[Cody Thurman]

I have crossed UGA off of my list. After visiting Athens, I just don’t think I would want to live there from three years. At the LSU open house I found out that they normally do not allow deferment. If I am accepted and choose to go there but not granted in-state tuition. I will most likely take a year off and work. I will keep my current job and try to also get a job related to landscape design or construction. I’ve also thought about trying to freelance some, in this economy who knows. I could use more experience though and I wouldn’t mind a year off. At first I didn’t think I wanted to take a year off but my mind is saying “Give me a break please.”

Oh and Tosh, a graduate assistantship would mean I go to college for free and get a monthly stipend. Pretty hard to say no to something like that. I’d say my main reason for wanting a dual degree or even just an architecture degree is the fact that in many states (not sure how many) architects can practice LA. But LA’s cannot practice architecture. Also, I have also decided that It would help having that degree while working in a multi-discipline firm.

Risk is what I live for. At times I’ve not always made wise decisions but I’m still alive and kicking. I appreciate comments from anyone with experience in what I’m about to undertake.

[Cody Thurman]

Sorry I didn’t check this until after I left. I enjoyed my trip down this past weekend and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. The program is top notch and is really ahead of the game. The one complaint I have is that Baton Rouge is not an attractive city to me. The campus is beautiful but I can see myself getting bored easily. I plan on checking out a couple more schools in both the Landscape Architecture and Architecture fields. It was a cold weekend but they assured me that this was not the norm which is fine by me. If I were to get an assistantship, it would be hard to turn down the offer.

[Cody Thurman]

Thanks for the advice James. I’m visiting LSU on friday and I asked to have an interview incase I still have questions for them after the open house.  but I doubt I’ll be able to get any advanced standing. They won’t even offer it to me at UT and our program was meant to be a prep for LA school. So I’ve come to the realization that it’s going to take 3 years.  I’m wanting to get a deferral of one year so I can get in state tuition, find a place to live, and get more experience in the field. I’m curious if anyone has heard anything about UC Denver. I am really interested in their Dual degree with architecture but I haven’t found anyone who has graduated from their program. Hopefully I have a productive time at lsu and I’ll update when I get back from the visit.

[Cody Thurman]

If you don’t mind me asking, did you already get accepted or is this the school that you have your heart set on?
If you were already accepted, did they allow you to defer a year. I’m really wanting to defer for one year so I can get in state tuition after establishing residency.

[Cody Thurman]

thank you so much sara and good luck with your endeavors…keep us posted please

[Cody Thurman]

I will be applying to LSU, FIU, UC-Denver, UWashington, UOregon, and University of New South Wales. I’m not limited geographically luckily. What ever school and city I feel the best connection with will be where I decide to move. If I don’t get in, I will transfer jobs to the city and live there a year or two and apply again.

[Cody Thurman]

I agree about everyone’s situation being different. There is currently still decent work where I am from however, with impending legislation, a degree in landscape architecture is needed. My degree in landscape design and construction will effectively become useless for those who want to mainly do design.

[Cody Thurman]

If you don’t mind me asking Sara, what schools are you applying to?

[Cody Thurman]

Hi Sara, I’m currently getting applications ready, preparing to take the GRE, and putting together my portfolio. I’m hoping we can get some others to chime in with constructive ideas. I’m going to include both hand drawn plans, CAD drawings, and maybe some sketches. I would keep things consistent throughout your portfolio and I would make sure everything you put in has a purpose. Don’t include it, if it is not going to wow them/

[Cody Thurman]

I left a good book out. Plan graphics for the landscape designer by Tony bertauski. Its actually a relatively cheap book but it’s packed full of info 

[Cody Thurman]

Another good book is residential landscape architecture ( by booth and hiss) which walks you through the design process but also has sections on color rendering and drawing perspectives from photos. The three listed by Thomas are currently on my coffee on my table and are pretty much standard books for designers/la’s.

[Cody Thurman]

Touché haha. I was worried I was going to have to keep paying them during grad school if I took that year off. I found out that it would freeze once I reenrolled so I wouldn’t have to make payments during school which is good. I also looked at colorado’s requirements for establishing domicile and it appears that if I meet enough requirements then I can be granted residency after a year even while enrolled in the program. I just have to satisfy a majority of the things on the list like switching licenses, registering for a license plate in Colorado, paying state income tax, etc. Seems pretty exciting. But taking a whole year off might be the best option for me, I just would be afraid that I would get lazy after a year off of school.

[Cody Thurman]

My one problem is I’m finishing up school now and won’t graduate until may. And if I move after that, I will have to take a year and a half off. Unfortunatley as soon as I take that year and a half off to work, my student loans will begin to accrue interest and I have to start paying them off. If I stay enrolled full time meaning grad school the fall after undergrad, I will not have to pay them off yet and they will not gain interest until acts grad school. So if I could find decent work, maybe something design or construction related it could be worth it and I could pay off my loans in that time and establish residency in order to get in state tuition. I’ll have to start checking this spring for jobs and maybe even see if I can transfer my current job to a new location after graduation.

[Cody Thurman]

Well I found out now that I can no longer get instate tuition at lsu or anywhere else but utk. I may be able to appeal but the odds of getting approved are slim. However I’d really like to attend a school that is already accredited so that I’m eligible to sit for the lare. So it seems as though I’ll be racking up some debt from out of state graduate school loans. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a GA or some scholarships to help ease the pain of out of state.

[Cody Thurman]

Thanks nick. You are one of the reasons I’m going to pursue an mla.
I was going to stick with my bachelors in LD&C until I saw some of your videos on YouTube. You opened my eyes to a whole nother side of Landscape architecture (I used to be a residential only oriented.
You have great graphics man.
I saw the new program info for CSU fairly recently. I’m sure they’d be a great school to visit as well when I’m visiting UCD. Of course they aren’t accredited yet but I’d assume it would have no trouble becoming accredited since they have a good undergrad program.

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