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
USC vs. Carnegie Mellon vs. Syracuse
Hello. I am a high school senior who wants to attend in B. Arch. program. I am an international student, and I do not have so much information on American colleges. I was hoping that people here would help me with my college decisions.
So far, I have been accepted to USC, Carnegie Mellon, and Syracuse. Personally, I am thinking either Carnegie Mellon or Syracuse, but what are your opinions? Which school would you choose and why? I do not really care about weather or surrounding area. However, I care about the atmosphere in the studio and quality of education I would receive.
If it helps you to answer my question in any way, I attended Cornell Summer College during Summer, and I absolutely loved it!
I hope someone will be able to help me, and thank you in advance! :)
I don't know about the student life at the schools, but I guarantee you I will interview anyone who graduated from Carnegie-Mellon. I have been very impressed by every graduate of that program I have ever worked with. Their training is comprehensive and they can be productive members of a team immediately--which is not the case with graduates of many schools. Some schools train excellent architecture critics and some train people who can design and build great builings. Carnegie-Mellon has a program where students work for firms while still in school (I think they call it an externship??) that puts them well ahead of most of the crowd. Other than that, all I know is that USC is a great party school, with wonderful weather and that Syracuse has horrible weather and is in a rather bad location, but everyone I know who went there loved it...
When I was applying for undergrad, it came down to USC and Carnegie-Mellon. I chose USC and am really glad that I did. USC is a better program that it gets credit for being. The impression of USC as a party school is 10-15 years out of date. The school has been working hard to improve its reputation.
I was very impressed by the architecture program. I have been working at a cutting-edge design firm since I graduated and feel that USC prepared me very well for both the design work and the more technical aspects of the job. USC also has some incredible study abroad programs and is very generous with scholarships, etc even after you're already in school. I had many very dedicated studio professors, some of whom I've even kept in touch with after I graduated.
When I was applying, I really didn't realize how important the location of the school was. Being in Los Angeles has provided me with more opportunities that I would ever had imagined. Los Angeles is probably one of the best places in the world for architecture with tons of very creative design firms and a very open attitude towards experimentation. Having so many firms (especially smaller firms) makes for an incredible design community in the city.
I know that you said you would probably decide between CMU and Syracuse and I'm not trying to complicate your decision, I just didn't want you to write off USC because of incorrect information.
If you have any additional questions, please email me.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.