Does anyone have any opinion or experiences on BA/BS architectural studies at smaller colleges/Lacs? For example , does Hobart or Ithaca have a better program or grad school outcomes? What about Conn College? Roger Williams has an entire school and faculty and requires a portfolio but does that mean better outcomes? Trying to figure out how the overall lac experience/ reputation of college can be sized up versus quality of a particular program.
Our teen is not interested in BArch.
Thanks.
I would be interested in the answer to thus question too. My D is undecided, but is possibly interested in interdisciplinary architectural studies. She applied to one major reach and to Conn Coll and HWS. We visited the latter two and, surprisingly IMO, seemed to be leaning toward HWS. But she also got to sit in on one of the architecture classes and talk to faculty. We were at Conn Coll during the summer. HWS also required a portfolio. Conn Coll might too. I actually think Conn Coll courses looked better for her interests. But I think the campus at HWS charmed her. I’m not sure how any of this translates into grad school chances or careers. It is my understanding though that they would need to go to grad school especially if they want to work as licensed architects.
My D isn’t all that serious about it though. If your child is, I would look at the faculty profiles to see if they relevant and recent experience in the field. Tenured and tenure-track faculty will be more able to mentor your child than adjuncts, which would be my concern at IC. They have kind of a reputation of adjunctification of faculty. You also might check grad school requirements to see if those colleges offer the courses your child would need to be prepared for a grad program. Talk to faculty in those departments too. If the college doesn’t publish grad school admittance rates, faculty might have a sense of what students do after college.
I would talk with the career centers at each school, I expect they have some data wrt to outcomes.
You can also search college scoreboard (with all the usual data caveats):
I just looked at that site, and it doesn’t really have data for grads of those three colleges. Maybe they are too small. Curiously, it said how many grads their were in the major though. Conn Coll 6, Ithaca 6, HWS 21. Is that per year? Could that actually be correct? So low at Conn Coll and Ithaca. That doesn’t sound right, does it?
Thanks. Thats a good way to look
At it and check it out hard choice deciding between schools and overall fit/vibe and their specific majors. Anyone have a student who went through these arch programs at the aforementioned schools?
I assume that’s right as schools are required to report those details to the feds. You could look on the schools’ common data sets to verify.
But really the career centers should have this info, as should the dept head…call them. The career center and/or your kid’s specific AO may be able to connect your student with a current student…your student should handle these calls/emails.
She’s going to an admitted student day in Feb at HWS. Maybe she will learn more there. Although, knowing my D, she will come back wanting to be a Classics major or something. 
What is the end goal? If your teen want to be an architect, a school offering a BS degree is a much clearer path than a BA degree. The BS degree is a pre-professional degree that can lead to the MArch and ultimately architect licensure. The BA degree can eventually get you there also but it is a much more complicated path.
If your teen is not interested in being a licensed architect but rather something in the field, a BA would be fine.
I see that Ithaca has a BA degree. Not sure on the others. A portfolio requirement doesn’t necessarily make school better.
So long as you can afford the extra cost of a masters degree, I’m pretty sure you can major in anything you want at the bachelor’s level. Back in the day, Fine Arts was a popular springboard to architecture school.
I’d still recommend a BS or BA in Architectural Studies rather than a Fine Arts degree for anyone wanting to get a Master in Architecture. Many Masters programs will require additional schooling or bridge programs before you can start the MArch program.
I think I remember someone saying physics is a prerequisite for MArch. Maybe calc-based physics even, as opposed to physics for non-majors type of physics that are often available. Is that why you’re recommending a degree in Arch Studies over a BFA, for integration of STEM?
No, it’s much more than that. A pre-professional degree like a BS in Architectural Studies or a BArch has many foundational classes you’ll need to go to an MArch. I’m a registered architect and never had to take Physics in college, but I did have to take several structures classes that are physics based. College Calculus was required.
