That's interesting..joint school but awarding two degrees for one course.
If you get a degree from each U, you wouldn't use the MMU one would you?

If you care to read through the previous posts in this thread, there have been more favourable comments about Taylor's rather than LKW school though the latter is older.

Taylors's has a twinning programme with Melbourne U whereas LKW is twinned with Curtin. Melbourne U is of course ranked higher than Curtin which is formerly WAIT (Western Australia Institute of Technology). But the choice of U in Australia after doing the first degree locally is not restricted to the two U's.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: May 22 2009, 11:43 AM

OK, I used 'twinning' juz for convenience, the word being so common with the IPTS's these days.
twinning..moderation...credit transfer...affiliation...whateva.. doesn't really make any difference, you do part of the course locally and part overseas, the idea being to save cost.

So, there are a few Taylor's students following this thread. How do you guys find the course, lecturers, facilities at Taylors etc.?

What does moderation mean exactly..it's kinda loose word. Is Melbourne U involved in the assessments/exams? Do their staff come over to teach? And how many students end up continuing in Melbourne U each year? Do you need very good results to get in? I heard there is Aussie U which is quite easy to get in - UTAS in Tasmania.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: May 22 2009, 07:47 PM

I don't know whether it is just me but I find the above hard to comprehend.

LAM regulates the architecture profession under the Architect's Act.
The interior design/architecture profession is not regulated in Malaysia, meaning, you do not have to register with any government body to practise. Accreditation is therefore not relevant.

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Added on May 27, 2009, 1:08 pmThat's strange...I thought once you get Part II or its equivalent, Part I does not come into the picture. In fact, some of the accreditated unis do not have accreditation for Part I. It looks like LAM is treating the 2 Parts separately. Taylor's grads would have the hassle of taking additional exams upon completion of their BArch.

LKW students have been going to Curtin through their twinning program all these years and they don't face such hassle.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: May 27 2009, 01:09 PM

There is nothing much you can do with Part I really. It's not a degree to prepare you for the job market.. Basically, the work in an architect's office falls into two types - design and working drawings. With Part 1,you are neither here nor there. Employers would rather hire diploma or certificate holders.
You probably could do better in other construction related fields.

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Added on May 28, 2009, 1:21 pmI think azarimy meant you are eligible to sit for Part 1 exam.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: May 28 2009, 01:23 PM

Of course there are jobs for Part 1 grads, the job market is so wide. I'm not saying they won't be able to get jobs.
But IMO, it's kind of hard to fit a Part 1 grad in an architectural firm or even the public sector. The degree which is equivalent to Part 1 is not really geared towards the job market unlike the certificate holders (technician level) or diploma holders (technical assistant TA level), but is meant as preparation for BArch. The Part 1 degree is a relatively new concept in the IPTA's with the set up of all the local new schools of architecture recently. For example in USM, there used to be a common multi-disciplinary degree (70's to 90's) called BSc (Housing, Building & Planning) which was a 4-year course (without Part 1 status). Many of their graduates ended up working as project managers, assistant architects, etc. Now, it is called B. HBP which is awarded after the 3rd year of the architecture course and is equivalent to Part 1, similar to new schools in UM, UPM & UIA. Unlike the traditional diplomas from UTM or UiTM, I think the degree (being shorter) is not meant to prepare the students for the job market. Just my personal point of view, opinions may differ.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: May 30 2009, 08:13 PM

I am surprised about the status of accreditation of the IPTS's even though some of them are not that new. I guess their selling point is the tie-up with foreign universities which would accept students for the BArch course overseas. But the problem/doubt of recognition of the degree by LAM for Part 2 remains since LAM would not accept that Part 1 or the early part of the course was done locally.

It seems that the students still have to face the uncertainty of the status of the qualifications after spending hundreds of thousands of ringgit on their studies - something which the IPTS's are aware of but would not reveal to potential students.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jun 3 2009, 11:35 AM

I don't suppose you would have gone deep into the course after 1.5 years or are in a position to undertake a design of a sizeable building. Just as architectural design can be subjective, the degree of difficulty of the course is also subjective.

It's good to think positive though and not be daunted by what others say about how difficult the architecture course is. There could be truth in what you say, that it's difficult to excel but not that difficult to get through. The same holds true in real life practice - when the time comes for you to start your own practice, it is difficult to excel and make it big but it is not difficult to make a living out of it. Some say that PAM Part 3 is very difficult to pass but I'd say that when one has survived the rigorous course of study for the architecture degree, Part 3 shouldn't be that difficult to pass and we are not even talking about excelling.

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Added on June 17, 2009, 11:56 amHas any of the public unis taken in any of the graduates from IPTS so far? I would think that they'll be placed at the bottom in terms of priority. So don't put too much hope on that possiblity.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jun 17 2009, 11:59 AM

If I were in your shoes, I would grab the offer if it is for study Luar Negara, not Dalam Negara.

