Possible Architecture major?

[chappaqua]

I have a question for y’all. What is the ideal Architecture student (what qualities must you have in order to excel and succeed as an architecture student)?

Additional question: Is Northeastern University a good school to go to for Architecture? If anyone is a student there, please please please chime in…

Thanks a lot guys!

[momrath]

Northeastern has a well-respected school of architecture. The 5.0 undergraduate program includes co-op employment and study abroad. It is a pre-professional Bachelor of Science in Architecture or Architectural Studies, which means in order to practice architecture in most states you would still need a Master of Architecture. Northeastern offers a 1.0 year MArch on top of its BS. If you want to go directly into a professional architecture program you need to look for colleges that offer the Bachelor of Architecture.

Northeastern’s Architecture FAQ page provides some good advice on what it takes to be a successful architecture student.
http://www.northeastern.edu/camd/architecture/academics/undergraduate/faqs/

The best thing for a student to do in high school before applying to an architecture school is to take courses that encourage synthetic thinking and curiosity. An architectural education is about creative problem solving. Architects today are part of large teams that offer very specific expertise in a given area. But as the leaders and coordinators of those teams, architects are responsible for keeping these vast groups working in the same direction. To that end, courses in creative writing and drawing are every bit as important– if not more so– than courses in math and science.

Math and science are important. Quantitative and spatial thinking help students to execute their ideas. But math and science alone are not the essential elements of architecture that they once were. Calculus and Physics are still required at University to study architecture, but critical thinking and creativity are just as important.

[listroider]

You should definitely visit and see for yourself but I was underwhelmed with Northeastern. From my visit it seems like it doesn’t attract great students. There are better architecture schools that are cheaper and easier to get into. Don’t get me wrong, NEU is great for many majors but it seems like architecture isn’t one of them. Also, its graduate program isn’t ranked in the top 35 which is a reflection of the reputation of the school as a whole, esp. considering that they really encourage you to stay for grad school with the NEU-exclusive 1 year option. That alone doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means it isn’t top-tier.