<p>Could anyone please post the latest rankings for undergraduate Architecture programs in the US ? Thanks.</p>
<p>Design Intelligence annually publishes a really comprehensive list of "best" architecture programs, grad and undergrad, as ranked by practitioners. We looked at it a few years ago when our D thought she wanted to major in arch. For anyone interested, you can get more info on their website at <a href="http://www.di.net%5B/url%5D">www.di.net</a>.</p>
<p>You might be interested in this (from the Rice News): Rice's School of Architecture moves up to No. 2 nationally</p>
<p>Eh, I'd personally put rice lower. I'm really only familiar/concerned with east coast rankings but Cornell, Syracuse, UVA, CMU</p>
<p>For the millionth time...rankings must be considered regionally. There is no national or global ranking that holds true. In Seattle UW grads will do better than Cooper grads. In houston and maybe dallas, Rice grads are tops. CMU grads would be few and far between in Houston.</p>
<p>Likewise, the rankings in New York differ greatly from any national rankings.</p>
<p>Again, rankings can only be applied regionally. In New York, Rice doesn't have near the weight of a degree from Cooper or Cornell--or even Pratt. it wouldn't be considered in the top 10 by New York firms--mostly becuase they get so few Rice grads in New York. In eleven years of schooling, working in top NY firms and running my own practice there--I cannot recall a single Rice grad. I did work with a BArch from UHouston who went on to an Ivy grad school and then become very distinguished in LA--and several from UT who went on to Ivy grad schools but no Rice grads.</p>
<p>IMO Architectural experience in New York should be considered by all top design students because NY experience opens doors all over the country and all over the globe. Work from other parts of the US doesn't have the same global appeal--unless you happen to work for Gehry or another name architect.</p>
<p>America's Best Architecture & Design Schools, 2007 Edition
<a href="http://www.di.net/schools/2007/%5B/url%5D">http://www.di.net/schools/2007/</a>
102 perfect-bound color pages of charts, graphs, data, and analysis of design programs across the nation.</p>
<p>The Almanac of Architecture & Design, 2007 Edition
<a href="http://www.di.net/almanac/2007/%5B/url%5D">http://www.di.net/almanac/2007/</a>
The eighth edition provides 827 pages with sweeping views of events, benchmarks, and successes of the past year in design.</p>
<p>People Architecture
<a href="http://www.di.net/books/people/%5B/url%5D">http://www.di.net/books/people/</a>
A powerful, personal perspective on the built environment, an embrace of fundamental truths that center on a realization of what architecture is for. PEOPLE.</p>
<p>DesignIntelligence
<a href="http://www.di.net%5B/url%5D">http://www.di.net</a></p>
<p>how would RISD and syracuse grads be viewed in NYC?</p>
<p>Both RISD and Syracuse are well respected. However, your degree will not get you a good job. You need a great portfolio--and probably an introduction or two.</p>
<p>I don't think the DI rankings are taken very seriously in the more prominent offices, or in the more prominent schools for that matter. However, they appear to fill a void of sorts.</p>
<p>How is this program ranked? Does anyone know?</p>
<p>"Both RISD and Syracuse are well respected. However, your degree will not get you a good job. You need a great portfolio--and probably an introduction or two."</p>
<p>So firms don't like to hire students holding a Barch?
does this mean it is better to get a March degree after attending syracuse/RISD?
Please give me some advice, because i think im going to attend syracuse this fall...</p>
<p>No, that does not mean that firms don't like hiring B.Arch holders, it means that your degree is a baseline standard. Everyone applying to them has one, so you're going to need to put out a little more effort than just what you need to do to get the degree, and hit the market with a kickass portfolio, recommendations, and hopefully some connections from your professors.</p>
<p>My D was accepted at both Rice and Cornell for architecture. Cornell has a great history, but I think Rice is the better undergraduate program. They graduate perhaps 20 students a year from their BArch program, so you are not going to find a ton of them around. I would describe it as a small supportive environment. The preceptorship program during your fifth year is pretty amazing. The students go all over the world. Firms love being a part of the program because of the quality of students they get, and most that I have seen return to those firms after graduation. I would guess that perhaps 10% of the students remain in Texas after graduation.</p>
<p>I know that at KPF in the early 90's Rice grads were thought of more highly than Cornell grads. That may have changed. Frankly what KPF looked for were the folks with graduate degrees from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia. Cornell and Penn were close. Most of the really talented Cornell folks that I ran into had graduate degrees from those places. The preferred undergrad schools seemed to vary from year to year. One year it was Oklahoma State, another it was Syracuse.</p>
<p>Cheers, I disagree with your NewYork centric view of the world. It may have been true in the 80's, but no more. If you want to be on a design fast track you need to get to London, Rotterdam, Paris, Genoa, Basel or New York. It is now a global practice and you need international experience with a top firm on your resume. That one year Rice preceptorship with Renzo, or Foster's office looks pretty good. Find a school that will get you those opportunities.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>I also had to choose between rice and cornell for undergraduate. personally i think 25 students is too small for a class, which means you have a smaller faculty as well...and i prefer ithaca over houston. i have a lot of friends at rice arch as well and they seem to enjoy the program. while rice has a preceptorship program, cornell has studios both in Rome and in NYC. cornell sets you up with NYC internships during your 5th year as well in the NYC studio, so it's like a preceptorship itself. both are def intense and great programs.</p>
<p>Top architecture programs:
<a href="http://www.di.net/article.php?article_id=173%5B/url%5D">http://www.di.net/article.php?article_id=173</a>
Note that not all of these have undergrad programs within the architecture school (Yale does, Harvard does not, etc.)</p>
<p>rick, you and I just agree to disagree. With half the world's cranes currently erected in Shanghai--you've left China off your list completely. Genoa? Basel? Rotterdam? Give me a break. Plus, you've left off LA, home to Gehry and Mayne.</p>
<p>I've lived on four different continents during my career and built buildings on three different continents. My current client list has about fifteen different nationalities--many of whom are also expatriates from their own countries. My 'global' perspective happens to be at the leading edge, thanks very much.</p>
<p>The Rice faculty is stunted by insularity of training--an idiotic choice in the global environment of 2007.</p>
<p>Cheers, I find it interesting that you mention Rice being an insular place. The most provincial and insular place I have ever lived in is New York City. Nothing of interest can possibly exist outside of that little island. </p>
<p>Why did I list those other cities? Rotterdam (OMA), Genoa (RPBW), Basel (Herzog). It may be hard to see in NYC that the center of the architectural universe has moved away, but it is pretty clear in the rest of the country. Where I live we have recently built two major cultural projects, and are underway with three more. The architects were; Ando, RPBW, Foster, OMA, and RPBW. No New York firm made the short list. We won't even mention the two Calatrava bridges under design.</p>
<p>New York is still a great city, but if I were putting together my career I would look at other options first. </p>
<p>BTW, your comments about Rice are just petty. </p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>Beyond this disagreement, do you all agree that either Rice OR Cornell would be excellent colleges for architecture? Do either of them have any significant drawbacks?</p>
<p>I think they are both outstanding schools. What you accomplish at each school will have a greater impact than which one you choose.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>how about undergrad in other colleges? such as yale, NYU, brown?</p>