Hello, new here I just graduated with a BA in Art History and a minor in Horticulture. I want to go to grad school for Landscape Architecture and was wondering what the average age of MLA students is. I'm 22. Are most of you over twenty-five? Is it better to wait to apply until I have an internship finished? If anyone could help I would be very appreciative. Thanks.

welcome B-

there are several threads on the age of students in grad school (accessible via the search box at the bottom of the discussion index page if you missed it). the age range of LA students is the same as architecture students, is the same as history, medical, law, engineering, and just about every other graduate program out there.

there are also several threads about 'should you waiting before applying or going directly from undergrad to grad', to answer your second question. My biased opinion is that you're much better off waiting a few more years beyond 25, having some significant life/professional experience and figuring out who you really are, before going to grad school.

What sort of internship are you looking at? most LA firms won't hire you with your current degrees, but you may find work in the green/horticulture/ construction side of things for a while.

tree- yeah I am looking at an internship or rather an assistant volunteer position for the resident LA at my undergrad ...I am also working in the green industry. Any advice on what life/professional experience is desired by MLA programs?
Thanks for the advice.

Please post about your experiences at the open houses! I'm curious to hear about all of them, but of course especially the one at Penn.

I agonized about attending, but have decided not to - I hope that doesn't come back to bite me. I'm still planning on writing a letter and seeing if that gets me anywhere. The admissions people didn't seem to think it would, but I've got to try.

Plan B is starting to take shape -- finish up my current masters, start taking classes at Temple for a BSLA - way cheaper, part time, awesome focus on sustainable communities, and reapply to Penn, CUNY, GSD, UVA, UMN next year if I'm unhappy at Temple. And of course, maybe I'll still get into Penn...they said to call back towards the end of the month...

Where have people decided to go? How were the open houses?

RISD open house was great for me, I got my grant money increased a little which I think sealed the deal for me. This was my first trip up to providence and I absolutly fell in love with the town. I know its not as important as the school itself, but a guy has got to be happy with where he is going to be living for the next three years. Also, i was impressed a lot with some of the faculty, the more inimate feel of the department goes a long ways in my book. Any one else there think similarly?

That's great you got some more money. I liked the open house as well. Mikyoung and Colgate are amazing people. In fact, all of the faculty seemed great. Thinking about both RISD and the GSD, I really wish I could go to both. Unfortunately, I can only pick one. That choice is the GSD. The open house there was completely overwhelming. It's just too hard to pass up the amount of money they gave me when their rescources, faculty and facilities are so impressive. Plus they have beer and dogs every Friday evening in the cafeteria.

Outside, congrats on your choice of RISD. It's a wonderful program.

jwillefo, congrats on choosing the GSD, hopefully we will get to work togethjer sometime in the next three years. Keep us posted on how things are going.

jwillefo...sounds like you were impressed by the open house. I wish I could have made it up there, but I've pretty much decided on Harvard anyway, since I couldn't pass up the $$, together with all the other things you mentioned. I don't know if I'll be in the same year as you (I'm doing the 2 yr program) but I'm sure we'll certainly meet.

If anyone has anything to say about the Penn open house let me know. I'm curious as to what I'll be missing...

Never underestimate the power of free beer. heh heh! I'm a three year. The class you will be with seemed pretty cool. I think they're the largest class they've ever had, 23 total.

outside i'll keep in touch with your program. My friend from NC will be there, plus I'm sure y'all will come up for lectures. I'm excited to hear about what your class will be learning.

Btw, is anyone going to the NY GSD thing tonight?

I was really impressed with RISD. I have a good friend who went to Brown and got married in Providence, so I was familiar with the town and knew I would like it. I was struck by the depth of the faculty's experiences and interests, the intellectual and artistic energy of the department, and the friendliness of the current students. I sent in my deposit check today.

I, too, was really impressed with GSD and I have settled on it as a result. I personally cannot be swayed by hot dogs (j/k), but it was a very lively environment, and I was impressed at how few smarmy people there actually were (despite the hype). The faculty were all quite charming, and the resources that the school affords in addition to its very global perspective won me over in the end. Additionally, Niall Kirkwood made a very fine speech about how under his direction he hopes the GSD takes on a more sustainably- and ecologically-informed mode of design and discourse (while still of course maintaining its design excellence).

Congrats to all the amazing acceptances out there - I really think this profession has and will continue to have so much potential. I hope that even those that I won't see in the fall as classmates I will see as colleagues in the future!

revdillane, jwillefo - congrats on choosing the GSD! i met some great people there, but i have to admit that as an AP i just wasn't feeling it. it does seem like the program is really well-structured if you're 3-year, though!

kakacabeza - since you were curious - i, at least, was very impressed with Penn on monday - the faculty and the students i talked with had a lot of energy and were totally excited about the school and about their work. i was a little unclear about how accessible the faculty actually are, though, and about how much the students actually connect with them. i got the impression that you are expected to be quite invested in your work and your education - i.e. there are research/travel opportunities if you make them, but nothing is handed to you. and, superimportant - no one i talked to had anything negative to say about the programs (i am dual m.la-m.arch), the people, or philly, which was good to hear.

treekiller - is this new prof that you speak of...returning to penn? olin mentioned that they were trying to "get" someone to come back from the GSD...?

lucia01

thanks for offering your impressions on the open house. I do think the Penn program is really defining the discourse for the profession right now, but I just couldn't justify accumulating that much more debt. I've heard nothing but good things from people once they are in the program. One thing I did notice that bothered me a little bit was that in the Portfolio of student work Penn sent out, one student's work in particular was the featured project for every studio or representation class he was in. Granted, his drawings were phenomenol, but to feature his work four times when there are so many other great students in the program was a bit much. Just contributed to my perception that a few select students are hand-picked as the "stars" while the rest are relegated to another track. Most schools seem to do this, though...

So a few of us will be classmates next year. Excellent!! After going to the NYC event, I really feel happy about this choice. The alums there were all down to earth and happy to give advice.

Congrats on everyone that's made their decision. I'm sure we'll be running into each other at one point in the next 2 or 3 years.