Cal poly pomona architecture

egmontus
Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:12:28 +0000

I think you must be waitlisted. It may not sound helpful but I went to Pomona for architecture in the mid 90’s and it was pretty tough back then and it’s gotten a lot tougher since. Back then they only took in about 15 percent and it has since come down to 6 percent. Here’s why: The program is design studio intensive and is accredited as a professional degree, which means you’ll be almost ready to get licensed just three after graduation. In order to maintain accreditation, the school has to provide a permanent studio space for every student and keep studio classes at a certain size (about 15 students). Due to strict CSU budgets, and a very bureaucratic administration, the college can’t get any additional building space or faculty. As a result, the architecture program has remained the same size for the past 20 years. The department has been pleading for a new building and it seems like, with a little optimism, they may finally get in in a few years. Meanwhile, applicants have steadily increased, from about 1000 in the 90’s to more than 2,500 last year. The increase is probably due to population increase but also because it’s been moving up the ranks. Last year the program was ranked 15th amongst prestigious institutions like Rice, Cornell and USC and yes Cal Poly SLO. All this at just a fraction of the cost which goes a long way in economic times like these.

Both SLO and Pomona are good programs. They are both 5 year professional degrees and both have been historically highly impacted and very affordable. The SLO program is more technically oriented, which might explain why it does better on the ranking surveys, since they are usually compiled by big corporate offices. The Pomona program is more design studio oriented and it’s close vicinity to Los Angeles is a big plus. As you may know, LA is the hotbed of cutting edge architecture and popular culture and much of the faculty is from there and also teach at SciArc, USC, and UCLA. Honestly I would not trade my experience at Pomona for SLO since design is more subjective than technique and is much more difficult to learn. It would have been nice to kick back at the beach, but while our counterparts were sunning, we were visiting historic modern architectural gems by Neutra, Schindler and Morphosis. Never mind, you’ll soon learn about them…

Anyways, I digress…if you have not heard from them yet, it is because you’re waitlisted. I believe they send out their first 100 or so letters, of which about 50 or 60 might confirm acceptance. They will then make up the rest for a total of 100 with applicants from the wait list. If it’s any consolation, I did not get my acceptance letter until early May. Just hang in there… Hope this helps!!