<p>Hooray for 3-letter abbreviations!</p>
<p>I would like some opinions on which of these three schools has the best undergraduate architecture program (by whatever personal standards you would like to apply), as well as any impressions of or information about the schools in general that you may have.</p>
<p>I have only been able to visit CMU officially, although I have been on the PSU campus. I have never been to UVA.</p>
<p>Again, just some info about how the programs stack up would be really helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>rankings alone:</p>
<p>CMU - 7
PSU - 11</p>
<p>penn state is really big, and carnegie mellon is smaller and maybe has a tighter environment, but idk b/c i did not really look into either. </p>
<p>i think UVA should be off the list, simply b/c it is not ranked.</p>
<p>UVA does not have a NAAB-accredited BARCH program. You really should visit PSU and meet with someone from the architecture department to be able to compare it to CMU. My daughter is in the BARCH program at PSU.</p>
<p>suleyman, I don’t know much about PSU or CMU but maybe I can help with a little bit of info on UVA. It offers a 4 yr. B.S. in Arch. Their program tries to balance a broad liberal arts education with the rigors of studio work. They are undergoing a multi-step renovation of Campbell Hall to improve their facilities (had to fight a bit with the Board of Visitors about the design of the building- the designers are actually members of the UVA arch faculty, which I think is great).</p>
<p>The dean of the School of Architecture, Karen Van Legen, is leaving her post in 2009. If you don’t want to go the 5 year BARCH route, UVA is worth checking into. My s looked at the arch program there, but felt neither the school nor the arch program was what he was looking for. UVA’s B.S. in Arch didn’t offer (for him) enough undergrad studio time because of the emphasis on the liberal arts, but all depends on what you want. Hope this helps and good luck to you!</p>