Small liberal-arts studio-architecture coed ??

College Majors Architecture Majors
1

<p>My daughter is a senior who really wants to pursue professional architecture by studying studio architecture (not art or art history), but to study in a small (under 7,000 students), co-ed, full liberal arts environment with great residential campus life/school spirit. Please make some suggestions for us as we have to travel in 2 weeks to see the possibilities. Admissions are an issue: she is a student of color with leadership experience, her grades are ok at an outstanding high school, test scores very good, 4 years of varsity athletics, strong letters of reference. However, her extracurriculars are not strong and she has a small art/design portfolio.</p>

<p>So far, she did not like:</p>

<p>Barnard College/Columbia University joint program
Connecticut College
Tufts University
Macalester College</p>

<p>Help!!!</p>

2

<p>Altadena, Are you and your daughter aware that those colleges do not offer a professional degree in architecture? </p>

<p>In order to practice architecture in the US she would need a B.Arch or an M.Arch. As an undergraduate at a small college or most medium sized universities, your daughter would get a BA or a BS in a major often, but not always, called “architectural studies” or just “architecture.” </p>

<p>Then she would need to continue on to a masters program at a university for a masters of architecture, which takes from 2.0 to 3.5 years depending on the her undergraduate experience.</p>

<p>So the first question she needs to ask herself is if she’s committed enough to architecture to plunge right into a B.Arch. If yes, she could look at some of the medium sized universities that offer this degree. </p>

<p>If no, then she should decide if she wants to pursue a BS or a BA in architecture studies. The BS tends to be more technical, but the difference is not clearly defined. Generally (and again, this varies widely) with a BS she can complete her M.Arch faster than with a BA.</p>

<p>If she decides that she just wants a BA, then she doesn’t need to confine herself to colleges that offer architecture or architectural studies as a major. She can get into an M.Arch program with just about any major, as long as she fulfills the requirements and has a good portfolio. Many, many architects take this route (including my son). It takes longer and costs more than a B.Arch, but allows for a broader undergraduate experience.</p>

<p>Most small and medium sized colleges offer some architectural drawing courses in their art departments and architectural history in their art history departments. Many send their graduates to good M.Arch programs.</p>

<p>Tell us more about what she didn’t like about the schools she’s visited. As a non-White with good academics, sports and art as an EC she would be a person of interest to many good colleges and universities. If she would be willing/able to continue her sport at varsity level, that would also be a plus.</p>

<p>In addition to determining the environment degree, financing a private college is also a big issue, especially if graduate school is in the picture. If you need or want financial aid, her list needs to be tailored accordingly and depends on whether you qualify for need based aid.</p>

<p>We can talk about money further, but first, clarify the degree she’s going for.</p>

3

<p>To add to momrath’s excellent comments, one could go thru the list of ‘official’ schools (NAAB) and it looks like the vast majority are either large flagship state schools, a few directional state schools, a good number of medium to large private schools, some technical focused schools, or art focused type schools. I only saw a handful of schools that I could not put in any of the above categories, so it’s not like it’s a lot of research to do :)</p>

<p>Take a look at Drury, Andrews, and a couple of other none-of-the-above schools (there’s a few that do not fit the categories I listed) and see if they fit. I would not worry too much about school size (it’s not like architecture students ever see the rest of the campus…). Focus more on studio culture, ways of teaching (digital only on or paper and pencil then digital), size of department, student to teacher ratio, faculty credentials, facilities, and the like. </p>

<p>If you want to look at schools that are ‘feeders’ into grad arch programs, like architectural studies, that is another option but look at their success in placing students, etc into respected professional arch programs. Also consider the time involved to do an M.arch this way versus the traditional BS/BA Arch + MArch or even BArch directly.</p>

4

<p>THANK you so much, momrath and turbo93</p>

<p>This is highly detailed and thoughtful. I never thought about the issue of size of institution not mattering as much for holed-up architecture students ;0 Thank you for the ideas about assessing studio culture and success at entering graduate programs.</p>

