In the end, it isn't which school anyone on this board feels is better. Which school is a good fit for your daughter is a better question to ask her and yourself.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, from my experience as a student there, is a fantastic architectural education. As with any school, it matters which professors to take and do your research to get on the right track. If she goes to Cal Poly, I HIGHLY recommend the 4th year travel abroad program (almost everyone takes it). There were many choices when I was there (Copenhagen, Florence, Melbourne, Fontainebleau, some program in India..etc.). You spend a year abroad learning and developing as a person and an architect. It is the key to the education there, IMO. I was in-state so it was considerably less money ( I believe my tuition per year was about $2,400)

San Luis Obispo is a small town, Central Coast California, of about 45K. Great weather and a great environment to study and live. I feel very comfortable recommending Cal Poly and the benefits of it's architectural education. It helped form me as a designer and led to a successful career to date.

Hi - thanks - are you living and working in California now?

Did you find the trimester system extremely challengling, or did you like the shorter times?

She visited there twice and really liked it. The reputation of Cal Poly and Va Tech are better, if you go by DesignIntelligence.

We don't know how much weight to put on that, versus the much cheaper cost of LSU.

It seems that she got into 3 state schools. Assuming she's not a resident of Louisiana, Virginia, or California, after her first year of living in that state, In State Tuition will kick in. I'm basing that from experiences I've had in Texas, Washington and Florida. I think the law is that you have to be a resident of the state for 9 months. Aug-May is 10 months. Should be enough time to maintain a residence there.

LSU has a great landscape program
VTech is a top notch school.
CalPoly has a good reputation.

I agree with psheldahl. Traveling abroad is a must for architects in training. I would worry about what the programs can offer besides scholarship. Easier said than done, but its something that will benefit her in the long run.
Strong alumni connections is good too.

Of the three I would absolutely choose CalPoly, without hesitation. San Louis Obispo is beautiful, and though I prefer to bide my time in Big Sur there are so many areas around that are just wonderful places to be during the summer or after graduation whether you like San Francisco, Los Angeles, or anywhere around and between. The only reason I didn't apply is because I felt very strongly about spending my undergraduate years in New York City. I'll be entering as a freshman this fall to the Cooper Union. I also have a lot of family from the south and spend a considerable amount of time in South Carolina, but I have not been particularly interested in Virginia Tech based on the people I've met who went there (not for architecture though). I'm not familiar with LSU's program at all. Have you visited any of the three schools? And if you're serious about one of them, consider what azcue said– i.e. say you wanted to go to CalPoly, it's highly recommended that you establish residency in the state of California as the cost will be significantly less. This was a major point that the financial aid officers made when I was looking at Art Center (in Pasadena) and has proven to be pretty solid advice.

Hi - thanks for all your feedback. She has visited these schools and we are doing a 2nd visit to LSU on Wednesday.

The only private schools she applied to (and she was accepted at them) are Tulane and Drexel. She also got into Penn State but has narrowed her choices to Cal Poly, Va Tech, and LSU.

From what we have learned about California, they have recently changed their rules and she wouldn't be eligible for in state tuition any of the five years. LSU wouldn't matter (her scholarship covers all the tuition costs for teh 5 years). We didn't check into Virginia's rules, but thought she could not become a resident there.

ISMITH - did you hear that from the Art Center this year? Is that a college - I don't know of it.

IF ANY OF YOU WORK IN FIRMS NOW - does the name of the school make a big difference in getting in for an interview when applying for work?

Hi...

Yes..I work in Boston area now.

After Cal Poly I worked for a firm called Morphosis, just for a short period of time before relocating to the Boston area and have been working for Brian Healy Architects for about 10 years now.

Did "Cal Poly" get me the jobs? No, but it did give me the opportunity to learn enough to enter the work force with some confidence. I worked really hard in undergrad...and also worked part-time at local architecture firms while going to school to gain valuable experience...etc.

