Sunday, February 27, 2011

Civil Engineering to Architecture

Prof Civil Eng for 6years...wanting to switch it up.

If I want to go to Arch school, Do I....

a) apply as a ''mature student"? if that actually exists
b) apply with my poor undergrad marks
c) forget it because its too long a road.

thanks 
:)
_________
I will let you determine which of the paths you wish to pursue based on my replies, but I can share that you choices A and B are certainly possible.

Given that you have an undergraduate degree, you are eligible to apply for the Master of Architecture (3-4) years.    Over 50 institutions offer such a degree; it was designed for individuals like you that have a degree in another discipline.  Research architecture programs via http://www.naab.org or http://www.archschools.org.

From my almost 20 years of experience in three different architecture programs, I have known plenty of students who were "mature students" enter to pursue the Master of Architecture.  My favorite was an individual with a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering degree in his early 50s that pursued the degree.  Becoming an architect is certainly a long road -- 3-4 years for Master of Architecture, 3-5 years to complete IDP, and 1-3 years to complete the ARE, however, you have plenty of years to still practice architecture.  Remember Philip Johnson did not become an architect until 39 years of age and continued to practice into his 90s when he died.

If your undergraduate performance was less than 3.00 GPA, you may wish to consider taking some courses in architecture as a non-degree student to demonstrate your academic abilities.  Consider also to take a course in freehand drawing for purposes of your portfolio.

Review other questions/answers from the ARCHCareers.blog - http://archcareers.blogspot.com/ or consider obtaining my book, Becoming an Architect, 2nd Edition.

Best!
Dr. Architecture

2 comments:

fragment1 said...

I really like what Dr. Arch said if you wanna do something you can do it SANTIAGO CALATRAVA is an another example
i am a civil engineer, and then i did my masters in structural engineering and now i am pursuing a M.Arch from Academy of Art.
"if you want something really bad, you get it, but if you dont get it, maybe you didnt want it that bad " !

Unknown said...

I did my civil engineering and now i am pursuing Masters in Environment planning ... in India We don't programs like M.arch .. Want to know more info bout it .. i will be finishing my current course by june 2015 ... want to become an architect .. is it possible to do it online ... ??