Seems like QS ranking rely heavily on how many peer reviewed papers are produced and how many citations faculty get when they publish- which does not mean any of the publications are good. It could be that that there are a few rock star faculty at this Milan School that are publishing about HVAC or building technology, who knows, not me. Also this kind of publishing is only relevant for phd´s, and what the professors are doing which has absolutely zero to do with actual design education.

 I am based in Europe and have been educated and work here, honestly there seems to be less emphasis of where you studied in Europe compared to America. Another thing I never came across anybody who studied from Milan so I am not sure it it is a particularly amazing school. I came across ppl from KADK and TU Delft that tend to be good designers and academics. But why this Milan is ranked so high and why everyone seems to believe these rankings is a mystery to me. If you visited and were disappointed you should trust what you experienced there. Hopefully you get into KADK and go there.   

maybe people like it for the knowledge and teachers, and can't care less about the accommodations? Copenhagen and Delft are very different from Milan - expect a lot of looseness in a mediterranean culture.  If you like strictness and efficiency go to the nordic countries. (btw, I'm with you, I would never seek work in a corporate environment or a big city, I like laid back and small)

Have you tried https://archinect.com/schools

What Masters program did you apply for at KADK? 

Urbanism & Societal Change. I visited the studio when I was there. I thought my potential thesis fit well with what they were doing.

Poli Milan is a degree mill. They would take anyone who is half mediocre. I know people who got in and they were mediocre at best. Also, rankings are influenced a lot by school size. 

I was thinking about applying for the Land Landscape Heritage program, but I am in two minds about it still. While the fees is really affordable, I don't see any other attractions to the school. However, a friend of mine did study there and get an internship with BIG, so I don't know. 

I have taken an exchange course at Polimi.

• TU Delft and Polimi both are the biggest architecture schools, that support researches. Therefore we had many young lecturers who were extremely in sharing their knowledge and ideas at Polimi.
• All thematic studios consist of group projects. So you won't work alone in big projects. It is a little bit nerve-racking so you have to compromise.
• At KADK (as I know) are not many elective subjects as it is at Polimi.
• It was hard to make friends. I do not know why:)) but I experienced it on my own and have heard the same from others. Maybe the reason is because it's a huge school.