Does anyone know how competitive the undergrad Architecture major at Columbia College is?
Do you mean admissions or the courses itself (which are run via Barnard)?
I’m guessing Architecture isn’t a cake walk anywhere. At Syracuse, I just remember the architecture kids regularly pulling all nighters.
This is what they say:
Studying Architecture at Barnard College, Columbia College, and General Studies leads to a liberal arts degree – a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Architecture, and Barnard College is the administrative location for all undergraduate architecture studies at Columbia University and its partner institutions. A liberal arts education in architecture holds a unique position in academia and in relation to the discipline. If the goal of a professional education in architecture is to enable students to participate directly in the world as an architect – a liberal arts education asks that students consider the broader and myriad conditions in which architecture is conceived and practiced and, in turn, to understand how architecture inevitably alters those conditions. Students are asked to confront and interpret the complex social, cultural, political, and environmental processes that weave through architectural design and urbanism. The purpose of an undergraduate liberal arts degree in architecture is to educate students to think about the world through architecture.
I think it would vary depending on whether you were looking at it from the perspective of Columbia College, Barnard College, or Columbia College of General Studies, all of which offer a major in Architecture.
You can get an undergraduate bachelor degree with a major in architecture from either Columbia College of Columbia University or Barnard, but first you have to be admitted to the parent institution. Both are very selective, Columbia especially (under 4%).
In both cases you will not officially declare your major until sometime in your sophomore year, though you may indicate an interest in architecture when you apply initially.
Admission to the architecture major may be automatic or there may be additional requirements. I’m not familiar with the process and I couldn’t find any further information on their websites. You could contact the architecture departments directly for details.
Bear in mind that in both cases the undergraduate degree offered is a Bachelor of Arts which is not a professional architecture degree. In order to become a licensed architect in the US you will need a Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) or a Master of Architecture (MArch).
Columbia doesn’t offer the BArch. Its MArch for which you need an undergraduate degree — in architecture or any other discipline — is highly selective. An undergraduate BA in architecture from Columbia or Barnard may be a plus in admission to Columbia’s MArch, but it isn’t guaranteed.
4 Likes