Also, it is a NAAB-accredited program...which may be a reason for the denial of the appeal.

we know where you go to school - you said boston and night classes - easy enough.

something about this just isn't adding up for me...is there more to this you're not sharing?

"Also, that my work was 'too literal'..a phrase that I loathe. They kept sending me links to Dali's work and telling me to create something 'truly horrific..make the hair on my neck stand up...creating a roof that mimics rotting flesh!'....huh?! Also berating me for not drawing like Piranesi. "

I've never had a teacher who was this dogmatically attached to one idea, or forced it on his/her students in such a narrowminded way. In fact, I can't imagine an instructor taking the attitude you describe above and not being exposed as a bad teacher.

And using Dali as a reference is extremely hokey too, for a professional school of architecture. Why is there a relationship between a boathouse and the "horrific," or "rotting flesh"?

I'm with ef jeffe. Something isn't adding up. These instructors sound bad bordering on ludicrous—I can't imagine any respectable architecture program defending them.

'Dear XXXXXX,
We are disappointed the way the semester has panned out for you. You were not alone in this position and whilst others seemed to be able to progress you hit a wall that you could not get
over and your development slowed down dramatically.
For your boat house site analysis, your observation that the site could be read in terms of levels and types of fear was one of the most original and interesting ideas in the class. However, despite us suggesting many types of medium and working methods to help you explore and develop this idea, the final project did not move very far beyond literal translations of places of fear. You have really struggled with process and a bit part of this is a reluctance to embrace new mediums and ways of working. Your preferred medium of pen and ink line work is very crisp with a nice graphical quality, but it is holding you back in terms of you being able to explore the qualitative and spatial aspects of design.'

...taken from my final evaluation.
Though I want to copy-clip every email and scan I included in my appeal, I'll refrain.

Me+3
Go up to the second floor of the BAC and talk to either Rich Griswold or Lee Peters - bring your work.

Rich actually kept my notebook and scanned it for his lecture.
I got an A- in Design Principles!
My understanding is that he's been copied on stuff and he may even be on the appeals committee...not 100% sure about that.

There is absolutely NO WAY that a student who receives positive feedback such as "one of the most original and interesting ideas in the class" and "your preferred medium of pen and ink line work is very crisp with a nice graphical quality". Who are these people kidding? They sound like hacks. Maybe they failed you on a dare.

cln1 sounds official, do what he/she says.

Some do think that they failed me because I challenged them...that the email sent around Thanksgiving was really meant to scare me and get my ass in gear.

Based on that letter (and not having seen your work) you deserved at least a B-. I'm currently co-instructing a studio, and that's not an F-student letter. The only student I've ever failed got a letter more like this: "you didn't turn in a single one of the three assignments and you missed half the classes....."

yeah - if anything, that letter is an indictment on their poor teaching skills. they gave you an 'F" rather than accept responsibility for their failing.

rotting flesh, LOL.

B1 is a pain in the ass, both to take and teach.

I got a D in my B1 studio (i deserved it), I recovered and graduated and now teach studio…

You have options to appeal your grade. Talk to Rich or Josh.

I have appealed.
They denied it.
I met with Josh before submitting the appeal.
If I understood him correctly, he felt that the amount of work was...sufficient. He said he had seen more, but that he had also seen A LOT less. In fairness, it took me an hour and a half to pin up and I actually had to leave stuff down because of time constraints.
He felt the analysis was a bit weak....though my analysis of Nevoguilde in the first part of class was strong (meaning I can do the analysis and rather enjoy that part of it).
I think a good teacher would have caught that and re-directed me and mine didn't.
Actually, after meeting with Josh, I felt that their objective differed from the intended objective of the program.
There was no mention of more data needed....only that I needed to be more 'expressive'....contradicting what Josh had said to me.
In fact, whenever I tried to back-track in order to re-examine, I was told "NO! Keep moving forward!"

I haven't ever really posted here before so sorry if I am stepping on any toes, but as someone who teaches at the BAC and other institutions, it is almost impossible to give out an F without issues beyond quality of work (as farwest1 commented, missing classes etc.) and a formal meeting at the semester midpoint to discuss the work. My advice is to take this further and discuss this with someone at the school. There is clearly a disconnect between their expectations of you, the schools set grading standards as well as the way they conveyed information to you through out the semester. Be prepared to review all your work with the school, so have it handy and organized in such a way that conveys your growth through out the studio and your design skill. Good Luck.

babacool, no toes stepped on......thanks for your input.

