<p>Recently I have been accepted for architecture at Cornell, Cooper, and WashU. Cooper gave me 23k aid, WashU gave me 17k, and Cornell (my first choice) gave me nothing. I have been leaning toward Cornell, but the debt factor really makes deciding a school very difficult for me. I would end up with around 45k debt for Cooper, 35k for WashU, and 100k for Cornell.</p>
<p>Advice?</p>
<p>Is this for a B.Arch at Cooper and Cornell and the BS at WUSTL? I think you should also consider the degrees on offer. With the WUSTL BS you’d still have to get your M.Arch which would add significantly to the 35K.</p>
<p>If you are an undergraduate, then the loans are going to be, for the most part, your parents’ legal responsibility. Whether these amounts are workable or an insane liability really depends on their personal situation, i.e., savings, income, assets, age etc. So the main question would be what’s your arrangement with your parents? </p>
<p>Could you also explain how you’ve calculated the final figures? Seems like you’d owe a lot more, unless there’s another factor involved.</p>
<p>$100K is a hefty debt to incur, even for a professional degree. My son’s experience with Cornell (he was in the M.Arch program, though) was that it was an excellent entree to summer internships and industry networking. Cornell alumni and visiting professors continue to be good connections. But still. . .to pay off $100K on an architecture salary could take decades.</p>
<p>Cooper sounds like your best bet.</p>
<p>My parents can pay roughly 30k for each school, so Cornell is 63k-30k=33k each year. Cooper = 60k-30k-23k=7k each year (although NY is pricier). WashU is 62k-17k-30k=15k. </p>
<p>Can anyone talk about what the WashU degree has to offer? I think the flexibility sounds quite appealing, although I’m still on the fence with whether or not I can adapt to the atmosphere of Cooper.</p>
<p>I’m still not following your math.
Cornell is a 5.0 year B.Arch, so $33K x 5 = $165K
WUSTL is a 4.0 year BS, so $15K x 4 = $60K, but you’d still need to get an M.Arch. Depending on where you go and how much you get in grants this could add another $50 to $100K.</p>
<p>The WUSTL BS+M.Arch is a well respected program but when you add on the M.Arch you’d be looking at a lot of debt. You can work in the architecture field with a BS, but you can’t get licensed which limits your earning power.</p>
<p>What would be the debt difference to go to Cornell vs. going to WashU then getting an M.Arch at Columbia or a school like that? Is it relatively easy to receive funding of some kind? How hard is it to pay off the debt?</p>
<p>Let’s say your undergraduate debt at WUSTL is $60K. Again, it’s your parents that are going to be responsible for most of these loans, so their personal financial situation is also a factor.</p>
<p>It’s hard to project the cost of an M.Arch – at Columbia or any comparable school – but let’s say you do a 3 year program @ $65K a year and get $25K a year in grants and teaching assistantships, so a total cost of $120K. (That $25K is mid-range. You may get more; you may get less.) Let’s say another $20K for extras – supplies, travel, living expenses during unpaid internships.</p>
<p>Other schools may offer a 1.5 to 2.0 year M.ArchII or advanced placement. Or may have a co-op program to defray costs.</p>
<p>So your total cost for a BS at WUSTL and an M.Arch there or somewhere else would be in the $160 to $200K range.</p>
<p>Entry level salaries for M.Archs are in the range of $45K to $55K. It can take another 4 to 5 years to get licensed. Costs of living vary widely from place to place. So just figure taxes, rent, food etc and see what you’re left with. As I said above, it would take you decades to pay of this kind of debt.</p>
<p>Student loan issues have been spot-lighted lately so it’s quite possible that the system will change going forward, but right now I would say that anyone planning to get an M.Arch needs to think through the costs very carefully.</p>
<p>I do understand your predicament. Many, many architecture hopefuls are in the same boat without less costly options. I don’t know the solution except to choose the school with the best cost to opportunity ratio, one that gives you the best opportunity to land a good job and make more money. For you, it looks like Cooper.</p>
<p>I would pick cooper, its cheaper, a better investment than your other choices, and in a large city with lots of resources.</p>
<p>Cooper seems like your best bet. Not only is it in a great city for architecture, it has an amazing program, and it is very competitive. That on top of the low cost should really be swaying you towards Cooper</p>
<p>Excuse me if im wrong, but dont you still need to spend one year to get your m.arch after you have a b.arch?</p>
<p>You do not need to get a MArch if you have a BArch. MArch is for those who have a BA or BS undergraduate degree. Either a BArch or MArch satisfies licensing requirements.</p>