The name of "Cal Poly" vs "Va Tech" vs "LSU" does, in my opinion, very little to get you the job. It is your work and how hard you work at any of those three schools that will contribute to your portfolio and overall hire-ability. I know it California, most firms know Cal Poly and it is highly respected..yes. The rest is up to you as a student of architecture.

I am licensed, LEED accredited and about to return to school. I am starting at Harvard's GSD this fall.

Sorry...didn't respond to all your questions.

I actually prefer the Trimester system as an architect student. 10 Weeks was the perfect amount of time to engage and develop a studio project.

16 weeks, which is what you experience if you go abroad 4th year, seemed to drag on a little too long. To be fair, this is probably because you are a little distracted by experiencing another culture and country vs the classroom.

Thanks to all of you!

Did you choose to live with architecture students for your first year of housing?


Psheldahl - did you live in Sequoia Hall (was that for arch students when you were at Cal Poly)?


Thoughts on housing??

Thanks again!

Cathi --- I was working in a firm in NYC. I come from a school that has the same employers come down every year: mostly urban design firm mixed with architecture; developer driven projects on a large scale, mostly residential: multi family res, all the way to high end res.

My school doesn't not rank on the DI, nor has it in the past 10 years, because of the philosophy of the school is consider "unpopular".

However, I did get a chance to work at a very good firm in NYC that carried a lot of weight. I also got a job to work for a name architect in jersey (Graves). I didn't choose Graves, b/c I would be going just for the name...and he doesn't interact with the office anymore. I also had 3 other offers. All of this was a product of me working my ass off in school.

Like psheldahl points out... it's not the name so much as how hard you work and what the school has to offer. I know someone now who's slipping through the cracks at Harvard , when they should have failed out of the program....how's that for a name school?

I stressed strong alumni support because they can help land jobs in the future. (this how those damn NDame grads keep getting jobs! And NO i didn't go to ND.)

Going to school for 5 years debt free must be very nice, and takes a load off later on down the road. But what else does LSU have to offer? I think all 3 schools are good choices. Just have to look at the intangibles.

Cathi -

I chose to live off-campus..with one regret. Don't live in Mustang Village, ever ;) I was in a unique position of having my best-friend also attending Cal Poly Architecture, so yes I lived with an Architecture student but just not in the dorms.

After my first year of 'learning the ropes', I chose a nice rental about 1/2 mile from campus. Worked out perfectly. I did not live the dorm life, but had friends who did and enjoyed it ( I believe it was Sequoia..yes)

How recently did you hear that? The last time I was at Art Center was probably July/August last year and I didn't hear anything different from what I'd heard earlier (if I recall, they said one year would be sufficient but perhaps it was nine months, I just remember it being a very reasonable period). It's a very small school with no architecture program (they have environmental design, as it's called) but quite a reputation for producing "people who get jobs," particularly in transportation design, graphic, advertising, and illustration. Though the culture seems different to me as an outsider, most of my friends who graduated there had it as their top choice vs. RISD which might say something about the people there. It's also uncommon to come directly from high school as most students are pursuing a second bachelors or transferring into first year after studying elsewhere.

Most of the places I applied offered B.Arch degrees only which, though more restrictive, gave me much more insight into what classes I would have to take, what professors I would have access to, a general timetable, etc. In addition to taking the tours and familiarizing yourself with the general atmosphere I highly recommend doing this as well. One of my primary concerns was WHO the professors were that I could potentially take advantage of and not so much which degree edged out another on simply on reputation. In the end, your goal is to learn as much as you can and by the time you're finished to have a damn good portfolio to back it up. If there's one place that really draws her, I'd say don't hold back. There's too many ways to let all kinds of doubt overshadow ambition but the best have a way of making things work. I'll say of scholarships that you can always apply next year, so if you aren't happy with what you're currently receiving then with enough preparation and hard work you can do a lot for your chances by demonstration. I have a couple of friends who started college with almost no awards who ended up getting great scholarships in subsequent years for taking the initiative and proving themselves in areas they might not have excelled in before.