<p>To answer your questions: what she did not like:
Barnard: GREAT studio architecture program but not co-ed, no real campus, not much student activity life on campus such as sports attendance, because it is a small space crammed in Manhattan.
Connecticut College: Liked student life on campus but art history more than studio architecture and campus feel/look
Tufts: Loved campus look and feel but it was just an art history program: architecture TA did not even know where the studios were on campus, took us to the worst lecture we have ever ever heard
Macalester College: Promotes itself as having a 3+4 with Wash U but none of the students go and it requires separate admission to Wash U at that point</p>

<p>She doesn’t mind going elsewhere for a master’s beCAUSE she wants the opportunity to not settle now on architecture for certain (that is why she won’t apply to small schools of art or architecture for undergraduate degree).
Finances are not the issue. Fit and happiness are the key targets here.</p>

<p>Good idea about the tennis thing…I’ll explore it more.</p>

<p>Turbo93 - Drury and Andrews (7th Day Adventist!) don’t seem to be selective enough institutions for what she is capable of, not even mentioned in the Princeton 376 best colleges…</p>

5

<p>As I said, I just went A-Z thru the list of NAAB colleges that have arch programs and flagged schools I never heard of therefore they might be LAC’s :). There were a few more I never heard of (Norwich, Judson)… </p>

<p>The thing about small or large is not really a big issue. DD1 went to a massive high school and attends an equally massive state flagship with significant athletic success. Now there’s spirit! So some of the requirements are a bit contradictory, as I don’t really know many ‘smaller’ schools with successful sports teams (I know a few like Gonzaga but not very many). </p>

<p>If finances are not an issue and you want top education in general and want to set up high goals, there’s WUSTL, which kinda feels like a big LAC (neighbor’s kid went there), Tulane (my favorite), Rice (if one can get in), maybe even Syracuse, and U Miami. (all are in DD1’s M.Arch list) Again, none of these are LAC’s in the traditional sense and some have decent to good sports and all have great campus feel. </p>

<p>To give you an idea about studio culture. DD1’s school only assigns 10-15 kids per studio, and no TA’s. Studio is not competitive, and eventually kids tend to gravitate to the same studio after a while (so they spend literally most of their undergrad studio times with the same 10-15 kids if they want). Lots of field trips (they’re off to Chicago for a 3 day weekend next month) and in general fantastic atmosphere. Long hours, granted, and hard reviews, but I have attended some reviews and they are really right on the spot. A lot of programs are like that, from top ranked schools to directionals, but you really have to experience this yourself with visits, etc. </p>

<p>Then there’s other issues like fabrication - that is why i asked if they go digital from day 1 or they do manual first year. In her case 1st year required a Home Depot’s worth of tools, the schools’s excellent fabrication labs and no training provided. DD1 quickly gained the reputation of ‘queen of the band saw’. If your student and you are comfortable with such methods, or prefer the all-clean neatness of digital from day 1, that’s another issue to consider. </p>

<p>Yet another is how much ‘art’ is involved (or required). If your student is art-oriented (DD1 is) and the program has a good mix of art concepts thrown in for good measure, another good point. If the program is more ‘start with a #2 pencil and draw straight lines for a week’ technical focused again, yet another thing to consider. Some schools require portfolios, some are optional, and so on and so forth. Some tell you to not send anything and not worry about drawing, they’ll teach you, some are all about portfolio.</p>

6

<p>altadena, Among the schools that your daughter looked at the only one I think of as a specialist in architecture is Conn College. If their program was not intense enough, then maybe the problem is that the BA degree just isn’t “studio” focused and she needs to look at art schools and BFAs.</p>

<p>What you found in the BA architectural studies/architecture programs is fairly standard, though some schools may have more or fewer architectural drawing courses. They don’t offer “studio” to the same degree that architecture schools do. What you get is a balance of general art studio (drawing, painting etc) with a varying degree of options in architectural drawing balanced with art history, math, science and other academic disciplines. </p>

