“ Architecture recommends Landscape Architecture as a strong second choice for applicants interested in Architecture. The Department of Landscape Architecture is nationally ranked and a very well-respected program. The department offers a 4-year Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture (BSLA) with the opportunity of advanced placement for transfer applicants with previous design education. Landscape Architecture is a design-focused discipline that explores the formal and systematic relationships of ecology and culture through a range of design scales and urban design issues. A degree in Landscape Architecture also provides a very strong foundation for graduate studies in Architecture. Students can complete a Master of Architecture in 3 or less years following a 4-year undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture”
B.Arch is probably both too competitive to get into as well as too intense for a student with ADHD and some executive function issues. Cal Poly SLO already recommends 3 (I think) specific APs so that students can use those as credits and manage their time/workload better, and I hear a lot about a lot of students washing out of B Arch courses in general. I’m very hesitant to send my student straight into that environment. We’re more inclined to take a slower approach to be successful. I am told (by architects) that some even do a completely unrelated undergrad and still successfully complete the 3 year MArch. Kid will only be 17 when they start college too, there’s no reason to rush to a qualification asap.
This is the thing - struggling to find any so far that they’d take over CPP, but the ideal one would be a course that is similar to Boulder (which has a common core covering architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and environmental product design, before students choose one of those fields to major in)
So you’re looking at 7 years of school at a minimum for a MArch rather than 6 years. Plus several years of IDP and ARE examinations. If Landscape Architecture is a second choice for licensure, why aren’t you investigating schools where he could be admitted to an Architecture program, the primary choice? Certainly, there are programs that will admit your son.
BTW, I am a licensed Architect so I do have inside knowledge of the paths to the profession. Every student in my MArch cohort had an undergraduate degree in Architecture, either a BArch or a BSAS. Landscape Architecture is taking the long way.
I’m not that familiar with western/California schools, but you could definitely look at Arizona State and also Arizona. I have a colleague who did undergraduate work at UNLV and loved the program there. You should investigate BArch and also BSAS schools. Both are a more direct path to licensure.
There are other schools with a design common core (e.g. Iowa State) but they may be too far for your student.
It may come down to whether your student would prefer the ideal flexibility (the common design core) vs. the ideal location.
I do know that there are many paths to becoming an architect. Really all the design fields can accommodate switching, as long as you are in no rush (and can afford the extra tuition.) An architect friend of mine was an Art History undergrad major. Another friend who is a very successful landscape architect was a biology undergrad major. A family member who is a successful designer project manager was an English major.
Got it - apologies - missed that part about Landscape…
I do wonder how many kids that start out in Landscape then do 3 years (possibly less, but lets say 3) in an M-Arch. I’m sure there’s some but if you compare the 4 year curriculum for Landscape v Architecture they’re pretty different.
@SJ2727, you suggest that your child may not be ready for the pressure of a B-Arch program. You would certainly be the best person to assess that but consider a couple of points…
An M-Arch isn’t going to be less pressure than a B-Arch program. If your hope is that your child will have established themselves better into higher ed and then be more comfortable with the M-Arch pressure that’s certainly possible but don’t look at it like they’re spreading 5 years of work over 7 so it should be less pressure. Many M-Arch programs are also just as competitive to get into as B-Arch.
A 5 year B-Arch can easily be stretched to 6 years. They still need to take the 6 credit hours of studio every semester for the 5 years - and that’s where a lot of the work is… and some other classes will need to be sequenced to stay on track but many of the gen-ed’s and electives can be stretched out or take a summer class here and there to lighten the “normal” 16-18 credit semesters down to 12-14.
People make a big deal about the melt rate of B-Arch programs. It is quite high and I’m sure there’s a component of that driven by the time commitment to the coursework but kids change majors out of other programs at a pretty high rate as well. We’ve heard of many that changed majors 3-4-5 times.
All valid points, thanks. Re the relative competitiveness - the student has basically taken the last 2 years first getting diagnosed with adhd then figuring out correct treatment. (2E so the adhd was masked by good grades for a long time, until they hit high school workloads.) There is no way their GPA is going to get high enough within the next year to be competitive for BArch at the kind of colleges we think would work for them. (Don’t like the idea of something like SciArc as at 17 when they start college, they should be in dorms not independent housing - both kid and I think this). But I have confidence that they would perform better - and yes, mature more - over the course of a B degree.
Tbh, CPP is the only landscape architecture curriculum that interests them so far too, and I’m not sure they’d do LArch anywhere else. Plan B if they don’t find a college /curriculum they like is more likely to follow a CC route, ideally one that has associated student housing and can get them on the arch track - they’d feel more comfortable heading for a BArch like this too (Cuesta is a feeder into SLO for arch and engineering, and also has TAGs to a number of UCs in case that specific pathway doesn’t work out. But the uncertainty involved in this route definitely means it is only a plan B.)
The fortunate thing is that there are no shortage of options. Some will be longer than others and some are more costly than others but seems like you have a great understanding of that.
