<p>I know its been beat to death but honestly I am completely torn. I know that the 5 year B.Arch is the "Fast Track" to a career, but many people have assured me the Masters Degree will make getting a job a million times easier. All I know is I want to practice architecture for a big firm that is highly design oriented, or practive on my own (probably not). An east coast city, i.e. Boston New York Philia Montreal Toronto, would be ideal but Europe and especially a Dubai atmosphere is extremely appealing. My grades are good not great, 92.25 from a very competitive district in the northeast. My SATs were 1940 on my first shot, but should be up over 2000 by June maybe even 2100 if i score well. i have looked into 5years at Temple, Syracuse, Notre Dame, UCincinatti, McGill, Rice, Lehigh, and Pratt. I was wondering if I opted to major in something related or even an unrelated undergrad engineering degree at a say NYU, BU, or BC and hope to transfer to a 2 year M.Arch 1 program what will that do for me in the job market. Also I know a few have a PhD in Arch, what does that offer? Please help me I have not really seen clear info for what I am looking to do.</p>
<p>I have also considered a 5+2 M.Arch II but I hear this is really for profs not designers?</p>
<p>Frank Gehry and Thom Mayne both have B.Archs + post-professional M.Archs, and they're definitely on the designer end of things. But no, it's not strictly necessary to be a designer.</p>
<p>If you did an unrelated undergrad engineering degree, you could not "transfer to a 2 year M.Arch 1 program". It doesn't work that way. If you had an unrelated major, you could not get an M.Arch in 2 years. There are several different lengths of M.Arch programs. 1-2 year M.Arch II programs are for those already holding a professional B.Arch. 2-2.5 year M.Arch I programs are for those holding a pre-professional BS or BA in Architecture, Environmental Design, or similar. 3-3.5 year M.Arch I programs are for those with unrelated bachelors degrees.</p>
<p>Would you say a 5 year Bachelors plus a 2 or however many year MArch II gives me the best opportunity to get a high design position at a good firm?</p>
<p>Check the partner list of some of the firms you aspire to. See what degrees the partners hold--and where the degrees are from.</p>
<p>The best opportunity you to be a top designer is to start your own firm. Full stop. Before you are 30.</p>
<p>If you want to be a top designer on the East coast, you had better go to the alma mater of one of the partners and blow a gale through the place or--go to one of the top design schools (Cornell or Cooper are my picks for the East Coast BArchs) and blow a gale through there. There are very few 'designers' in any firm--the guy (or gal) that owns the joint gets all the best design work. That's their reward for starting and running a successful business. If you want to be an designer, you must be unbelieveably talented, highly fascile in your drawing and model making-- and a quick problem solver.</p>
<p>You won't know if you are any of those things until you are in your last years of architecture school.</p>
<p>Todd, the reality is that once you are in a firm nobody cares whether you have a B Arch or M Arch, all they care about is what you can produce. I also don't think thjat the partners much care if you went to the same school they did, they are looking for the most talented and productive interns. However, the best way to get a job with a very high profile firm, particularly the small ones, is to have them as studio critics. This is one of the reasons they teach, so they can identify up and coming talent.</p>
<p>The reason that so many folks go to the Ivy grad schools is that this is where the best architects tend to teach, and where you will get the most exposure to the greatest number of talented practicioners. Not only can you get a job, but the student/teacher relationship can be a much closer one than the partner/intern relationship. A huge advantage in a large firm.</p>
<p>Can you accomplish the same thing with a B Arch from some Midwestern school? Absolutely, the road is just a little tougher. You may also find that there are many places and roles in which to have a rewarding architecture career. Pursue your dreams, but be open to a lot of different opportunities that may come your way.</p>
<p>Good luck,
rick</p>
<p>We just returned from visiting several colleges of interest to my d. who is considering a degree in architecture. We were told by one of the professors, that the college architecture accreditation board is slowly eliminating the 5 year program. This is at a school that currently has both degrees, but is phasing out the 5 year program. </p>
<p>Once upon a time, architects could get registered in 4 years. That has long been gone, and it was changed to 5 years. Now, evidently the concencus is that 5 years is not quite enough. There are some schools who still hold on to the 5 year program, but more are switching to the 4+2 (or more). We always thought that was the preference of the school and the curriculum design. From our discussion, it appears that it is due to the requirements of the school accrediting board. Students who start in any system (4 or 5) are typically grandfathered in. If you start in a 5 year program, and the school switches to a 4+2, there should not be a problem. However, this professor indicated you will be finding fewer 5 year programs in the future.</p>
<p>I also assume that a lot of the famous name architects are older -- when the 5 year program was the norm. I think we'll see more 4+2 degrees in the future.</p>
<p>I agree that there will be more 4+2 degrees, however whether or not they will be the same people who are recognized as the best architects in the world is hard to predict. Will the B.Arch still take a prominent role in producing famous architects- I would tend to lean yes.</p>
<p>kjofkw- the NAAB recognizes NO attempt to phase out the B.Arch at present. There was a hold on accrediting new B.Arch programs (but letting established ones stand) for a few years there, while they considered whether or not to eliminate the B.Arch. But eventually they decided that the B.Arch fills an important role, and they started accrediting new B.Arch programs again. The proliferation of new 4+2 programs is a response to people getting scared by that hold on creating new B.Arch programs, and is similar to the big stock market drop we experienced a few weeks ago- speculation with little actual substance behind it.</p>