<p>The objective is to prepare the student for admissions to an M.Arch program with exposure to the creative, technical and theoretical aspects of architecture, but by definition a liberal arts degree is broad based.</p>

<p>Williams, my son’s alma mater, has a very good track record for sending its students to top M.Arch programs, an excellent art studio/art history department and extensive architecture graduate school counseling. But, at least at the the time my son was there, they only offered two specific architectural drawing courses. </p>

<p>I’d also look at Middlebury, Wesleyan, Brown, Yale, Princeton, Vassar, Hamilton, Haverford, Skidmore. Except for Skidmore, these are all VERY selective, but if she likes the general ambience she could find others in the same personality. </p>

<p>Wherever she applies she should submit an art supplement with her application. This is a big plus in LAC admissions. My personal opinion (without knowing her GPA) is that she’d be a contender for some of the most selectives. The combination of art+sports+academics and diversity is quite compelling and can to a certain extent compensate for weaker areas.</p>

7

<p>turbo, are the programs you’re referring to B.Arch, BS or BA or all of the above. I think the OP’s daughter is kind of in the middle – she want the studio focus of the B.ARch but doesn’t want to make the commitment yet.</p>

8

<p>I know… I would think that the BS/BA Architectural Studies or other programs of interest would have some of the same ‘studio culture’ type issues as traditional arch programs to think about. Programs heavier on studio would also be great opportunities to develop portfolio material.</p>

<p>Another point to consider - travel abroad opportunities. That could be of great help if a school offered a semester or year abroad in an artsy-designy type place like Milan or Berlin or Rome or what-not, with art and design as the focus. In general good LAC’s have plenty of those.</p>

9

<p>Thank you both for all the thought, I am still processing all of your ideas and questions…I think you are absolutely right, she is in the middle, wants more than art history but doesn’t want to have only architecture as the reason to choose the school in case she changes her plans.</p>

<p>We are going to go visit several of the LAC’s in the list you mentioned, then add in some huge schools with great reputations for architecture programs…</p>

<p>(Re: the schools we chose to see before, Tufts was recommended and they say they have a program but its not studio at all, Macalester has a supposed 3+4 with Wash U but almost NOBODY heads from Macalester to Wash U after 3 years maybe because the art program there seems weak and they just cannot get in to Wash U master’s program, </p>

<p>In fact, Barnard does have a WONDERFUL joint undergrad architecture program with Columbia, she just felt she would really miss the traditional campus experience since its tucked into a tiny part of Manhattan…</p>

10

<p>If your daughter’s eventual educational objective is an M.Arch, then I would focus more on fit and less on the specific architecture program of her BA shool. Strong B.Arch and/or M.Arch programs don’t necessarily equate to strong BA architecture programs. </p>

<p>Conversely, smart, artistically talented kids get accepted into good to great M.ARch programs despite the whats and wheres of their undergraduate experience. There’s just no consistent continuum.</p>

<p>Once she’s identified one or two schools that fit her in personality, enviornment and ambience, she’ll be able to expand her list to include similar schools across a range of selectivity.</p>

11

<p>I think you’ve gotten god responses. The only schools that I can think of that fit your description are Barnard, Princeton, and Wash U. A couple of schools that might have the campus life she is seeking but are a little bigger and more architecturally focused are Rice and Tulane (Rice has a great residential college system and a very small entering architecture class).</p>

<p>Even if she only does two years of undergraduate architecture I would encourage her to find a school with architectural studios, because until you’ve been through studio you don’t really know if you want to be an architect.</p>

<p>rick</p>

12

<p>When my D went through this process, she also wanted a BA. If it helps any, here is where she applied:
Princeton, Yale, Penn, Brown, Tufts, Smith, Conn College, Lehigh</p>

<p>She attended Brown and got a BA in Architectural Studies. She did some studio in the following ways:
cross-registration with RISD
semester abroad in architecture in Florence through Syracuse junior year
summer Career Discovery Program at Harvard after freshman year</p>