Can we talk Less competative Arch Programs?

Portfolio, not an issue, she is preparing one for her second choice major in Graphic Design. She is a good student 3.7 GPA, but unfortunately no weight or rigor. she is taking her first AP classes senior year in French and Art. Her SATs not super impressive 1190 after 3 tries. we are trying a 4th this month, after June’s SAT mess. We have several colleges on or radar and live in Virginia. We actually live near VT and are realistic about her chances getting in. We will apply. UNCC is out, awful open house. We are looking at Kent, Ball State and Cincinnati. NCS would be a stretch, nor could we afford it. UVA, she would never get in. what are some other options within a 10 hour bubble we could look at?

@sllemon, I think the first thing your daughter needs to determine is if she wants to go for a 5.0 year bachelor of architecture (BArch) or a 4.0 year bachelor of arts or science in architecture or environmental design (BA/BS/BED).

The BArch sequence is intensely architecture focused and doesn’t allow for much experimentation in other disciplines. The BA/BS/BED provides a little more breathing space.

I would think since she’s not 100% sure that architecture is the right direction for her she should concentrate on the BA/BS/BED route, which would mean that she would need to follow up with a Master of Architecture, which can take from 1.0 to 3.5 years depending on the program. It’s possible to get an undergraduate pre-professional degree at one university and an MArch at another. It’s quite common to work for a few years in between.

Costs vary widely. Need-based aid is generally available for undergraduate years, including the 5th year of the BArch, but usually not for the MArch. MArch programs do offer grants, but they’re unpredictable.

Cinncinati and Kent State offer a BS+MArch. Ball State offers both the BS+MArch and the BArch. I don’t know too much about Kent or Ball State, but Cincinnati has an excellent architecture school with a strong co-op element. VT only offers the BArch. It’s a highly rated program, but may not be right for some one who isn’t completely sold on architecture.

All BArch and MArch programs are regulated and offer the required courses in design, construction and technology, but design and art schools tend to lean more heavily toward the creative side of architecture and tech schools toward technology and structures. It’s not so easy to get admissions rates for BArch programs, but other than Cornell which is very selective, admit rates tend to be higher than you would expect because applicants self-select. CMU for example has a 51% admission rate to its BArch, even though CMU’s overall admit rate is much lower.

Because your daughter has a design background and can presumably submit a good portfolio, she may find that schools that require portfolios to be less concerned about her SAT scores.

At most (not all) BA/BS/BED programs students are accepted into the university not directly into the architecture school. To that end you might look at the overall admission level of the university. Some ideas would be U of Florida, U of Miami, Miami of Ohio, Clemson, Penn State, Tulane, Roger Williams, Temple. These would all be considered design schools.

Hobart William Smith?

@sllemon
We’re in NJ and also have a similar school radius. VT was the furthest south, Penn St west and Northeastern North. D does not like the cold so we stopped at Boston. Have you looked at UMass? We all liked the campus quite a bit. Also RISD was nice but very competitive and a design school. Temple and Drexel also have good programs. We’ll be visiting Maryland soon so will see how that goes. Other schools we liked were Syracuse and RPI which have great programs.

Here is the list from design intelligence of 35 top rated school.

School Name 2017-18 2018-19
Cornell University 1 1
Rice University 6 2
California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo 2 3
Syracuse University 3 4
Cooper Union 15 5
Rhode Island School of Design 10 6
Pratt Institute 9 7
Virginia Tech 4 8
Southern California Institute of Architecture 8 9
University of Texas, Austin 7 10
Carnegie Mellon University 14 11
University of Southern California 5 12
Auburn University 11 13
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 13 14
Illinois Institute of Technology 20 15
Tulane University 17 16
University of Oregon 21 17
University of Notre Dame 16 18
Pennsylvania State University 19 19
California State Polytechnic, Pomona 12 20
Boston Architectural College 23 21
Woodbury University 18 22
Iowa State University 22 23
University of Miami 25 24
University of Arizona 24 25
California College of the Arts — 26
NewSchool of Architecture & Design — 27
University of Arkansas — 28
University of Houston — 29
North Carolina State University — 30
New York Institute of Technology — 31
Oklahoma State University — 32
University of Tennessee, Knoxville — 33
City College of New York — 34
New Jersey Institute of Technology — 35

That list only shows pertains to colleges offering BArch. There are other outstanding colleges/universities that offer 4 year Architecture/Design degrees such as Washington University in St Louis.

B. Arch degree is a professional degree that is best for anyone who wants to be licensed in architecture.

Most creative programs in the US:

Cooper Union
Southern California Institute of Architecture