I received acceptance to the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at CCNY (City College New York) and also got accepted to the Macaulay honor program @ CCNY which
- pays full tuition
- funds research projects
- gives money to study abroad
- gives you a macbook
so my cost to attend Bernard Architecture at City would be free
I also got accepted to The Cooper Union’s architecture program with a $22,000 scholarship (which everyone receives) as well as an extra $1,000 scholarship. But even with the $23,000 scholarship to Cooper, the total cost of attending with dorm would be $44,00 a year.
I was wondering if anyone has any advice on which college to choose? Does Cooper Union out perform Bernard to the point of being worth the student debt of around $200,000 and maybe even more?
Any tips are appreciated! please help! I only have about a month to decide!
thanks 
You can’t borrow that much on your own. You would need to convince someone to co-sign the loans with you. Cooper Union is a great place, no doubt about that, but it isn’t $44k/yr better.
Take the CCNY offer, do well there, and don’t look back.
Anyone else know anything about either? Gotta make my decision soon 
I don’t know architecture, but a friend’s son graduated from the Macaulay Honors program. Had an amazing, debt free experience. Studied in Germany and now is making 6 figures in the actuarial field. In the NYC area, Macaulay has an amazing reputation. I think you’d be crazy to pass it up. Good luck!
As soon as you said Macaulay Honors, I said go to CUNY. It’s a very strong program, EXTREMELY hard to get into, massively huge savings, sweet deal.
OP, if you attend CCNY you wouldn’t dorm, so why dorm if you attend Cooper Union? At any rate, taking on a lot of college debt for a Architecture degree is quite risky, given the average starting salary and market demand for Architects.