Applying to UHM Doctor of Architecture...need advice (Honolulu: sales, apartments)

[acoffma]

Hello guys and girls, this is my first post and will help determine what my fiance and I are going to do the next three years of our lives. She has been accepted into UHM's Education program and I have yet to hear back from the School of Architecture. We would both love to move to Oahu and live around Honolulu however we are questionable about living conditions and costs; seeing as we are from Ohio and a trip to visit is not possible. Does anyone first off know anything about the Doctor of Architecture Program? I know it is the only school to offer a ArchD but I want to make sure they have adequate resources. Also where can I go to get the best quote on shipping items there for the move? We have been looking online for places and have found a few fully furnished apartments but we will still need to send over clothes, computers, books, etc. Also is the cost of living, i.e. cost of food, clothes, etc. that much higher? I've always heard rumors but I've never known anyone who actually went there. Any other information about the University would be great too. Thanks.

[newUHprof]

I'm a new prof in one of the hard science depts. I'm too new to be a great resource about all things UH, but I can try to answer any questions you might have. I don't know about the ArchD program, but I can ask around... what do you want to know?

As for shipping stuff: Bring a suitcase with necessities. Ship clothes and such parcel post, but pay a bit more for the tracking. Ship books media rate, but make darn sure it's only books, CDs, DVDs inside... they *will* check, and you'll pay a bunch more when you pick up if there's other stuff in there. (I had pens... used a bookmarks!... in one of my boxes. Cost me about $40.)

Expenses: I went to grad school in Boston. I would say it's a touch more expenisve here, but not a lot. Rent is comparable, though it's probably a lot more than you're used to in Ohio. Food, well it depends. Some is expensive (prepared foods like cereal and canned soup, or stuff that has to be shipped cold like milk & ice cream). Some is reasonable (local produce at the farmer's market, rice and such in chinatown). If you've got a car and the place to store stuff, Costco can be a good alternative. But it's not worth paying for a car and a bigger place just to save on food.

I think clothes are cheaper, mostly because you don't need as much here. No one really dresses up. You don't need sweaters (maybe one or two sweatshirts, once you acclimate), parkas, boots, etc. Slippers are cheap, t shirts, casual shorts & pants. It doesn't take much.

I will say that though expenses are only slightly higher than what I had in Boston, the stipends our grad students get are about 25% less than what I got as a grad student. When you put those two things together, I can imagine that it's tough to get by. But there are two of you, and that means savings on rent and food by combining incomes. And our grad students do get by, so if it's the right place for you, you can make it work.

Let me know if you have specific questions I can help with.

[acoffma]

thanks for all the help newUHprof. If you know or come into contact with anyone in the Architecture department let me know. I was hoping to get some pictures of the interior/exterior of the architecture building, as well as a list of resources they have for the architecture students such as computer labs, architecture/research library/laser cutters/cnc milling/routing, etc. And I guess most importantly just a current students perspective on the school. I figured it would be a tad more expensive but I love the outdoors, green vegetation, and I am a fishing freak. Hawaii may not have the best architectural scene but its an environment where sustainability is highly regarded and green building is heavily practiced. Are there just basic on-campus jobs students can apply for too? My fiance and I found a 1070sqft place for $1200 a month which will mostly be covered by loans but I want a secure position to make money to survive month to month. The place we looked at is full furnished and I doubt we will take a car, I'm liking the idea of nice bike rides. Mostly I just want to make sure the architecture program has a strong foundation and that all classes are taught and taken seriously.

[hotzcatz]

The U of H at Manoa (they don't put all the initials together to make "Uhm") is a pretty big school but I don't know the details of their architecture program. What "adequate resources" do they need for a doctor's program?

Can you stay in the dorms? That might be cheaper? There will be a lot of rooms available in nearby houses, apartments to share and all sorts of communal living arrangements which are generally cheaper than a separate apartment. You could try the Kaimuki area, that is fairly close to the University and not as expensive as in Manoa valley itself. There is also Makiki which is close and Milolii.

For shipping, bring the absolute bare minimum of "stuff" and ship it via US Parcel Post or Media Mail for books and such for the cheapest rates. Parcel Post can take up to five or six weeks, though. Where ever you will be is most likely going to be a lot smaller of a space than you are probably used to, so it won't take much to fill it up. The airlines have gotten real tight about what they allow as carry on and they now like to charge for extra bags and things. It might be cheaper to mail things. You could either mail things to yourself via "General Delivery" to a post office near where you will be or you could box up your stuff, keep an inventory of what's in each box - number them instead of label them so the box's contents won't be glaring at everyone - and send for each box as you need it.

The university has pretty casual clothing and you will be in a warm climate. Most people don't even have raincoats, maybe an umbrella but not generally a full on raincoat. Tee shirts, shorts, jeans, slippers (they are called "flip flops" on the mainland) and tennis shoes will cover most of your clothing needs. A light jacket would be good but not used much. Bring a swimsuit and beach towel although you can get them on Oahu, too. There are good garage sales and thrift shops on Oahu as well as loads of clothing stores. Most of the garage sales happen on Saturday mornings, just look for signs posted on telephone poles and follow them.

Bicycles, skateboards and mopeds are common around the university. They have a lot of special moped rules since they are so common but theft of them is high so get a really good lock and keep them locked to something that will not move or they can't be lifted off of. The Bus is a really good bus system and you can get monthly bus passes at the grocery store in Ala Moana Shopping center and other grocery stores. With a bus pass you can pretty much get everywhere.