What I meant to say earlier was:

"There is absolutely NO WAY that a student who receives positive feedback such as "one of the most original and interesting ideas in the class" and "your preferred medium of pen and ink line work is very crisp with a nice graphical quality" should receive an F"...

....but I was a little worked up so I kind of forgot what I was typing.

me+3, let us know how it goes.

me+3, this sounds so painful...
From the letter its sounds like a classic example of someone who has a great idea (your professsors admit it, too, when they say 'one of the most original and interesting ideas in the class') then everyone has a different interpretation of it.
They push you to do what they view as the course of development the best see fit for your project, then you become suspicious and actually resist their ideas. they insist and get angry at you for noot "getting it", you fight back.
Of course, this is a misunderstanding that might have been avoided if they had tried to give you credit for having a mind of your own. sounds like the kind of feedback you were getting were meaningless one-liners that they superficially assumed you were going to understand instead of trying to spend some time to understand what your project was really about.

I would say this, your resistance was a sign of maturity and was probably justified - you should always voice your concern and not follow blindly what others think it's cool. This kind of judgement will serve you well in the future should you decide to stick with architecture. It sounds like your professors were initially well-meaning and with better communication this misunderstanding might have been avoided.

I have a suspicion that this has happened because of the fragmentary nature of your education - you probably met them at set times and discuss briefly about some issues instead of spending time in a studio setting for which neither party had time - this creates a danger of crossed signals. Worse if you had crits emailed to you, which sounds like it was the case.

You should absolutely take this matter further, and you should make it clear that there were missed opportunities one both sides, it wasn't just you who were maybe a bit inflexible, your professors were unreceptive to what you had to say and they actually acted out on their anger apparently, because someone who has great ideas and does the work, even if it's not what they thought it would be, definitely does not deserve an F

Is it possible that your work wasn't as good as you thought it was me+3 ?

agfa8x, that isn't the point at all. me+3 isn't trying to state that they had super-great work, just that they didn't deserve an F. Most people I know aren't as good as they think they are, but probably only about 10% of them actually deserve failing grades. And never get them, by the way.

Whether me+3 is right or wrong, we're only getting half the story. I've seen the other side of this kind of thing is all.

Still, I hope this turns out alright for you, me+3. Your best hope is the official process, and failing that, another school.

interesting discussion. i have always believed that whatever grade i received i deserved, no matter what, because at the end of the day if i honestly stepped back and looked at my effort, the grade most adequately represented what i put into the class. i have never in my education, ever, appealed a grade - in studio or any other class. however, i will say this, with all do lack of restraint, keep appealing, stick those profs comments right in their asses, and don't stop. second, keep moving forward, take your next studio and classes - while you are appealing. third, be merciless, you are not there to make friends with these half-wits; you are there to get a degree. i know nothing of your design skills, but i can pretty much bet there is some element of truth in their comments - this does not mean you desrve an 'f' - so some reflection on your part will only make you better, if your design is not there, then figure out why.

many teachers teach to hear themselves talk, and are looking to have their egos stroke and their existence validated, don't do either. fuck em, they want their egos stroked tell them where the hookers are in Boston.

wow. that is an amazing story. i agree you should keep on pushing. without seeing the work is impossible to say whether they have any reason to think about giving bad grade, but an F should be reserved for folks who are willfully absent and inept. as long as you are doing the work you shouldn't fail, especially after they gave praise for early work.

dali? hmmm. o....kaaay. sounds like the profs are a bit silly in themselves too. pity.

ckl: I do believe it was a result of the fragmentary nature of my program. Also, there were no class discussions, either (something that I had found very helpful in my previous studios), only brief desk crits.

agfa8x: No, I do not feel my work was great. I never do in Studio. As mentioned earlier, it's always been my lowest grade, I'm a bit of a traditionalist...love classic architecture (may be a by-product of growing up in New England). Though I really enjoy FOG and some of the Modernists, I feel that this style is not something that I would lean towards in my own designs...which has contributed to some of my struggle in Studio.
Just to be clear-I am NOT fighting for an A!
I am fighting to not have to take (and PAY) for this class again.
The work and attendence and effort are all there. I wish I could show you the countless emails sent between the instructors and myself. Apathy was not the issue here...on either part.

