<p>My son is a year ahead of yours and he visited three of the schools on your son's list.
A couple things I can share; schedule a general campus tour and an admission's office interview to get a general feel for the school, also contact the arch department and schedule an arch dept tour and an arch dept interview for the same day. If he is anything like my son, he's looking for a school he will like AND an arch dept that he will like. Keep in mind you have to get accepted to the school first, THEN get accepted into the arch department.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon runs several "Sleeping Bag Weekends" in the fall. My son attended one last October. There were about 200 high school students total. My son got a good feel for the campus, had a student host, slept in a dorm, ate the food, attended a class and then, the second day, it was like an open house format with access to the entire school -parents were welcome but not required the second day. He focused on the arch dept and said there were only about a dozen other kids there as the other<br>
attendees were interested in other majors. Said the arch department really rolled out the red carpet and he got to speak one on one with several professors and arch dept admissions staff. He attended a session on what they were looking for in prospective students and how to get into their department. I think this has put CMU tops on his list.</p>
<p>At Penn State and RPI he visited on Open House days and was a bit overwhelmed by the masses of visitors wandering around and the less personal contacts. </p>
<p>Syracuse, WIT and RMU all gave him one on one tours by a current arch student and interviews with both admissions office staff and arch dept staff & professors. He enjoyed his time at these schools.</p>
<p>As to the portfolio, he took his first attempt at a portfoilo along to the arch dept interviews. All were willing to look at it and made helpful comments, however all said that portfolio review didn't count and he would have to submit the "real deal" after opening an official application with the admissions department.</p>
<p>About the timing on the visits, my kid's hs counselor said fall visits are good to find schools you want to apply to, while spring visits (for hs seniors) are mostly to help kids to choose from the schools they were accepted to and that the recruiters work harder then as most schools (yes, even Barch programs) accept many more students than will actually enroll. The counselors reccommendation was to skip the fall trips (unless it was a local visit) and put the money into applying to more schools of interest, then six months later a more informed and mature teen could then visit the schools that actually accepted him and wisely choose. My son argued to me (successfully) that the fall visits were necessary to really cement his commitment to a Barch program.</p>
<p>4trees, thank you, very helpful. Everything I have read about CMU on this forum is so positive. </p>
<p>Soozievt, my son still wants to keep the Brown/RISD program option open. Can you tell me how many years it will take your D to get her March after having studied arch at Brown and taken classes at RISD?</p>
<p>Anyone: Know anything about U of Miami's Barch? The overall school is a totally different climate/culture than the other schools we're looking at, but a spring break visit works for us and a figure it will be a good place to start and hear a school's Barch spiel (sp?).</p>
<p>apr, Glad to hear that your son's list has become more focused. If he seeks a less selective in the Northeast, I'd reiterate that Northeastern is a good choice.</p>
<p>Is he considering both Brown and RISD separately or just the combined program? Since this is the first year for the combined program it will be interesting to see how it develops. One of my son's friends is doing an MArch at RISD and has been dissatisfied for several reasons to the point of considering transferring. RISD recently recruited a new president (from MIT I think) so we're observing closely as there are many aspects of RISD that are appealing.</p>
<p>I'm sure Soozie will answer regarding her daughter's expectations, but my son was told by several MArch schools that he should plan 3.5 years on top of his BA. Many of the MArch schools (e.g. Harvard, MIT, Yale) hold information sessions, usually in the Fall, so if that's still an option for your son he could plan to attend.</p>
<p>I think I've been spending too much time reading here and not enough looking directly at the school's websites. I was just looking at U of Miami arch schools website and was not impressed. It sounds more like urban planning than arch. Anyone know anything?
