the GT grad program is excellent. the Ventulet chair has done wonders for them down there and the grads i have worked with are all very intelligent. I was working in NY last year at a Starchitect firm and they took someone from GT because of the experience he received with Office dA. Also there are lots of alums all over the place in very good places for networking. this is of course not to snub at Berkeley which is also good but they are different in what they focus on as far as architectural issues so maybe that is where you should start instead of which is "better"?

I think grad school is all about connections. If you want to work in the San Fran area after grad school then I really think you should go to Berkeley. Sometimes I feel that people haven't even heard of tech outside of the south lol. I went to Ga Tech undergrad and the facilities are very poor in the architecture building. I feel that the Institution views itself as an engeneering school and Oh we have architecture too. The administration is also very bad however the teachers are really good. so....

I agree with tzenyujuei about finding the right "architectural issue" that you are most interested in.

Good luck!

Ga Tech is an ivy league caliber education for a fraction of the price, and their architecture facilities are excellent. They are very much in a similar league to MIT and CIT, they are also quite selective for a public institution.

I used to have a friend who was on the Faculity at Georgia Tech. Unfortunately she passed away at a very young age of cancer. She
French and educated in Switzerland and France. She knocked around
the South West Desert in both Phoenix and Tucson. She became the Senior Design Partner in a firm in Tucson, taught at the UofA.....then moved on to Georgia Tech. She also managed to alot of international
lecturing during her short life. I know upon passing she gave her Paris Apartment to the School for there use with their exchange program. Anyhow.....If she is anything like the rest of the faculity...I would say blow off berkley it is an experience you can get when you move back there to work.

tzenyujuei, Slainte:

My impression is that Georgia Tech takes a more practical "nuts and bolts" approach to architecture than Berkeley, which is a bit more theoretical. Tech does have some "blobitecture" going on with Lars Spuybroek. Both schools have faculty focusing on sustainable design and energy control of buildings, which is one area that interests me.

But I am always interested in hearing what other people think of the direction of the schools.

IlliniRunner, i had a great experience at gatech [disclaimer 1: i was there 98-99. disclaimer 2: know nothing about berkeley]. the faculty was fantastic, very engaging, dedicated. there was usually enough variety to choose from both in studios and in courses. if you're interested in energy control and sustainable design, i know they recently had a good showing in the solar decathlon. they have some substantial formalist roots in thanos economou, who's been teaching there for a while and who has a mathematical approach to computer generated design that can be intellectually very engaging.

i guess also judging from the answers here so far, us old gatech alumni can be quite loyal to the school, huh? ask away if you have any questions.

another gt grad here... i was in the m.arch. program from 2002-2003... i completely disagree with the "nuts and bolts" comment... in my two years i didn't take a single "practical" class... (disclaimer: i already had a 4 year degree in architecture, so i didn't have to take any of those type classes)... actually, i did have one site planning class... anyways, my focus was all on theory and urban design... the faculty is really good and as previously mentioned the ventulett chair has brought a lot of new energy to the program... unfortunately for me, that program started after i graduated... i've stayed in touch with several professors and keep an eye on the program through emails/website, and it is definitely on the way up... also, the coop program (which i didn't take advantage of) is great... you can work like 10 hours a week in a local office and it pays for your tuition... i also highly recommend the paris/berlin/netherlands summer program... it formed the basis for my thesis project...

i don't really think that you could go wrong either way... good luck...

aml, architphil, thanks for the replies! A few questions:

Why did you choose GA Tech?
Where did you live while there?
Where are you working now?

Thanks a lot,

IR.

hmmm nuts and bolts probably pertains more to the undergraduate program which I was part of... but even there in the upper years we did delve into some theory -> Situationist, Manuel de Landa, Phenomenologist etc. it wasn't extensive but enough to wet our appetites and I was there during the dawn of the switch to computers in schools so no fancy-shmancy digital stuff until i went to Cornell... you will have to listen to those other guys for the grad school stuff

in response to the above questions...

1. well, i almost went there for undergrad, but i stayed in-state at UF instead... after 4 years in gainesville i wanted to get a different experience... i ended up choosing GT over Penn, mostly because it was cheaper and because my then fiancee (and now wife) was staying behind in Tampa... pedagogically, i chose GT because of the focus on urban design and larger scale issues of the city... i felt that i had a pretty grasp on the building scale of things after 4 years at UF and 1 year in an office...

2. i stayed in the graduate dorm... it wasn't great, but it was easy and close walking distance to the studio... my second year i roomed with friends from architecture and it was much better than not knowing my roommates the first year...

3. after graduation i moved back to st. petersburg, florida... at the beginning of this year i made the jump into being a sole practitioner... i have a couple of solo projects under way and am filling in the gaps with contract work from other firms...

also, i'll give you the same advice that i give everybody that i know is going to GT... take as many classes with Doug Allen as possible... he's interim dean right now so probably not teaching quite as much, but he's brilliant...

