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It’s that time of year again, when architectural hopefuls sit anxiously on their front step waiting for the mail or more likely, at their computers refreshing their inbox. And while many may have thought the difficult part was turning in the applications, they are probably figuring out by now, that making a decision on which program to accept can be just as taxing.

Over here at Archinect, our Discussion Forum gets flooded in the beginning of each calendar year with budding architects seeking advice on their futures. Questions about the true costs of tuition, the likelihood of getting off a waitlist,  or the reputation of a program are all being crowd-sourced and our forum has been particularly helpful for international students who might not have access to their potential universities open house, or have no idea where New Haven is. Lucky for those in this position, we have combed through our community boards to help you navigate the educational landscape of architecture school.

Starting off with some general advice, here are some tips on finding the right program for you:

Consider what type of architect you want to be. Do you want to be doing hi-tech installation work? Do you want to design residential buildings? or be in academia? Figuring out what kind of career path you want is daunting at any age, but having a good grasp on where you want to be within this vast field deemed architecture is vital to picking a program that will get you there.

Many recommended looking at student work to get a feel for the school. Issuu is a great platform for researching this and you can also visit a school’s profile on Archinect for examples as well.

Make sure you have a good grasp on the pedagogies and approaches of various schools. Our Dean's List series is a great resource to check out and see what the school directors have to say about their programs and methods.

Look up alumni, both recent and older, and see what they are currently doing. Alternatively, check out a few firms that you admire and would want to work for and look at the educational rosters of their employees.

Consider where you want to live long-term. Higher education is an opportunity for making connections and building relationships. For many, the network established during school will help make the post-graduate transition easier.

Consider the umbrella of the program and how it classifies itself. Studying architecture in a department billed as a School of Architecture and Environmental Design will be different than the education received from a program that is within a School of Architecture and Urban Design.

Beware of Buyer’s Remorse! Architecture Education is an incredible financial burden, even for those who believe receiving a good education is priceless. At this stage, it may be very difficult to recognize the effect this could have on your life. Graduating with large debts into a field that often does not pay as well as one would think will, unfortunately, limit what you will be able to to do afterwards. Our Salary Poll is a great resource for considering the big picture. You can filter salaries by the school attended to see which schools, if any, produce better salaries.

Below, we have highlighted some comments from the Academia section in our forum so you can see what the Archinect community has to say about some of the most discussed architecture schools and programs:

“Yale usually seems to attract a wider variety of visiting professors, which means both more diverse studios and professional networking opportunities.” -ae_0

“Yes, Yale is more known for producing architects in the sense of making buildings. More so than other academies. That said, the guy from my case that has already started his own thing is currently making interactive installations.” -JamesPetty

“Yale is more into architectural design and it has a relatively orthodox pedagogy while MIT is very interdisciplinary and supported by their technology….I went to [Yale’s] Open House last year and was really impressed by the student works there. There I saw the most complicated and elegant models and drawings. They were better than those at MIT, GSD, Princeton. However, if you are interested in integrating architecture into other disciplines, MIT is a better place. Medialab is definitely an extremely cool place, and I saw that they were designing robots there. I couldn't really imagine how cool it would be if it would be combined with architecture.” -Katzenmaske

“I'd say UCLA is the best value in the country right now and [has] the best lineup of professors (obviously I'm biased though).” -dawnchorus

“I feel that Suprastudio (UCLA) is amazing if you really like the topic of the studio you’re admitted into. I also think that the whole industry collaboration and live projects module they follow is relevant to work after and it helps a great deal, especially if you feel like you’re done with the theory bit in your undergraduation. The infrastructure of the Suprastudio seems to be stellar too and from what I’ve heard in the virtual open house, it’s a good bet.” -dmb2904

“It will be very hard for many people to find a suitable job [from] this education (UCLA’s Suprastudio) because most of us will not be happy going [to] a regular architecture office. You can be an entrepreneur, develop some architectural technologies or you can find a work in very few firms in LA that start doing these kinds of works” -SerhatYildiz

“From my friends working in London, the end of year show that everyone attends (including the “name” offices) these days to find good new students is the Bartlett.” -Architect with a suitcase

“This kind of division between history, critique and “hands on style” is exactly the dichotomy AA works against. The AA prepares you with more than “skills.” You should check out the work that comes out of the AA and the background of those that teach there. This does not mean you will not be prepared for practice, its just you will [learn more] than just application of “skills.” -bleu

“GSD and Penn are functionally the same program; both schools trade off faculty and the alumni network has similar levels of presence in the professional world.”-Dangermouse

“At GSD you can explore yourself..either in design based research topics or in purely theoretical topics.”-Labib Hossain

“I believe Penn still works with a pretty "digital design" (though that's probably a terrible way to describe it) focus, which some people might find off putting.While it seems to me that's GSAPP has moved away from that type of stuff. ”-arifj

“To broadly answer your question, I enjoy the program at Michigan. The pedagogy is very mixed, as the faculty is quite large. So you’ll have your West Coast trained architects meshing with the kind of formalism that comes out of Princeton, or even Yale. Also, much of the faculty is very young. It’s a school that is very good, and has been for decades, about attracting and supporting young faculty members, which definitely brings an energy to studio. It’s a place where you should feel comfortable to experiment.” -Laurila

“Columbia is located in the upper west side of Manhattan, I visited last year as my sister lives in NYC. The school building itself does not seem to be impressive, it's quite small and though I didn't get to see all of it, i got the impression that the Upenn architecture building seemed better and more spacious (for classes, studios, etc). They are still a great school, very respected and I'd say if you went there you'd have good chances to find a job in NYC after graduation without a problem (also think about the connections you'd make there). BUT think about this, Manhattan is one VERY expensive city.” -AstridCam

“UCLA- Starchitect faculty, older building and facilities, best grad program in the west, Greg Lynn, Sylvia Lavin, and now Jimenez Lai. Big Robots, the beach. SCI-ARC- Awesome building, new fab lab, in an artsy area next to Skid-Row, Mostly international students, lots of crossover between faculty from UCLA at reviews, Wacky work but very well done, nearly everyone has a 3d printer/ Massive computer builds. USC- New Grad program, up and coming but second tier compared to UCLA and SCI-Arc, Expensive as hell...better for undergrad.”-ROB4

“I attended UBC, but now that I think about it, I started ten years ago. I came from a non architecture background and was told they leaned more towards creative students over technical ( this going back to comments from nearly 14 years ago). I don't think UBC has the most technical slant in its program, but then again I never personally compared to other schools.”-christ-chitect

“I had my undergrad at Mcgill. The school is pretty theory heavy, with 4 arch history classes ranging from antiquities to post modernism...I do find Mcgill's design approach leaning more towards the art side of architecture rather than the practical/technical side. But as it's the case for any arch school, the most determining factor of your learning is YOU and not the school. Hope this helps.” -zs_47

“Were you at the Tulane Open house over the weekend? It seemed like their program is very driven by community responsive architecture. Meaning much of their studios have to do with actually designing and building projects that the city needs, very cool in my own opinion. And the more traditional option studios and thesis are of course available as well.” -lacalr