'Quite a few' is how many each year? When the intake of students from SPM or STPM into the lst year of the courses are not solely based on the performance (meritocracy), I doubt if the intake into subsequent years would be based on performance alone. As you said, the other IPTA's are reluctant to open their doors to students from the IPTS's thus far.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jun 17 2009, 11:00 PM

The two parts sound contradictory to me. 'Guaranteed' and 'given priority' are two different things.

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Added on June 18, 2009, 1:20 pmThere so many polytechnics and colleges offering 'non-UTM' diplomas, with IPTA's forming the vast majority.
It is only expected that IPTA(UTM) would give priority to IPTA's, performance may not be the main criterion.
Out of the 10-12, how many have actually been accepted each year from the IPTS like Taylor's?
I guess the Taylor's students would know or have heard from their seniors.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jun 18 2009, 01:30 PM

I think the newer ones, upm and uiam would be relatively easier.

uitm only if you are bumi. There was talk about allowing a quota of 10% for non-bumis but was met with strong resistance from the bumis and uni management.

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Added on June 21, 2009, 12:59 pmYes of course. I see landscape architects as designers of the 'environment outside of buildings' such as gardens and outdoor public areas. They complement the work of architects in creating the built environment. Landscape architects are also involved in urban and regional planning.



This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jun 21 2009, 12:59 PM

If your mind is set on Architecture, go ahead with the Foundation course. You have to be sure though, as you cannot change to doing something else. You have to ensure that you have enough funds to see you through study overseas for the rest of the course (which is quite a lot of money).
If you'd like to leave your options open, go for A-levels or STPM.

Not entirely true either. What really matters in real life is how good you are in getting the jobs, in securing commissions just like any business. You can always hire the right people to do the jobs i.e. the work can be delegated. The scope of architectural work is so wide, few architects are good at every aspect of the work. Bigger firms have separate teams to do design work, production drawings and project management. The boss's role is reduced to doing the PR work bringing in the jobs and managing the staff or in the case of partnerships, each partner takes charge of his area of specialisatiion be it design, construction or contract management.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jun 29 2009, 06:16 PM

http://lam.gov.my/List/Malaysia.htm

accredited for, not by

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jun 30 2009, 10:23 AM

Not really at the bottom according to this list though :

http://whichuniversitybest.blogspot.com/20...chitecture.html

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Added on July 1, 2009, 9:25 pmYes, you can. Not being able to distinguish between certain shades of colours is not a big handicap though colour is part of design and architecture. It can be a nuisance at times as architects are involved in the design of colour schemes and selection of materials at some stage of a project. But that should not deter you from taking up architecture altogether.

The ability to discern subtle differences in colours is more crucial in interior design though. And there is a fair bit of overlap between architecture and interior design/architecture.

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Added on July 1, 2009, 9:38 pmI'm curious about the 'natural environment' part. I thought architecture is only about the 'built environment'?

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jul 1 2009, 09:43 PM

According to your link, Dundee is placed 14 out of 38, not really among the bottom still.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jul 1 2009, 10:59 PM

This link gives the rankings of architectural schools in research -
"Rating the United Kingdom's Architecture Schools as Researchers"

Not sure if the comparison is relevant for undergraduate courses though. Yea, Sheffield where you are at, is ranked 4th I notice.

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Added on July 1, 2009, 11:59 pmHmm...great, redundant, a waste, laid back..that's a rather confusing description.
I know for a fact that Taylor's A-level student (4 science subjects) are paying RM20,000 a year, so your Foundation is not considered expensive by Taylor's standards.

Well, I don't expect the foundation course to cover much other than scratching the surface.
I don't think it is a good idea to put QS and architecture students together into a common course. Yes, construction can be a common subject but I don't see the point in QS students learning design however basic. QSing is an entirely different discipline which calls for different skills (measurement, estimation, contracts, etc).

What is there to learn about the 'natural environment' anyway?

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Added on July 2, 2009, 12:13 amPut it this way darth..don't mean to discourage you but salaries for architecture graduates in the 90's were around the same level. Reality is, they have not moved much to keep up with the escalating cost of living.
No, for the time you spend in getting the degree, the return is no good compared to other fields. You don't take up architecture for the money or you'll be disappointed.
And I don't forsee another building boom in the near future like what was experienced in the mid 90's.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jul 2 2009, 12:17 AM

Hi silencio
Where did you do your 'Part 1'?
Which school in Melbourne are you headed to? Melbourne U/RMIT/Deakin/Monash?

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Added on July 2, 2009, 3:56 pmazarimy
Just to give you a comparison of the salaries of an fresh graduate architect today and that of the past.
I have a friend who started to work as a fresh graduate in 1981..yes, almost 30 years ago. He got a job with BEP Akitek to work on the Dayabumi project. His starting salary was RM1500 and it rose to about RM2000 after 6 months. That was during the building boom of the early eighties. Those days, a Honda Accord cost less than RM30K.
See how much salaries have moved over the years.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jul 2 2009, 03:56 PM