I’m a junior in college pursuing a B.S. in Resource Conservation with minors in Media Arts and Business Administration. I have too many different interests and really need to decide on what I want to do with my life. Landscape architecture and environmental management both seem like good careers that would peak my interests and also allow me to make a good income. I know I would have to go to grad school for landscape architecture. What are some pros and cons of these careers? I’m interested in both but can’t seem to decide on one.
I work for a landscape architect - I can tell you a little about that!
Your choice will depend on what type of work you really want to be doing. The primary task of entry level LAs is working in CAD, SketchUp, and related computer design programs. Like many design professions, there’s been a huge shift away from hand drafting in the past 10 years. If you don’t like being in front of a computer for long hours, it may not be for you.
That said, the LAs I work with absolutely love their jobs! They have a huge variety of educational and professional backgrounds - we have people here with degrees in photography, environmental science, horticulture, fine arts, and interior design in addition to their degree in landscape architecture or landscape design.
Feel free to DM me if you want to know anything specific. I’ve worked here for 3 years, so I can probably answer any question you can think of!
I believe I’ve commented on one of your threads before but my girlfriend’s experience has been similar to what @catbird1 described. She’s entry level, does a lot of CAD work, she because she knows a lot about plants she also gets to plan out the plant arrangements/selections for projects and that’s one of her favorite things she gets to do. Also, getting to go on field trips to the potential sites is something she looks forward to.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/landscape-architects.htm
BLS has a pretty good outlook for both of the fields you’re deciding between so I’d go with your heart/wallet for this one.
BTW:
If you’re going to go to grad school UMD has a cool dual degree that might interest you.
http://www.arch.umd.edu/ursp/dual-degrees-ursp
Go to the MCP/MLA dual degree