I’m currently also in my first year of MLA program at Vtech, in Alexadnira VA ( the waac) http://www.waac.vt.edu/
I love the school up here its small and much more intimate. It serves as a consortium school so there are many students that come here from all over the country and study for a semester or a year.
yes we are mixed in with the archiecture students. which is great there’s constantly a colab of ideas and projects. your first year you will be only with other MLA first years they call it your foundation studio.
the school is also very open to new ideas and has amazing electives that they offer.
being close to DC is also a large benefit we always metro into the city for site visits. if you have any more questions drop me a line.