I’m a High School senior who is currently hearing back from most of my schools for a B.Arch/B.S. in Arch degree. I’m still waiting to hear back from Drexel, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon, but two schools that I got into on your list is CCNY and the U of Miami. My dream school was Miami, but I didn’t get a great amount of scholarship from them, so that’s not really an option. The same goes for most of my other schools, like the University of Maryland for example.
After going through the touring, search, selection, and application processes (similarly to what you’re beginning to do), many architects and people in the industry have told me that it really doesn’t matter to them which school you went to; it’s more about what you did while in school AND the quality of your portfolio. Honestly, all of the schools you listed are great schools, and NC State might be a great option because it’s more doable in terms of finances, and it’s also a great program. There’s a guy that I know that went to NC State for architecture and he’s doing very well now! Also, I know it seems that the college you go to will determine where you work, what kind of firm you work for, etc. – but in reality, all of that is null once you get some ‘skin in the game,’ as one architect told me. Like if you go to NC State and then get your first job after graduating at a small firm in North Carolina, you can then advance and work your way up to firms like Gensler. All those schools you listed to me have great B. Arch programs, so what I’d really aim to look for when deciding on which ones to apply to and/or actually attend are: the courses you’d have to take, the vibe you get from the student bodies in the architecture schools, the faculty, and the overall feel of the university itself.
Another interesting thing to note is something called the ‘Small Fish, Big Pond’ effect: It is basically a description of how a student could be very smart and perhaps attend a great school like Cornell or MIT, but in comparison to the other genius students at those great schools, he/she is lacking behind, so he/she is like a “small fish” in a “big pond.”
The opposite effect is called the “Big Fish, Small Pond” effect. It’s when the same student with the same intelligence from the example above goes to a less selective school, like Penn State or NC State for instance, and does well because he/she is like a “big fish” in a “small pond,” because he/she is generally near the top of the class.
When comparing the two, a firm will almost always hire an above average student from a state school than a mediocre/crappy student from an Ivy league-type school. So really, any one of those schools you listed would give you a great education with the potential for great connections. Good luck in your search and application process!!