I do believe that it is a case of large egos colliding with a strong-willed student...maybe even gender played a role, too. In Boston, architecture is still very much a patriarchal field. This happens everyday. Not everything is black and white and I suspect there are bigger factors at play. As I mentioned earlier: this is a tight community; they were judged by a jury of the peers; one instructor completed his M.Arch here, so there may be some loyalty towards him; volunteer teachers are hard to find and they may have threatened to walk if ruled against; no one likes a challenge and that's exactly what I did-I challenged them.
The world isn't always pretty and fair. Maybe I just got screwed for a bunch of reasons....because the work IS there.

On a side note (and in the spririt of Dali)....
Part of my assignment over Thanskgiving weekend was to watch Clockwork Orange and garner some inspiration from it (a guest critic asked me if I had ever seen the movie during my mid-point crit).
It took me 2 hours to find this movie...on the Friday after Thanksgiving!! Found it at the bottom of some bin at Wal-Mart or Target. I'm watching it...and I'm looking for the play of light? The modern architecture? Surrealism? Not sure exactly what it is I'm watching for....

My instructors told me Monday (after shaking their heads at me and calling me a failure because my 'Clockwork Orange-inspired' models did not inspire them) was to witness 'casual violence'.
Ummm...okay.
They were a bit too esoteric for me....different frequency.

BTW-how come their are no more 'ARCHITECTURE SUCKS' t-shirts to buy on this site?
I want 14 of them-one to wear during the day and one to sleep in.

me+3

this is distressing, from the standpoint of a current faculty member and alum.

I highly doubt that they threatened to not return, that would be ridiculous. Volunteer faculty isn't treated that well. Don't put us on a pedestal--we're just working professionals like you.

B studios are difficult and it's worse when they're taught by inexperienced instructors. Never mind the fact that the premise of the studios are a bit muddled and frequently not explained or executed well. Analysis is difficult to learn and it's difficult to teach, but it's a necessary part of Architecture.

I have no advice on how to fix the studio or what you do next besides taking it again and using the previous venture as a learning experience. Your RF sounds unfair, but we're only getting your side of the story. Did they ever warn you that you were about to fail? Did they actually say you were a "failure"?

As a point of reference for moving forward and successfully completing Segment 1; the goals (as I understand them-I may be missing some) of a B1 studio are:
-Building Documentation and Analysis (using a built work as a guide)
-Development of Concept based upon analysis (for the boathouse it's supposed to be site analysis)
-Implementation of Concept
-Presentation of Concept and illustration of its relevance to the final execution of the project. (Is the concept apparent in the final design, graphics, etc?? Basically, is what you're presenting what you say you're presenting?)

Figure out where you are lacking (a good exercise in learning how to self-critique) and work on these during the next studio. Also, there's a PDF of the Segment 1 portfolio review sheet available online which can be handy for helping you judge your progress in studio.

Don't give up.

This is frankly bizarre. In my teaching experience it is difficult to even grant a "D" in studio let alone an outright "F"; even D's typically require consensus between faculty of that year and are in some ways contingent upon simple fulfillment of work expectations (apart from design quality), as liberty bell mentioned. Definitely appeal.

Studio projects are not always pseudo-real-projects. Some studios are best thought of as design exercises. A studio where you are making models based on Dali or Kubrick is likely not premised on the idea that you will go out into practice and work like that. However, odd 'pointless' design exercises do in fact have more general value in making you a flexible, inventive designer, and sharpening your skills at drawing, modelling, and analysing your work. A football player doesn't practice by just playing football - gym-work is also involved.

If the studio teachers were trying to get you to move outside your comfort zone, and met with blunt resistance, they may have felt you failed to engage with the project they put forward.

Funny you should say 'outside the comfort zone' because one of their directives to me was to use no sharp instruments for what was initially supposed to be one week but turned into one month. Anything drawn with graphite or ink was not allowed to be pinned up.
This was only for me...no one else was restricted in this manner.
So, for one whole month, I worked with nothing but clay, watercolor, charcoal, tissue (not vellum but the colored kind that my kids play with and that you stuff party bags with!) wire, bells, whistles....whatever floated my boat and rang my bell.
I was only allowed to resume with the fine point when it was time to actually draft my final project.
Definitely stepped outside my comfort zone...and was told by the guest critic that this was some of my strongest work.

