<p>From what I have leaned so far these schools seem to have decent architecture programs. Why not ranked by DI? </p>
<p>RWU - Roger Williams
WIT - Wentworth
NEU - Northeastern
UMASS - (Amherst, offering BFA with concentration in design that is part of a 4+2)
RPI - Rensselaer</p>
<p>It would be great to hear other’s opinions and I would like to learn more about each. Other than the obvious info on their websites and the differences in the degrees, what is the school experience like? I would love to hear from current and prospective students and also employers who recruit from any of these schools. What is job placement like for grads of these schools (in a normal economy)? How valued are the degrees from each - in the real world? Are grads from one school more in demand than another? Any info is appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>The following quote comes directly from an “Advice to Students” article on the DI website:</p>
<p>"Today, students are fortunate to have a diversity of school choices that include some very fine programs — and some that are absolutely excellent. And by the way, these can include programs that are not yet on our DesignIntelligence top rankings lists. Frankly, new programs and smaller programs are at a disadvantage in our surveys. These schools have fewer alumni, smaller communications budgets, and may have a more focused regional scope of service.</p>
<p>I like to warn students and their parents to not get too stuck on any particular ranking. It’s a flawed system. On one hand, the DesignIntelligencerankings can be trusted to conduct a solid analysis of quality programs, presenting the role models with the highest stature in the field. But most successful practitioners will quickly tell you that some of the best architects graduate from smaller, less well-known schools. You can think of them as jewels in design education even though they may not make it to the top of our lists. Attention should be called to these “invisible programs,” and they should be considered for their hidden strength and dedicated, energetic faculty."</p>
<p>The 2009 DI ranking has Rensselaer’s Arhitecture program listed at #20 along with Cooper Union, Oklahoma State University, and University of Arkansas.</p>
<p>Grandma bought the DI book for my son during his college search. He completely ignored it. I briefly skimmed it and recall DI attempts to rank architecture programs by surveying practitioners who rate recent graduates of various arch programs that they have hired. Only the top twenty schools get their “rank” published. Not sure how I would value that. I’d guess the likely answer to your question is that the schools you listed did not send graduates to the firms surveyed. </p>
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A great reason to visit the * architecture department * of schools you are interested in. If visits are not possible, most of the schools my son looked at had arch student blogs, some had online chats with current arch students, and all had current architecture students willing to answer questions by e-mail.</p>
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Great question to ask at each school. </p>
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I don’t know, but you can check out the websites of architecture firms, look at the listed resumes of employees and you’ll see all kinds of undergraduate and graduate schools listed. </p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s responses. Yes, the DI rankings definitely seem biased although they are interesting. It seems to be the most often cited resource for rankings. I had purchased the book last year but not the 2009 version. Not worth the $ again. Methodology is very different than other school ranking systems like USNWR, etc. although those aren’t fully reliable either. Suspecting there could be hidden gems. Which ones are they? Maybe all?</p>
<p>I have attempted to browse area firms websites and read staff bios to see which schools they are hiring from. Not a true measure by any means and unfortunately there seems to be mostly info on the more experienced staff (partners, principals) who may have graduated years ago and very little on the young staff hires. Those in firm leadership positions seem to have graduate degrees from elite schools. Something to aspire to later on :-)</p>
<p>We have visited some/most of these schools (and spent a lot of time on their websites and other informational websites) but still a one day visit doesn’t tell you everything. Emailed some bloggers but no response. Kids are busy. It is difficult to assess the architecture dept’s in relation to a schools overall rating. I get the impression sometimes that even a lower tiered school can have a more impressive arch dept. and vice versa. I learned a long time ago that it isn’t necessarily the brand name of a school that makes or breaks you but rather how hard you are willing to work and what you make of the education given to you. Of course “foot in the door” opportunities do help. </p>
<p>I’d really love to hear more about these schools from anyone having first hand experience with any of them. Students, Parents, Practitioners, etc. Opinions, experiences, positives, negatives, etc. Two of these schools aren’t even listed under the “colleges” section on this website (RWU and WIT) so questions cannot even be posted there. Trees, is your son at WIT? How is it going? Anyone at RWU? Others?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Yes, son is at WIT. Very happy and loving the whole experience. He has arch friends at other schools including RWU, CMU, UCBerk and Cal Poly so he has some grounds for comparison.</p>
<p>If you have specific questions feel free to send me a PM.</p>