Once you have to deal with air travel to get wherever you’re going it really doesn’t matter where you are in the country. I would suggest the bigger focus is - if there’s really prospective issues that you might need to travel home on short notice - being closer to a major air hub that has options to get you home.
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As someone with a kid who just graduated college on the opposite coast, I’d say this is partly true. Worth bearing in mind is that the time zones + flight time mean flying east from CA will essentially lose the better part of a day, or have to do overnight on the red-eye, to fly there. It’s not been difficult to get back and forth, but it hasn’t been as easy as I’d thought it would be either. And short notice flights can be expensive. But yes, being near hubs is important. It may be say an easy 2 hour flight airport to airport somewhere, but if you have another 2 hour drive to a college at the end of it that’s not only time but logistics - are you renting a car, finding a bus (usually takes noticeably longer than driving yourself) etc.
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Okay, two more colleges to think about.
U. of Houston (TX): About 38k undergrads at this school that is considered a residential campus and is in another big hub city. It offers a B. Arch, a B.S. in Interior Architecture, a degree in Environmental Design, and civil engineering where you can specialize in your last two years. The construction engineering program is held at its Katy campus, a 36m drive (in current traffic conditions, per Google), but perhaps there is a shuttle, if that ends up being your preferred program? The sticker price is $33k and I suspect you would receive merit aid. A nice benefit of the Texas schools is that out-of-state students who receive even a modest scholarship (like $1500/year) will often then qualify for in-state pricing, lowering the sticker price to about $21k/year.
U. of Texas-Arlington: About 31k undergrads at this school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (i.e. major airline hub). This is a commuter school, and only 31% of freshmen live in the dorms. But because of the size of the school, that still means there are over 1600 freshmen who live in the dorms. Whether that’s sufficient for you or not is for you to do decide. But you could study architecture, architectural engineering (or civil), or construction management here. After taking the first two years of architecture classes is when there’s a restriction to continue on in the major. It looks like a 2.8 GPA is needed to move on, and UTA actually seems to do a pretty good job at including other classes that could transfer/count for gen eds so that it’s not two “wasted” years if a student isn’t accepted to continue on (source). The sticker price is $41k/year here, but the scholarships that will then switch over to in-state pricing are available here, too. That in-state sticker is $33k/year.
As both Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth are major hubs for multiple airlines, there should be frequent and not too expensive flights home, and their locations are warm and half the U.S. closer than many other areas of the country.
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This whole thread makes me so sad. The original post is titled “what can I include in an architecture portfolio?” This is a great question that absolutely was not answered. Where were all the strict moderators when everyone branched off into telling this student where they should and shouldn’t apply with advice that has nothing to do with the question??? All of these responses, while well-meaning, took this student down a different path. They just wanted to know about architecture portfolio content!
Does anyone actually have any advice about what should be included in an undergraduate application architecture portfolio? This would have been the place to include it until the thread got hijacked.
It was actually answered, but the OP was also made aware that not every school requires a portfolio for application. The OP himself then mentioned alternative possible majors such as engineering, as well as giving his stats, leading to the direction some of the subsequent conversation.
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Yes, it was answered early on. Every school has different criteria on what can/can not be submitted. OP needs to check each school’s website for this information.
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Well, I guess my point is less about the nice advice you all were giving and more about the lack of advice on the original topic. For literally every question, we could direct applicants to the school websites and declare that every school is different so go check their websites, but they come here looking for anecdotal advice and specific examples from real students. So in that sense, the original question wasn’t answered and still hasn’t been.
The problem is there is no blanket answer. I’m an Architect and have advised a handful of applicants that I personally know with their portfolio submissions. The very first step is to check with the schools on what the portfolio submission should include. Some schools don’t even have a portfolio requirement.
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It seems your son is studying architecture at USC? Would you like to share something specific with the OP about what your son successfully submitted for his portfolio then rather than just criticizing others?
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Oh goodness, I certainly did not mean to be critical of all of the advice people are giving. The point I was making is that nobody has actually answered the original question. And the reason I care about that is exactly the reason you pointed out. My son was in the exact same position when he applied and we combed every resource we could find and still couldn’t find any answers. I’ll ask my son and if he agrees I will happily share everything he submitted.