Guess what grade I received for the 'Openness to Learning New Techniques' part of my final evaluation? 1 (on a scale of 1-5).

The work in alternate media sounds great, me+3. Although the actual output of the studio is not the main focus of the thread, I'd be curious to see it.

This just doesn't make sense--what aren't you telling us?

For those of you who seem to be having a hard time understanding how something like this could happen, let me throw some things out there:


1. Sometimes people are just douchebags. Plain and simple. No explanation, just are. It happens.

2. I don't want to out me+3 but I had a related situation at an old job of mine....I busted my ass, worked overtime, did as well as I could with the resources I was given, and my boss consistently either ignored me or gave me poor evaluations. To this day I can't fully explain it but the best I could come up with was that he had no idea how to deal with strong women. Our other boss was a woman, and he basically kissed her ass to the point of creepiness, while to him, I didn't exist. So, there may be gender-relation issues at play here that we are unaware of, and/or in the worst case scenario, unrequited sexual advances. If that is the case, I do not want to know.....

3. See #1.

dubk, what are you doing up?

Writing a paper. About injustice in architecture school! Just kidding. :o)

rehiggins:

I believe you are the one who teaches at my school, correct?
Though I'm reticent to do this and I would want to see if I can find a way to remove names (for me as well as for my instructors because I don't want to be slammed with any kind of libel accusation), I would be willing to send you my final evaluation as well as some of the crit notes from my appeal package....maybe copy/clip a few things from the emails I've mentioned.....but only because you're from my school and I understand that this sounds insane and unbelievable.

If by your school you mean the one on Newbury St. that destroys your life, then yes.

I have no authority to change your grade so emailing me your info will only serve to frustrate me more with the way Segment 1 studios are being taught.

I will, however, make myself available to give you advice on how to present this studio effectively in your portfolio. Even though you failed, it can still be used as a positive experience.

The world is not fair and equal.

When I started school, I thought I deserved better grades (I worked my ass off, easily one of the hardest working).
Later on, I realized that my work was just not as good (you don't realize that until you reach that 'ah ha' moment - some have it to start and some, most, never get there).

Eventually, by 3rd year, I knew what I was going to get and what others would get by the quality of their work (not by doing what they were told).


Grad school brought a nasty awakening - the 'real' world. Full of ass kissing, politics and agendas (UCLA). I saw students that did mediocre work but kissed ass and followed the profs agenda to a T get As and others do very good work but on their own terms get Bs.

Wasn't fair and one of the reasons I chose to leave the profession (or at least work on architecture on my own terms).


Point being, things change, people are asses, just staying up all night and following directions doesn't equal a good grade if the work isn't good. On the contrary, if the work is good a student can get away with breaking rules.


FYI - I've challenged 3 grades through 7 years, won two of the challenges (last one I had already graduated, been accepted to schools, etc., so I just let it go) - I should say I got 2 changed, openly challenged the last one with the dean

failure is subjective, especially in studio

Design studio grades don't matter, with one huge exception.

One of my profs said that the students getting C's in studio were the ones who would be practicing architects; the A students would give up/change to another area of the design world. I wouldn't say it's across the board true, but I can point to a dozen mediocre designers from my undergrad classes who are successful practicing architects, while three of my best friends who got A's are not architects or no longer in the profession (one is my partner - he's not registered but practicing successfully unlicensed).

The huge exception: when one has financial aid that is grade-dependent. In that case, I think it takes a pretty insensitive teacher to decide that someone's design skills vis a vis the professor's contorted, contrived, esoteric curriculum are so poor that they deserve to lose their aid.

(Sorry for that contorted sentence above, but I think you guys get my meaning ;-)

WonderK:
Thank you for the story...and please don't worry about out-doing.
My whole reasoning for re-opening this thread and posting was to hear other crappy stories that would help me realize that this happens to people everywhere and sometimes you never learn WHY it happened.
And hopefully one day, I'll get tired of pissing and moaning about it and put my knee-deep-in-the bullshit boots back on and go down and sign up for classes.

rehiggins:

Not so much to help me with my appeal, more so just to provide ...proof, maybe?

it ruins your relationship...

lb - I agree with that statement. Most of my classmates that got As are no longer in arch, including myself.

Grades matter on an individual basis, just as awards/competitions do - all subjective.