First of all, I got accepted into Cooper Union’s B.Arch program last week! YAY! Super excited!
Out of curiosity and realistic concerns, I checked their graduation rate, and it was only 68%. I’m not sure if other architecture programs have similar graduation rates (although the cornell interviewer told me half of his classmates were gone by the time he graduated), but I am wondering how rigorous the program in Cooper Union is and whether the people are dropping out because they lost interest in architecture or the program is just unbearably difficult.
Also for those who experienced the program, how is the academic atmosphere in Cooper Union like? Is it competitive or collaborative? How hard is it to graduate or pass a class?
I absolutely love the school, and it will be a great help for me to get to know my dream school if anyone can answer those questions.
Hi , @pinkrainbowjelly first of all congratulations!!
I’m a parent of a current engineering student. I don’t see many current Cooper students on CC (small school and it’s right in the middle of the semester so they are quite busy) so I’ll try to give some info if that helps.
You should definitely attend the accepted students’ day on Thursday, April 13, 2017. You will be able to speak with both current students and members of the Architecture department. They will be able to directly address your questions about the graduation rate, rigor, atmosphere etc.
From what I’ve seen on their website, the school of Architecture generally enrolls 22-30 students per year so just a few leaving the school will greatly impact the grad rate as well as the freshman retention rate. I also saw the 68% grad rate after 6 years but it was qualified with “Architecture students may expand their professional options with outside experience (foreign or domestic) for up to one year during their course of study at The Cooper Union. Therefore, approved leaves of absence often affect the six year graduation rate.”