Hey guys, I have been accepted to a few schools for B.Arch and my final two selections are University of Washinton in St. Louis and University of Southern California. I am caught up between which one to decide as each has its pros and cons. Washu is known to be a better overall school yet USC is known to have a better arch undergrad program and it’s in LA… i am certainly going to do grad school whether its arch or something else so i need to keep that in mind when i choose my hndergrad schools too.
I would appreciate some insight from experienced people in this field, Thanks!
-Flash
One thing to keep in mind is whether you also have interests outside of architecture. At WashU it’s pretty flexible and many architecture students take classes outside of that college and even major or minor in a different academic division. I don’t know how flexible USC is, but not every university is at all flexible about students taking classes between divisions. I took an architecture course at WashU and the professors definitely gave a lot of one on one help.
Have you visited both schools? It may come down to your personal fit preferences. USC and WashU are somewhat different in terms of feel. I wouldn’t worry about the difference in rankings- they are relatively similar at both the college level and department level.
The degrees are not exactly an apples to apples comparison.
WUSTL’s Sam Fox School is a terrific architecture program, but it does NOT offer the 5.0 year Bachelor OF Architecture (BArch). It offers a 4.0 year Bachelor of Science IN Architecture which, if all goes well, is an entree to a 2.0 year Master of Architecture.
The BS is less narrow and intense than the BArch but if you intend to practice architecture you would most likely want to get an MArch. (There are exceptions.) With the BArch you’re good to go.
WUSTL also offers a 4.0 year Bachelor of Design in architecture which would give you even more flexibility to explore disciplines outside of architecture.
Both schools are consistently rated in the top 10 for their architecture programs: USC for its BArch and WUSTL for its MArch. BS Architecture programs aren’t rated, but I have no doubt that you would get a great architecture foundation at WUSTL.
On the balance I would say that USC has greater name recognition, throughout the country and worldwide than WUSTL (and some very high profile alumni like Thom Mayne and Frank Gehry.My impression is that USC is somewhat more design focussed than WUSTL.
Is Los Angeles a better place to study architecture than St. Louis? That’s a highly subjective question. A lot would depend on where you see yourself living and working after college. Both schools have strong internship programs and good track records for getting their graduates into MArch programs.
You don’t mention the relative cost, which is always a factor, in general, but especially in architecture. In comparing the money, you need to consider that you’ll also may have to fund your MArch or “something else.” What that “something else” may be could be a factor in your decision as well.