Transfer to BArch or MArch

I am currently attending a junior college to complete all of my core requirements to transfer into an accredited college in Architecture.  I live in Illinois and am interested in IIT and also Southern Illinois University. I was accepted at SIU but decided to attend a Junior college this year for many reasons.  I want to transfer but am still a little confused about the  Architectural studies vs. the  BArch programs.  My understanding is to bypass the architectural studies and focus strictly on my BArch, this is the more focused approach.  Some clarity would be greatly appreciated and will provide me with the correct decision making when applying in December 2012 for the fall semester.

Thank you for your time and information,

__________

To fulfill the education requirements of becoming an architect, one must complete the NAAB accredited professional degree; this is done via the 5-year Bachelor of Architecture such as IIT offers or the 6-year (4+2) Master of Architecture that either SIU or UIUC offers.  In this latter case, you first pursue a pre-professional Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies (BSAS 4-years)

Given that you are first attending a community college to complete your core requirements, you will still probably begin the studies at IIT as a first year student because of the studio and other required architectural coursework.  Thus, it will still take you five years to complete.  This may or not be the case at SIU or Illinois; you would need to check with them directly.

In some respects, a BArch is more focused because it completes the degree in a shorter duration, but there are other criteria that you will want to consider when applying.

I would suggest you visit both programs to learn first hand the transfer process.

Best.