I got into Cal Poly Slo and the Illinois Institute of Technology as well as Drury. Drury gave me a pretty big scholarship and Cal Poly and IIT are close money-wise. Which one for architecture?
Look at the curriculum, look at the professors and figure out what the specialization is for each program and which appeals to you most. The two environments are certainly different. IIT is heavily committed to it’s urban environment. I don’t know about Cal Poly.
Cal Poly is second best in the nation for architecture, the first being Cornell. Cal Poly is both my dream school and first choice, and I think I’ll get in, also for architecture. IIT’s neighborhood is kinda shady. I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s right in the ghetto.
“It’s right in the ghetto.”
That is quite an obnoxious thing to say.
@musiclover131 - it is also not accurate to say that. I have been at IIT for 32 years as a faculty member and I think I would know if it were. The Police headquarters are just South of the campus. The Stateway Gardens and Robert Taylor homes are no longer standing and just to the West is Bridgeport where the the Daleys lived for many years. I have had 2 children safely attend IIT and so do many others. Yes, it is in an urban area but so are many other universities (in California too…).
@harvardandberkeley @xraymancs I’m just saying, my mom won’t let me go to that part of Chicago. She works a couple of miles from there and grew up in some pretty rough parts of the world and we’ve been in some shady places in China, and she’s scared to go to that part of Chicago.
There’s a reason why I’m not looking at urban schools… Lol
@xraymancs thanks for your reply; how would you rate the IIT education outside of the classes in technology?
@musiclover131 - I understand perfectly if you prefer not to attend an urban university, that is your prerogative, but blanket statements do no one any good.
@icello - every time the students are polled, the faculty get pretty good ratings. As for classes outside of STEM, there has been a concerted effort to develop more majors in non-STEM fields but fundamentally, IIT is a Tech school and that is where the emphasis is. That being said, students can take courses at Vandercook College of Music and Shimer College, both of which are located on our campus. The general rule still holds that your undergraduate education is as good as you make it. I think you can get an excellent undergraduate education at many places as long as you put the effort into it. Student life is generally what the students make of it but I have to say from an observer’s perspective, it has been getting better over the years. We have a lot committed students who are not just “nerds” even if they study science and engineering. The architecture program is quite demanding but that is the same everywhere. Good luck on your decision.
My daughter attends IIT. It’s not in the ghetto, or we wouldn’t have sent her there. 
it is in an urban area. My daughter has been very happy there so far, both socially (she’s not your typical nerd) and with the education she’s receiving. She’s enjoying being in the city and all that it offers.