I am visiting WashU in the second week of April and am very excited for that as well. Again, anything you can tell me about the strength of these programs is appreciated.

Bump

i'd say UVa, but it is a close match

do you want to be in a somewhat urban area? or a rural one?

charlottesville is fun but that's pretty much all there is within a couple hour drive

seattle, on the other hand, has quite a bit of energy beyond what the university delivers

I am strictly talking from an architectural perspective. And not university of washington; Washington University in St. Louis

[my apologies - my reading comp seems to be a problem of late (factor that in with my comments ;) )]

good problem to have: theses two choices...I don't think you can go wrong

wash u is a very good school; i've been very impressed with colleagues who came out of that program. But i'd rather be in charlottesville than st louis for undergrad (my sis lived in st louis for a few years, and it was not the greatest city IMHO)

i went to UVa (somewhat biased but not a unthinking homer) and have been impressed with the grads I meet. i'll have to let more recent grads pipe up with comments on the professors (i've been out of the loop for 20yrs)

@proto Thank you so much! That is relieving to hear, particularly since (like everyone else) I am shooting for top grad schools!

why would u go to an unaccredited school for undergrad? Then you'll just have to pay for a masters in order to get your professional degree... so wasteful... you are either really disrespectful or your parents money or really dumb to take on more student debt.

Because I want to have a traditional four year experience and because the five year programs are beyond stressful. I want to enjoy college. Thank you for your extremely helpful and productive comment. Btw, I am actually paying attention to finances 

"I want to have a traditional four year experience...the five year prigrams are beyond stressful" 

Welcome to life... Life is stressful- wakeup and smell the roses. Sorry- the following is NOT helpful: you are a spoiled brat.

+1 Bulgar

@bulgar My parents fully support me in this. Who the hell are you to call me spoiled? I am asking a question about the strength of two undergraduate programs. That is all. Your response is nasty and off topic. I applied to school already, what is done is done. Thank you again for your ever so helpful comments

Waffleman,

There's nothing wrong with pursuing a 4yr liberal arts degree grounded in design. That said, there are some notable differences between the two programs with respect to how they structure the curriculum for undergraduates. But don't rely on what the course descriptions, look at work that is being put out on the street across various social platforms, look at the types of people they are trying to hire to teach undergraduate level courses in design as well.  Also consider facilities, and try to get an honest assessment of how much of what will be available to you as part of your education.

Both programs have some exciting things coming on line in the near future (but in very different ways), and those differences should help you in your decision.

Visit both and out where the best local barbecue is made- just in case you can't decide which program to choose based solely on academics.

Thank you for responding @MarcMiller! I was strongly advised against pursuing the 5 yr program, and did not have a portfolio, so I couldn't have applied to one if I had wanted to.

I will definitely keep the barbecue in mind! :P

Thank you again for your response!!

Because I want to have a traditional four year experience and because the five year programs are beyond stressful. I want to enjoy college.

FYI, you will be working hard/stressed in either of these arch programs; don't pretend you'll have tons of extra time just because it's a BSArch or BSDes in lieu of a BArch. Unless something's changed in C'ville, UVa students live in studio just like any other program. I'm guessing WashU will be the same.

Yes, you'll have to do grad to get your professional degree. When it comes time to looking at grad programs, some will give you credit for the studio time you've already put in at these schools, some will make you do the 3yr masters anyway. Mostly, it will depend on your portfolio to determine how many yrs of grad will be reqd.

(not sure what's up BB's ass...someone shit in his coffee, I guess...or no good bbq at his alma mater)

Lol @proto. See my other comment. I am not saying this won't be stressful; I have heard bad things about the 5 yr program though, and was strongly advised by a few architects that I shadowed not to go that route. I didn't have a portfolio either, so even if I HAD wanted to apply, I would not have been able to, since they all require a portfolio (at least the ones I looked into). 

I know that I will have to go to grad school. That is why I created this thread. I wanted to know which school has the stronger undergrad curriculum and gets students into the better graduate schools. I know that if you work extremely hard anywhere, you can get into a top school, but I want to know which one tends to do better from what you have seen. 
Thanks for the input!

Neither will get you in the top school, that's up to you.

And how you define "top school" is also up to you as you near completion. It's also determined by acceptance and grad funding. So unless you can tell the future, no one can answer that- and if you can tell the future there are far better uses for that talent.

@MarcMiller I understand that, but I would like to know which one tends to have more applicants get in, or if they do comparably with that. Top school meaning top 10 grad school

1- Acceptance rates are not always in alignment with the caliber of the program. 

2- Acceptance rates don't mean a thing after you throw the letter of acceptance or denial in the trash.

3- You are assuming programs are similar, and will stay the same after 5 years. They're not and they won't. Top ten for....

Fabrication

Sustainability

Real estate and development

Urbanism

Robotics

Dual degrees in LArch or Planning

Business and Executive Management

Community Engagement

4- I'm not even going to throw individual faculty members in this mix. 

5- Most importantly, you won't be the same person. Wait 3 years to ask that question. If you intend to get a degree to improve your portfolio, you might as well use the other courses to help influence your thinking about your future instead of just asking the question way ahead of when you need to think about it.

@MarcMiller I am not just referring to the 10 most selective programs. I am referring to the 10 BEST programs as listed on DI's rankings. I never said a word about acceptance rates or anything like that. All I want to know is which school has the stronger undergrad architecture program. That is IT. Everyone is attacking my rationale for my chosen college path, but that is set in stone right now if I want to go into architecture! I JUST want to know which program tends to prepare students the best for grad school. 

Lol @proto. See my other comment. I am not saying this won't be stressful; I have heard bad things about the 5 yr program though, and was strongly advised by a few architects that I shadowed not to go that route.