U of H at Manoa (oh, it's MAH-noh-ah with a slight stress on the "Mah") is a good school, you will enjoy it. It is very near Waikiki, Honolulu and if you didn't know where each of the areas started and stopped you wouldn't know you've gone from one to the other. Honolulu is a huge complicated city as far as streets and driving goes, you could get a Bryant's Sectional Map of Oahu (I think they have them at the same grocery stores you can get The Bus pass at) and that will help you a lot in navigating the island until you get used to it.

[acoffma]

the adequate resources id consider them to be what i listen; laser cutters, cnc milling/routing machines, large plotters, etc. and i want to make sure the building is nice has lots of studio space and i would like somehow to see the inside of it but thats not really possible. my fiance was accepted to the university and i am waiting to hear back. if i am accepted we might both have to start in the summer so we are trying to figure our lives out quick. i would like to find an architectural related job; possibly outsourcing renderings or 3d modeling for residential builders. we found a cheap one bedroom near the university but i mean we would consider living in dorms, i would just rather live in a place with her rather than share a graduate apartment. if i did anything i would just ride a bike however my gf might wait to buy a new car once she is there if we go. the biggest concern is the cost to fly back to the mainland if anything happens (family issues, etc). i have always wanted to go to hawaii and now that it is possible to go to school there for the next three years im pretty excited. i just dont want my excitement to overpower my way of thinking.

[newUHprof]

I'm working from home today, but I'll try to get over to the Architecture school and snap some pictures tomorrow, then I'll post them. Campus is beautiful, but more the exterior stuff than the buildings (at least my building). And on all my other campuses, I'm amazed at how ugly architecture buildings tend to be... I'm kind of curious!

If I run into architecture students, I'll try to get some of their impressions. A good thing to do would be to email current grad students with your questions. I don't see them listed on the website, but you could email arch@hawaii.edu (or pick a prof to email), and ask for names & email addresses of a couple of grad students who might be willing to answer your questions. They should be more than happy to do that for you.

[acoffma]

well that would be awesome and much appreciated. i have stayed in contact with a few faculty members but sometimes i feel that i ask them too many questions as is so i try to not be a "bother." i have read other forums where people say the architecture isnt nice but from the campus pictures i have seen the building style definately reflects the buildings environment. i stalked a few students on facebook and sent them messages i just wonder how many will return a message hah. im just really curious of the contents of the arch building. my undergrad school was waaaay under funded and I don't want my graduate studies to be the same, especially if i am pursuing a doctorate. thanks for the help again it is truly appreciated.

[hotzcatz]

They will have the large plotters, that shouldn't be a problem at all and if they don't have them, there are blueprint companies in Honolulu who do. HonBlue is the one I use if I'm sending plans over to Oahu. I dunno about the lazer cutter and the CNC machine, though. Those might not be considered required tools for architecture. I don't know that they don't have them, but I don't know that they do, either.

I'm hoping they get more into green architecture, we could sure use it around here. We also need to revamp the planning code so we can have communities where folks can live and work in the same area. At the moment, most of the planning requires houses to be kept separate from commercial areas which means folks are then driving to work and we have huge traffic jams. And, when you design houses, make something other than the garage door the first thing you see, please? A nice front porch or some sort of discernible entry area would be nice! Hiding the garage around back would be nice. Just my two cents, but as a draftsperson I find ugly houses where you can't find the front door a somewhat professional affront.

[acoffma]

my biggest concern is that i completed my undergrad at Bowling Green State University and our architecture program was severly under-funded. We had a one plotter in the studio from 1980 something my guess is. the only laser cutter we had was located in a different building where you couldnt even use it unless you were enrolled in specific classes. we have had a 3d printer for a while now but they cant afford to even let the students use it. these are the problems i want to avoid. im not sure if the architecture program is more traditional or more computer and graphically oriented (i.e. advanced architectural computing using rhino/3ds max/maya just to name a few.) i got in to georgia tech and parsons new school for design also, i know they are both very digitally oriented i just want to check on the univ of hawai'i at manoa. i dont want to have to spend more money to outsource my printing, ive done that for 4 years and its expensive as hell. the architect i work under now is a highly regarded residential architect around our area so its good to be under his wing, he is brilliant with houses.

[hotzcatz]

On Oahu the percentage of non-house jobs will be a bit higher, but on the outer islands it is almost 100% houses. More rural construction so you will have the option of a mushroom farm, dairy operation or processing plant of some type occasionally but most of the work is residential with a touch of commercial here and there.

Most of the graphics programs out among the architects seem to be the AutoCad type. AutoCAD, Archicad, DataCad, etc. but I don't know what the U of H Architecture program is using. They are a fairly new program, less than ten or fifteen years old so I'd expect they would have new tech.

I've got an old HP plotter that is still ticking along and I'm just a draftsperson, not an architect so they should have better, I would think. It is not fast, nowhere is it near fast, but it is still going along. I suppose it could print color if I gave it more inks but mostly it just prints black lines on big sheets of white paper and that's about it. I did do some work with a computerized router when I was doing some work for a sign company on Oahu. It was big, had a four by eight foot working area and a fun thing to use, but the machine which got the most workout in that shop was the little 24" wide plotter that spit out all the vinyl and patterns for the neon guys to work from. The whizbang machines are good, but the workhorse machines are the ones which pay the bills.

Can you still do work for the architect you are working for? If you have worked together for awhile, will he be able to send the work to you to be done? Bringing work from the mainland is a great way to find work in Hawaii, lots of folks are doing it these days. You not only have work, but you get much better pay for it, too.