<p>I think the point is not necessarily for you to express an interest to UHouston or Rice, but that they represent the closest opportunities for you to see how architecture is: how much of it is art compared to how little of it is technical, how much beauty and composition play a role, not just drafting. They are a chance for you to see what an architecture school values in its students. While they aren’t on your list, there are certain commonalities amongst the vast majority of architecture schools, and taking a visit there, ESPECIALLY if you could manage to see a review, would hopefully go quite a ways towards clarifying things for you.</p>
<p>I agree with others, your courseload seems skewed towards the technical side. Where’s the art? While drafting can help you manage your work after you get in (everyone else will be learning CAD, so you already knowing it gives you at very least an advantage in time), it may not help you much/at all in admissions beyond being an expression of your interest in architecture. The school I went to for undergrad did not favor those who already knew how to draft, because many of them came in cocky, thinking that they already knew everything about architecture, and had a hard time finding creative solutions to architectural problems because they got hung up on the more technical elements.</p>