I can’t help much with options on west coast - I’m east coast and that’s where my son’s focus was.
I feel like, if it were me or my kid, the not-terribly-daunting hurdle of the portfolio review to progress in the Portland State program would be less off-putting than having to do the whole CC transfer process… and being able to start the full-fledged studio curriculum right away in the first year (from which said portfolio is generated!) would be preferable. (Although I know there can be some studio content at the CC’s - my daughter took a summer arch-modeling class at a CC to get her feet wet in high school.)
I also think trying to keep K-State in play could be smart. (It seems like state-level politics are a filter, and Kansas is a mixed bag - they did at least put reproductive-rights protections in place.) That program seems like the closest thing to the Boulder ENVD curriculum model that I’ve seen. (Iowa State looks similar too, but the transition out of the shared core looks more competitive-admissions-to-major-ish.)
UNLV’s program looks pretty good too, content-wise. For me, I’m not sure the political differential would sell Las Vegas as a destination over SLC or Manhattan, KS… but it’s driveable at least.
I hope Boulder ends up coming through and making the relative merits of the other options moot!
Re CC’s: maybe to be more explicit, because I don’t know how common this is in other states - There are some (not all) CA CC’s that offer an architecture pathway into a handful of 4-year colleges in CA, usually including Cal Poly SLO, CPP, and USC, and then one or two others vary depending on CC. The paths and requirements seem quite well-defined, both from the CC perspective and what is required by the CPs (haven’t looked into USC), but it’s still competitive entrance. That said, if I recall the numbers correctly - and while noting they’re not broken down by school - Cuesta generally has a success rate of approximately 50% for transfers into SLO, which is 2-3 times the success rate from other colleges (both CC and 4 year). Plus, Cuesta is similar to SBCC in having proximity to (private) student housing, which also houses some SLO students.
You are correct about state level politics, where both lgbtq and reproductive rights are a filter. I think Kansas would be a hard sell. (Makes Arizona a harder sell too). Kid hates Vegas, so I don’t think that’s going to happen. (Quite likes Reno, but UNR doesn’t offer architecture.)
Yes am also hoping CU comes through and makes this all moot, but we really also want more than 2 or 3 realistic colleges on the application list!
Illinois is LGBTQ/reproductive rights friendly. It’s probably further away than you’d like, but UIUC has a great Architecture school. And UIC is also good and less selective if you’re looking for a safety-ish school.
Isn’t UIUC very competitive for out of state? Counselor basically told our D19 to not even bother trying… But will take a look at that and UIC. Flight time to Chicago might be longer than they’re happy with, but of course - what a city to study architecture in.
It looks like the acceptance rate for the School of Fine and Applied Arts at UIUC is just under 50%. It’s not broken down by in state vs. OOS so difficult to tell. Definitely worth looking in to.
Oh, UIC does something super interesting - they split out the freshman admissions profile between test optional and test included applicants. I haven’t seen that elsewhere. It’s pretty interesting. For test optional, given how they present it, they clearly place more emphasis on number of AP/IB/hons courses.
Has your kid thought about Washington State? I don’t know if it’s too remote, but it seems to be in an approved state and it’s a B.S. in Architectural Studies at a school that has a NAAB-accredited M. Arch, which means your kid would likely to be able to chop off at least a year of the M. Arch.
Going further afield, has U. of Minnesota been considered? It offers a BS in Architecture at a NAAB-accredited school for the M. Arch, the Twin Cities are a happening place and a bit of a hub with frequent flights all over the country. It also seems like it would be in an “approved” state. https://design.umn.edu/academics/programs/architecture/architecture-bs
I’m not familiar enough with the Canadian degree programs, but both U. of British Columbia in Vancouver and U. of Calgary are accredited by the CACB, which I assume is comparable to NAAB, though that is definitely something to verify and look into further.
At U. of Calgary it offers an M. Arch but suggests the Bachelor of Design in City Innovation as a good undergraduate option. The M. Arch page indicated that students who minor in architectural studies would be able to chop a year off their M. Arch here. The Environmental Design and Landscape Architecture Master’s degrees also recommended the City Innovation bachelor.
If the Canadian schools become of interest, @DadTwoGirls might have some helpful insight.
I think WSU’s location is an issue. Had not thought about UMN - not sure if it would be “too far”, or how competitive it is, but definitely worth a look, thank you.
Re Canadian colleges - The UBC program sounds interesting- what the kid likes about the CU program is that it covers all those aspects before specializing. Calgary is probably too far.
Note: edited response to remove misunderstanding re 529 usage.
I’m going to have to trace a bit of my search for the results to make sense.
The document below is Exempt Organizations Technical Guide, TG 44: Qualified Tuition Programs – IRC Section 529 that was updated 2/1/2024 by the IRS.
On page 7 it talks about qualifying programs and under II, A, 2, c it says, “An eligible educational institution also includes certain educational institutions located outside the United States that are eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Education.”
U. of Calgary’s school code is G07874 and the University of British Columbia’s is G08369. Thus, I believe that both schools could have 529 funds spent on them.
