<p>Can someone please suggest some schools to look at for my son? He attends a public art-magnet school, loves art, and is looking for an architecture program that is art-focused. His stats are:
Top 10% of class
GPA (weighted) 4.543
SAT M680, CR670, W670
National Merit Commended student
Some EC’s (National Honor Society, French club, Ultimate Frisbee Team, Quiz Bowl, Philosophy Club, Service Club, + some community service)
Has won a statewide art award, and completed a very-hard-to-get-accepted-into, all-scholarship summer art program (Marie Walsh Sharpe) plus winning local art awards and completing a local art program the past two summers.
Part-time job at an art gallery.
Very strong art portfolio (all drawing and painting, no 3D)</p>
<p>We visited Washington University at St Louis which he loved, but he may not have the stats to get accepted there. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>We live in South Carolina. He’d like to stay close to home, but there’s not that much to choose from…Do you think he’d have a reasonable chance being admitted at Cornell?</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone has a reasonable chance to get into Cornell (!). But, his stats do fit, and if he has a great portfolio, he does have a chance. They love to have the portfolios be centered around drawing.</p>
<p>Each architecture school you look at will have its own emphasis, but they are nationally accredited and will all have a very similar ratio of design studios, to structures course, to building systems classes. So I do not know if I would describe any program as ‘art focused’, though the design studios in some schools are more theoretical and abstract, and at others they may be more grounded in practice. You need to look at the quality of the work being produced to make a judgment. A four year program may allow your son more flexibility to take art courses as an undergraduate before fully committing to architecture in grad school. There is not a lot of wiggle room with a five year BArch program.</p>
<p>Being in SC you have one very good school in Clemson. Other good schools in the SE include; Auburn, Florida, Virginia, and Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>I have noticed that some schools (like Clemson and Virginia Tech) do not consider an incoming Freshman’s art portfolio in making admission decisions. Other schools (WUSTL) encourage submission of portfolios but do not require them, while at other schools (RISD) a student’s portfolio is a major factor in the admission process. I have assumed that schools which require portfolios would be a better match for an artistically inclined student. Is that a reasonable assumption, or am I putting more weight on that factor than it warrants?</p>
<p>I think publics tend not to require portfolios. As Penn St told my son: there are a lot of public high schools that don’t have art classes or cut back on art classes and as a public university, it would be unfair to require a portfolio from those students by putting them at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>Not quite in your area, but possibly not to far:
Miami University (Ohio) is a public that does require a portfolio, and considers it strongly. Of all the Ohio schools with architecture, they probably lean more toward “design” although also stress sustainability, materials, structures, etc. It seems to be a well-rounded 4+2 program. The undergraduate degree includes 4 years of true studio experience, giving you a head start on a design portfolio, and exposure to architecture. You need a Masters degree (there or elsewhere) to sit for the professional exam. They also offer a generous “portfolio” scholarship based on admissions portfolio.
Feel free to PM if you’d like more info.</p>
<p>I would think that any good architecture school has a solid focus on art and design, so maybe your son should just apply to all the top schools and see what happens? I would obviously recommend Cornell, Cooper Union, RISD, and Syracuse because all 4 of those put heavy emphasis on artistic prowess for admission, and with a strong pfolio your son would obviously have a leg up there.</p>
<p>However, if he wants to to take the most amount of non-architecture art classes alongside his B.Arch, Cornell’s probably not as good as RISD (RISD’s first year is all foundations, no arch). He won’t be choosing many classes at Cooper (but I think it’s worth it because it’s free, obviously).</p>