I am a student at the University of Miami, and I agree with math mom. I have loved the University of Miami’s program, and I think that is the single most important thing when looking at colleges- what program speaks to you. I have loved to draw all my life, and coming from the northwest, love traditional, particularly Craftsman architecture. I identify with human-scaled buildings that feel comfortable and beautiful, and are contextually appropriate in style and typology. A building, no matter how fantastic it is in its own right, is a failure if it degrades the quality of its community and/or doesn’t practically serve its own purpose. Architecture should be beautiful, adaptable and engage the user. Furthermore, it should contribute to the betterment of a place, and solve the problems of an urban condition. A single building has the opportunity to spark social change in a community. This is where it interacts with urban design, which UM is quite noted for with its New Urbanist focus, and graduate program led by the co-founder of the Congress for New Urbanism, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. Beyond the importance of good architecture, community-making can be achieved through careful planning that can repair the damage of post-war suburban America by created dense, walkable communities that foster social interaction and provide a beautiful and richly varied environment to lead one’s life in. I love the mission and methodology of this school, which is why I am so happy there. Furthermore, I think the UMSoA has a fantastic community, which really can be described as a family. We are truly collaborative in the best sense of the word - we support and look out for one-another, we work in teams and groups and contribute ideas to one-another. We are not cutthroat or overly-competitive, as this really detracts from learning. The best learning comes from sharing our varied life experiences and understandings of architecture. Students in my class come from across the world, particularly from Latin America, which shapes a really open-minded school that embraces lots of different ideas. The courtyard is the heart of the school, as most of our studios overlook it, and everyone, from the students to the faculty and staff interact. Nobody is forgotten by this school- we make sure to engage everyone in some way. We travel as a class to Key West, to study its vernacular architecture, and to Seaside, Rosemary and Alys Beach Florida to live in and interact with fantastic results of the New Urbanist planning of each of those towns. We look to the architectural traditions of ancient Rome and Greece to understand the importance of ordering and proportions in design, which apply regardless of style, as they make architecture that is aesthetically pleasing. You don’t have to love traditional architecture to go to school here- many students prefer contemporary design, and this is embraced by the faculty as long as it shows sophisticated understanding of place. The teachers here truly care about their students. The spend hours outside of class meeting with students, texting and emailing them to make sure everyone is successful, and is learning. Design studio is a great environment, as most have about 10 students, and everyone has their own desk and drafting board. Each studio is kept in private rooms, with lots of wall space in front of the desk to place pictures for inspiration, and design development drawings. This also allows for a social, yet reasonably quiet environment for working in. The school focuses on the importance of drawing by hand, as methods of analog and digital production are most successful when used in tandem to develop a project. We learn how to freehand sketch and draft using a board and instruments, and are taught through tutorials how to draw with AutoCAD, Rhino, Revit, Grasshopper, Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign and others. Generally we are given the choice to draw by hand or by computer for our projects, as long as we demonstrate competency in all methods. The school tries to engage with the greater Miami community, and has recently been stepping up that effort. Many of our design projects take place in sites around the Miami area, or focus on the successful architectural adaptation to a humid subtropical environment by studying great places in the south, such as Key West, Savannah, St. Augustine and New Orleans. We just last spring had UServe, a day where we documented the historic architecture of Little Havana for the City of Miami, which they used to determine which is worth saving or designating as architecturally significant. I could go on and on in the ways that I love this school, but I hope this provides you with some guidance. One other factor to consider: I got a $30,000 merit scholarship (so I only pay $14k) to go to UM, and most of all of my classmates also received similarly significant merit aid (I only know a few people who pay full price). This is one reason why many people pick UM, and its a good reason to at least apply. In terms of Syracuse, I don’t know much about their program except for that it has a much more competitive environment than UM. In terms of recognition, the University of Miami is one of the best 50 colleges in the US (USNews rankings), and in the south at least, graduates are highly regarded, as associates at many firms know about the New Urbanism community or engage with it, and therefore have connections to the school’s faculty. This is also helpful with internships, and many of my classmates get them from the internship fair we hold each year or from connections through faculty. UM is also highly regarded on the east coast, as many students and faculty come from and have connections there, particularly to Harvard and Yale, which many BArch students go to for their Master’s degrees. However, coming from the northwest, UM is more obscure, so like math mom said, it depends on where you settle. I wish you the best of luck with your decision!