In my opinion, the biggest factor you should use to narrow down your list is what kind of degree program the school offers - is it a 5-year, professional degree (Bachelor of Architecture), a 4-year 'pre-professional' degree (Bachelor of Science), or a 4-year arts degree with an architecture major (Bachelor of Arts)?

As far as choosing a degree path goes, many (many) commenters here on Archinect will advise you to go to a school that offers a B.Arch - it will generally involve a more technical, career-oriented curriculum (and many fewer liberal arts classes) than the alternatives, but once you graduate, you can immediately begin pursuing licensure without having to go back to (and pay for) graduate school. This is definitely the quickest path to becoming a 'captial A' Architect, and could be the way to go if you're sure that's what you want.

A Bachelor of Science program will take you four years, will involve many design studios as well as a handful of introductory technical classes (structures, environmental design, building technology, etc.), but will still give you some flexibility to pursue other interests; with this kind of degree you will need to complete a graduate program later to become licensed as an Architect, which will generally take 2-3 years.

A Bachelor of Arts program is the least technically intensive of the three as it is essentially a 'major' in the traditional liberal arts sense. It takes four years, generally involves fewer design studios and very few if any technical coursework, and you'll have the most freedom to take other classes. If you later want to pursue licensure, you'll generally have to take one more year of graduate school than those with a BS degree, for a total of 4 years of undergrad + 3-4 years of grad school.

Your lists include schools offering all three of these options, but it's a good idea to know which kind of degree you want so you can make apples-to-apples comparisons between programs. I was in a similar situation in high school, looking for a school that rigorous but still well-rounded. I visited Cornell and was told by someone in the dean's office to look through the course catalog - "If there are any classes in there that you want to take that aren't in the architecture school, don't come here" - and that pretty much convinced me that a five year program wasn't for me. I applied to UVA, Yale, VTech, WUStL, and Tulane - went to UVA and loved it.

Snarkitekt,

You bring up a very good point.  I will look further in to that and factor it in when I weigh my options further. I think my ideal would be a Bachelor of Arts but I am willing to consider other options. 

I actually have a friend at Cornell that told me he has a lot of liberal arts classes available to him. 

I have a couple questions about the Virginia schools:
Are UVA students "intellectual"/bookish? Where do they lean on the political spectrum? If you know anything about VT, how technical is their program?

Thanks

If Canada is an option, I hear that University of Waterloo has one of the best undergrad programs out there - a good balance of design, theory, cultural, technological courses... can't tell much about their Grad program

I thought i'd add that if anyone could suggest great middle/safety options that meet my needs that would be great!

Since you'll be an undergraduate, consider the size and culture of the university - you'll get more out of being able to connect to the rest of the university and small private design schools are very different from large public universities.  Visiting is your best bet, finding current students to talk to is also a good idea.  Programs wise snarkitekt's advice is good, it'll affect your career path post-school.

WUSTL - has a strong undergraduate curriculum both in and outside the school.  The access to other departments and on campus lecture series is phenomenal, you'll get small group conversation opportunities with Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, etc.  It's a liberal student body with a healthy mix in the faculty.

UVA - read the papers, the school is great, but the university is going through some tough political shift; ousting a president after 2 years is not to be taken lightly.  the students there range a lot, the campus has its share of the "privileged" southern aristocracy, though the architecture school leans far more to the left.

doing an undergrad in architecture is generally a horrible idea.

haha I agree with "i r giv up", do something else. You can always do a 3 year Masters of Architecture, it's much more efficient than a B.Arch from what I've noticed. But again u dont wanna be in too much debt. If you really wanna be an architecture slave for 5 years, I suggest UT Austin, Virginia Tech, Penn State or Cal Poly SLO

do an undergrad in computer science if you want to be a great architect.

Jackson- please recognize that ir giv up is trolling- looking for a fight with someone who doesn't share his belief that algorithmic design is the future of the profession.  It would probably be a mistake to take his advice - at least take it with a grain of salt.

I recognize that, bob/bob. Also, there is no way I am doing computer science, I don't care about it.

i wasn't. i thought my point was fairly obvious, hence i didn't think i needed to elaborate on it.

sadly, there's some really dumb people on this forum.

so here it goes.

1. you want an alternate work experience before you chose to be an architect. if you want to be a great architect, you have to be in this field because you chose to do so. having an undergrad in something other than architecture, puts you in that position. control matters.

