A colleague of mine was told that Cornell’s Architecture program is so competitive that students will start vandalizing others’ work. I’ve never heard of this rumor before, but it is alarming, as it’s been enough to convince my friend to choose other schools instead.
Has anyone heard of this before?
Your other posts mention applying to prep schools—are you in 8th grade or something? And no, I haven’t…
Edit: I would write more on this, but I’m not in AAP and someone more qualified should weigh in on this. But honestly, vandalizing other people’s stuff? Do you also think people at Andover and Exeter rip pages out of textbooks so other students can’t study? The Architecture program is super competitive and people are supposedly sleep-deprived from frequently staying up late to work on projects, but come on now.
@Coriander23 So I don’t post often. The particular prep school I once posted in was for rising juniors only. I’m actually a senior now, so don’t patronize me from my previous posts.
Its not uncommon for certain architecture programs may impose a competitive learning environment to prepare students for the real world, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was true, depending on the intensity of the said environment. Architecture as a profession is far more limited in spaces for employment, as opposed to say, engineering or research. Students studying for those fields wouldn’t have as much of a compelling reason to hinder others by “ripping pages out of textbooks”, but that’s not to say that those communities aren’t free of tension either.
I heard this from my friend’s mentor at a local architecture firm, a person whose word I would trust a bit more than just post-decision senior gossip, but it’s still gossip. I wanted to see if anyone would actually attest to that.
Hey, I think I can shed some light on this. While I am not an architect, one of my best friends here is, and he would say that the claim about vandalism is utterly ridiculous. Yes, the architecture major is highly competitive and one individual’s drive to complete a project well in advance of a deadline could force every other architect to spend countless more hours in studio to “keep up”, architects are a tight knit group where everybody knows everybody. There is a ton of collaboration and vandalism of other projects just does not happen…
No need to be offended at coriander’s question about your posting history. As a longtime user of this site, coriander knows that many people post deceptively. Since you’re a newer member with a seemingly divergent posting history narrative, it raised red flags. Your explanation is fine – just understand the context of coriander’s question. GL with your AAP questions.