Tulane vs. Iowa State Architecture?

fallenchemist
Sat, 17 Oct 2015 22:03:30 +0000

That’s an interesting situation. As you probably know, I am very firmly against rankings, especially for undergrad. But you have several factors to consider regardless of the rankings, and your situation may be particularly complicated depending on certain factors.

1. You are clearly on a substantial scholarship at Tulane, and that scholarship is good for 8 semesters only, 10 if you are going the the MArch degree. Did you start out in the architecture track or are you going to “lose” a semester in the timing involved in getting an architecture degree, either a BArch or the MArch? Getting an MArch saves you time and money in the future because you are already accredited, I believe. I think that most students that come out with a BArch then end up taking 2 more years to fulfill the requirements to get accredited. But you would have to double check that. Does ISU offer the MArch option similar to Tulane’s? The point of all that is (mostly) that depending on your degree goal and the specifics of what that means for how long it would take at either Tulane or ISU to finish your ultimate degree point, not just the BArch, you have to sit down and figure the total cost for each path, approximately.

2. Is your goal to settle in Iowa when you are finished? If so, then attending the more local program is almost always a better idea, unless you have a chance to attend the school that is top one or two for your field. For example, let’s say you were talking about law school. If you were for sure going to practice in Iowa, I would say attend law school in Iowa unless you had a chance to go to Harvard or Yale, (cost not considered). But if you are thinking more nationally, then I think it makes far less difference if you choose ISU or Tulane.

3. Are you happy so far at Tulane and in NOLA? If so and the cost calculations turn out to be close, I would say stay. There cannot be more starkly different settings than Ames, Iowa and New Orleans, Louisiana.