I tried hard to get S26 to look harder at Pitt. They had so many paths and neat areas of focus, and it seemed like many students do internships. The city is bustling, and it’s in a great area with multiple colleges, arts, etc. Family members are graduates and huge supportors. At the end, for us though, Pitt has gotten quite popular in our area, with multiple applications from his school. Merit aid for S26 seems unlikely.
Pitt is not very popular at our school - 5-10 a year out of a senior class of around 300 (7 applied so far this year). Hard to tell if it’s a good or bad thing but the last few years there has only been one denial a year. However the small sample means it’s hard to really judge chances from Maia.
Has he shadowed a few architects to get a sense of the different career paths and settings? I think that will clarify a few things, no? I’ve got friends and acquaintances who are architects and their professional lives are really different. Designing residential new construction for a three person firm; working as a “subject matter expert” on sustainable materials and construction techniques for a hotel and retail developer; focusing on “in- fill” and historic preservation; and the one with the internationally known, huge “famous” firm who works on “master plans” for colleges, cities, airports, stadium construction, etc. Says he hasn’t been near residential design in over a decade (despite his college friends constantly bugging him to help them turn their garages into a small apartment for an aging parent).
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If you are doing school visits, you can try to pop in to the architecture studios and maybe even chat with some students. That may give you some idea of the studio culture and the environment. A school near a city or established town could make it easier to find internships (and permanent jobs down the road) since nearby firms/architects may be teaching as adjuncts and may be hiring from the school. Programs that have existed and have been accredited for a long-time should provide some reassurance of education quality and local connections.
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An architect we know specializes in buildings designed for animals - vet offices, shelters etc. Pretty niche? He sidetracked into residential for a while - the kind of homes that are featured in magazines and win prizes and make for a glossy book on his coffee table - but after a decade or so of that went back to what he considered his true calling.
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OMG, this is so fabulous.
I always recommend that kids interested in architecture spend some time WITH architects…. they always come away surprised that the field isn’t what they thought it was!
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I understand. Drexel is similar for our school. The small sample sizes make predictions difficult, and who knows what majors were accepted/rejected. That said, only one rejection is hopeful!!
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Thanks, this is so helpful. Yes, we are doing as many visits and open houses as possible to try to get a good sense of the culture at different schools, and we spend a fair amount of time in the buildings, looking at the projects, and talking to people when possible.
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He is trying to find any opportunity to shadow but not had much luck, and I know one architect who lives across the country, so not much help here. He does have a teacher who has an architecture background and provides him with supplemental projects, materials, and discussion about the field. He’ll get on that again once all the essays are written!! 
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We had an architect acquaintance who specialized in hospitals, coroner buildings and such—they had to pay special attention to airflow. Sounded interesting.
My daughter is a structural engineer (Illinois Institute of Technology). She works on existing buildings (condition assessments, repair design, historic preservation, building envelope stuff) and she works with a lot of architects also employed by her firm doing this work.
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You can go beyond this. When we were visiting colleges, there is almost always a contact name/email listed on the schools Architecture website. Reach out to that and they were ALL happy to set up specific tours and time to discuss their program. We visited Virginia Tech on a Saturday and they set up time for a 5th and 3rd year student to meet us in the studio space and walk us around. If the schools are not local or easy to visit, I’m betting someone would be happy to have a 30 minute zoom call with you.
As a parent it was important to me that he end up at a school that SHOULD he decide Arch wasn’t going to be his career path that the school had a variety of other potential programs that would be relatively easy to transition into.
I wasn’t too focused on making sure he goes to school in a geographic area that he expects to put down roots. Many of the larger Arch firms have a national presence. I would say it’s a good question for the school you’re looking at though “what firms do your graduates typically land with?”
