<p>^^^^^Based on his user name and his description of his school, I’d say that VTMandy08 went to Virginia Tech. Hopefully what he described is not a common occurrence - my D2 will be starting her freshman year in Architecture at PSU this August.</p>
<p>Alas, it is not an isolated problem. I know that tools, supplies and equipment also “go missing” at Syracuse, and at Cornell. Nor is it a new problem. Same thing happened in my undergrad arch school days back in the dark ages.</p>
<p>But even projects? </p>
<p>I hope that doesn’t happen at RPI, DD will be angered beyond belief.</p>
<p>Dear Concavity,</p>
<p>My D also thought she’d enjoy being an Architect, like her grandfather. We signed her up for a two week Architecture camp so she could get a better understanding of the field since most of the classes required for this degree are highly specialized and wouldn’t count if she switched majors. First week, she loved it, visiting different firms, seeing what you could do with degree, the artistic aspects, etc. Second week they did studio work with real projects. She decided it wasn’t really what she thought it would be. She envisioned something which entailed much more creativity as opposed to functionality. (You can look online at what different schools require for junior and senior projects.) Secondly I would recommend the book Career Chronicles. While recognizing that every job has its ups and downs, there seems to be a larger than usual number of people who would NOT recommend this profession. Lastly, you need to keep in mind the highly subjective nature of this field. Unlike Math or Science where you have a right or wrong answer your grade is determined by how well the professor believes you achieved the objective.</p>
<p>“Unlike Math or Science where you have a right or wrong answer your grade is determined by how well the professor believes you achieved the objective.”</p>
<p>This is the basis of architecture (and all art in general), just substitute the word professor with; planners, community groups, clients, code officials, owner’s reps, etc. and you get a pretty good idea of life in architecture. If you do not like ambiguity go into engineering or the sciences, you will not enjoy architecture.</p>
<p>I never experienced projects or equipment being stolen, if that is happening in schools these days than I am saddened and appalled.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>I’m still like waaay too Lost!
I only have 2 months to decide … and right now I’m considering Computer Science as well</p>
<p>Anyway how about this … B.arch then MBA? Will you get better managment positions?</p>
<p>If you want to study architecture but feel that you might want to go into another field afterwards, then go for a BA or BS in architecture. The electives will be greater and you will have committed one less year if you should decide on an MBA. The 4+2 programs were originally designed for people to study undergraduate architecture as more general education that might serve you well in other careers, with the MArch for those that want to continue in the field.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>I just finished my freshman year studying architecture and I am currently working at an architecture firm this summer. </p>
<p>The rumors you heard that you spend your life in studio are an undertstatement. I spent upwards of ten hours each day outside of class working on projects, and for my final project, I did not sleep for 82 hours. At my university, Montana State, we have a reasonably well-known architecture program and for that, half of the students get cut after first year. 250 kids entered the program in september, 176 dropped out by may, and only fifty of us got accepted into second year. it’s rough. </p>
<p>That being said, architecture is the best decision I have ever made. The key factor not noted is that your classmates are also working the agonizing long hours in studio with you. The relationships created with other kids in your year are beyond valuble. For breaks between work, we would have t-square fights and design and contruct the best looking beer-pong tables ever made. Yes, it is alot of work, but nothing can beat the satisfaction of having a flawless model to present at the end of it. </p>
<p>Also, remember that those long hours working are spent constructing and designing. It’s not like you’re reading a book all night long. To me, I find the work fun, and I would take many hours of fun work over a couple hours of textbook memorization. </p>
<p>However, I am also hesitant of the security (or lack there of) that architecture may have in the future. I am working at an architecture firm and alot of the people here aren’t making tons of money and aren’t even really designing much. My boss told me that architecture is great, but only about ten percent of it is designing. The rest is paperwork and phone calls and crap to deal with. Which sort of scares me. I was studying pre-med at the top university in Canada and entered that major mainly for the fact that I’ll get money. I switched over, transferred schools, and couldn’t be happier studying architecture. However, I am still a very money-obsessed person. For that reason, I am seriously considering a double major in mechanical engineering. I absolutely love architecture but feel it doesn’t challenge my math mind as much as I would like. Also, I figure with two degrees under my belt, that should put me a step ahead of everyone else. </p>
<p>I hope you give architecture a chance, because it really is fun.</p>
<p>"250 kids entered the program in september, 176 dropped out by may, and only fifty of us got accepted into second year. it’s rough. "</p>
<p>250 kids admitted? Are there really that many kids in Montana who looked even close to qualified? </p>
<p>RPI I think admits only 60 or so, and tries, at least (IIUC), to keep them all. It seems like some schools use the first year weed out in lieu of a rigorous admissions process, or am I mistaken?</p>
<p>“RPI I think admits only 60 or so, and tries, at least (IIUC), to keep them all. It seems like some schools use the first year weed out in lieu of a rigorous admissions process, or am I mistaken?”</p>
<p>There are a couple of different philosophies when it comes to undergraduate admissions. One suggests that by looking at what a 16 to 18 year old student does while in high school (GPA, EC’s, sometimes portfolio from art classes, SAT, etc.) can accurately predict who develop into the most talented architecture graduates. So you pick a few of the very best ones and try to develop them into great architects. </p>
<p>The other philosophy says that architectural talent is very hard to predict since it does not always go along with raw intelligence, and is extremely difficult to predict, so why try. So you admit a much larger group of students and allow natural selection to take its course. </p>
<p>If I were a graduating high school student I would try to opt for number 1, if I were a school trying to find real talent I would probably go with number 2.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>does that have something to do with the philosophy of what the profession involves?</p>
<p>Is it about being a creative artistic genius? Or is it about being someone who can solve practical problems, communicate to clients and others, etc, etc?</p>
<p>Concavity:</p>
<p>How passionate are you really? Because if all you care about is the money and living a comfortable lifestyle in some executive position, then i suggest you go for business and leave the opportunities in architecture to those who really love it.</p>
<p>That said, i think that it’s a fallacy to assume that your freshmen year of college is the sole determining factor for the quality of the rest of your life. You can always transfer schools or switch majors.</p>
<p>“Is it about being a creative artistic genius? Or is it about being someone who can solve practical problems, communicate to clients and others, etc, etc?”</p>
<p>Ideally the answer would be; yes, yes, and yes. But of course in real life very few people have all of these characteristics. The people I have seen in practice who have strong leadership, organizational, and communication skills are not always the high class rank, high SAT individuals (though all of them have been very bright). The old saying used to be that the A students teach, and the B students end up working for the C students ;-)</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>Hi!!