Momrath - maybe now I'll look into the Brown/Risd program, since I'm really just going on what's said here. I wasn't thinking of RISD alone because I wasn't sure it would give him the overall college exp (sports, etc) I think he'd appreciate, but that is based on nothing, honestly, my problem right now is going so much on gut instinct (for example, the title "school of Design") rather than facts. I really just need to spend some more time at these school's sites. Thanks.</p>
<p>I mentioned this previously. Get the "Guide to Architecture Schools" by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. It is a great guide that has good info and descriptions and in many cases, the philosophies of each architecture school. Then follow up with looking at the web sites. My son, who is a junior, went throught the guide. Using the guide using a quick look, narrowed his choices to 12 schools. Then reading all the info, he narrowed his choices to 6 schools he will apply to. He checked each website to confirm information.</p>
<p>The rankings and guides are useless. Non-architects may not be qualified to judge what constitutes a good architectural education. It's a steep pyramid. Future architects should get advice from top architects whenever possible.</p>
<p>To assess schools, assess the quality of faculty and the quality and top job placement of recent grads. </p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts. Speaking as a parent who knows very little of the business of educating new architects I'm looking for anything that will help me assist my son's search. I assumed the guide used data collected from Arch firms and architects that have contact with recent grads. Am I wrong? Locating and cold calling "top" architects, soliciting their opinions and sorting it all out would be quite a process for a high school student. Be nice if several lived in our neighborhood, but we're rural, very rural. That's why I'm here, on the internet...</p>
<p>apr,
Finally getting back to you on some posts of yours. I understand that your son is ready to commit to a BArch degree program. My D was not. But I have another daughter who is in a professional undergraduate degree that required a commitment of this same sort and she was fully ready to make that commitment as she was involved in that field her entire life, whereas my arch kid had only minor exposure to arch before college (unlike what your son has at his HS). </p>
<p>Your son has a pretty good list going so far. I'm not sure if your son is willing to look out west but has he explored USC? I know your son cares about the selectivity level of the university he attends (I understand that too). One thing I will mention is that when looking for specialized degree programs, such as BArch, it becomes a little more of a look at the quality of the BArch program and the selectivity of THAT, a bit more than of the university as a whole. When looking at BAs, then the focus is less on a single department but more the whole school. Ideally for your son, he might go to a very selective BArch program that is ALSO located in a selective university. However, with my D's experience who pursued a professional undergraduate degree program, it was more focused on finding the best degree program and often the top ones are not always located in the most selective universities. She preferred a professional degree program that was very selective that was also in a selective university (and ended up in that situation which was ideal for her) but she was also open to top professional degree programs that simply are not located in the most selective universities but those in the field, know that the programs themselves are tops and very selective. So, I know a while back you said your son wasn't as keen on Syracuse as it is not a highly selective university but the fact is, their Arch degree programs are very well regarded and so I think when pursuing a BArch program, your son may wish to focus on finding very well regarded arch programs even if the university itself is not the most selective. Something to keep in mind. Those in architecture know of these excellent arch programs and the general public may not be aware of the high selectivity of the arch programs themselves but that's just the way that is. </p>
<p>You wrote:
[quote]
Soozievt, my son still wants to keep the Brown/RISD program option open.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Just to clear up any possible confusion.....First of all the dual Brown/RISD degree is BRAND NEW and this is the first year's admission cycle. My D did NOT attend this program. It sounds like an exciting path. You have to be accepted to both Brown and RISD in this new program. It certainly is one worth pursuing for your son. BUT, I also want to throw out to you other options there. As a Brown student or as a RISD student, students may cross register classes. I believe Brown students can take up to four RISD classes. Not sure the amount on the RISD kids' end. At RISD, they already have their own liberal arts classes at their own school, but can take some at Brown too (where there are wider offerings). The schools are down the block from one another. My D took two classes at RISD. In my opinion, since your son wants a BArch, he could apply to RISD and then have access to Brown courses as students have been doing right along (OR try for the dual degree program but that likely is even harder to get in). Another thing you mention is that your son wants to continue with soccer and playing music. You should know that RISD students can participate in Brown's extracurricular groups. So, your son likely could be on an intramural or club soccer team at Brown even if he attends RISD. I have to say that it is harder for those doing a BArch program to be involved in heavy duty extracurriculars given their schedules and time in studio. That was one of many reasons my D didn't want to do a BArch (she is in sports). In any case, I think attending RISD is a viable option for your son as it is a top BArch school with access to Brown courses and Brown extracurriculars. Or he should contemplate the new joint RISD/Brown degree. </p>
<p>You asked:
[quote]
Can you tell me how many years it will take your D to get her March after having studied arch at Brown and taken classes at RISD?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The MArchI programs are either 3 or 3 1/2 years long depending on the school. There will be no advanced standing for my daughter, to my knowledge.</p>
<p>4trees,
Personally, I am not a fan of rankings and don't consider them very much. I think taken as a "group" of schools, however, it gives you a list of well regarded ones. I don't really care where each school "places" on that list. But you do get a starting point of schools with a reputation for this field and it is useful in that way. The Design Intelligence ranking DOES use input from architecture firms, including their regional rankings. By the way, we also live in a very rural area. :) It so happens that we have quite a number of architects in our little community and many of them have attended the well known arch schools.</p>
<p>I agree with soozievt about the rankings. The ACSA Guide contains information supplied by the architecture schools. It is an excellent source of information to narrow a list to a manageable number of schools. Talking to an architect(s) helps, depending on the architect. The architect my son talked to gave him a run down of the schools on his original list of about 15 schools. The architect gave him his opinion: excellent, very good, good, practical versus theoretical, etc. If he didn't know, he stated he didn't know. It wasn't just about schools that he recruited at. The guide is a great starting point!</p>
<p>My son's list (probably in order): USC, Syracuse, Penn State, Cincinnati, Kansas, and U of I. U of I is on the list because we live in Illinois. Kansas is on the list because the price for out of state is about the same as U of I instate. My son definitely knows he wants to go into architecture and prefers the BArch. He also prefers to be on the west coast, then the east coast with the midwest third. Cincinnati is on the list because he likes their coop program. He originally had Cal Poly SLO and Cornell. He just felt Cornell isn't for him though he is sure he would have a good chance to get in. He eliminated all schools in the south. He checked out the schools' website to verify info from the guide and for additional info. He has visited USC and loved the campus (and California). California area fits his personality.</p>