McGill vs. CUNY vs. Cal Poly

College Majors Architecture Major
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<p>I stared a thread on the College Selection board, but I got referred here.
Original: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1132976-mcgill-vs-cuny-vs-cal-poly.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1132976-mcgill-vs-cuny-vs-cal-poly.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Since I won’t be hearing from the University of Waterloo’s architecture and planning programs until early May, I need to decide on my backup choice before May 1. I have three choices right now, and whichever one we choose here will be my university if UW rejects me. The choices are McGill in Montréal QC, CUNY in New York NY, and Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo CA.
I want to pursue a career in either architecture or urban planning.
If it means anything to anyone, I’m both Canadian and American but live overseas.
I’m going to tell you a bit about what I think about each school and show you the approximate price tag for the full degree (tuition, housing, meal plan, supplies, etc.).</p>

<p>McGill
I was accepted into the Faculty of Arts for U1 (sophomore year) where I would study for a BA (Hons) Urban Systems. That program is part of McGill’s small but highly regarded geography department. The urban systems major has an architecture option, which would enable me to take some classes at the School of Architecture (one of the world’s best).
I can either do all 3 years there, or transfer to an architecture program after a year (most Canadian architecture programs start junior year). It all depends on how I like it when I get there.
McGill has a very strong academic reputation and has been ranked the #19 university in the world and is #28 for liberal arts. Montréal is a great city in terms of diversity and livelihood.
The only bad things that I’ve heard about McGill are morning classes and the absence of a fine arts department. But neither of those things really bother me.
The only thing that worries me about this university would be the transfer process.
≈ $50,000</p>

<p>CUNY Spitzer School of Architecture (City College) & Macaulay Honors College
I was accepted into City College where I would study for a BArch. My CUNY offer allows me to study architecture at City College while taking honors classes at Macaulay.
If you haven’t heard of Macaulay, it’s an academic scholarship program. Full tuition, free MacBook Pro, $2000 yearly for housing, Cultural Passport (free/discounted entry to hundreds of arts & cultural venues in NYC), and a $7500 study grant (for research or study abroad). My counselor told me that there are a lot of great things that come from being a university scholar.
The BArch program lasts five years and I’m willing to go into the long haul for a professional program.
Most of the professors at the Spitzer School of Architecture were educated at Ivy League universities or the like. And a recent donation to the program has given the school some great new facilities.
Macaulay presents students with a lot of internship opportunities. Apparently, a lot of graduates go on to top-notch graduate schools.
I don’t know anyone who goes to CUNY, so the only people I’ve talked to who really know about it are current students (on the phone). They seem content, they’re a tad biased. Even though Macaulay students seem to be quite successful, I’m still a bit worried about the CUNY reputation.
Although studying architecture in NYC would be a great experience, living there is extremely expensive. The calculation below has accounts for my scholarship package, so it’s just an estimate on housing, food, and supplies.
≈ $60,000</p>

<p>Cal Poly
I was accepted into the College of Architecture and Environmental Design for the BArch program. This has been ranked the #2 or #3 undergraduate architecture program in the country.
This is a five-year program too. Yet again, I’m not too bothered.
Aside from the California weather, I was attracted to Cal Poly by its “learn by doing” education. The projects give students great practical experience. The facilities are great, and I’ve been told the local atmosphere is great too. From what I know, it’s a great college town. Not everyone is a partier and the quarter system keeps students quite focused. I also really liked that there are no TA’s.
What I didn’t really like what the lack of diversity. As per the statistics I’ve seen, most students are white Californians and there is about 1% international students. I took a peek at some of the architecture professors’ profiles and most of them went to Cal Poly. Even though that shows a strong sense of community, I might really miss the diversity I’m used to (I’m one of the 15 white people in my high school of 350).
Problem is, Cal Poly is significantly more expensive than my other options. My parents would reluctantly pay, but I don’t want to make them pay 3 times more for an education I can get elsewhere (if you know what I mean). I love the idea of Cal Poly, but I need to be convinced if it's worth that much more.
≈ $140,000</p>

<p>I’m sorry for making you read all that.
Any advice or suggestions? Anything else I should consider?</p>

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<p>Wow, you’ve done a lot of research and seem to have a handle on costs. Here is my opinion and it will be entirely anecdotal.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I am unfamiliar with McGill other than the name itself – so, I really can’t comment on that. What I can say here is that if you want to study architecture then study architecture. It appears that the Canadian system has you wait for three years until you can take on your major fully as a junior. That is a long time to wait.</p></li>
<li><p>My parents met at and graduated from CUNY. Back in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s when they met, it had a great local reputation and then it went downhill for many years. It has made a come back in recent years, but other then that I can’t help you. It comes down to the actual education itself, the marketplace and what employers and future clients think of the school.</p></li>
<li><p>Where I can help is Cal Poly. My son was accepted there for engineering and we recently visited the school for their Open House. As you have already noted, the architecture program there is wonderful. Here is some inside information – the hands on learn by doing reputation is absolutely real and everything that they advertise. The students ran the Open House, the professors did the intros and then got out of the way letting the kids take center stage. The labs are state of the art. It is a true learn by doing institution. The California weather you described is only part of the benefit. The local natural scenery is absolutely breathtaking. People seem to live in harmony with nature and it can only be described as pristine. With regards to diversity, I have a lot to say about that. Forget the statistics. Cal Poly is very diverse. We are a mixed race family and we raised our son in Los Angeles. He went to a public high school where whites were a minority. We felt totally accepted and welcomed at Cal Poly and the campus truly celebrated diversity. There were so many ethnic related clubs at the Open House with each one selling its own culturally based menu from their booths. In my career we have traveled in over 30 countries and can recognize many languages when they are spoken. We heard Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Tagalog, Korean, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, and French being spoken around us on campus at every turn. We saw people of every race and creed. However, I will admit that African Americans seemed underrepresented. We did see some black students and a few African Americans held important faculty positions. Since we are a mixed race family, we tend to notice other families like us. We saw a lot of mixed race couples among the students and some of the parents as well. We did finally figure out where the heavily white population on the campus came from. It appears to be the College of Agriculture. The Open House featured a full on intercollegiate rodeo to cap off the three day event! So, we went to experience it. It was AWESOME! Several universities were represented and there was everything – bull riding, bronco riding, calf roping, barrel racing, every event you could hope for. The crowd and the athletes at the rodeo were mostly white. But nobody cared and we were totally accepted at the event and felt completely at home. After the event, we were convinced that there is no discrimination at Cal Poly. So, we chose Cal Poly over significant competitors. Our kid was extremely competitive in both grades and standardized test scores. He was accepted at a lot of big name schools with very low acceptance rates. Cal Poly blew away the competition.</p></li>
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<p>If you want to be an architect I would suggest CCNY since you’d be getting your BArch. At McGill you’d have to go to grad school which I think is another three years, or go through that annoying transfer process (what if you dont get into a program you like?) and that new school, or wherever it is you’ll be going to get your Architecture degree will add on more money for the McGill option. Also I think that 7500 grant for study abroad would be pretty sweet for an architecture major.</p>

<p>I WOULD say to go to Cal Poly but its just too much money in my opinion.</p>