Philadelphia University

Philadelphia University is a leader in the fields of architecture, design, engineering, business, textiles, and health and sciences. They offer an accredited 5 year Bachelor of Architecture. It’s a “industry-centered, liberal arts-infused education, blending academic scholarship with hands-on, professional learning.”
The average class size is 18 with a student-to-faculty ratio of 14:1 and just under 3,000 undergraduate students. It’s a competitive college to get into, and fairly pricey at $30,356 in tuition and fees, but their undergraduates’ career placement rate in major-related jobs is consistently above 90%. The university itself sits on 100 acres in the East Falls section of Philadelphia.
Still want more? Visit http://www.philau.edu/arch/index.html

University of Idaho

Another architecture program I found interesting was at University of Idaho. It offers a Bachelor of Science in Architecture as well as an accredited Master of Architecture. It’s a great blend of creativity and arts with science and engineering. Alumni get jobs as architects, draftsmen, carpenters, urban planners, set designers, and more. The program is recognized for it’s research and expertise in sustainable design, green design, health and wellness issues, as well as social justice.

Now what’s the college like?
Recognized by the Princeton Review as one of the best public universities in America, it’s a public research university located in the beautiful and rural town of Moscow, Idaho. It’s on a semester calendar. Its colors are silver and gold. It has just over 12,000 students. Its out-of-state tuition is $16,384, ranked third by Newsweek’s “Best Colleges For You 2012” for affordable public research universities. Its acceptence rate is 61%. It has a variety of sports teams, clubs, and facilities.

Want more info? Check out their website:
http://www.uidaho.edu/caa/architecture/bsarch

Syracuse University

Another wonderful New York architecure university is Syracuse. It’s a private school in the mid-sized city of Syracuse, New York. Here’s some facts:

• 20,407 students
• 49% acceptance rate
• $36,300 tuition
• semester calendar
• school colors are orange and white
• 80% graduate within six years

Syracuse offers both a B.Arch. and a M.Arch program. ArchDaily ranked it’s B.Arch. as 8th in the United States.

For more information visit:
http://soa.syr.edu/index.php

Rice University

Another university with an amazing architecture program is Rice University. It’s a private university located in the large city of Houston, Texas.

• 19% admission rate
• $34,900 tuition
• just under 6,000 students, about 200 of which are in the architecture program
• semester calendar
• school colors are blue and grey

Rice offers a Bachelor and a Master of Architecture.
DesignIntelligence ranked Rice University as the third best undergraduate architecture program.
http://arch.rice.edu/

Want more?
Visit my reviews on CalPoly and Cornell!

National Portfolio Day Event Review

I attended National Portfolio Day at the San Francisco Art Institute this past weekend. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I had never made an official portfolio before, but I learned a lot and had fun in San Francisco.
Here’s my top 5 tips I wish I knew beforehand:

Cornell University

It’s my second college review! Last time I introduced Cal Poly. Today I’ll be telling you a little about Cornell. It’s a small private university in Itaca, New York. It has an amazing architecture program. Now here’s some facts:

• the tuition is about $41,000
• the acceptance rate is 18%
• it’s on a semester calendar
• it’s school colors are red and white

There are 493 undergraduates in Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, 82 of which are international representing 30 different countries. There are 278 graduate students and 56 faculty membrers. In addition to their NAAB accredited 5 year Bachelor of Architecture and 3.5 year Master of Architecture program, they offer many other degrees including a Bachelor of Science in History of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Studies.

Cornell’s B.Arch. has recieved 1st place in the DesignIntelligence(DI) survey of America’s best architecture and design schools, the fourth time in a row it’s won this award. It’s graduate architecture program placed fifth behind Harvard, Columia, Yale, and MIT.
Find out more at http://aap.cornell.edu/

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

New to If Walls Could Dream, college reviews! First, I’ll introduce you to Cal Poly. It was one of the first colleges I’d heard about with such a strong architecture program. The campus is in the beautiful town of San Luis Obispo. It’s small enough to feel safe and unique but large enough to have plenty to do. And the weather can’t be beat. Now here’s the facts:

• its’ a public institution
• it has a small suburban campus
• it’s on a quarter calendar
• there’s about 18,700 students
• the acceptance rate is 37%
• the in-state tuition is about $9,000
• the out of state tuition is almost $18,000

Their College of Architecture and Environmental Design has a 5 year NAAB accredited Bachelor of Architecture program.
They offer 4th year off-campus programs anywhere from Paris or Rome, to Switzerland or Germany.
DesignIntelligence (DI) ranked Cal Poly as the top architecture program in the west.
It’s estimated that one in five architects in California are Cal Poly graduates.
Find out more at http://www.calpoly.edu/