Can your parents pay the $80,000.00 per year cost of SciArch?   Do not take out large loans for this or any other architecture school.

I didn't go to SciArc but there are some here who have and maybe they can chime in.

While that finance-first reaction above is one to consider, I'm not sure what purpose it has here as a response to your question since it doesn't have much to do with what you asked.

Traditional approach just refers to the generally recognized manner in which architectural design is taught (studio environment + addressing conventional project types (office buildings, civic buildings, schools, etc) directly as buildings).

SciArc was founded by people who saw a more exploratory and experimental vein of discovery through any number of researches (artistic, scientific, digital non-gravity design responses as websites, or even buildings that don't necessarily look like anything you might inhabit), most with a dose of artistic license that provokes theoretical consideration of whatever the design problem may be. It's a pretty loose description, but it is purposeful to allowing the boundaries of architecture to be reconsidered.

(I hope that helps you understand a bit of the flavor of what they intend)

There are a few different directions to consider in architecture. Use your time to investigate the various schools and see what their approaches are and see if your interests align. At some point, it does become an issue of finances too since architect pay isn't commensurate with the cost of private or out-of-state education these days. But I'd start with what you think you want to get out of higher ed & where you think you'd like to go with your life/career after school first. That is a tougher question to figure out when you are new to all of the various options in front of you. Finances can be resolved pretty quickly by comparison.

Should note that you come out of Sci-arc with a b.arch. That's five years of undergraduate, after which you come out with a professional degree that will allow you to take the AREs. While not necessary, many Sci-arc graduates also place into the top grad schools. Look into Thom Maybe, Neil Denari, Hernan Diaz Alonso, as they were the more famous instructors at Sci-arc.

Let's reinvent the wheel before knowing how to build a wheel.

Sciarc used to be cool, when it wasnt a machine run by trust fund babies. It is a very expensive proposition to place you exactly in the same place as someone from a state school. A glace at their recent e-open house will tell you everything you need to know. It is pretty much a worthless program that will neither teach you architecture nor media art. Mediocre.

check out their student works and compare them with works from Yale, WUSTL, Tulane and you'll figure out what it mean