Southern California Institute of Architecture - Los Angeles, California

Alex Phi

The School that Changed a City

I write this review not as an alumni but as an Angeleno.

When the Sci-arc moved to its current location from Marina del Rey in 2000 the surrounding neighborhood was empty, desolate, and filled with crime and homeless. People say there are three things that fuel a thriving community: housing, dining, and schools. It has been almost over a decade since housing and restaurants slowly and carefully moved in, but it wasn't until Sci-arc finally purchased the build that it rented for so many years.

That catapulted the community into the fast lane. Housing sky rocked, hip restaurants and boutique stores moved in, mega complexes started to get built. It's a milestone that changed the entire eastside of Los Angeles.

Architects Home Grown

The connective tissue between Sci-arc and downtown Los Angeles is undeniable and beneficial to both parties. Students and faculty architects are deeply engrained in the current rising of Downtown Los Angeles.

moon_ _highway

Fitting to see they can't seem to crack the lists of top architecture schools, trophies just for placing I guess, although one of the highest tuition costs in the country doesn't seem justified if the prestige isn't really all that great with hiring firms. Not as advertised in my opinion (though they do seem to self-advertise heavily), it is a good old boys club as far as I am concerned, intelligence takes a backseat and only a handful of students who play that game will really thrive from a system like that.
They seem to take whoever they can get, with a very high acceptance rate for an "elite" school. In my own experience making the mistake of attending the MArch2 program for two semesters, the literacy rates were dreadful, "easiest A you'll ever get" I had heard a few times in conversation when I mentioned that it bothered me some of my graduate peers struggled to read English at a supposedly elite educational institution in the United States.
For how "competitive" they lauded the student body to be when I voiced complaint, in my architectural theory classes most of the students could hardly read written English, much less participate their words in any meaningful discussion with professors who struck me as the incredibly elitist type that could care less who they're teaching. After all it's not like they will remember many of the student livestock, mostly mislead into coming from overseas, once they've paid for the last semester of extremely over-priced tuition.
It's also worth mentioning that the studio instructors browbeat students into spending what I always considered a second tuition cost on supplies, pedestals, expensive 3d-prints due most classes, and in render-farm credits necessary to finish animated assignments. The burden of most of those payments is thrown damn near entirely on the student. Just in case I haven't supplied enough of a warning, have fun with your sorry excuse for a workspace. That's right, each student was given what was called a desk made out of a few trash pieces of plywood or particle board that must be some sort of minimalist inside-joke between the faculty.
Maybe with the previous dean it was a better situation, but Hernan has not been very impressive. But again that's just my opinion, perhaps if they were more transparent concerning graduate job placement statistics, or lack thereof...
1/5 Avoid Like The Plague

Top Secret

Basically sci-arc is a scam especially their edge-program. They shouldn’t open stuff like fiction and entertainment, as far as I most student goes bankrupt after enrolling that program! Imagining a film school teaching architecture design then congratulations you will never able to compete with the real architect. Anyway, they only benefit for their selves, for example my professor do scam and make more than 150K per year, so he bought a houses in LA in just 2 years. Do go there, you will be put into a trap and it takes you few years or you never strong enough to go out from the trap.

Leo Turnr

The school that is proud of their high number international students!
I don’t know about others, I was clearly misled by chair of admission who told me I will be hired to work on a project that the institute has won, located in South of Paris. He explained how lucky I would be to be able to work while I study as other students had to look for work after graduation. It was a lie. After I arrived I had to ask about the project multiple times, and eventually I was told it has been a miscommunication. A miscommunication! No projects. So it was only a small lie to get me on board. The lies still continue in every occasion. I’d say this school is highly unethical in many ways. Also, you will use broken chairs and desks made of cheap materials. Stay away.

Aze Merl

Sciarc is simply a scam. They really need to redefine their purpose as they don’t seem to understand they don’t train architects in any way. They train artists (who 3D model wired buildings only) or maybe they know but still pretend they are training architects.
The tuition is extremely high (unless you have money to through out of the window and have time to kill) and since the school is not popular (they heavily self advertise otherwise and fake their rank but do not believe everything you read please), they literally take in anyone (I repeat anyone) who applies (and pays). In sciarc it is very popular to bump into students who seem totally out of place, if you feel they are indeed out of place, consider the possibility that you may be the one who is out of place!
Companies do not like to hire from sciarc either unless they look for “CAD monkeys” (sorry but this is the truth) for $4 to $6 per hour. (So sorry)
Some call sciarc an “OPT SHOP” too since foreign students who plan want to stay in the US enroll to sciarc to take benefit from the 3 year OPT.
Not recommended.

William Benson

Interesting place to work. Many new lofts and shopping areas. Being that L.A. has opened up businesses again it's lot's of people out. 6ft away!!

Com Render

Two years of graduation, two years of unemployment...Can the school more focus on Architecture, don't miss-leading people for things like Film,Media.Etc.So expensive and without STEM Visa.

Isaac Ariel Franco

Simply one of the best architecture schools in the world. the program is intense as it is rewarding!!!