Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Master of Architecture - Options

My husband is an active duty marine and I am limited on my educational opportunities. I am trying to further my career while moving frequently to different bases. I am strongly considering enrolling in the BS program of Interior Design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Online. An online program seems to be the best route for me. If pursuing the M.Arch I path, are there any BA/BS programs that aren't recognized or that won't transfer when pursuing a Masters in Architecture? When pursuing a Masters from a grad school, is there any discrimination towards previous BA/BS obtained, or is it all fair game?
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In one respect, you can obtain any undergraduate degree to pursue a Master of Architecture; however, the degree you receive will determine the length of time for the MArch degree.

For example, if you obtain a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies degree or equivalent, a Master of Architecture will typically take two years, but some graduate programs will require three years. Instead, if you obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, some programs may require you to take more than two years depending on the curriculum of your BA degree and the courses you took.

If your undergraduate degree is in an unrelated discipline, a Master of Architecture degree will take between 3-4 years depending on the institution. This would be the case of your the Interior Design degree you mention in your email. While you could certainly pursue the online program, there are no online 3-4 year Master of Architecture degrees. The Boston Architectural College (BAC) does have a distance MArch, but only for those that have an undergraduate BS in Architectural Studies degree.

Thus, graduate programs do not discriminate but rather accept you where you are given your undergraduate degree.

I certainly appreciate you limits; do the best you can and I wish you well.

Dr. Architecture

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