I was thinking about majoring in architecture and my top schools are syracuse and virginia tech. However I heard that arch students don’t get to party at all and I feel that I won’t be able to enjoy college as much without the party experience. Could any arch students confirm or deny this? Thanks
I’m a high school student taking first year architecture courses, and sadly this is true. Especially at the rigorous programs you mention, you might get some free time on weekends, but you’ll be spending most nights in studio, and often won’t sleep. You have lots of fun in studio with the architecture students around you, but if you’re looking for a social life outside of the architecture school, you’re out of luck. You can still consider graduate schools for architecture though
Read some of the comments on this thread.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/architecture-major/1734796-questions-about-architecture-majors.html#latest
I’ll repeat: “Whether BArch or even BA/BS students have “no social life” depends a lot on the culture of the institution and the dedication of the individual student. There’s no doubt that the studio eats up a huge portion of the architecture student’s time and energy. Whether this precludes the student from exploring normal campus activities like sports, music, partying or joining a fraternity/sorority also seems to vary widely.”
There’s no question, though, that the BArch requires a major commitment to architecture. If you can, take a summer career discovery course to make sure it’s for you. You also have the option of getting a BA or BS in architecture, architectural studies, then going to graduate school for an MArch. If you choose this route, pay attention to the funding as the MArch can be an expensive degree.
I would venture that the average alcohol consumption among architecture students does not lag far behind the campus average. If you imagine studio as sort of a co-ed frat/sorority you have a picture of what you are getting into. My son had a great social life with a close group of friends. However if your ambition is to make a commitment to a fraternity or sorority outside of architecture, then you are going to be stressed for time.
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