2. if you don't like CS, consider a career where you won't be spending 90% of your time in front of a computer, ie. not architecture.

3. at age 17, no matter how mature you may think you are, you world view is beyond skewed. undergrad is about learning how to manage your time, while creating meaningful connections. an architecture undergraduate degree stresses production far more than research, so while you get faster and more efficient as time goes by, you're going to find that your friends in other disciplines have a lot more time to devote to themselves and other activities which are far more important than rendering your final project, or making drawings about ideas that have been solidified inside your head weeks before they are finished on paper. anyways... this could wind up being a huge discussion, so onto my final point.

4. networking matters. go into architecture undergrad programs and I can guarantee you that a disproportionate number of the connections you make will be other architects. good luck trying to sell ice cubes to the eskimos.

Dear jacksonetyler(at)gmail.com,,
While today there certainly are benefits to pursuing an undergrad in something like computer science, if it's not for you, you'd better be prepared to engage with it. And not just computer science but the variety of topics that an architect needs to know about to be successful. I would really focus on the things that most architects tend to ignore (economics, biology, computation) and if you can, use your studio time to explore them.

also get your diploma or b.arch and get it over with.
no 4+2 year programs.

I have nothing against computer science itself (mathematics and linguistics interest me and they are certainly related) however I would not want to major in it. As for economics, I enjoy that too but I am not sure how much that relates besides the economic state of the industry. And Bio, how does that relate?

I don't want to get my education "over with." I thoroughly enjoy learning and feel a 4+2 program would be a good fit. 

I point out professional degrees because they give a good overall picture. A 4+2 program is a good fit only if it's economical for you.

But bachelor of arts in architecture is a ridiculous waste of time, even if its free. Some graduate schools (especially the better ones) won't even give you advanced standing and you will be treated like someone with a degree in painting.

save yourself the time. there are only so many architectural history professor jobs out there. You can always get an M.Arch or Phd if you want to continue learning.

As for economics, biology, computation - I'm referencing these as electives because they are stricter disciplines which help offset some of the BS you will encounter in architecture school. And firsthand knowledge of them will be to your advantage. Trust me, you don't want to waste your spare time reading up on them later.

all of those things: biology, computation and economics give you a huge advantage if you ever want to rationalize a complex formal vision.

and if you think things like linguistics is going to take you away from CS type courses: do more research. linguistics without computation only happens in archaic philosophy programs in subpar colleges.

make it truly hard for yourself.

study art.

forget the archaic ones and zeroes.

naw yo move to a state that doesn't require education for licensing.  Volunteer at an office there while teaching yourself Autocad, network with the architects until they can offer you some drafting work. Continue working and learning about relevant topics for practice in your spare time.

In 5 years take the exams. boom. you are done.

Hopefully by then you will be charming enough to land good projects and clients.

I can't believe some of the "advice" i'm getting.

Thank you snarkitekt, acceskb, and 3tk for your help.

you just "can't believe" that it's not the advice you want to hear.

jacksonetyler,

If you have the financial resources, its a great idea to attend a summer design camp by one of your targeted universities. It will give you an introduction to design studio culture,  help with your college admissions applications and overall demystify the design school experience.

Many design schools for this summer are already filled and closed, but if you hustle, you could get into one this summer.

Almost all major design schools have an intro summer session geared towards high school students and / or older students thinking about returning to graduate school.

See example below for University of Cinncinati's program, which has a very, very strong undergraduate program:

See: http://daap.uc.edu/summer_camp.html

There are many more arch summer programs. Just research on the web and you'll find them.

Good luck,

chingale

jackson you are getting the full dose of paths to architecture, summer camp is a good idea.

If you are set on architecture stick to the well-rounded B.Arch, which often comes with a minor or as a double major.
If you want to spend time learning other things. Get an undergrad in something else and come back to architecture, you will be much more competitive. There is no point in wasting 6-8 years looking through the rose-colored glasses of architecturism.

Here is a good list shorter than yours-
Syracuse University
Cornell University
Carnegie Mellon University
VT
Cal Poly

If you want to go the art route RISD/Cooper/Pratt are good.

I am doing the Summer College at Cornell, I figure it will really help me make this decision.