I am an architecture student and it is TOTALLY worth it!!!
I am not going to lie to you, it is extremely challenging and in fact we don’t get much sleep. However, if you are as passionate as you say you are, all the hard work and sleepless nights will be worth it. </p>
<p>Since we do spend most, if not all of our time in the studio, you get to know all your classmates so well, they become like your second family. We pretty much all, eat together, sleep together, go to school together, and hang out together when we are not in school.And because everyone gets along soooo well, its actually a blast to stay up all night working in the studio.
It is frustrating for me sometimes when i’m in school, because i want to go out to parties and to the movies or to the mall with my other friends and most of the time I can’t, but at the end of the day when i see one of my projects completed, i know i wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
Being an architecture student has made me become so responsible. I think twice about going out, or spending money on things i don’t really need because architecture is also expensive so I’d rather save my money. Oh! that’s another thing, it is really hard to keep a job since we are so busy. </p>
<p>As for the unemployment situation and the how much architects get payed, why does it really matter? I mean well, it does matter but the thing is are you choosing architecture because it is your passion or for the $$$? because if you choose anything for the $ and not because you love it, you won’t necessarily be happy. </p>
<p>All my professors are very successful. They have their own firms and they teach so there is definitely employment. Sometimes there is less job opportunities then other times, but that happens in all careers. And there is so many things you can do if you major in architecture. One of my professors designs everything from buildings, concert stages, movie sets, furniture, sculptures, you name it. It just depends what you want to focus in.</p>
<p>The hard work pays of. I just finished my first year as an architect student and I feel so proud of myself. Yes it was hard, yes I cried so many times out of frustration, but you know what? I’m here, I made it. And I have so many memories that I will never forget. I sit here and i think of all the things that happened to me, the lack of sleep, food, incidents with power tools and although they seemed so frustrating then, now they are quite hilarious and I have learned so much from them. Like I said, I made it through my first year. I spend the last year whining about all the work we had, and I considered changing majors about 10 times a day, but I never did because this is truly my passion and I don’t regret anything so far. I can’t tell you I’ll make it through the second, because no body knows what the future may hold, but I can tell you that I am going to give it all I’ve got. </p>
<p>I’d rather work hard doing something I love, then be miserable doing something easy.</p>
<p>Just think about it. what are you truly and sincerely passionate about? what do you love? What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?</p>
<p>“But of course in real life very few people have all of these characteristics. The people I have seen in practice who have strong leadership, organizational, and communication skills are not always the high class rank, high SAT individuals (though all of them have been very bright). The old saying used to be that the A students teach, and the B students end up working for the C students ;-)”</p>
<p>but of course all those entrepreneurial skills are issues for all colleges, not just arch programs. Which they attempt to address by looking at EC’s, essays, etc. I don’t know that you need to take in a huge class and wash out 3/4ths of them to address that.</p>
<p>And I was not so much talking about management skills, as other things about analytical ability - I mean what is all this I hear about parametric modeling as the big new thing in architecture, etc. Stuff that I suspect may be related to academic ability and raw intelligence. The “we can’t see someone TALENT at 17” at least sounds more like its about artististic ability.</p>
<p>“but of course all those entrepreneurial skills are issues for all colleges, not just arch programs. Which they attempt to address by looking at EC’s, essays, etc. I don’t know that you need to take in a huge class and wash out 3/4ths of them to address that.”</p>
<p>Washing out 3/4’s of your class is not the only way to find good architects, but it is one way. Being highly selective is another. My only point is that both methods can be effective.</p>
<p>“And I was not so much talking about management skills, as other things about analytical ability - I mean what is all this I hear about parametric modeling as the big new thing in architecture, etc. Stuff that I suspect may be related to academic ability and raw intelligence. The “we can’t see someone TALENT at 17” at least sounds more like its about artististic ability.”</p>
<p>It never hurts to be book smart, but it does not always translate into other skills. We do all of our projects using BIM software (parametric modeling), so we have trained a lot of people, and the rate of learning varies widely by individual. I am not sure I could make a correlation between a person’s learning curve and their high school SAT scores. We have successful people who come from very exclusive architecture programs (Rice, UT Austin, Columbia), and others that come from not so exclusive programs (Texas Tech, UT Arlington, Oklahoma). We are happy to have both.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>bear with me, I’m just the dad of an academically strong HS grad who is enrolled in what AFAICT is a non wash out B Arch program (RPI) and I am strongly hoping her raw intell, book smarts, quant skills, etc will help her on her way. :)</p>