Hi all,
I’m currently a senior going to school in GA, and I know that Georgia Tech is a great school (especially for the value with in-state tuition); however, I’ve seen that their studio environment isn’t as rich as that of Northeastern. Can anyone compare the two programs in terms of value/experience? I’ve heard mixed reviews about both and don’t have the time to visit Northeastern. Of course Cornell has a top-level program as well, but I’m not sure about going to a small town like Ithaca. Any advice is appreciated!
I would take the in-state rates at GA Tech in a heartbeat.
If you have a B or better average in GA you are eligible for the Hope scholarship which pays most of your GT tuition. Over 98% of all students from GA go to GT tuition free (cause they are all A students). Don’t pass that up. It is a huge cost for an out of state student to go to Northeastern and the difference in education is not worth putting yourself in that much debt.
If you can afford Cornell with ease, go there. If money is tight, go for Georgia Tech.
Where do you want to end up working? In my experience architecture is quite local and professors will have contacts with local architects making summer work and post-grad jobs easier.
I don’t know any of these schools, but the websites are quite different. Georgia Tech looks like it has a very practical program, their more engineering type options share the same home page. Cornell requires a semester in Rome. Northeastern looks like they put a big emphasis on sustainable design.
Free or very low cost tuition should certainly be a consideration since architects are notoriously underpaid.
@mysticends Ithaca is among the best places in the country to go to school. With the students, the population is well over 50,000 and it has everything a student wants or needs. It is not a small town.
OP, what is the price at NEU and Cornell? That makes a big difference. In a vacuum, Cornell > NEU > GT, but all of them are great schools with not such a significant difference between them.
Ithaca isn’t really a small town, it’s more of a college town. From what I’ve seen online, it’s a cute town. While I haven’t been to Ithaca specifically, I have visited upstate NY. The surrounding area is pretty rural, so I understand your concerns.
I’d choose Cornell if I could afford it. If not, I’d definitely choose Georgia Tech.
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Note that Cornell is the only one of the three with an NAAB-accredited (5 year) BArch degree program. The others have BA/BS degree programs in architecture which prepare the student to study for an NAAB-accredited MArch degree in fewer years than a student with an unrelated BA/BS degree would need.
As @ucbalumnus notes the undergraduate degree offered GA Tech & Northeastern is the BS not the BArch. If you intend to get an MArch you have to factor that into the cost.
Both GA Tech & Northeastern have strong regional reputations. GA Tech tends toward tech/structures. Northeastern is known for its coop program.
Cornell has high name recognition throughout the country and internationally. The program is heavily design driven with amazing resources. Its rural location is remote, but it’s a large and vibrant university in a lively college town, and the architecture department is a cosmos in itself. In addition to the semester in Rome you also have the option of spending a semester at Cornell’s New York City campus.
Of course, you have to do what’s best for you financially, but if you’ve been accepted to Cornell’s BArch program you try to make it work. It’s an exceptional professional opportunity.
Good catch. If you are serious about architecture why not just do a B Arch program?
Among Georgia publics, Kennesaw State has an NAAB-accredited BArch degree program.
http://cacm.kennesaw.edu/architecture/programs/bachelor-architecture.php
I’d choose between GT and Cornell if I were you. GT > Cornell > Northeastern