Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Grad School Program Options

I'm currently enrolled in 5th yr. of B.arch at Manipal University, India. I'll be finishing my undergrad in May 2012 and want to apply for M.Arch in the fall of 2012 in US. I'm interested in Residential architecture as well as Urban planning and designing but I'm unable to decide if I should go for M.Arch or for MUP or for a dual degree. Could you tell me what should I be expecting upon graduation from a MUP or a M.arch program in terms of my career?

I also came across an option which interests me a lot i.e. doing a dual of M.Arch + M.B.A. What would be my scope of work with that ? And to apply for a MBA dual do I have to give a GMAT exam along with my TOEFL and GRE?

When applying to a school, would you suggest applying for a dual program from the start or is it wiser to take a switch to it later?

Thank you for your time. Looking forward to hear from you.
 _________

A - My expertise is in architecture not urban planning.  For that reason, I would suggest visit the American Planning Assn. website -- http://www.planning.org/ -- to learn more about planning as a career and what you can expect from a MUP. 

In terms of a MArchitecture, you must decide if you wish to obtain the professional MArch degree from a U.S. institution that would provide the education necessary to pursue licensure in the U.S. states or if you wish to pursue the M.S. in Architecture which is a post-professional degree for individuals with a degree in architecture.


For both MArch/MBA and MArch/MUP, I have provided documents of potential programs. I suggest you reach out to the specific programs to learn more.  You will find that most MBA programs require the GMAT and many architecture programs require GRE, however double check on TOEFL as many programs do not require it for candidates from India.


Many students pursue a dual program; whether you pursue it at the beginning or later depends on you and what you desire.


Best!

Dr. Architecture

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