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Their Barch Co-Op program is also different from their other coops…its basically work all day in coop and then do classes at night. Its weird and turned my daughter off from their program. I saw your other inquiry about Kent State…it is a solid 4 year less expensive program. It is ranked, just not a Barch so would need to go on to a March somewhere. Their facility is also beautiful and sounds like a it would be a likely admit. My daughter applied there as a safety and they did give her money and honors college reducing price even further. She applied and was admitted to a lot of the programs you listed. She also only wanted Barch. She ended up at Syracuse University. They gave her 1/2 tuition and honors college and they have strong abroad program. It is also a very tight knit and supportive program amongst both the students and the Arch faculty. If you apply there they are huge on demonstrated interest fyi
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Updates for mid-January! Posting both to get further insights if anyone has then on the below schools and programs but also for future students looking into architecture, since we felt like there wasn’t a ton of info available for a solid but not top student. Please know we considered and read each and every previous comment and suggestion prior to applying, and they carried a lot of weight. Still waiting on 3 schools that are likely higher COA if accepted (2 super reaches, so the list is fairly set):
Acceptances in order of cost of attendance with merit aid:
Lowest Cost:
Iowa State (BArch, reapply after first year, auto admit if over 3.35 GPA)
Ball State with Honors Program (BArch, reapply after first year, per arch advisor “almost all” move on if desired)
Kent State ( 4 year BS-another 1.25 years for MArch but reapply in 4th year)
Kennesaw State University (BArch, reapply after first year need 2.5 GPA)
LSU with Honors Program (BArch, reapply after first year, ~50% into second year per virtual info session, combo of students changing their mind and acceptance by the program)
Medium Cost:
SCAD (BA, apply for MArch 4th year, unsure if any advantage to BA there–>MArch, will ask)
Hobart and William Smith College (BS in Architectural Studies, need grad school if wish to become licensed, per website 100% into grad school)
Thomas Jefferson University with Honors Program (BArch)
ASU (BS, 3.0 to stay in major, need grad school)
UT Knoxville (BArch)
Highest Cost, so unlikely to attend:
Catholic University of America (BS, need grad school)
Drexel (BArch, scholarship only applies for first two years, money earned for coop after that expected to go to tuition, per credit basis)
Think S26’s portfolio ended up being a positive for those that allowed/requested one (SCAD, Drexel, Thomas Jefferson, UTK, Ball State). Please share any thoughts or insights that we may not have considered! We failed at the short list but wanted to have options. Will start narrowing down and then visit 3-4 with as much interaction with architecture student/programs as possible. Thank you all again.
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Congrats on a great list!
I’m curious if you are keeping the ones where they need to reapply after freshman year on the list. Also interested if you have a preference between BS /MArch and BArch at this stage and that will narrow your list, or if that is rather going to depend on the school you choose. I’m looking forward to seeing your feedback on the schools you’re visiting!
(Fyi: although we don’t have all decisions in yet, C26 is dropping the one on the list that requires secondary competitive admission to major as there are already good choices that don’t have that. Extra stress that we just don’t think is warranted.)
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Thank you! If you don’t mind sharing, what are C26’s top contenders?? For us, total cost for program (assuming licensure would be desired at some point) of BArch or BS/BA plus MArch is a major consideration, as we’d like him to not incur much debt. Beyond cost, S26 seems to gravitate to BArch programs to get quickly started on the course work he is most interested in, but we parents like the idea of exploratory courses in the first year. Completely agree that the reapplication after the first year certainly adds stress and would 100% prefer he choose one without this hurdle, but he still is interested in a few that need reapplication due to general culture/other opportunities/climate (at least when he walks from the dorm to the studio). Would certainly appreciate if you or others have additional insights into these programs (pros or cons).
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For now, UIC and Pitt, but still awaiting some decisions of which two (one a reach so not holding out much hope) would probably be at the top as well. All BS or other 4-year programs.
I don’t have much more insight unfortunately- like you, we were finding it hard to get real info. Hoping to be able to connect with arch departments and see studios at admitted students days but it won’t be possible at all of them. C26 did a summer arch program so has some idea of what to look for re studio facilities.
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Just went through this thread, I was surprised that UW-Milwaukee was not mentioned. 
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Perhaps your mention will help future students! S26 feeling pretty done with applications. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Oh, just on this, for the ones they’re interested in all start arch courses during the first year, though for Pitt the first semester is all GEs. The others all start arch-specific courses in the first semester already. Some of them are more focused than others so part of the decision will likely revolve around how many GEs in total are required (factoring in that some courses that will fall under GE are required like calculus and physics). One possibility was already dropped pre-application because there were too many GEs required vs core courses.
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One recommendation would be to make your decision based primarily on the school itself, not necessarily the program. I don’t think there is a big difference between a BArch. and a 4-year BS/BA in Arch. from an employment standpoint. Many (younger) architecture professionals are not licensed and do not have to be licensed unless they will start their own architecture practice. Basically, the owner of the firm stamps the drawings under their license - not the employees. Having a license would eventually be an advantage for an early/mid-career architect looking to get a better job or a promotion, but not initially.
Focusing on the school and potential “Plan B” studies also ensures that if your student decides that Arch. is not for them, there is an appealing alternative major in that school. This is more likely to happen at a BArch. school.
Lastly, an equally strong alternative to a 5-year BArch. is getting a 4-year degree, working for a couple of years, and then going back to grad school for MArch. as a more mature student.
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