20k a year is not cheap.

Was in a similar situation choosing between Pratt and NewSchool. In my view, I think overall Pratt is going to be the better situation overall but it really is going to depend on where you plan on ending up as an architect. 

Obviously living/going to school in downtown San Diego is preferable to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and its not even close. San Diego is also significantly cheaper to live and has better weather and probably a better overall quality of life especially if you aren't used to living in New York City. A lot of the architecture instructors at various community colleges around Southern California seem to have gotten their MArch at NewSchool (seems really common), however most of them were already licensed and practicing. They do, however, seem eager to send their pupils there and many of the community colleges act as de facto 'feeder programs' to NSAD. 

The flipside is that Pratt is in New York City which is one of the focal points of architecture these days. Most of your big firms (assuming you could get an internship or hired down the road) will at least have an office in New York City, even some of the overseas based firms like Foster & Partners have satellite offices there. On top of that New York is in the midst of a huge (though possibly unsustainable) building boom with buildings going up left and right. As such you'll probably have a much larger community of architecture professionals around you, either teaching, guest lecturing, or working around you in New York City. San Diego does not have a lot of name firms, and there is even less in the way of construction going on there. In New York, however there are also a number of tangential businesses like architecture visualization firms such as dbox or Visualhouse based in the city and of course quasi-architecture/interior firms like Rockwell Group doing interesting, non-traditional work. Add to that several major design programs not the least of which Parsons and Columbia GSAAP meaning that your ability to network with like-minded people (many of which may have the connections or word-of-mouth to help you get moving in your career) will greatly exceed that of NewSchool, which is basically the only architecture program south of USC.  Additionally, since much of the building in New York is developer-based you will likely get to know the major players like Related or Extell or the New York Department of Buildings fairly well, and these non-architecture-related connections will only be assets down the road especially if you decide to one day go out on your own.

Think of it like the movie business; If you want to be a filmmaker you go to school in LA, not because Northwestern or Florida State don''t have good programs, but because the industry is centered in Los Angeles and school is only part of the battle in launching yourself. You can gain just as much from who you're in class with as you do from who is teaching you.

If you're an in-state applicant, and you have the time, I might hold out and try to get into one of the state schools like UCLA (not sure where they are in the process of being accredited), but UCLA will be much more bang for your buck as an in-state applicant ($15,000/year for a Masters at a school like UCLA is a steal) and will put you a stones throw from Morphosis, Gensler, Gehry, WATG, all of which pull out of that pool. UCLA is also known for sending people to Walt Disney Imagineering if that interests you. And, its UCLA. You could spend three years just studying the Lombard Romanesque of the old campus. 

As far as I can tell NewSchool's curriculum is about on par with your average state school architecture program (say a school like Tennessee or UNLV), so it seems like you really get out of it what you put in. The facilities are so-so. There's also the risk they could go under being for-profit (but even 'established' schools like Cooper Union are not immune to this). I think it really depends on where you want to end up. I should point out though that going to a big name school doesn't guarantee much of anything. My cousin went to GSD and struggled like everyone else when the market collapsed, and it seems to me firms place more emphasis on your experience and ability to meaningfully contribute than where you went to school (unless you're at a place like RAMSA or ZHA where they might be looking for someone whose background is more tailored to their specific tastes). For me the environment of learning/practicing in New York City seems conducive to where I want to go in my career and that's what swayed me in that direction. 

I went to NSAD, got my first job at SOM, survived the recession and am still working - I put a lot into my education at NSAD. many of my profs. came from Cal Poly and a few from GSD - 

Just curious -- who did you eliminate?

Hi,

My name is gautham.I had applied at NJIT for my masters program in architecture.My gpa is 2.73 out of 4 , GRE 293 TOEFL 91.I have a pretty decent portfolio.What do u think are my chances .

I saw in the website that there is a 3 and a half year course for students with a non architecture related bachelores degree.But in my case I have one (completed 5 year b'arch program from Manipal Institute Of technology).So I was expecting to get a 2 year M'arch program.They said based on my portfolio and architecture background I may be able to complete it in less than 3 years.

Also If there are any students from NJIT I would like to know their experiences both academic and social.I heard Newark is a very scary and dangerous place.Since its march is it better to stay outside ?..I got admitted at New school of architecture and design at San diego ...A  private school.But my friends are asking me to wait for NJIT s decision since its a public college and an afiliated university.Is it worth the wait?...its for spring 2015...please help

NJIT might be better than NSAD - then again NSAD places a lot of people -. and you don't have to worry about getting popped in the head somewhere in Newark - I use to live in NJ and avoided Newark and the Oranges - then moved to San Diego and attended NSAD.

@xenakis ....Alright..thank you.....did not know the city was that dangerous...people keep telling me about the crime rates and violence there.The main  reason I am considering NJIT is because NYC is really close.

I would like to know more about NSAD and the life there in san diego...you are the perfect person to ask since u have attended the college.The student accomdation , climate , etc...looks great.How are the people , professors,social life?..id really like to know..if u dnt mind.Thanks