<p>For those of you that have taken a high school Architecture course, I have a few questions for my daughter who is trying to decide if she'd like to pursue Architecture. </p>
<p>1) Does a high school Architecture course show you what a career in Archictecture is?
2) Is there a difference between a high school Arch. course and a college career summer discovery Architecture program as far as showing what Architecture is? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I have taken architecture courses in high school and yes, it taught the students quite a bit about the job description. I recall in my first architecture class that the course was essentially one long project that we began working on at the beginning of the semester. </p>
<p>We would take notes from textbooks and powerpoint presentations, and then apply what we learned into our project. By the end of the semester, our completed project was a series of plans for a house. We had to design the house by ourselves and the project included floor plans, elevations, foundation plans, roof plans, plumming and electricity.</p>
<p>I was surprised by how intensive and hands-on the class was for an introductory course. I learned a lot about what architects precisely do and what one could expect a career in architecture to entail.</p>
<p>To answer your second question: I am unsure because I have not participated in such a program, but I imagine the courses would be somewhat different. I would think that in the college summer program, students would get to meet professional architects and ask them questions (something we never got to do in our architecture classes). I would image that the career program would go into more specificity about the more elusive aspects of the job.</p>
<p>My daughter enrolled in the Summer Discovery program which provided an outstanding benefit of real world experience at a global Architecture firm in NYC. Her internship was fulfilling by working on some actual projects such as a Stadium in Dubai. Her input of exterior landscaping was actually approved and was to be used in the final presentation. </p>
<p>It was a pricey event in our eyes but her devotion and experience made it the best investment to affirm that this was her career pursuit. She is now in her 2nd semester at Syracuse University and aside the endless hours without sleep to complete project assignments she is in her zone for sure.</p>
<p>It is very important to establish a portfolio as many of the good schools require it. We visted Syracuse and RPI where the Architecture Professors & Staff did prelimanry portfolio reviews. A good portfolio should contain about 20 diverse projects exhibiting artistic creativity not limited to still life drawings, ceramics, watercolors, etc. They do not seek building structures using any of the Arch software such as AutoCad, however, it is good to boast some proficiency in using them along with Photoshop. </p>
<p>Visiting the various college Arch Dept. also helps to see whether there is a gleam for the career path. Arch needs to be approached by a student with passion otherwise they could be likely to dislike the extremely hard demands placed on them in the 1st year of college.</p>
<p>If your daughter needed any insight, my daughter would probably have no problem in talking with her to answer any questions about the Summer Discovery program or her college experience so far.</p>
<p>@newjersey17 - I received your PM but unfortunately I can’t reply to it because their is an idoitic 15 post rule on this board so I will paste it here.</p>
<p>You’re welcome - glad to help! </p>
<p>Just for clarification, this is the program my daughter enrolled in for an actual internship.</p>
<p>[Discovery</a> Internships](<a href=“http://www.discoveryinternships.com/]Discovery”>http://www.discoveryinternships.com/)</p>
<p>It is not the regular educational program where the kids just do things in a classroom atmosphere. The internship program matches your child with an actual firm. It’s like going to work each day. They do a fantastic job to provide housing at NYU in the dorms on 14th St. next to Union Square. They have very strict policies so your child is in a safe environment for accountability. They also do all sorts of extra fun things in the evenings and on the weekends. The kids form great bonds with each other so that’s the added bonus. </p>
<p>I would not bother with a regular study program if that’s what you were referring to. Doing a pre-college Architecture study program would be best done at a college that offers it and being her dream choice at the same time. That would give her a beneficial brownie point when she applies to that particular college and/or others </p>
<p>If the internship program is affordable for you then I highly advise that she enrolls. We sent our app in early (around this time) to take advantage of the discount and to get the best choice of internship. She was matched with a huge firm that was right across corner from Union square. My daughter walked there in 5 minutes each day. Their offices occupied 3 floors of a building which went from Broadway to 5th Ave. My daughter was able to get a real good feel for the profession in a large scale environment.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions I would be more than happy to call you. You can PM your # since I can’t get mine too you. We could always continue dialogue here as well.</p>