Why should I pick Cal Poly Obispo over Cal Poly Pomona?

Question

I want to get a bachelor's in architecture, please help me.

Answer 1

Although I'm biased, Cal Poly SLO has a better reputation and is harder to get accepted into than Pomona for architecture. CPSLO is nationally recognized as one of the best (UC Berkeley is not THE best, there is no one best architecture school) in the US. Whereas many colleges focus on theory, CPSLO focuses on "learning by doing." About 1 in 20 architects in the US graduate from CPSLO. For the freshmen this year, the average GPA of those selected for the college of architecture at SLO was 3.87 (http://www.ess.calpoly.edu/_admiss/Pdf/Profile07.pdf) and 3.6 for Pomona (http://www.csupomona.edu/~arc/barch.html).

Answer 2

If you really want control of your career, then go to UCBerkeley -the best in the country for architecture.

If you can only choose from the two you listed, call the architecture departments from each school and talk to their deans. They should be able to tell you if they have a college rating, and what it is. There are only 25 universities rated in the country, once each four years. It's very competitive to get a rating, and that tells you how good the school is in that department. Even if both schools are rated, they won't have the same rating. It's strictly 1 to 25, period. Choose the higher rated school because that influences your career. Graduates from the top schools can pick from several job offers, the lower the rating, the fewer the job offers. Graduating from an unrated school will likely condemn you to designing tract houses. Choose carefully.

Another consideration is how far each is from your house. The commute will take time out of your studies, so take that into consideration.

Cost, of course, comes into play as well.

Answer 3

CAL POLY SLO is in a great area of the California Gold Coast. Rurally, it is beautiful and academically, it is great. No smog, no congested traffic.