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In fact, I’m pretty sure somewhere on here I shared all of his stats, where he applied, how he answered his essay questions, what he put in his portfolio, etc. Let me look. Maybe I can repost it in this thread.
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i see, i dont mind going to cities/urban areas if that means there would be a major air hub nearby
thank you! does merit aid for U. of Houston refer to the $1500/year benefit?
its totally fine! my question was answered and i’ve done additional research into schools that require a portfolio. the resulting comments have also helped me consider more schools and major options!
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I hate quoting my own post - but this was an answer to the original question. How would you suggest it should have been answered differently?
What your son (or my son) did for their portfolio for school X can be meaningless at school Y. So yes, we then tried to extract from the OP what schools they were looking at to give better guidance - when the topic of Architectural Engineering came into play which admittedly threw the thread into some tangents.
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I looked at U. of Houston’s website and its Net Price Calculator (NPC), but I couldn’t find a way to estimate what your minimum merit aid package could be. It could be $1500 or $5k or $0 (though I’d be surprised if you got nothing). (Source)
University-funded scholarships for incoming freshmen include:
Academic Excellence Scholarship
The Academic Excellence Scholarship offers competitive scholarships of various amount to new incoming freshman who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement. The scholarship can be received a total of four years (five years for Architecture students) if students meet the renewal criteria each year at UH. The academic profile of the incoming freshman class varies from year to year.2024-25 Academic Excellence Scholarship Priority Deadlines
- Application Deadline: Nov. 1, 2023
- Supporting Information* Due: Nov. 8, 2023
*Supporting information includes application fee, self-reporting transcript information, test scores (if applicable) and rank . If applying without test scores, supporting information also includes your essay and resume.
Students with no class rank: Students without a class rank can still be considered for Academic Excellence Scholarships. In such cases, the University determines scholarship eligibility based on the other information available.
This flyer is a bit out of date (it was students entering fall 2023), but there are two pieces of info that can help provide some additional context:
So, IF you received a scholarship of $1k or more then you’d be eligible (though not guaranteed for the waiver). So let’s say you got a $1k scholarship. That would bring your sticker price to $32k ($33k - $1k) but chances might be pretty good that it would be $20k (i.e. waiver to $21k minus $1k scholarship). If you have additional questions, I would reach out to UH’s admissions office. They might be a bit more forthcoming with you, or alternatively, you apply by the priority deadline and see what happens.
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I think that’s one of the benefits, but also one of the frustrations, of a forum like this. When an individual asks a question, people do their best to respond to the question, and I believe that posters answered the question here. But then as posters respond to the OP, it sometimes turns out that the question the OP asked doesn’t encompass what they were really hoping to find out, or there are extra questions that develop. Thus, the thread may meander away from the original question, but it is all designed to assist the OP and not force them to start new thread after new thread as new questions or needs arise. So each thread is designed to be as helpful for the OP as possible.
On the other hand, there are tons of threads out there and people may prefer to research and see if their answer has already been answered before reaching out to the forum. Those individuals might say, “Hey, that thread title is exactly what I was looking for!” and then realize that a thread has moved away from the original topic and that it doesn’t contain as many answers as they initially thought it might (i.e. if they see this topic has 57 responses and think it will be 57 responses on the subject of what to include in an architecture portfolio and then realize that there were only a handful of responses to the topic and then the thread veered away).
The archive of threads is a resource for researchers and lurkers, but the posts that occur on a thread are designed to help the OP. Additionally, those researchers/lurkers may realize that how the thread meandered raises up issues that they’re also curious about or that they weren’t curious about but realize that it’s useful information to round out their own understanding.
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alright, thank you so much!
the website says that 2024-25 academic excellence prioity deadlines were due in 2023… is ithis maybe a typo?
The deadline was in the fall of 2023 for students who would receive scholarships (i.e. start college) in 2024-2025. Essentially, I think that UH needs to update its website. 
But I would imaging that the dates will be pretty similar, as in needing to submit the application by a similar date in 2024 to receive a scholarship for 2025-2026. This would be a great opportunity to reach out to admissions to find out the definite deadlines, as it is an expression of interest on your behalf. Public schools don’t require it, but it definitely doesn’t hurt.
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