<p>I've briefly visited both schools and I like them both. I'll be going down again soon. I'm sure I cannot go wrong with either school, but if anyone has any insights into their respective programs they would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Well, I'm a CPSLO student so I'm definitely biased, but I would go to SLO in your situation. It's Arch program ahs been ranked in the top 2-3 in the nation the last couple years, and is heavily recruited from. USC, overall, is a nationally known school and has a great athletic program(That's a plus IMO), so I could see someone choosing that over CP. The urban vs. rural environments are also at a stark contrast, and you'd have to go with personal preferrence on that one.</p>
<p>Don't know much about architecture, but I always thought the Cal Poly schools were known more to teach hands on knowledge rather than theory based? </p>
<p>Some big names have come out of SC arch, like Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne (this year's Pitzker Prize winner - Nobel Prize equivalent), Pierre Koenig, Jon Jerde, etc so they must be doing something right.</p>