Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Pratt Institute
University of Southern California (USC)
Tulane University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Temple University
University of Oregon
Cranbrook Academy of Art
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
Kansas State University
Undergrad programs: McGill vs. Waterloo vs. Ryerson vs Carleton
Hello, I have done the research about all four universities above and find them interesting in their own way. I like McGill for prestigious academics and location and Waterloo for co op program and emphasizing on technical side. McGill and Waterloo are my top options while my later options are Ryerson and Carleton. I like Ryerson for the technical side of the program and the location and Carleton for art-centered academics.
What are the academic differences of between these universities and which one is better overall?
As a student from U.S. who is planning to apply as an international student, which one is more diverse based on the demographic of international students and ethnicity? I am asking this because my ethnicity is South Asian and I want to study in a place where there is diversity. I know Canada have diverse population but I am wondering of the diversity population differs in some universities.
What are the on campus living for any of these universities you know? The reason is because I have read that for Waterloo, the architecture program is far away from the campus that it is impossible for students to live on campus. I am wondering what's the residential living is like for McGill, Ryerson, and Carleton.
If you have any experiences with these universities above, I would like to know the information about it.
Thank you for the help!
McGill is second.
The rest is irrelevant.
But you're right, Waterloo is its own island in Cambridge, which is far removed from the main campus or any real urban center. Why are you going to school for? To learn how to be an architect or to hang out in shitty hipster bars?
There is something about hanging out in real cities like Montreal and Toronto that might help in learning about that architecture stuff... Hipster bars are just a bonus.
FYI regarding co-op, from my understanding Ryerson now offers a co-op for students after they complete their 3rd year. The Ryerson co-op is different from Waterloo as it is a minimum 8 months up to 16 months straight work term. Waterloo co-op is broken down into a series of 4 month work terms in each year of the undergrad program. Also the Ryerson co-op is competitive and only the top 20 or 30 students are eligible.
Both co-op programs are great. In my opinion the year long work term that Ryerson offers allows students to see more stages of a project. Also since the co-op is completed after the 3rd year of study students are more equipped to take on drawing and modeling roles.
Do your research and take a look at the program websites:
http://www.arch.ryerson.ca/department/experiential-learning/co-op/
https://uwaterloo.ca/architecture/co-op
Also a good resource to compare Canadian schools is the ACSA "Vital Statistics on Canadian Schools of Architecture". The stats cover number of faculty (full time and part time), number of international students, areas of focus, and digital/fabrication facilities. Link below:
http://www.acsa-arch.org/resources/data-resources/canadian-schools
One last thing, don't worry about which school everyone on here says is the best. Canadian schools are pretty evenly matched and you won't get a bad education at any of them. Your education at these schools is only as good as you make it. As long as you're not going to UofT you'll be good.
"Canadian schools are pretty evenly matched"
No, they are not, specifically when considering undergrad.
@0khaned0
If you do not plan to live and work in Canada, you have to consider the international reputation of the university itself. This reputation is almost as important as the reputation of its school of architecture.
Have a look here at the international ranking of universities. This might help you with your final choice.
McGill is ranked 42 and it also has a good percentage of international students (24%).
The University of Waterloo is ranked 173, which is a very poor international ranking.
Btw, the University of Toronto is considered the best Canadian university and one of the best in the world, as it stands at #22, ranking 151 places ahead of Waterloo. This is ironical as I understand U of T has a bad school of architecture.
World rankings mean shit.
These are not architecture related.
You guys sure don't know much.
This is ironical
Good God....
@Non Sequitur
World rankings mean shit.
Why?
These are not architecture related.
Found one here.
You guys sure don't know much.
This is exactly the point.
People outside of Canada tend to know very little about the internal reputation of Canadian schools of architecture, and they wouldn't even care. Hence the option to look at world rankings, in order to get an idea about the international reputation of those universities.
@0khaned0
I emphasise this part - if you do not plan to stay in Canada after graduating, you should not bother studying there.I would choose a top US school or a top British school, in that order, and if possible.
If you plan to move to Canada, then by all means listen to the Canadian architects who are vigorously posting on this forum.
"World rankings mean shit. - Why?"
Because rankings are determined mostly by researchers in specific fields and as the focus varies across the board, rankings for specific majors are drastically affected. Take sci-arc/AA for instance, they're incredibly avant-garde arch schools but you don't see them in QS.
Cornell's bachelors which remains consistently at no. 1 is another example. I'm not saying it isn't deserving of its namesake but the shift in emphasis from B.arch to M.arch in most other colleges puts cornell on an uneven playing field.
Rest of the advise here is pretty spot on. Go to McGill/Waterloo if OP plans on staying in canada to practice. Go elsewhere otherwise.
don't listen to Adrian.. what a dumbass xDDD
Yeah, generally rankings that are non-major specific won't help you much with architecture. There are a lot of great schools with not great architecture programs and vise versa. Additionally as noted above, lots of purely architecture/design schools which will never show up in non-architecture/design rankings.
There is at least some degree of truth to architecture specific rankings, but it still doesn't mean much.
Seems totally useless.
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