Hey y’all. First time on here so bear with me. Here’s some background:
Rising senior in high school who had ambitions to go to college for architecture.
Highschool stats:
4.5 weighted gpa (4.0 unweighted), 1530 superscored sat (790 math), 2/739 class rank
took 13 weighted classes (AP & IB), for this conversation I’ll mention AP Calc AB & BC, AP Physics 1, a plethora of art classes, IB Visual Arts, and Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra at Georgia Tech
extracurriculars: ~300 hours of tutoring community service (math, french, etc), president of national art honor society (was member for a year, became secretary 2nd year, and then president this year), president & founder of board game club (2 years)
awards: yale book award, published in national art magazine twice, dogwood art festival participtant
Anyways, those were some statistics to open to my main inquiry. I intended to do apply for architecture, but after doing my research, I think a BS in Civil Engineering may be a better major (specializing in construction/structural) as it provides greater flexibility as I am on the fence about what I want to do. The issue I see is that my high school profile is more architecture oriented as I took like 6 art classes, have art-related extracurriculars & awards. I wanted to see if it was worth it to directly apply for civil engineering or applying for architecture and then switching to civil engineering? To guide y’all I have intentions of going to Georgia Tech as a top pick. I am just seriously conflicted as I believe my chances would be greatly diminished if I switched my intended major this far in high school. Any thoughts/advice would be great! Thanks
You have plenty of math, and already one AP physics - those are the hallmarks of an engineer. I don’t think it’s “too late” at all. What are you taking your senior year? Could you add another AP Physics, like Physics C or a chemistry? That’s the only thing I think where you could be stronger. If you wanted robotics then it might be a different story, but for CivE or MechE I think you look pretty strong, especially because you’d be a well rounded engineer, with the art added in.
I suspect the challenge with switching either way, from architecture to CivE or vice versa is that both are often capped. Architecture, in particular, seats seem to be limited. And in either one, once you start down the major path, there are enough courses you have to take that I suspect that switching part way through college could add extra time.
(But take this with a grain of salt - I’ve got a son who is a CivE/MechE double, so I know a fair bit about that. In terms of architecture all I know is from a tour we took for the school of Architecture and Construction Management at Clemson, but my kid was interested in Construction Management, so I wasn’t listening that carefully to the Architecture part.)
Apply to the major you wish to study. Do not assume you can flip from architecture to engineering once you are at a college.
Your academic coursework in math and science makes you well qualified for engineering. ECs do not have to tie into your college major – and nothing wrong with an engineer with some background in the arts (it may even help you to stand out as an interesting candidate).
My senior year is going be 7 IB classes (consisting of IB Physics SL, which I forgot to include in my original post) and an on-level art class. In relevance to “fortifying” my schedule, AP Physics C is not offered at my school, and even for IB Physics, it is only offered at the Standard Level and not the Higher Level. I would have considered AP Chem but, unfortunately, the teacher at my school is not the greatest with a 30% pass rate! She does not have the greatest reputation, and I did take Honors Chemistry with her, so I guess I must have been tired when making my original post…
In relevance to your comment about capping and classes, I had intended to switch majors as soon as I got into college, or once I had my general requirements finished. From my understanding, most freshman complete their general requirements before entering into major-specific classes. If extra time in college means that I can get into a major I am passionate about, then so be it.
It turns out that construction management may be what interests me more than architecture, and considering that I have Clemson on my list as well. I’d be willing to get all the info I could get on CivE!
May I inquire as to why I wouldn’t be able to flip majors once in college?
Considering your perspectives, my art side may be a benefit seeing that it ties in well with the construction/structural aspect of Civil Engineering (with designs, creativity, etc.).
I can’t speak for GT, but it’s not easy to switch majors at some schools.
On another note, a few schools offer architectural engineering at the undergraduate level. My son’s alma mater happens to offer it, so I linked it below as an example.
I’ve heard of architectural engineering, yet the only sticking point for me is the flexibility/opportunities after graduating. It seems that it is pretty niche, in comparison to maybe Civil Engineering with specialization in construction/infrastructure which would allow me to find various opportunities within the field.
@MaineLonghorn may have some additional insight on this topic. But I agree with everyone else that you should apply for the major that you want, and that your profile looks great for an engineer.
You’d be accepted for Civil at hundreds of schools - including most (if not all) of the 309 ABET accredited in the US. High school experiences needn’t match exactly in class or extracurricular a desired major.
Arch E is a wonderful major if you know you’re interested in buildings in particular. I had zero interest in the design of highways, drainage systems, or wastewater plants. And there are plenty of jobs! I went on to get my master’s degree in engineering with an emphasis on structural design. I met my husband in graduate school. After working for 13 years, we started our own firm 25 years ago. It’s very rewarding to create something instead of pushing papers around. I highly recommend the field.
Echo others - I would look to study where you think you’ll land occupationally. Don’t follow Architecture if you don’t think you want to become an Architect.
In terms of transfers between programs. The programs you’re looking at within certain schools can be incredibly competitive and in many cases preference is given to incoming freshman students to fill spots over transfers between programs. For any of the schools that the Architecture is a B-Arch program if you don’t do direct entry to it, even if the school later allows you to transfer in you’ll basically be starting (mostly) over and be there for 5 years anyhow since the core of that program is 10 semesters of studio. If it’s a BA/BS Architecture it could potentially still allow graduation in 4 years but then you’d be tacking on 2-3 years of M-Arch.
