Rating of the USA's top Architecture Schools

<p><a href="http://www.archsoc.com/kcas/researchschool4.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.archsoc.com/kcas/researchschool4.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>i dont know much about architecture, but i always thought cal poly SLO and cornell were two of the top architecture schools out there. but both arent ranked as high as i thought they'd be... any reason to this? (perhaps because cal poly isnt research oriented?)</p>

<p>This is a bogus rating. Too subjective.</p>

<p>The rating criteria:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.archsoc.com/kcas/researchschool.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.archsoc.com/kcas/researchschool.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I guessed the number one school without looking..... why didn't it surprise me...</p>

<p>Cornell is always #1 in most rankings, followed by SLO, Harvard and MIT.</p>

<p>1) Cornell
2) Rice
3) Cal Poly SLO / Harvard
4) Syracuse
5) UT Austin
6) MIT</p>

<p>This may be a stupid question, but why is how much research is going on important in an architecture school? Wouldn't you want to go to the one where you could learn most about design, be taught by top profs who care a lot about teaching, and be well prepared and able to get lots of jobs?</p>

<p>This list was posted on an architecture website. Of course there is an emphasis.</p>

<p>Some of the responses here do not reflect a reading of the criteria and effort that went into the ratings. It's an interesting read.</p>

<p>Best of the best: Princeton, Columbia, Cooper Union, Yale
Excellent: UCLA, Harvard, Pennsylvania, MIT, Notre Dame, Rice</p>

<p>Go, UCLA!</p>

<p>Also U Illinois U-C and SUNY Buffalo.</p>

<p>Forgot to mention UVa.</p>

<p>Cornell, mit, harvard - recognized industry-wide as the leading architecture schools. One dimwit survey is not going to change that.</p>

<p>When one lacks knowledge of a subject matter, his/her typical response to something they don't like to hear is to attack the messenger (eg. "dimwit survey") instead of attacking the merits of the message. The rating criteria in the aforementioned survey is detailed and comprehensive. It is not the result of a random mailing. If you disagree, state your case, not your bias.</p>

<p>P.S. MIT and Harvard do appear in the upper rankings of the survey. This is not a survey of the biggest programs. Please do not be rude if your favored program does not appear at the higher end, instead state your case in a reasoned manner.</p>

<p>Is research important?</p>

<p>Well, research means there is money flowing to the school. </p>

<p>I think you're right about how important those other things are, but with a goodly amount of research going on, the school may be able to afford very esteemed architects on the faculty, and students may have a greater chance of working on something really meaningful while still students, etc. </p>

<p>So while it's less obvious than, say, research in a medical school, it still has its merits.</p>

<p>Here the rankings for 2005 from Design Intelligence (Industry rankings)
Undergraduate Architecture Programs</p>

<p>Cornell University
University of Cincinnati
Rice University
California Polytechnic State U., San Luis Obispo
Syracuse University
Kansas State University
Rhode Island School of Design
University of Texas at Austin
Carnegie Mellon University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University</p>

<p>Graduate Architecture Programs</p>

<p>Harvard University
Yale University
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University (tied for 4th with MIT)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tied for 4th with Columbia)
University of Cincinnati
University of California, Berkeley
University of Virginia
Rice University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</p>

<p>With regard to the undergraduate rankings, I think you should examine what went into each rating. That may explain the difference. The rating in the Original post was the result of an exhaustive study, the other may have been produced from a simple mailing.
One study produced a list of top ten schools you would normally expect, the other produced a random listing of diverse schools (some with rather "easy" entrance requirements).</p>

<p>alphacdcd - are you like head of marketing for that particular rankings? certainly sounds like it, you've been going around the forums promoting this ranking like no other. seroiusly man, if it was a really reputable ranking in its own right, I think people would recognize that.</p>

<p>Vaib, I try not to make sweeping statements that have little or no support. So I introduce surveys and rankings to support my views. The top schools in the survey do not need my marketing help. They are among the most selective schools in the nation. But what irks me is when people come on and just say things with little or no support. There are students here trying to learn about the selection process and what makes a school good. They don't need misinformation and distortions. Good luck.</p>

<p>"alphacdcd - are you like head of marketing for that particular rankings? certainly sounds like it, you've been going around the forums promoting this ranking like no other. seroiusly man, if it was a really reputable ranking in its own right, I think people would recognize that"</p>

<p>Vaib - you're right!....this alpha dude is totally pushing these asinine rankings. Nobody with any knowledge would buy this load of crap.</p>

<p>As you said, Cornell, Harvard, [CAL-SLO] and MIT are the top tier architecture schools.</p>