Please tell me about your experience with Sam Fox Architecture undergraduate program. Thanks.
I like WashU. It’s been a respected school for a long time. I also love the neighborhood it’s in. DeMun and Central West End are both great. The only thing I can tell you about the architecture program though is that you’ll need a MArch after if you want to practice independently. WashU doesn’t offer BArch. I’m sure others will expand.
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Thank you.
Anyone know if the work-life balance (time spent in studio) is same as other architecture schools? Asking specifically for undergrad BS Architecture
my kid did not do her undergrad there, but at a midwest state school. It was very intensive time-wise. . . i’d expect WashU would be the same. Thing is, if going on to a M.Arch 2-yr program, it has to be intense. Otherwise, you’d be placed in a 3-yr program.
my kid started their first architecture job 6 months ago (not in St. Louis, but company’s headquarters are there) and LOVES IT!!
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I think architecture is a tough major, wherever you go. If you’re worried about work/life balance in college, I wouldn’t choose it! But like @bgbg4us said, it can be a very rewarding career. You have to decide how hard you want to work. 
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My daughter is choosing it.
I will not influence her either way.
It’s new to us…trying to get a feel for it.
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Did she apply to any BArch programs?
Hopefully you can get some responses from within the program, but I’ll chime in with what I know from my wife.
Pursuing a degree in architecture at the undergrad level requires a choice - 4 year programs give you the fundamentals to work as an architectural intern, or other positions tangential to the field, once you graduate. You’ll need further education and the requisite internship hours before you’re qualified to take the licensing exam and become a licensed architect. Master’s programs are 1-3 years depending on the rigor of the undergraduate program.
Some schools offer a 5 year undergraduate program that provides all the schooling in one shot but you’ll still need internship hours. The hours are not small numbers - look up NCARB license requirements for the numbers, and they vary by state, but it’s over 3,000 hours worked broken out into many specific project areas. It takes a few years to get everything lined up after graduation.
All that said, my wife had a very design-studio heavy undergrad at U of Florida. Think many all nighters in the studio finishing up projects; it’s an intensive major. She worked in St Louis after undergrad and was considering WashU or UIUC for grad school. She chose UIUC because they offered a combined MArch and CE, a good combination for construction management, but she was very impressed with the WashU program. UIUC was “easier”, in her opinion, than undergrad because of the more technical focus and less time in the design studio. I think WashU would have been more intensive and similar to her undergrad experience.
Anyway, it’s not the same as direct knowledge of the program but I hope that helps a little bit.
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I can’t speak WashU BS Arch program versus another school BS Arch program but a BS Arch is going to have more of a school-life balance than a BArch program.
So if you hear nightmare stories of a student pulling all-nighters and spending untold hours in studio, ask which type of program they’re in.
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Yes she has applied to 5-year programs too, and is waiting for regular decision results
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@good2000 - so i have two engineering college students now; and had one architect student. I’ve compared their intensity of programs in my mind many times.
The architect student spent incredulous amounts of time - both undergrad and in grad school - in the studios; building, creating, designing, re-doing, eating, chatting,thinking, etc. She was not “on” with thinking intensity the whole time. I compare it to a car ride road trip across the US. Very time consuming and long, but not completely intense.
I’d compare engineering to flying across the US – intense, compressed, fast. My engineer students study hard, alone, like to be in quiet places and really deeply learn their subjects.
from a monetary perspective, we sometimes wished she would have done a B.Arch rather than a BS + M.Arch. She really liked her grad classes at RISD, but it was very very pricey. Good luck to your kid; every time i see or meet an architect now i give them my respect for the amount of time they’ve put into their skills.
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The students I really admired at UT Austin were the ones who pursued a joint degree - architecture and architectural engineering. I cannot even imagine. Not many kids attempt it.
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Thank you for the analogy.
How long would it take a student to complete the joint degree? And for those of us who are more ignorant than not on the topic, would one say that the architectural engineering is making sure that the building is structurally sound whereas the architecture is about how the building should be designed and including all necessary components? I guess the question for me is how can one design a building without knowing that it will be structurally sound?
I’m not sure how long it would take! It’s probably changed since I was in school, anyway. I would think at least five years. It probably varies from school to school.
Yes, architectural engineering is the engineering of buildings. It’s an umbrella that includes structural engineering, acoustics, fire safety, construction management, etc. I was interested in structural engineering so that’s why I majored in it. I didn’t want to go the civil engineering route and have to study stuff like the design of highways or wastewater treatment plants.
Architects are responsible for the look and layout of the building. It really is a tough profession. They have to have an eye for art (which I don’t, ha) but also be up-to-date on all sorts of requirements for egress, ADA compliance, fire walls, etc.
Sometimes they get a structural engineer involved early in the process for feedback, but usually we get the preliminary drawings and are asked to make the building stand up. Good architects have a feel for structural design, but they don’t get into specifics. That’s up to us.
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Thank you!
One other question for you. Do economic swings have the same type of impact on structural/architectural engineers as they do on architects? I remember when I was younger being warned away from architecture (not that I would have had the artistic skills for it) because the career was very dependent on the health of the economy.
Yes, for sure. We’ve had ups and downs and gotten laid off. The first time it happened, we worked for the same company and got let go the same day! Another time, my husband was laid off unexpectedly the week our second child was born.
After going through that in the '90s, we decided to start our own firm - June marks 25 years we’ve been in business. Generally, we do OK, because we can switch from commercial to industrial to residential easily and buffer some of the storms. But the Great Recession just about did us in. My husband ended up doing a lot of site visits for an engineering company in Texas that provided reports to insurance companies. Deadly dull, but it got us through. Since then, we’ve had all the work we want. At least in Maine, I think there’s a shortage of structural engineers. Our phone rings constantly.
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Thanks so much! The work that structural engineers do is so very valuable (and crucial to everyone’s safety) that it’s a shame that it’s susceptible to such fluxes in the economy. Glad to hear that things have been going well for you and your husband the last many years, though.
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