Doug Allen rocks! like I said the faculty is really great. Wish i could say the same for the administration. They are a nightmare!

An alternate to gatech housing is either home park or virginia highlands.

Home park is a little neighborhood beside gatech. It has many older run down houses that students rent out for a relatively cheap price. Threre are usually tons of houses for rent there.

Virginia Highlands is a little further away from tech but its a cooler neighborhood. I used to ride my bike from there to tech, but you could also use marta or drive (parking on tech campus is like $500 a year yikes!) The neighborhood is better because you can walk to the grocery store, local restaurants, piedmont park etc. Home park doesnt really have a grocery store within walking distance.

hope this helps!

Thanks again to all of the GT alums for their thoughts, I appreciate it. Any Berkeley students/alums want to chime in?

im at berkeley now. first off, you said you live here, so there is no better "financial aid" offer than CA in-state tuition $4k a semester for UCB and UCLA. ahhh california.

on the school...i love it and hate it, im sure every student at every school will say that. i will say that im in my last year and i wish i was starting my journey now. the energy of the school is changing. right now we're in a fight to get another laser cutter and to fix our 3D printer...i've seen a few mini uproars before, but this one is palpable. not to say that tools make your experience any better, but its about the shift in attitude here. its painful at times, but we're moving in the right direction.

the students are great, more well rounded than others schools, i've seen or been to. there's a new dean search underway, which could be a great opportunity for a breath of fresh air. things are on the up and up, if you're interested in being a part of that i'd think it would be a great place to be. plus you also have all the benefits you already know about [geography and weather] plus a first class research university.

i've never lived in the bay area, but moving from SF to ATL would be a difficult transition if you ask me. i went to GT for undergrad, and although i still have love for ma' tech, the city of atlanta does not have nearly the energy SF/bay area does.

MArch06,

I remember seeing the petition outside the grad studios when I visited the school in December. I may or may not have talked with you when I was there.

Bottom line, would you recommend going there for a grad student who is coming from a non-architecture background?

well the past 2 MArch III classes have been good groups, so i think you'd be challenged by your classmates, which is great in studio, especially during the core -which also puts you through the faculty's best

i can't recommend it over GT -don't know much about the program- but i will most definitely recommend it in general.

i was also going to say what dot said, i've also spent a good amount of time in atlanta and *warning strictly a personal value judgment* i didn't like it at all, and if you like everything that makes SF, SF...then you might be in for serious culture shock.

MArch06, thanks for the reply.

That's what i've been struggling with.

I applied at GT for architecture because I had applied there about 6 years ago for mechanical engineering grad school, and had been impressed with the school and the area when I visited there. And while I was impressed with my visit there a couple weeks ago (the professors I talked with, especially Chris Jarrett, the Grad Program Director, were very nice, and the students I met with were very friendly), I'm not sure now if I really want to leave the Bay Area.

But they've made me a very generous offer (full tuition, plus a stipend for the coming year), and even with Berkeley's low tuition, that's a tough deal to turn down.

I just wish I had more time to think this over.... :(

Oh and Slainte, I did check out Virginia Highland. That is certainly the area I'd be interested in living if I were to go to GA Tech.

Georgia Tech is also currently going through the process of selecting a new dean. The selection could potentially have a significant effect on the direction of the school during your time there.

You can read a bit about the 4 finalists here.

As an alumni, I'm pulling for Balfour.

Thanks for the info, arhitphil. I'll look them over.

GT 3.5 M. Arch student here,

Lots of the comments above are pretty accurate. However, I wouldn't say that GT has a "nuts and bolts" approach to architecture. I think it has a nice mix between theoretical and practical.

Being a student in Lars Spuybroeks studio, I can say that we are doing some very neat stuff, that doesn't lie in the category of practical but at the same time we are focusing on Architecture, not making blobs.

Great studio environment, I moved from Texas out here and find Atlanta to be a nice place to go to school. GT is very involved in the city and Atlanta has some really fantastic things happening right now.

I don't think you can get a better education for the money. Going to GT you will not compromise your education from any other school and the name does carry weight.

Anyone else have anything to say here?

I've got to make a decision soon (very, very, very soon), but I just don't know what to do :(

illinirunner--

you can't argue with tuition + stipend...

my two cents...

GT is in the process of selecting a new dean so you may want to have a look at the candidates. (www.coa.gatech.edu) Each will bring their own perspective to the school and they seem to all have high aspirations for the program, so I do think there are very good things to come of GT. Not that things aren't good now. ;-)

edit ----> plus we just got a 5 axis router @ the AWPL

Hi yall
I was a student at GA tech in 97/98, so it's a while ago and I don't have any relevant comment to add, other than I really liked it and met great teachers there, not to mention great people in general.
Also, the music scene in Atlanta is pretty interesting if you are into that (I just saw Black lips in concert here in Paris and I totally dug it).
I'd go for gatech no doubt if I had to do it again; the school where I was here in Paris still send student there and they all get a lot from the experience...