Look at a curriculum of a BArch or BSAS program vs. a non-architectural degree. Lots of foundational classes that will be useful for the MArch.
Thanks so much for the info!
I went to the websites of different architectural firms - looked at their team profiles to see where they earned their degrees. I discovered a lot of universities had architecture programs that I was not aware of. Its at least helpful to see which programs are landing people in careers.
My D looked at both HWS and Conn College for Architectural Studies. At the time she was fairly certain she wanted to do architecture but not 100%. Plus she was a student athlete and knew a BArch or even BS in Arch would be difficult to manage. She also briefly considered RW but that would have been the BS in Arch she was avoiding.
She really liked the architecture department at HWS - it is separated from the rest of the campus in its own little world. She liked the professors and the students. She did not like the feel of the main campus though, so it didn’t make the cut. If your child liked the college in general I think it is a great option. They did reference students who went on to the GSD at Harvard so I think they have a good relationship with grad programs.
She also liked Conn and it made the final three for her but in the end she really loved Mount Holyoke. It is important to love the entire college and not just the program you Are interested in. That said, I strongly recommend having your student reach out to the department heads at all schools being considered and asking about classes (and the ease of getting into them), curriculum, professors and graduation results (how many go on to grad schools, where have recent grads gone, etc). My D did this and got wonderful responses; it is also good to find a mentor who will be a good source for writing the all-important recommendation letter for grad school. But generally really look at the curriculum of each school as they will vary in a BA program.
Most arch studies (all?) Will not require a portfolio. Speaking of, when you go to the accepted student days, see if they have any portfolio examples of prior students available so you can check out the work.
While it is a longer path, I think the BA route is a solid one, provided you Are good with the potential extra cost (our D did get a great deal of scholarship And aid to make the extra time manageable). My D ended up loving horticulture classes and is now in grad school happily studying landscape architecture.
Good luck
There was a recent thread of someone at Amherst - I know not in the same realm as these prestige wise - but it was interesting to see where the careers led to - so I would ask for placement reports.
HWS shows placement profiles but not reports and likely cherry picked.
You can search for that major - they’re in there.
I put Amherst too as a reference point although I had to use all years to get enough data points.
Best thing anyone can do is:
Get detailed career outcomes - from the department or career center
Make an appointment with a professor - discuss your desires, concerns, questions
Those appointments will help you with specific schools but also general questions that apply to all schools.
Good luck
Outcomes 2024 | Career Services | Hobart and William Smith
Student Outcomes – Amherst College | Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning
Have a look at Tulane. Tulane students can take classes across all the departments and schools AND they have an excellent Architecture program as well if the student decides what they want.
Roger Williams used to be a 5-year B.Arch program and they transitioned to a 4-year BS plus 1.5/2-year M.Arch model. With that history and compared to an LAC, it will be a much more intense undergraduate major, with lots of time spent in studio. With many 4 plus 2 (or sometimes 4+1) BS/M. Arch “package” programs, you are basically getting the old (intense) B.Arch experience, but with a Masters in hand.
It sounds like your teen is interested in a liberal arts based undergraduate experience and possibly followed with an M. Arch degree. That would most likely be a 3-year M. Arch program. The advantage would be having a more well-rounded liberal arts education/experience (instead of spending undergrad life trapped in the studio) and being more mature when they eventually go to the professional Masters program. With this approach, the undergraduate institution does not have much bearing on the eventual job placement. Many top M. Arch programs are filled with people with non-architecture BA degrees - it makes for a more diverse student body. A strong portfolio would be required either way.
If the end goal is being a licensed architect, placement reports from undergrad have very little value as graduate school is a required step in the process.
If architect is not the end goal, then looking at job placement matters more. Hopefully, OP will return to answer that question.
I think you and @tsbna44 are in basic agreement, but looking at it from different ends of the telescope. His point was that there are “Arch Studies” programs out there that do not lead to graduate school and that perhaps should be avoided.