<p>Hey mls, I'll give whatever "tips" I can--hopefully someone actually in CC's architecture program currently will see this and offer some better advice. (This is going to be looong, but please know that I don't fancy myself some wise old sage who's seen it all. I'm still a high school senior. ;))</p>
<p>I guess the first thing to remember about preparing to major in architecture at CC is that it's not as intensive an architecture major as you'll find at the schools with 5-year B.Arch programs (Cornell, Syracuse, Carnegie Mellon, etc). That means, as you know, that you're not applying specifically to a school of architecture and therefore you do not necessarily need to build up the kind of portfolio required by those schools or involve yourself in the profession during high school as those schools recommend.</p>
<p>That said, I was looking at all kinds of college architecture programs (B.Arch included) so I did all that during high school anyway, and it must have helped on my CC application (if only because it showed that I was taking interest in something outside of school). Have you taken any pre-college architecture courses, either during the school year or during the summer? I took a 4-week course at Parsons during the summer between my sophomore and junior years (many of the other students were rising seniors so it wouldn't be too late for you) and I loved it. We spent most of our time in studio on projects, but we also went on some great architecture field trips around NYC twice a week. I had already begun looking at architecture schools, but that course really opened up my eyes to what architectural design was all about. I definitely recommend doing something like that if you have the chance.</p>
<p>As for my internship, I really got lucky--a teacher in my school who knew of my interest asked me if I would like to meet an NYC architect who was in the school speaking to his son's class. That was an opportunity that pretty much came to me out of the blue. That said, you should always be prepared for something like that. I had a sample portfolio ready to show him (oh yeah, take art classes in high school and always have reproductions of your work ready) as well as a general resume of things I'd done during high school, not all necessarily relating to architecture or even art. It might sound a little intense, but you might as well put these things together now if you haven't already--they're going to be useful when you have 8,000 applications to do. And once more my luck kicked in...this architect happened to be very nice (not everyone I've talked to in the business has been) and asked me right there if I'd like to work in his office over the summer. (Actually scratch that--my luck kicked in again when I found out during my internship that he was a CC and CU alum. Regardless though, the kind letter he wrote me would have helped at any school.)</p>
<p>Beyond that, as I said in my General Comments, I contacted professors at Columbia this fall, including one in the undergraduate architecture program (yes, it's housed in Barnard Hall--that confused me for a while as I didn't know if I was looking up the right professors). Since I live in the area I was able to schedule a time after school to visit campus and meet this professor. As I said, I showed him a sample portfolio and told him about myself and my interest; other than that I really just took the opportunity to learn more from him about the program to make sure it was what I wanted--a good architecture education within a good liberal arts college.</p>
<p>Again, you don't need to fully immerse yourself in architecture during your summers just to get into CC as an intended architecture major. Admissions will be impressed to see that you have really explored the interest you hope to pursue, but mostly you'll just be evaluated like any other CC applicant. Still, if you're really interested in architecture, you can only benefit from trying these things out. At least look into a summer program, and then talk to as many people connected to the business as you can, including college professors. I'm usually shy, but I learned to get over that and it paid off. You might not get an internship, but you'll still be learning from lots of people about the industry. And look at as many architecture schools as you can! I would not have known a year ago that I would want to look at Columbia's architecture major (heck, a year ago Columbia itself wasn't even on my radar); likewise, you may be surprised by what schools other than Columbia are out there if you look around.</p>
<p>Good luck, and if anyone more knowledgeable about CC architecture has anything to say--please post! I do still have 9 months before I get there...</p>