I was also accepted to all three, and ended up at the Univ of Washington. If you want to swing more towards theory, go Penn. More towards craft, go UWash. Honestly didn't learn a ton about WashU but it's a highly regarded school. One of the big draws for the Univ. of Washington for me was price and location, I have to admit - and they haven't disappointed. It's a great school, but being publicly funded is somewhat lacking in the digital fabrication technologies that I know Penn is doing a great job with. Most of the professors are practicing locally, which is great. Warning: the UW Seattle open house was, in my opinion, less than stellar. I was lucky enough to know some students at the school who made much better impressions on me - otherwise, I'm not sure if I would have ended up here from the open house.

Thanks, kaf. Are you in the 3 yr program? Also, are you from that area? How many students look for jobs outside of Seattle?? I've never been to seattle so I'm excited to go visit city and school. thanks for the warning, though.

Seattle is a cool city. I don't mind to go there. I got accepted to UW and Wash U. I don't have the money to go to school.

wash u 3 years. 100K
upenn 3 years 120K
uw 3 years 65K

so... UW my friend.

I visited UPenn last year. The school of design was like.... "what? an old ass building... " That was just from the outside. I don't know much about their education stuff. Yes.... more towards theory, the boring stuff. Unlike Wash U.... Design dude.

I'd say no to UPenn coz the $120K and the theory stuff.


ani:

Where would you like to go?

one more thing.... I know people say ranking doesn't mean shit. well. They are ranked for reasons. Wash U #6 in 2007. Many people here can't even get into a good arch school like that. You are on top of many of these people.

I have a very good friend (2nd year graphic design - MFA) at UW seattle. He loves the school and the city of seattle. Super pretty campus. Open house is on the 30th. So, you will see it. Better than Phil dude.

Sorry I can't tell you where to go, but Wash U and UW are more attractive than UPenn. I got accepted to UW and Wash U too, as well as a few top schools. But I don't have the money to go this year.

ani-

i'll save you any additional subjective viewing.

i got into wash u and u penn and am strongly considering both (along with u michigan).

i'm going to wash u right before their open house and then directly to u penn for their one day open house. after that, i'll post my thoughts about both schools. it's too bad that you can't go to philly, but i'll talk to you about their open house sell. maybe you could explain wash u's to me..

b.d.f.

i'll take some pictures for you at Wash U. Drop me an email on the 14th or 15th. Good luck...

ding>

Sounds great! I forgot, what schools are still in the running for you? Also, where in Cali are you (per bio).?

I wish I had a clear cut answer on where to go to school. It seems like I flucuate between my top choices everyday.. Anyone else with me on that one?

Doesn't Wash U give out buttloads of money anymore? I could have gone for $5000/year. Now that my loans are about to come to term, that pricetag is looking much better than the one I chose!

b.d.f.

I'm in northern california, not very far from SF. where are you? I'll let you know what's up with Wash U's open house. Dude, i'm going to Phil on the 9th. Maybe you will see me around the School of Design building. :)

As i told you before. 80% going to Wash U, it might change...... It's like the stock market, you know? Well, let's see who is going to give me more $$$. :)

I cannot attest to the programs, but I went to washu for undergrad and had a wonderful experience. St. Louis is such an interesting city (and gritty city) with many opportunities for involvement. And it has the fastest growing art scene in the country. And st. louis has some of the best vietnamese and persian food I have ever eaten.

And now, I live in Seattle, and love the people, the relaxed attitute, and the weather!

But I do have a soft spot in my heart for both St. Louis and Wash U. The thing about Wash U in general, is that the school has a lot of money and provides their students with great facilities and a lot of individual attention.

University of Washington is a state school with many more students and less money per student. But it is in a pretty cool place.

Trust your gut and your instinct. I find that flipping a coin can help to make a decision. It is not necessarily what the coin says, but how you feel about what the coin says.

Anyway, if you want any more input on wash u or st. louis, let me know....

Thanks for the inside info. Also, they have a 3D printer for students...

Wow, Thank you all for the responses!

dbyd: I'm not sure where I want to go. I've been reading about the schools but have yet to visit any of them. Of course, when I mention it to people, they automatically say Penn because of its name and the fact that cecil balmond has a studio (is he still there?), but I truly do not know. I am hoping once I visit, I will have a better idea. Also, I am in my late 20's, so I have to consider that this is where I am going to spend the next 5 years. It doesn't make sense to go to an east coast school if you want to live out west and vice versa. So that's something else I have to determine. In the end, it's about what school feels right, no? And the facilities/resources, along w/ talking to students.

bdf: sounds like a deal. lets plan on exchanging experience/ thoughts about open houses. I want to hear about what you think of Penn.

camilili: thanks for the info. i am looking forward to visiting wash u.

how are you guys comparing faculty? i ask becasue sometimes the big names are not great educators. i did get wait-listed at sci-arc, but won't know until may if i'm accepted. thoughts on sci-arc?? i still think i'd rather choose between penn, wash u and uw.

Any suggestions as to what I should keep in mind or ask, etc during my visits are always welcome.

Thanks again!!!

Indeed. Big names are not always great educators.

For facilities:
Let's compare UPenn, Univ of VA and Univ of Maryland. Maryland's facilities are 5 times better than UPenn. UVa's facilities are pretty much the same as Maryland. I'm not saying UPenn architecture is not good. I don't know anything about their education system. I'm just giving you an example for the big name VS no name or public.

Well, just go see it and compare with other schools. I have to say this: SCI-arc is pretty sick!

ding-

I work in Santa Monica and live in LA.



Yea, I fluctuate between schools everyday. I'll catch up with you in Philly. Did Penn give you any money, if I may ask?

anyone went to UWash's open day? any comments?

anyone got any free $ from these schools?

I think this happened at University of Washigton. Murder Suicide in Architecture Building

designby- I did, but not for architecture. For UW, you can check the number of TAs and RAs here. As you can see, Architectecture for some reason is hardly funded for these things at all. So when they tell you "we'd like to help, but we just don't have the funding" I'd believe it in that case.

Thanks a lot for the info Rationalist.

I heard WashU does a really good job selling the program. And that they are getting a ton of new space next year.

Dont know much about UW

I think UPenn is the most prestigious but i find it a bit too digital.

Good luck.

anybody here is going to Wash U in the fall?

Anybody else headed to UW in the fall?

Rationalist: I got into UW, but I am not going. UW architecture isn't hardcore enough. I have a friend who is doing MFA - graphic at UW.

that's because their MFA program is hardcore. : ) I'm really excited about it. Sad that there won't be other archinectors there with me, but I'll get over it.