<p>i am currently a senior in high school feeling overwhelmed by the whole college admission process. the one good thing i can say is that i am a 100% sure of what i want to do : architecture and that i have a pretty good academic record. i scored a 2220 n the sat, (1460 for math and CR combined), a 29 on the act, most of my classes at school are AP, which i'm doing well in. so overall im pretty confident that i'll get into both schools. i know v tech is ranked higher for their undergrad architecture program. on the other hand i live in md so v tech is out of state for me and therefore much more expensive and that combined with the shootings and the distance means that it is definitely not my parents' favorite choice. umd is also my dad's alma mater so the only way my parents will let me go to v tech (even though they know it's the better school for my major) is if i get a decent amount of financial aid offered. I was hoping to get an idea of what my chance is at getting a scholarship at either school.
Also, v tech is pretty far away and doesnt seem as busy as umds campus even though i haven't visited it yet and i've heard there's a better chance of getting a good internship at umd, given it's convenient location.</p>
<p>Even though I have a son at VT (in the LArch program, not reg arch) and I am a huge fan of the school and the arch program in general, I agree with your parents on this one. UMD is a great school overall and it has a very well-regarded arch school. VT isn’t so much overly superior to warrant paying out all of the extra money for you to get your education there.<br>
You are lucky, like we are here in Virginia, to have such a wonderful option for a state school in the University of Maryland. </p>
<p>Regarding the financial aid, I wouldn’t expect a lot in terms of it. Your stats are wonderful, though, so maybe there might be more, but the arch program at VT is filled with really high achieving kids like you so there is quite a bit of competition. I would imagine you may get more at your own state school and then you would really have a bargain!</p>
<p>VT is a beautiful, special place and even given the sad situation of the shooting there this past week, I wouldn’t hesitate to send another one of my children there (I have a daughter who will be applying next fall). </p>
<p>Stay in state. In a few years you will be thanking yourself for not having a ton of debt when you are starting out on your own as a young architect in a firm. Good luck to you!!</p>
<p>if you know you want to do architecture, do VT’s program. it is 5 years and you graduate with a professional degree, so there is no need to go back to school. with UMD, it is a 4 year program and you have no option but to go straight to grad school afterward.</p>
<p>doing a 5 year ultimately saves time and money.</p>
<p>Is UMD a 4 yr program CU? Thanks for pointing that out. I apologize, I didn’t know that…that may change my original thoughts a bit, but again, it is going to depend on if the OP gets good merit aid from UMD. If it is enough to really bring down the IS costs for UG, he/she might have enough in savings to pay for a MArch and still come out ahead or at worst break even. </p>
<p>One last monetary thought to keep in mind. We have found Architecture to be a very expensive major. From the cost of the high end computers to $$ for design project materials, printing, etc… it needs to be factored in. Also, if one is expected/encouraged to go abroad, parents and their students need to plan for that as well. </p>
<p>Again, best wishes to the OP.</p>
<p>You better believe it’s an expensive major… Trips to Lowe’s or Home Depot with DD1 turn out considerably more expensive than going to the mall :-)</p>
<p>Just for kicks, does anyone have statistics on how many people actually do get a 5 year BArch in 5 years vs. 4+2 in 6?</p>
<p>I would be interested in reading any follow ups or additional contributions to this conversation. DS2 will be on this course in 2 years and we live in MD (which, by the way, is a state school but is actually harder for in staters to get in to because we dont have a legislated instate admit minimum so they would rather accept OOS! 
).</p>
<p>Look into the individual programs and pick on that. VTech gives a good amount of financial aid (I got accepted into VT but I currently go to UVa). It boils down to how the programs are oriented and whether you want to follow the 5 yr or 4+2 path. Do some research before you decide. VT is highly ranked for the undergrad 5 yr program, but no one really ranks schools that offer BS arch so don’t pick a school on rankings only. I don’t know anything about UMD’s program though. 5 yr saves you money but 4+2 gives you more options and you come out with a MArch</p>
<p>I concur with the above post</p>
<p>Thanks for the info.</p>