

Hi All, I'm sure many of you beginning your graduate level studies in architecture this coming fall are starting to crunch some numbers while trying to make a decision on where to go. I'm hoping that we can have an open discussion on here about the costs of obtaining an M.arch and how we are making our decisions. I was accepted to Clemson University and given a full year of advanced standing - placing me in the 2 year track. However, I was given no form of financial assistance from the department and will be out of state. Roughly 17 grand in tuition a year. In total, with living expenses, studio expenditures, etc..i'm figuring I wil be in the hole about 55 grand. Maybe less, depending on my income during this summer and next. I have a more "affordable" option, SUNY Buffalo, where I was given a full tuition waiver, but would have to take 3 years due to my background and the program structure. Even with the free tuition, once the extra year of living expenses and one lost year of income are taken into account, there is a negligible difference. Clemson is my top choice for many reasons, not the least of which is that the majority of my family is located in South Carolina. Having no undergraduate debt due to generous parents, working part time most semesters/full time every summer, and a merit scholarship through the honors college I have budgeted between 50-60 grand for a good graduate school. This was the limit I set. If I couldn't do the degree for this amount of loan money then I would re-evaluate my options/life plans. Payments after school could range anywhere from 450-600 a month depending on the life of the loan and interest rates... Although there are many other factors that are making an impact on my decision - what is the general consensus on 55 grand of debt for an M.Arch degree? How much debt are you all willing to take on to complete this degree? I have had many friends make questionable choices by paying full price at UPenn, Columbia, and Cornell....over 100grand in debt afterwards (what do these schools do with their 2-10 billion dollar endowments????). I'm not suggesting that it was the wrong decision for THEM, but I think in a forum like this, there is great merit in discussing our financial futures. So, lets have at it...post your thoughts/situation below!

In my opinion, the fact that it is located within the school of architecture makes it that much better of a program. Typically, you will find that the best (or most interesting) planning programs are those that are part of an interdisciplinary department (architecture, real esate development, planning, etc..). I think you will find your schooling much more interesting by choosing a program that is not stand alone. If it is a stand alone program, it is probably more oriented towards policy, administration, or economics. With a program like planning you really have to research the professors and visit the school if at all possible to get a sense of resources and curriculum. I have an undergraduate degree in planning (and thought I might continue with it), but ultimately decided to apply for a master of architecture...so I've done some of the same research and had some of the same questions as you. On another note, the name of the program does not matter at all. Some are old school like "Master of Urban Planning" and some are newer like "community and regional planning." It is just a name and I wouldn't be concerned about it. GATech and UNC are probably the highest ranked national universities in your list...and probably have the largest endowments, but they may not be the best for planning. Although, I know that Chapel Hill is highly ranked for planning. At any rate, a planning degree is a planning degree and I imagine they will all be quite similar unless you are able to get into a school like MIT or Harvard. Also don't discount the quality of life factor. This was a huge decision for myself when deciding where to go...there were schools I liked, but they were outside of my target geographic area and so I did not apply to those. Best of luck on deciding where to go!

I emailed Clemson's graduate director and was told to check my SCHOOL email account. My school switched to a new server and was no longer fowarding emails to my gmail account as it is supposed to (of, I did not know this!). So, there it was, my acceptance from Clemson was sent out yesterday. I might actually get home to South Carolina!!

This wait is getting to be too intense!! Clemson has started notifying its 3 year M.arch applicants, but I do not have an email as of yet. Two people on gradcafe received their acceptance decisions already, but on different days....so I'm hoping this means they weren't sent out all at once... If I don't receive one tomorrow i'll assume a rejection letter is in the mail..... At this point I may just email each respective graduate director and request my status, because it is beginning to take too much focus out of my day. Does anyone know anything definitive about Clemson or Charlotte?

I applied to RPI, Clemson, UNC-Charlotte, and SUNY Buffalo for M.Arch 1 (3 year path). I spent two years in an undergraduate architecture program in Buffalo (I did well), but switched to planning. I am hoping to return for my M.arch this coming summer/fall. Stats: gpa - 3.55; GRE v/q/w 510/580/5.0 Accepted: RPI (no funding info yet...and at around 43 grand a year it is certainly necessary!) Masters program is extremely small, 8-12 students enroll each year. Program is not well known, but the University is highly ranked, well respected, and has a nice endowment. Clemson is my first choice due to family proximity and the desire to remain in SC afterwords...Clemson said they are hoping to have notifications out by Friday! Charlotte said we should be notified this week.... Buffalo mailed out decisions sometime last week, apparently. I wish I had the time and money to apply to GATech, but it just didn't happen. Good luck to all this week and i'll update my stats on gradcafe when I know!