| My son just went through this process as well, and I felt that it was much more stressful applying for Barch programs than if he'd decided on liberal arts.
Of course it helps that you are limited in where to apply, so the first step is easy, but then you realize that first you need the stats to get accepted to the colleges, then you need a great portfolio to get into the school of architecture so the requirements to get in are far more stringent. Not all schools require a portfolio, but since your daughter has a strong art background she should be fine in that area.
Without knowing what your daughter's SAT scores will be, it's hard to comment on her chances at Cornell, Cooper, USC or Rice. However, as mentioned previously she will need to get at least a 1400 to be competetive. Financially Cornell, USC and Rice claim to meet 100% of need, run your numbers through the EFC calculator "institutional methodology" to get an idea on what your expected contribution would be. Cooper Union is great with "free tuition", but the cost of living in the city is a lot. Plus they only accept something like 8% of architecture applicants.
Depending on her scores, RISD and SLO look like they may be matches or safeties. However, as mentioned in other posts, I would definately add more matches and safeties to her list. Actually, this didn't work out for my son because his only rejection was from his safety (UNC Charlotte- he was accepted to the college but not the school of architecture) and it was the one school that I felt had the most work to apply - but I also think he bombed his interview.
I agree that Syracuse would be a good "additional" choice, they claim to meet approximately 82% of need. If money is an issue, keep away from VTech and Penn State. VTech has a financial aid calculator on their website, and based on the numbers we eliminated it immediately. Despite having heard that Penn State gives terrible aid we visited it, my son fell in love and applied and was accepted to their school of architecture. With a small merit scholarship and loans, we were left with a cost of over $30K. So, when you hear that aid is terrible - believe it and don't hope for a miracle.
Unfortunately, many of the Barch programs are at state schools and both financial and merit aid is not great. This is one of the disadvantages of not having a lot of "choices"
We did look at some of the lesser known privates, but even with their merit scholarships (many post the stats required right on their website) the cost would have been high because the financial aid portion would have been poor.
My son's final decision is Tulane. This was not originally on his radar, but he applied because of their free application. They have an undergraduate March 5 year program (no one can figure out exactly what that means) They give nice merit money, and they meet 93% of need. Fortunately when he visited the school two weeks ago he absolutely loved it. Because, this ended up being one of the most reasonable price wise.
Sorry this post is so long. I just wish I'd had more info when we started our search. |