The one thing I'd suggest is that, if you do decide to go for a B.Arch, the University you attend has policies that make it relatively easy to switch departments, if you end up finding that a B.Arch is in fact not for you. I'd personally look for a school that also had a really strong liberal arts college. I'm a product of the 4+2 with a B.A. in Arch Studies, and was more than happy with where my education lead me. I entered into my school as a pre-vet and bounced around several majors and departments before landing at Arch Studies. And the main appeal of said major was the flexibility; while my school only offered a few studio courses and was pretty heavy on art history, I also took a ton of env and urban planning and design courses, along with sociology, graphic design, etc. So for me, contrary to ciao's opnions, a bachelor of arts in architecture was definitely not a ridiculous waste of time. Working at a firm now making what most people with a professional degree and 2 years experience make in a year, and going back for my MLA.

I agree with byen01, having the flexibility to go in and out of programs is very helpful; especially those schools that actively encourage you to explore.  WUSTL had a series of "freshmen seminars" that exposed you to small group intensive courses with senior faculty on a range of contemporary topics (genome, bio-ethics, law, economics, polisci, etc).  I'm sure many other strong academic colleges offer the same.  I'm a product of an engineering program that encouraged us take a studio in the architecture school.  Other things to consider may be study abroad opportunities - there are summer "arts" programs in places like Florence, Paris, London that could help you explore aspects of the arts in a historically rich setting.  Also don't underestimate the campus environment in terms of being able to have time (and wanting to spend time) with those not in design - if you do end up as a designer, you'll notice that most of our clients aren't architects, having those friends is critical in keeping you sane, and can help your career later.

oh and as chingale mentions, Cincy is a great program - check it out.

Working at a firm now making what most people with a professional degree and 2 years experience make in a year.

I doubt that, the extra year of school is not always beneficial.
Two hires at my firm: one finishes the B.Arch and works for a year. Then a 4+2 grad comes in and gets offered the same salary the B.Arch had a year ago. In some circumstances the 4+2 will be offered a slightly higher salary due to their extra year of education, but this in no way guarantees that they can hustle. 

As for the Bachelor of arts (not a bachelor of science) it tends to be a waste of time. It happens all the time, some student with a BA in architecture applies to Columbia and finds themselves needing another 4 years in graduate school because they took too many irrelevant classes in subjects like "Representation", This is especially true if you apply to an M.Arch program outside where the BA was done.

On top of that, sometimes 4+2 grads will still want to pursue another masters at a more prestigious uni. It ends up taking them 7-8 years to earn the credentials a B.Arch-M.Arch grad gets in 6.

But like I said if you apply to a 4+2 or even a 4+3 program and it is economical for you. Then its worth it. But do the math and compare it to other places you've applied to.

Its your money jackstyler spend it how you wish.

4+2 or 4+3 program vs B.Arch
big differences

Thanks for all the advice. Which school was it, byen01?

@ciao, sorry, I should clarify, I've only completed a B.A. and am making as much as one with a professional degree + 2 years experience. Realized that structures weren't completely my thing, so I'm going for an MLA rather than an M.Arch.

@jack, small LA Uni in Boston.

i think one of the things people often miss is how versatile an architecture degree can be, those claiming that you shouldn't "pigeon hole" yourself in architecture forget how many other fields are open to those with architecture degrees, it's a particular way of thinking that other disciplines don't teach. I'm unconvinced that a CompSci or Bio degree will help, if it's architecture you're interested in, go for it! Don't listen to these trolls...

If you go for a 5-year degree, look at Cornell, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, The Cooper Union, and Penn State, most other 5-years have some deficiency (from what I've seen). The Cooper Union and Cornell being the best in my opinion (I wished I had applied to Cooper for my Undergrad! Free tuition!).

I'm not as familiar with 4-year programs, but the program at Penn looked exceptional! Very liberal arts focused and the undergrad students were often smarter than the grads! You also get amazing profs like David Leatherbarrow and Richard Wesley. Penn is expensive, but I believe all their undergrads get full scholarships to cover their entire tuition and then some (especially if your parents don't make a ton of money!) Definitely keep us updated!

Here is my current list:

Washington University in St. Louis
University of Michigan
The Cooper Union
Syracuse University
Cornell University
Carnegie Mellon University
Rice University
University of California Berkeley
University of Virginia
University of Kentucky
Tulane University
Georgia Tech
University of Toronto
University of Cincinnati
Columbia University
University of Pennsylvania

I understand that this is a mix of B.Arch, B.S., and B.A.. I have gone through and looked at curriculums and eliminated schools that I felt didn't provide a well-rounded enough education or were too technical (any additional insight on this topic is very welcome). 