FYI, it's the same, just one year less (which is why BB, in his own way, was urging a different strategy)

I didn't have a portfolio either, so even if I HAD wanted to apply, I would not have been able to, since they all require a portfolio (at least the ones I looked into).

Not to get you sidetracked, but no one really has a portfolio going into undergrad...you have to create something as best you can from your own particular circumstances/history. Mine was basically from some drawing classes back then.

and listen to marc, you'll see in time that the status of the various schools is irrelevant. The suitability to YOU and your goals is more important

I understand, but for now, this is all I want to know. I am not making my decision purely based on strength of program; that would be stupid of me. But I definitely am going to take it into account, hence this question

I saw that on the Yale M.Arch enrolled students site that 8 went to WashU for undergrad and 4 went to UVa

Not trying to be critical,  "but I would like to know which one tends to have more applicants get in" = acceptance rates. 

And you are missing my point, but here's a good approach to this. Why not ask people in the programs you have been accepted into? You won't get a more accurate answer than that. 

Because they are biased @MarcMiller
If I ask a WashU student if their program is better than UVa, they will unequivocally respond yes, and if I asked UVa students versus WashU, they would also say yes

ALL I am trying to do is compare my two options and determine if either is any good. That is all

To be specific you ask where their graduates tend to get accepted for grad school. But don't ask students. Ask faculty and ask admin. Ask the career services person. 

Do ask students if they like the program, but listen for the negative aspects. They tend to pop up when you hear them  say "well..." For that matter ask what they don't like about the program- be direct.

I really can't help beyond this. This really is a matter of your due diligence. So-

-Consider that programs can change a lot in 4 years- changing their DI ranking.

-Consider that the bottom half of the DI listings fluctuate, so track those bottom 5. Once a program appeared in the top 10 DI rankings simply because it was new.

-You need to know what you want to do with the MArch in order to effectively evaluate your top 10 (if you aren't interested in robotics and 4 schools in the top 10 focus on that, they're off your list). Life is too short and intense to do someone's else's bidding.

-Ask questions of the programs (faculty/admin/staff) you were accepted into, ask questions of the students. And listen actively.  

Good luck.

(but something to consider in your reasoning. If students lie, and faculty/admin lie, how do you know that alums or online forums don't lie)

As a current graduate student at UVA and someone who has been a graduate teaching assistant in an undergraduate foundations studios, I can say that it does not matter which school you go to in my opinion. What really matters is your work ethic and how you put your time to use. I see plenty of undergrads that put little effort into their work and it shows, and I see others who really care and that shows. At UVA, there are a ton of different professors with many different interests and expertise so as you get deeper into your education, you have many options to try different things. Also, if you take advantage of all the visualization electives to improve your drawing and representation skills, and the short courses that teach how to CNC mill, 3D print, etc, you would have crafted your own education. 

To be honest, I only see about 2 or 3 students from their undergraduate program accepted into their graduate program. Also, a flaw in my eyes that I see here is that they have a ton of recent graduate students teaching undergraduate design foundation studios. I personally believe your foundation studies in architecture are the most important and I believe they should be taught by professionals who have practiced architecture. So look carefully at the curriculm, try to match up courses with professors on the directory, and search for PICK Electives on UVA's page to see what type of courses they offer. 

You can't teach a pig to play the violin... As you wish OP....

I have never heard that expression before in my life BB, but I only applied to 4 yr programs, so I can't change that at this point. Not sure what you want me to do. It appears that you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning

Did u just wake up one day and pick architecture out of a hat and decide- "here we go- this is what I'll major in in college", because it sure as hell sounds like it and its an insult to everyone who has put in their years and time to see someone like u waste their money on an educational program that can actually mean something if you put in an extra year; (a four year currently means nothing in the REAL world. The fact that you don't even want to dedicate yourself entirely to architecture and immediately fall inlove with all the distractions at a beautiful campus seems like you are either a) not entirely committed to this profession (to which I say get the fuck out of it immediately) or b) you are ok with spending valuable time in school while borowing other people's money to go there- to which I say your are a spoiled and entitled brat. You might as well just call yourself an interior designer like all the housewives in the suburbs. Your choice and reasoning to "major" in architecture at a four year program is dumbfounding. You will never be able to an architect with a four year degree unles you live in NY, but even then reciprocity will never be possible with some states. You will have to go to grad school and spend more money not to mention that if you opt to not go, you will always have a boss at a firm. Personally, I'm licensed and the less competition I have the better, But since this is a public forum and we are presumably here to to try to help you, I think you need the type of tough love your mommy and daddy never gave you. Shame on your for wating your valuable time and other people's money. Do what you want; but one day don't be bitchin' on archinect about the choices you made.

BB no I did not, but I am not 100% sure that I want to go into architecture. I am in high school for crying out loud! Maybe I will decide that architecture isn't for me, THEN WHAT? It sounds like you have some anger management issues that need to be worked out because your responses have been 100% unwarranted

If anyone had thought that the 5 yr program would be worthwhile for me, I would have definitely gone that route. However, I was repeatedly told not to go that path. I am so sorry that you disapprove of my life choices, but this IS SET IN STONE

not knowing what you want to do with your life just cost you another 200k. Congrats. Thank god you're not allowed to default on student loans or hardworking taxpayers like most on this forum would have to pay for it. Too bad you are so immature to not realize the wastefulness of your indecisiveness. Hence my speculation that you are either born a lucky sperm or have ZERO real guidance in your life. 

Good for you having had your life figured out at 18. Congrats!

You sound pathetic- stop feeling sorry for yourself. "I'm 18 and I'm still a child boohoo"

Grow up.

What is the matter with you?

over and out- take care of yourself

Thanks for not answering my quesiton

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BArch are far more expensive and less common. BArch students are some rich mfs.