Hey all, I just had a quick question about admissions into an M.arch 1 professional program. Considering many schools have different math, physics, science, design requirements; what courses could I take that would prove eligibility and act as a common ground, so to speak. Should I go after a minor in architecture, or should I just take a ton of common pre-requisites for the M.Arch programs. (I’m a philosophy major)
Thanks!!
(Note: I realize I’m not answering your question).
I think you need first to figure out what your passion is. Of course you can later change if needed but you have to pick a direction first. I notice that you are considering fields that are worlds-apart:
- Architecture (this thread)
- Education Administration ( http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/2078839-where-can-getting-a-doctorate-in-higher-education-administration-get-me.html#latest )
- Engineering ( http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/2074431-is-it-too-late-to-change-majors-into-engineering.html#latest )
- Philosophy ( http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/2074076-how-difficult-is-it-to-get-into-a-graduate-program-for-philosophy.html#latest )
- Medical ( http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/california-colleges/2071952-opinion-on-university-of-san-francisco-degree-value.html#latest )
Getting into grad school is not easy; completing it is even more difficult. You need to stay focused.
To directly answer your question, the prerequisites for any graduate program are going to listed on the website of that program. Some programs have very specific prerequisites, and some will only give you a vague idea because they don’t require anything specific. Since you haven’t identified a specific program yet, the way to do this is to look at the websites of several different programs and see what the commonalities are.
In this case, I checked out a few M.Arch programs. CU Denver doesn’t require any specific major or courses, but they do want to see a portfolio:
Yale’s M.Arch, similarly, doesn’t require any specific undergraduate background and is actually designed for people with liberal arts degrees:
https://www.architecture.yale.edu/academics/programs/1-m-arch-i
MIT hires both people with professional bachelor’s degrees in architecture and without, but they do say that it will take you about 3.5 years to finish if you don’t have a bachelor’s in architecture.
https://architecture.mit.edu/architecture-and-urbanism/degree/march
I browsed a couple of other programs and it seems that very few of them actually require any major in architecture or any specific set of courses. Most of them will request a portfolio, though, so you probably want to take some art classes where you can begin to work on that. Some kind of internship in architecture or a related field will probably also work in your favor, as you’re going to have to justify and explain how a philosophy major came to be interested in and solidified that interest in architecture.
However, more generally, I agree with Pentaprism. You’ve come and asked about a lot of very different graduate degrees - philosophy, higher education administration, and now architecture, with some hints about being interested in engineering and medicine. There’s nothing wrong with being interested in lots of things, especially right now, as an early community college student. However, the content of your posts indicates that you’re not really ready to be thinking about graduate school right now - you have to first decide on a career path that you want to follow, and then pick the graduate program.
For right now, concentrate on taking classes that interest you and following your interests into internships, part-time jobs, and other opportunities that you have to gain experience.
Seems a bit ridiculous to be criticizing someone who’s interested in a variety of career paths, my mistake for seeking an answer to a present interest. I already know what I’m going to major in, so lay off a bit and mind your business if you aren’t going to answer the question @Pentaprism And @juillet you’ve been very helpful in giving me links and other information to explore. However, just because the ‘content of my posts indicates otherwise’ does not mean I already have a career path in mind and am working towards it. This is a public forum that is allowing me to ask questions from all sorts of angles, so let’s leave it at that.
@Ryanjingle, no one was trying to criticize you here. Pentaprism was offering you some very useful and targeted information. We do often see students (in this forum and offline) who believe that graduate school will help them identify their goals rather than the other way around, and they genuinely don’t know that you need well-defined goals before going to graduate school. We don’t want them to spend $$$$ chasing a graduate degree that they don’t need or that isn’t a good fit for them. It comes from a place of trying to support students in identifying concrete goals and help them avoid making choices that maybe aren’t the best fit for them.
People answering your question directly in exactly the way you want is not the only way to get good advice here. Just as you can ask many questions from many angles, people can give answers from many angles.
Since we’re not interacting with you offline, the only way that we know what you’re thinking about is what you post here. It’s only natural for us to wonder about a student who has posted about several very disparate career paths over the course of a few months. And, like I said, it’s fine to be interested in many different things at this stage of your career - or any! It might be useful if you indicate that your musings are more information gathering for a variety of different paths, though.
Since you say that you have a career path in mind and are already working towards it - would you mind sharing what that is?