I am expecting my summer college at Cornell to help me make the final decision whether or not to start with a liberal arts degree (which would probably be literature, philosophy, or linguistics by the way) or go straight to an undergrad in arch. 

Dani Zoe,
I'm very interested in what I have seen on Penn's site in regards to the faculty, student work, etc. I also like that it is a B.A. (or is it a B.S.). I think I will apply (but not to princeton and yale) because the admissions are not quite as tough. Still, I don't know about my chances of getting in Penn w/o any support like a portfolio (though my stats etc are definitely not bad, and I feel pretty confident about essays and recs).

do an undergrad in computer science if you want to be a great architect.

worst advice ever!   

worst advice ever!   

dumbest archinect member ever!

@jack, seeing as all schools on your list are decent schools, I'd also pay real close attention to the teaching style and school environment at each school. Regardless of what degree you're interested in, you don't want to be in an environment that will only offer you minimal support. Talk to the students, talk to the profs, and if you have the resources, please, please visit the schools! And from there, I'd think that your list would whittle down simply by virtue of location preferences. Also also, I second and third ir giv up's networking comment.

@Dani, any degree is as versatile as you make of it, right?

There is some very generic advice here - "go to a school that supports you" "any degree is versatile" "most other 5-years have some deficiency from what I've seen"

OP says
I am expecting my summer college at Cornell to help me make the final decision whether or not to start with a liberal arts degree (which would probably be literature, philosophy, or linguistics by the way) or go straight to an undergrad in arch.

This is the single most important part of your decision. I would really discourage using liberal arts as a segway for architecture or to ignore the potential that "technical" subjects like computer science and bio can have upon your thinking. Soft subjects will only frustrate you in the end, and leave you oblivious to major events in society and human progress.

If your attitude towards making things would rather look to these subjects from a brainy and artistic point of view, then I would recommend RISD (where you can take courses at Brown),Cooper, or Pratt. I would try to get a feel for the kind of student at the school. For example, most RPI grads I've come across don't draw too well and really like math.

UPenn is a decent program, but nowhere near as rigorous as the other ivies or even non-ivy places like Syracuse.

Leave it someone (dani) who praises a BA to be unaware that Cooper offers free tuition, while these days they will be cutting down on this and might even charge tuition for some undergrads. Or someone who is unemployed and thinking of starting a martha stewart home design practice (jla-x) to discourage computer science. These people tend to label others as trolls when their religious beliefs in empty ideologies are challenged.

If you have the brains I would really avoid starting off with a philosophy degree. At most do something like integrated design where you make things, but are also free to explore tough subjects. This profession is riddled with old people slow to change, at the very least you can try to outsmart the old geezers.

+1

btw, i did a linguistics minor/concentration as an undergrad.  you're going to love having to do fourier transforms for phonology (assuming you go to a good program) or ranking optimality constraints. it is nothing like philosophy or literature.

@since, it's tough to be un-generic for something like finding a supportive school/department because it comes down to what teaching pedagogy works for one's own style, how available the professors are, etc. Also, I'm generally wary of giving specific advice because then it'd just be tailored to what I would be looking for if I were doing my undergrad over again (a strong civil eng department + possibly a product design program, a b-school, art and design courses, urban and env planning and design courses, ecology courses, epidemiology courses) and god forbid we'd want to just create a bunch of academic me's hah!

i r give up,

I understand that linguistics has a lot of differences from lit and philo.

since,

It seems that you are a bit hostile towards humanities degrees. I understand that they are not particularly practical in the context of our capitalist postmodern hyperreal society. However that doesn't change the fact that it is something I am passionate about (in addition to architecture) and I would consider studying. Arguing that I should consider things like Bio or CompSci is really pointless. I wouldn't consider studying something i'm not passionate about.

byen01,

I have reached out to students at a lot of schools that I have considered and received some very helpful insight on profs, resources, etc. I know I would be more interested in a theoretical rather than a technical approach. Any more insight on this topic or any school I have mentioned is very welcome. 

this, boys and girls, is why we end up with really ignorant architects like jl-arch and his clan of sun worshipers.

