Laura and Octavio,
I am Alfonso, a MLA graduating student at UTSOA and I have to say that my experience here has been great. Despite the program is relatively young, the faculty members have put a lot of effort on building a very competitive program. The faculty are excellent both in the professional and personal realm, and the learning environment in the school is pretty unique, having strong ties with the architecture program, with which we share some advance design studios. The program has a strong and very original theoretical series of courses on history, technology, ecological, representational, humanist issues, etc… Given by professors like Fritz Steiner, Mirka Benes, Hope Hasbrouck, Jason Sowell, Allan Shearer, and other faculty members. The practical side is given through a series of studios, very intense with a collaborative approach among students. In the advance studios, sharing and collaborating with architects and urban designers, doing site visits, etc… A veritable learning experience. We also have great resources in the school, like several laser cutters, a CNC router, a woodshop, a pretty decent computer lab with 3d printers, an excellent library etc, etc. Finally the school community is very active, organizing competitions, and extracurricular activities for what Austin is a very friendly city.
I strongly recommend you to apply here. If you have more questions I’ll be glad to answer them!
