Planning for 2019 - Architecture

aquapt
Sun, 29 Jul 2018 06:58:21 +0000

Have you looked at CU Boulder’s School of Environmental Design? It’s a relatively small program, so students get a very personalized education in spite of the size of the university. All of the students start out with a common core for the first year, and then decide on a track: architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, or design studies. It’s a pre-professional program, obviously, but it could be good for a student who knows they want something at least architecture-adjacent but who isn’t sure enough to commit to a BArch. No portfolio to apply. The architectural engineering minor is also open to ENVD students, though it has pretty heavy STEM prerequisites so having time for it could depend on how much calc and physics credit one came in with.

My d was totally overwhelmed with the portfolio issue and deciding what kind of programs to apply to, around this time two years ago. (She was more interested in landscape arch than a BArch program, but still, she was trying to do a portfolio for her EA school and it was painfullll.) She got into two ENVD schools (including Boulder) and a pre-professional LArch program (Northeastern) but ended up going the liberal arts route and is now in a track of the Enviro Analysis major that’s design-focused and intended for pre-arch students among others. Diving straight into a professional program was too big a decision for her at 18, and giving up too much in terms of breadth and exploration - but it all depends how sure you are about being ready to specialize!