Buffalo v Kent v umass v auburn

College Majors Architecture Major
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My daughter has a choice to make between these 4 schools. We still have not visited auburn so she has no feel for that yet. Auburn 5 yr, umass bfa 4/3 and buffalo and Kent are 4/2. She is leaning toward the 4+2 config, so that leaves buffalo and Kent. She loved buffalo arch tour, the newly renovated Hayes hall was incredible. We will see Kent in 2 weeks, another brand new facility. My question is school rep. Will she have any major advantage from either of these schools? So far cost which I’m paying for is in favor of Kent. I will pay for the best option no matter what. That said, she was scholarshiped well at Kent and we should know others soon. But assuming no award from other schools it would be Kent $26k yr vs roughly 40-42k for other schools. I assume she will get something from others maybe 7-10k. Thoughts??

Thanks!

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Our son was also accepted at UMass and Auburn (Miami and UT-Austin as well). Auburn has a well-known and respected program. We are setting to visit in March. Ultimately though value is important. Look at the DI rankings. Auburn is a top ten school. The others are not ranked. In terms of hiring and preparation, it may boil down to where your daughter thinks she may want to work. Some schools are better known in some areas. Good luck!

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@sull29
I don’t have any insider information on Kent or Buffalo. What you and your daughter should be looking for is a balance of what you’re comfortable paying, how she feels about the culture of the school, and future opportunities. These are all interrelated, so you need to weigh the pluses and minuses of each. Overarching all is the importance of having a back-up plan in case architecture isn’t a good fit. In your daughter’s case, I think you are correct in identifying this as a key consideration.

First, are there any other schools that may enter the mix after all her acceptances are in or does the choice come down to these 4?

How much you are comfortable paying for your daughter’s education is totally personal. No school is worth more or less any other: it’s all in the context of what you can afford, what the student likes and what other choices she has.

One point that I would check is if the financial aid will apply to the 2.0 years MArch, or if it just covers the 4.0 years of the BS. If your daughter receives need-based or merit aid during her undergraduate years, the same might not apply to graduate school.

BArchs are generally funded for all 5.0 years. MArch grants are all over the place from zero to 100%. So if an MArch is her longterm objective, you have to plan conservatively. Plus, she may ultimately decide to go elsewhere for graduate work.

In evaluating career opportunities, your daughter should consider name recognition and internships. Name recognition can be regional, can be countrywide, can be global. Because of its Design Intelligence ranking I would say that Auburn would be the widest known. The others are more regional, which could impact the location of internships as well as her eventual career path. E.g., Kent State would be better known in the midwest, less so on the east coast.

Unless they have a structured co-op program, schools pretty much leave the process of securing internships up to the student. In this context, the the strength of the school’s network – visiting instructors, alumni/ae, critics – is critical.

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@momrath These 4 are her final choices. But the only 4+2 schools are Kent and Buffalo. We live in North Jersey so she would likely be looking for work in the NYC area. We also have several connections to help her with internships and hopefully a job in the end. I intend to dig deep into the “network” question during our visit to Kent which we moved to Next Friday. My understanding is that the program is very good. They just opened up the new Arch/enviro design building and the facility looks impressive. Keeping the possibility of a switch from Arch would likely mean a lateral move into enviro design, urban desig, interior design arch minor etc. So I think she is covered by all schools with regard to this. As far as cost goes, I will pay what ever needs t be taken care of. However, money is money. And I mis spoke above in that She was scholarshiped to a final yearly cost of 21K not 26 at Kent with all other schools currently in the 40-48 range with no scholarship. Scholarship is all 4 years as long as she keeps 2.5 gpa. We should be hearing from all the others regarding final cost in the next week or so (or so I was told by admin). I think the Kent campus is going to be right up her alley. I think its extremely important that they love where they are, because the work load is heavy. That said, it feels to me like she will chose Kent, I wont influence her decision. If Auburn comes back with a nice package we will visit. But thats a bigger trip, and its 5 yr. Lots of moving parts here which is why I appreciate thoughts and opinions of everyone.

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“A lot of moving parts” is a good description of the process! I hope your daughter likes what she finds at Kent.

Be sure to ask about their policy regarding scholarships for the 2.0 year MArch, as often undergraduate funding doesn’t carry over to graduate school. If the goal is a professional degree, in order to make a financial comparison, you have to compare the Auburn 5.0 year BArch to the others’ 6.0 year total (4.0+2.0).

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If CoA is not an issue, Auburn would be a great choice. I would not worry too much about fit or campus look or anything, it’s not like arch students have a lot of time. There is an advantage in 4+2 in terms of funding for the grad part, but going to a different school does not mean it will be 2 years to get the MArch. It may be but maybe no depending on curriculum etc.Or it may be 2 years of 18 credits a semester…

Look more about fit within the program, studio culture, and so on.

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@turbo93, I do have to worry about campus. She needs to be very comfortable with surroundings. Certain things can put her off a bit, and it would effect her performance. I know it sounds crazy, but thats just how it is. She is very easy going and understanding, but that one odd thing just puts her off sometimes. So given that, I want her to be in love on her walk to the studio. Just puts the head in the right state of mind for the long day. As far as COA, yes and no. I do understand that Auburn is the best overall choice, but at near 48K vs 21k, i dont want to be throwing money away. We are on our way to Kent today for FlashDay tomorrow and tour of New Arch facilty, depending on her reaction, we will do Auburn in 2 weeks. Thank you all for your input. It greatly helps with a a Major I know little about.

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@Sull29, Is $48K per year the actual EFC from Auburn? If yes, then the difference between that and $21K at Kent is a serious consideration. Did you get confirmation the Kent’s $21K will continue on to cover the 2.0 years of graduate school?

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The 21K is only for under grad. However, we just came back from a tour of the new CARD building. Very impressive 106K sq ft beautiful building. Her jaw dropped. And she loved the campus. During the presentation we learned that after the 4yr BS Arch she can do a 1 calendar yr MArch. So a 5yr track!!. There are 2 additional classes that need to be done at some point in the 4yr track to accommodate the fall/spring/summer MArch, but even at full cost this is an outstanding financial benefit. She is Kent bound!

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That’s great, @Sull29. Come back in a few months and tell us about her experience.