Rice University
School of Architecture
Houston
arch.rice.edu
B.A. Arch., B.A. Arch. Studies, B.ARCH., M.ARCH., Doctor of Architecture
Rice students could never be accused of purposeless form-making: Their affordable entry in the 2009 Solar Decathlon won second place in both the Architecture and Market Viability categories, and the architecture school is known for its Praeceptorship Program, a required one-year internship that B.Arch. students complete between their fourth and fifth years of study, and for which they are placed with leading architecture firms. Still, the Rice faculty is heavy on theorists, among them emeritus dean Lars Lerup (whose research focus is the new American metropolis), Nana Last (the author of “Wittgenstein’s House”), and Christopher Hight (whose interest is in cybernetics).
Undergraduate Admissions: Avg. SAT: 1426 / Min.: 1370; Applied: 326; Accepted: 53; Enrolled: 22
Undergraduate Demographics: Minority: 35%; Female: 57%; International: 10%; Financial aid: 38%
Graduate Admissions: Avg. GRE: 76th percentile; Avg. GPA: 3.6 / Min.: 3.0; Applied: 324; Accepted: 55; Enrolled: 26
Student/Faculty Ratio: 9:1
Tuition: Undergraduate, $31,430; Graduate, $25,900
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of Architecture & the Arts
School of Architecture
Chicago
arch.uic.edu
B.S. Arch., M.ARCH, M.S. Arch., M.S. Arch. in Health Design, M.A. in Design Criticism
UIC’s School of Architecture wears its commitment to theoretical interrogation and experimentation on its sleeve—or, more accurately, on its website. The school environment is one of “animated polemics and debate, characterized by extreme rigor, frequent irreverence, contagious curiosity, and calculated optimism,” reads a school description that comes close to a manifesto. “Representation and Culture” is the theme of the first year of the B.S. Arch. curriculum; “Design and the City” forms the backbone of the third year and is an area of intensive research by faculty such as Judith De Jong. The M.A. in Design Criticism is expected to launch in fall 2010.
Undergraduate Admissions: Avg. ACT: 23 / Min.: 14; Applied: 651; Accepted: 405; Enrolled: 184
Undergraduate Demographics: Minority: 39%; Female: 47%; International: 2%; Financial aid: 65%
Graduate Admissions: Avg. GRE: 1130 / Min.: 850; Avg. GPA: 3.5 / Min.: 3.0; Applied: 358; Accepted: 164; Enrolled: 59
Student/Faculty Ratio: 15:1
Tuition: Undergraduate, $4,754 (resident), $10,330 (nonresident); Graduate, $6,439 (resident), $12,435 (nonresident) (add $2,000 for the M.S. Arch. in Health Design)
University of Pennsylvania
School of Design
Department of Architecture
Philadelphia
design.upenn.edu/architecture
B.A. Arch. and Intensive B.A. Arch. (through the College of Arts and Sciences), M.ARCH., M.ARCH./MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, M.ARCH./MASTER OF CITY PLANNING, M.ARCH./M.S. IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION, M.S. Arch., Ph.D., Master in Environmental Building Design, various certificate programs
We asked faculty around the country to nominate a top school for architectural history, and the verdict was: Penn. They were likely thinking, at least in part, of the Ivy’s art history department, well known for its architectural history specialization. But undergraduates majoring in architecture, too, can choose a theory, history, and criticism concentration; they also have the choice of an intensive major, which will allow them to fast-track through the M.Arch. program. The graduate school (known as PennDesign) unites architecture, fine art, landscape architecture, historic preservation, and planning, and offers an array of dual degrees. (Numbers cited here reflect graduate programs only.) PennDesign theorist David Leatherbarrow was voted a top educator in our faculty surveys.
Graduate Admissions: Avg. GRE: 1208; Avg. GPA: 3.4; Applied: 828; Accepted: 330; Enrolled: 117
Student/Faculty Ratio: N/A
Tuition: Undergraduate, $34,868; Graduate, $36,516
Yale University
School of Architecture
New Haven, Conn.
architecture.yale.edu
B.A. (open to students in Yale College), M.ARCH, M.ARCH/MBA, M.ARCH./MASTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN, M.ARCH./MASTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Master of Environmental Design, Ph.D
Although Vincent Scully no longer lectures to halls of rapt freshmen, his legacy continues at Yale, where the study of architectural history has long been an integral part of a designer’s education. Scully (now emeritus) and his successors actually teach in Yale’s Department of the History of Art, but that shares a building—a rather famous one, designed by Paul Rudolph and renovated and expanded by alum Charles Gwathmey—with the architecture school. The YSOA itself is closely identified with Dean Robert A.M. Stern, who has succeeded in fostering stylistic and theoretical pluralism to an impressive, almost startling degree: Only at Yale, one suspects, would Demetri Porphyrios serve on the faculty alongside Peter Eisenman.
Graduate Admissions: Applied: 989; Accepted: N/A; Enrolled: 71 graduate demographics: Minority: 7%; Female: 36%; International: 20%; Financial aid: 93%
Student/Faculty Ratio: N/A
Tuition: $36,170
