<p>I am an international student living in the US (senior in high school). I've been accepted to Syracuse and Virginia Tech, but neither offered me financial aid. Money is a big issue for my family. Is it worthwhile to be in a huge debt to choose Syracuse?</p>
<p>I'd really appreciate feedbacks from architects.
Thank you so much!</p>
<p>I’m not an Architect but a Parent of a Syracuse student. </p>
<p>Do not incur a huge debt burden on your family or yourself as an Architecture Major. The pay scale varies too much for graduates. Should you not get a high paying position early on in your career, you may experience great debt burden to pay off loans, especially since our politicians are dangling a 100% increase in the interest rate (3.4 to 6.8%) over Student’s heads right now. Heck, Home mortgages are around 3.7% and they’re not talking about doubling those.</p>
<p>Syracuse is very expensive and we would not have been able to afford it had SU not been as generous as they were for our daughter. As it stands now, our D will still incur $25,000.00 in student loan debt by the time she graduates. That alone will be hard enough to pay back.</p>
<p>Virginia Tech is half the cost and I’m sure you will get a good education there as well. I’m sure you’ll never have regrets that you didn’t go to SU. Your true colors will shine in your post-grad internships, experience and portfolios. </p>
<p>That makes good financial sense in my mind. Don’t ruin your life before you start it. It will be hard enough when the time comes to pay bills for necessities and the biggest purchase of all - a home. Large debt could prevent you from doing so.</p>
<p>That’s great to hear about your daughter, I wish you and her all the best!</p>
<p>But yeah, it’s hard for international students to get financial aid. Also, it’s really hard for me to let go of Syracuse because I worked so hard to get into their Architecture program (interview, portfolio, essays, etc)… whereas Virginia Tech, I just wrote essays-- they didn’t require a portfolio or an interview. SU is my dream school but I guess I should be more realistic. I just wish that money wasn’t the obstacle for me to attend the college that I dream of going.</p>
<p>I know exactly the hard work you speak of to meet SU’s standards. I went through every step of it with my D too. Embrace this experience of having been recognized by a very good school. This simply affirms your potential to do well. In life it’s not always about the school you go to. If you put all of your passion and creative abilities into your work at Virginia Tech, I’m sure you will be a top scholar and contributor to their program. Later on, when you start your internship somewhere in the real world, you’ll be re-shaped and molded once again.</p>
<p>My D had a tough time getting in because she was waitlisted since she only had the 1 choice for SU’s BArch program on her application. She was somewhat disappointed too but I told her it’s just a numbers game a lot of the time. Then she was accepted but the FA was still going to be major factor whether she could still attend. She was ready to walk away if the Aid was not granted. Life is not always as we want it and you’ll learn alot more about that as you get older.</p>
<p>The crazy twist for my D was that she recently decided not to continue with Architecture and is switching her Major. You just don’t know what life brings as it can always change course for all of us at any given moment. </p>
<p>I’m sure you’d enjoy college life at Virginia Tech and you won’t financially overburden yourself in the future.</p>
<p>Aww thank you so much for your inspiring words!
I just came home from visiting Virginia Tech and I love it! I’ve been emailing a student for a year now (she’s in her 5th year of Architecture at VT) and she gave me a personalized tour. I learned a lot about the school and the campus was wonderful. There were so many options for food and it was easy to get to places. The people were a lot friendlier and the Hokie spirit was highly evident. But most importantly, the studio was great. It was open and had a nice atmosphere. Better than I thought because before this I only saw some pictures online. Long story short, I’m glad I was able to finally visit VT.</p>
<p>I think I’ve made my decision. Hokie!</p>
<p>Glad you enjoyed your visit! The food and school spirit there is amazing! Regarding the food, not only are there many places to eat, they are all really good places to eat! VT has been nationally ranked something like 1st or 2nd in campus food for many years now and after eating there routinely when we have visited our son, I can totally understand why. </p>
<p>You will work incredibly hard in this major and spend an enormous amount of time in Cowgill, so if you liked its atmosphere now, that is great. My son is a graduating 5th year LA, and has had an extraordinary experience in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies. VT really is a terrific school that offers opportunities for a tremendous education at a price that for some is a bit easier to manage than other options. Best of luck as you begin next year as a new Hokie! :)</p>
<p>We recently visit with our daughter the VT campus for arch and really like it!, agree with you the studio area, is impressive as well as all the facilities they had, people were really nice, the campus is very pretty, classic style, it was still very cold, we ate there and totally agree that the food was great!.. Do not have time to visit cal poly SLO , but we are still considering it because of the weather, and is still higher ranked than VT… but she is looking for a balanced program in both design/drawing and computer/technical. Do you know if VT teaches you well the computer programs that you need to know when you are out of school?.. Also do students manage their time? or are tehy also only sleeping 2-3 hrs on the weekdays??Being international and so far from home… I hope it is a friendly atmosphere between the other arch students…</p>
<p>I’m glad you liked VT overall!
Anyway, about the computer programs or software, I asked my 5th-Year Architecture friend at VT, and she said that they aren’t strict about them. Architecture students usually use AutoCAD, Rhino, etc, but I don’t think VT requires the students to use it. There is, if I’m not mistaken, an AutoCAD class that students can take. Even though it’s not required, a lot of them still use it for their models and such.</p>
<p>About their sleeping habits, it really depends on the student. I’ve heard of people who pull all-nighters every week and I’ve heard of people who do get sleep. It’s about time management. As long as you work hard and don’t waste a lot of time, you can get enough sleep. Some still prefer sleeping in late because they feel the need to explore and understand their projects from all different angles so they can strongly defend their project/model well.</p>
<p>It’s great to hear that VT will work out for you. The financial aspect alone is a win-win for you down the road. You are a great example to others who become fixated on a particular college when there are others that would make a perfect fit as well.</p>
<p>Wow, all that talk about great food there made me hungry. Don’t eat to much or you won’t be able to pull those all-nighters. ;-)</p>
<p>Good luck to your college experience and your future!</p>
<p>Thank you so much! :D</p>