<p>D is a rising high school senior. Doesn’t know what career path she wants to pursue yet, but has the skills needed (IMHO) to pursue architecture. But, she definitely will not be applying for the B. Arch. degree. She is looking at small and medium liberal arts colleges and universities in the East and Midwest. She is a strong student (not a CC-type academic superstar). There doesn’t have to be a huge Jewish presence among the student body, but some kind of a group would be nice.</p>
<p>One school we have visited that D liked was Connecticut College. Am I right that Conn has a strong architectural studies program? How do I go about figuring out what other good choices for her could be if she does decide to go in this direction (obviously, the decision will be hers).</p>
<p>Also, her advisor (she attends a private school) is advising that she drop either AP Spanish Lit (she took AP Spanish Language junior year) or AP Studio Art, from her senior year schedule. Her other core courses will be : AP Calculus, AP English Lit, Organic/Bioche. Chemistry (college-level), and Middle East Studies. (She took Accelerated Physics junior year).</p>
<p>I think that she would be inclined to drop the AP Spanish Lit., but some of the colleges we have visited recommend 4 years of the same foreign language. Yet, in a way she’s already done that (her standardized test scores are weaker in Spanish than in other subjects – a 3 on the AP Spanish Language exam, and a 610 on the Subject test). Other scores: SAT CR 650; Math 690; Writing 720 (11); Subject Tests: U.S. History 720; Math 2 700; AP U.S. History 4). Junior yr. grades: English 11 A; Precalculus A; Accel. Physics A-; AP U.S. History A-; AP Spanish Language B+; Advanced Painting A. She took the SAT once and plans to take it one more time.</p>
<p>Any advice? Potential schools for her to consider? I do have a graduate degree from Penn’s School of Education, so for Penn that means “legacy” status. But, D prefers a more collaborative than very competitive atmosphere.</p>
<p>Hi, my D got a BA in Architectural Studies. She went to Brown. Anyway, she applied and got into Conn College and that is a very good option for your daughter. Your D may wish to look at Lehigh, Smith or Tufts too which all have this major and may fit your D quite well.</p>
<p>A friend of mine is a student from Connecticut College. From what she said, the Architectural Studies Program at ConColl emphasizes on architectural history & related liberal arts studies. The program is not studio oriented and therefore, not necessarily toward training licensed architects but rather historians and critics.
Based on your D’s preference, she can study a liberal arts education, then start a M.Arch in Grad Schools. The benefit is that Liberal Education will offer so much more knowledge in different fields that we B.Arch students desire. However, this would be the longest route toward earning a NAAB Accredited Degree, which is necessary for licensing practice: 4 years Undergraduate + 3.5 years M.Arch I (or maybe 2.5 to 3 years). And certainly, long time education comes with high cost.
I hope this will help.</p>
<p>magicsmom, Since your daughter is not ready to go directly into a B.Arch program I’d suggest that she put the choice of undergraduate majors aside for a moment and concentrate on finding the college or university that best suits her academically and socially. </p>
<p>It’s not necessary for a future M.Arch to have a BA (or BS) in architecture studies. It is necessary to develop a portfolio and an understanding of the history of architecture and for that reason a lot of M.Arch’s have a background that incudes studio art. </p>
<p>It appears that your daughter has a strong fine arts background as well as good academics. In that context I would look at small and medium sized schools that have good studio and art history programs – as well as strong academics overall. Some that I would recommend would be Conn College, Skidmore, Hamilton, Kenyon, Wesleyan, Williams, Smith, Vassar, Oberlin. There’s quite a range of selectivity here; the key is to find a few that are good fits then expand to reach/match/safety.</p>
<p>I would also recommend that your daughter plan to submit a supplemental art portfolio even if she doesn’t intend to major in studio art. Especially at these small LACs with well funded art departments, artistic talent is viewed as a valuable EC. See the individual admissions sites for instructions, but as a guideline I’d say it’s good to submit a full package highlighting arts focused activities and accomplishments as well as an additional recommendation from an art teacher or mentor.</p>
<p>RE: post 3…Conn College’s Architectural Studies major actually DOES include some arch studio. It is still a BA program that is based in liberal arts. But studio is part of the coursework. I’ve been there and we met with the department head and you can see the courses and requirements online. </p>
<p>I agree with momrath that you don’t need to major in architectural studies as an undergrad in order to go to grad school in architecture. That said, when my D was searching for colleges, she did choose to apply to ones that had a major in architecture in a BA liberal arts setting. It did not have to be strong in the field but she just wanted to have the option to study it. But as momrath said, you can piece together some studio art, arch history, math, science, environmental studies and so on at any college. </p>
<p>But since you are asking about schools that are a BA (not a BArch) that have architecture, I’ll give you the list my D applied to since she wanted the same thing and we visited all of these and she ultimately chose to go to Brown University: Yale, Princeton, Brown, Penn, Tufts, Smith, Conn College, Lehigh.</p>
<p>It sounds like most or all of the schools on D’s tentative list continue to be suitable to keep her options open for future careers. Right now she talks about English or history as possible majors, with studio art and creative writing as specific areas of interest.</p>
<p>Reach schools that interest her (and that we have already visited) include: Penn, Tufts, Wesleyan, William & Mary and Barnard. We visited Vassar, and she felt that she might not fit in well there. “Reachy” would be Carleton or Oberlin – we hope to visit. Matches, I think, could include Macalester (hope to visit) or Colorado College or Kenyon. Also, Conn College and Skidmore. “Likely” possibilities include: Dickinson (visited and liked), Franklin & Marshall, Muhlenberg, U. of Delaware, Lawrence (Wisconsin), and St. Mary’s of Maryland.</p>
<p>So the problem really is paring down the list! And figuring out when we can possibly find the time to do more visits (D is currently away working as a junior camp counselor for the whole month).</p>
<p>If your D is considering Barnard, a women’s college, she really ought to check out Smith. Great school and has your D’s interest area. </p>
<p>My D very seriously considered attending Tufts (got in). By the way, I am an alum and I also interview applicants for Tufts if you have any questions.</p>