take the cheapest

SCI-Arc and Berkeley are better than those other schools, and with the SCI-Arc scholarship cost about the same. Living in the Bay is a lot more expensive than LA though.

Honestly haven't heard that much about USC's M.Arch program so can't comment on that. But with full tuition that's a hard offer to pass up.

I was also accepted into the M.Arch II at SCI-Arc (I deferred last year) so I will be there this fall. Really excited because of the program, the building, and overall the culture there just seems to be focused on innovation. Plus, I too have heard that job prospects for SCI-Arc m.Arch grads are great in CA, but I have no clue about their prospects in other parts of the US. Let me know what you choose!

All of those schools are great. The advantage for all of them other than SciArc is that if you decide to wander off and do something else later, you have a degree from a great school and that is all they will look at. Most of the people outside of Architecture don't know about SciArc. I am unsure what your undergrad degree is in, however, you will soon learn that when you get out, the pay for intern architects is not a lot. As a person who has been carrying student loans for 10 years, I will tell you, please choose the cheapest one. I don't think you are going to go wrong with any of them, that is, if you choose to stay in architecture for at least the first 10 years out of school. My starting salary out of school was $44,000(which was considered good), sometimes if you are lucky, you can get $52,000. It depends on your experience. Now, here's the kicker, if you have $65,000+ in student loans, then your payments will be about $700+ a month.... Imagine carrying that for the next 10 years, while thinking of wanting to buy a new place, etc. It's not so fun! Look at all of the schools, create a budget, look at rent in each area, and figure out exactly how much you are going to owe when you get out after everything is paid. Excel is an awesome way to analyze budgets. 

I've worked with a lot of recent grads from all of the California schools mentioned, and to me the biggest difference is the people behind the degrees.

ucb doesnt know what they are doing, they only have andrew atwood there,  I would pick sci-arc, LA is a way better place to be in terms of jobs and architecture culture

Dear all,

Thank you all for your suggestions!!!

Is there anyone know that the estimated money cost/year in LA/SF?(as an international student) Is 20K per year enough?(including house, traffic, food etc.)

 

Have a great day!

It could be done, but not easily.  Housing costs are lower in LA than they are in SF; in both cases you'd be reliant on public transit.  Both Cal and SCIArc are easy to get by bike/transit.