Hey everyone, I was admitted to the following schools for the M.Arch 1 : GSAPP, SCI-Arc, UCLA (23k entering scholarship) and Pratt (21k, renewable for every year)

When I applied for these schools I didn't know what to expect but I certainly did not expect to have so many options and for that I am very excited! So before the results, GSAPP and SCI-Arc were my top choices/programs, but the scholarships from UCLA and Pratt are making me reconsider...

I decided to attend the unis' open houses to try to see in person if one of them is clearly the best fit for me and at the same time I am trying to narrow down my choices! 

Financially I think UCLA and Pratt are comparable and probably UCLA is a better program overall.

It is harder for me to choose between gsapp and sci-arc , because I do find sci-arc to be a very exciting place (even though I haven't seen it in person yet) and I thought it would be a unique experience. However (after hours of reading archinect posts) I have realized it is also a polarizing school. I definitely wouldn't want my education to be superficial but I would like to be in a forward thinking, avant-garde environment.

As for gsapp, from what I 've seen,  I really like the student work and I can't deny that the ivy name has a certain appeal! However it is even more expensive than sci-arc (and perhaps the living costs are higher too?) and they do not offer scholarships to international students like myself, so if I wanted to earn extra money I would have to take a teaching assistant job. I wouldn't want this to affect my school performance I imagine the workload is already very heavy as it is!

Supposedly sci-arc is still deciding on whether I will be granted a scholarship or not (by now I think it's not very probable). Generally, sci-arc and gsapp are still very attractive to me but I am afraid I might be making a mistake by turning down ucla. I am not sure if the educational difference between the schools justifies the extra cost.

I would appreciate your opinions and sorry for the wall of text :)