@jack, the only insight I can offer on a specific school is Berkeley. The UC system as a whole is perpetually going through budget cuts, and departments will continue to be affected. Also, it's a massive school and they (the administration) tend to treat students as numbers. Be cognizant of the financial state of both the university and the department of interest.

As for theory, Penn has de Landa.

jack yes humanities degrees are waste.... its difficult to gauge what you are looking for. I was suggesting integrated design or RISD-Pratt-Cooper if humanities was your jive.

Courses in comp sci or bio will have more to offer you in the end than rote memorization comparisons of Adorno and Derrida. 

.....bla bla..... just remember you were warned. Worst case you can buy yourself out of having studied liberal arts for 4 years

since,

I don't think you understand the reason I want to go to college in the first place. Humanities degrees aren't a waste intellectually. I am not factoring money into decisions about my education.

RISD/Pratt are actually worse, RISD offers barely any room to take a humanities class (at brown), while the classes at Pratt are subpar. I'm applying to Cooper.

Yes sorry I didn't understand your list of 100 schools.

Nice to see it's finally narrowing down. Based on your assessments- Cooper first
Pratt and RISD your backups.

I thought I explained myself well enough. My 20+ school list is very broad. I am interested in 1. an architecture education that is more focused on the theoretical aspects of the field and 2. offers a well rounded curriculum. I am not interested in school for money. Pratt and RISD aren't my back ups, they are simply off the list. I have plenty of other schools to think about.

theoretical is a really broad term. It sounds like you are aiming for places that will not impose heavy-handed pragmatics, very understandable. Theory can be a great thing when it is used in truly progressive ways.

but again to forewarn. most of the time humanities isn't a place where progress happens, especially at an undergrad level. There is a dreary side to what becomes of those who want to over-explore what is commonly perceived as architectural theory. A wonderful chap by the name of tammuz who walks about these here parts. No doubt he is one of the hazy theoreticians which give every good idea in architecture a bad name and any idea of a true thinker for that matter.

He could have made a good comp lit teaching assistant.
take a ganders for yourself at one of his fine works-

what does udinal mean?

if you want to do theory, architecture is not the place to be.

most theoretical works of architecture are purposely ignorant to many aspects of modern science and research. this is a fault, not a virtue. if you want to be another shitty talker full of empty who can argue deleuze and benjamin but gets stumped as soon as we start talking neural nets, genetic algorithms and generative methods (all of which are the future of architecture as soon as the current generation broadly gets into management shoes), go ahead and major in the humanities.

willful ignorance is the sort of irresponsibility that will lead to be an ordinary architect.

good luck with that.

Once again, the computer weenies have hijacked a thread, insulting everything that doesn't agree with their dystopian agenda.  Sorry Jackson.  My bet is that you will fall in love with Cornell during your summer program and want to go there.  UC problems aside, try to visit Berkeley if you can- great place.

I hope you get the chance to visit WUSTL (my first alma mater); the program during my time was pretty heady with faculty that still emphasized practicals - the students there tend to be a bit on the intellectual side and the general core curriculum on the college side is very strong (which translates to doing poorly grades wise in some areas, but you will be challenged).  There's enough breadth in thought within the architecture school, but you'll also get a lot of exposure to their strong fine arts program and the university's emphasis on social responsibility (they give out grants for students to carry out community activism work off campus in conjunction with their studies including but not limited to design build).  The undergraduate student body is relatively heavy with east coasters but being in the midwest, it draws a lot of folks from everywhere.  The university also made it easy to move around from department to department and from school to school.

My impression is that of your list Cornell, Cooper, Columbia, Penn, Berkeley and Toronto are the more theory oriented schools (mostly because I recognize the writers on the faculty); UVA, WUSTL, Tulane, Cincy will give you the option of exploring theory while having a more pragmatism.  Also do note that some schools allow undergrads to take grad classes (which is nice if you end up exploring theoretical aspects more in depth) and others don't, ditto on teaching - if you can get classroom/studio time with some instructors that teach both, I think you may find it more challenging.

Nothing beats visiting studios while in session to get the "vibe" of the school, you'll spend a lot of time there so it's important to see how faculty and students interact with one-another. 

Climate in Cali is hard to beat...

Thanks for your insight 3tk and bob/bob, WUSTL and UC Berkeley are among my top choices.