Of course I have nothing in terms of experience compared to everyone else here on the board but I'm happy to offer a little perspective from someone in the same crop of architecture students as your daughter. Good luck to her in the next few years as well as yourself in your support!

The only true way of selecting a program is to first determine the criteria by which you make the decision and to evaluate each choice against the criteria.

Do NOT compare each choice against another choice. This will serve no purpose.

Possible criteria may include -- location, cost, reputation, students, facilities, philosophy, etc.

Compare each program against your chosen criteria to determine the value of each program. Decision-making is a process not an event.

If you need further assistance, contact me via ARCHCareers.org - Dr. Architecture

100k difference? Seems like a no brainer to me. That's just insane! We aren't talking about ivy leagues grad schools here!! If we were talking 10-20k I'd say that it wasn't a big deal.

[assuming she's in her early 20's, that $100k will be $703,998.87 at retirement!! So, unless you are wealthy and can afford to drop a 100k without worrying...]


So I'd say LSU without hesitation, but being a Gator, there's a little hesitation... ;-)




The best way to determine the school's merit, imho, is to look at where the graduates go to grad school. Take UF for example, almost everyone I know that went there admitted to ivy league graduate programs and top state schools, but it isn't an ivy league and wasn't too expensive.

Nothing better than the quality of the student work to clearly show the caliber of the school.

I think it is helpful to consider where she may want to work when she graduates. Networking during architecture school is important and can assist in finding work directly out of college. I find it is easier to find work in the state where you went to school. I would try to opt for the best school at the least expensive price, so your daughter can eliminate the amount of loan debts. It is not recommended for student to work and go to architecture school, unless working at an internship with a firm. Cal Poly is well respected all throughout California for its focus on structures and it is always said that Cal Poly graduates generally have a great understanding of the basic fundamentals of engineering which other architectural graduates can lack. Virginia Tech is also known for engineering. I cannot say very much about LSU.

I would recommend putting your daughter in a housing situation where she can focus. While I was in architecture school I preferred to room with other architecture students or law students because we both were always studying and had a similar life. Beware that the first year of architecture school is often the most difficult, as this is the period when many professors try to weed out the students who are sitting on the fence and unsure if architecture is their true career path. During the first year, the student learns that they cannot go out and party and pass their architecture courses like many of their friends in other degree programs. Many students cannot take the all nighters and choose another major after the first year.

If all $$$ were equal, Cal Poly has the best reputation of these 3 schools. If you are going to to work in Cali/west coast, the program is as reputable as any architecture program in the country. Vtech is also a great school but tends to not be held in the same regard due to the competition with other east coast schools. LSU is not as well known.

But 100K is a ton of money, and it is an architecture degree, you can spend 250K or pay almost nothing for your education, and you will come out making between 36-42k either way. LSU - no brainer. I  agree with Trace on this, except I wouldn't stress the importance of an Ivy League graduate arch degree for the same $$$ return reasons.

If LSU doesn't have a study abroad program, you could contact the school and find out if it is possible for the student to study abroad with another program for a semester. Otherwise, there are always summer programs abroad you could participate in, and 100K will buy you quite a few trips to Europe.

Oh, yeah, and tell her to at least get a business degree at the same time.  

As pointed out by arch6, the weed out is brutal.  At UF I'd guess 50% dropped the first semester, another 50% kicked out a year later (pin-up).

Many schools offer summer abroad programs and you don't have to be going to (or accepted) to those schools.  There are tons of summer programs that are superb (I did a summer Arch intro at RISD that was almost as good as my full bachelor in arch, probably much better than my MArch, come to think of it).

So don't worry about that. 

Housing - get her into a good apt.  I can't imagine living in the dorms, all the partying (not that it doesn't happen in apt, but at least you have some privacy to recover).

Visiting - I'd put very little faith in any impressions from visiting.  If I had visited UF before going, I'd have probably changed my mind (because of the building), but as it turns out the building was exceptionally functional and a lot of fun to be in.  

Did I mention the business degree?

"living in the dorms, all the partying"

You have apparently not lived on college campuses since the days of "zero-tolerance" have come about.