Thursday, May 5, 2011

What to do?

 I am very confused! I am a senior in high school and am attending Mass College of Art and Design in the Fall. Since 8th Grade I have thought about becoming an architect. So I went to a technical high school and enrolled in commercial art and design. My foundation in art has grown tremendously but now architecture is really hogging my attention again. Massart has an architecture program, and I'm only paying 9,000 per year for it. 

But Massart only offers a 4 year bfa. So I would need to go to grad school afterwards to get licensed.  But I want to get into a great grad school later on like MIT, UF, Yale, Columbia, Sci-arc or maybe even Harvard. But I feel that with an undergrad at an unknown art state school I won't stand a chance against other applicants. So I have been thinking of switching to either Pratt or RISD in hopes of a great education and a running start at a recognized grad school. The only problem is the price tag for these other schools. Both would be 250,000 in the end, but I'm not sure If it's worth it to stand a chance with other grad school competitors. 

I may not even have to go to grad school with their b-arch programs too. If massart doesent work out I always have the option of transferring to another relativley cheap school, like Wentworth Institute of Technology,(Bs-Arch 20,000 per year) U=mass Amherst (BFA 20,000 per year) and the Boston Architectural College. I don't come from a rich family and I'm trying to make ends meet. 

What is your opinion? Should I stay at MassArt or transfer to pratt or risd? Should I consider mass state school. Or should I consider other state schools in other states with better reps. I had a 3.5 g.p.a. in college prep classes  and a 1500 Sat score .But I don't think schools check high school grades once your already in college.Would you please give me some advice, it would be greatly appreciated!
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While I agree that you should attend a great Master of Architecture, I will challenge that it must be one of the programs you mention.  What criteria are you using to determine if a program is great or not?  Have you viewed all architecture programs?  If not, view www.naab.org and www.archschools.org for more details.

Also, why do you think attending Massart will prevent you from attending your great programs?  Have you been in touch with these programs to determine their selection process?  Again, be in touch to learn what criteria they use to make selections on admission.


Ultimately, you must make the decision, but for all students, cost is always a strong factor.  The monies you save from staying at Massart could be used for your graduate studies.  Is Massart meeting your needs for an architectural education.  I recognize that it is a new program, but sometimes that allows you to do more with your education.


At this point, my advice would be to seek out guidance from individuals at the various programs you mention to determine the facts about their programs and either transferring or attending their graduate programs.


Also, consider attending the New England Career Day held at Wentworth on Saturday, October 29, 2011. --
http://www.architects.org/programs-and-events/architecturedesign-college-fair

Best!  Let me know as you continue your process of becoming an architect.

Dr. Architecture

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I go to MassArt too. Did you know that our architecture program is affiliated with MIT? Meaning we can cross-register there. Have you try to contact Paul Hajian, MassArt's Undergrad Chair, who by the way has a degree from MIT? Most of our graduates from our undergrad programs actually continue their studies at Harvard/MIT. If you're still unsatisfied with that, you should go to the BSA College Fair. They usually have that in early October annually. Check the BSA website. Good Luck-