Hi all,
On the UVA website, it says the offer rate for the school of architecture is 45%, much higher than the college of engineering. However, when I went to an info tour the guide said school of architecture is much harder to get into because there are less spots than architecture . Is the offer rate wrong then?
Where on the UVA website did you see 45%? The offer rates are here: http://avillage.web.virginia.edu/iaas/instreports/studat/dd/adm_first.htm
Keep in mind that residency is also a factor. Out of state admission will be a bit more selective. See data here: http://avillage.web.virginia.edu/iaas/instreports/studat/hist/admission/first_by_residency.htm
For architecture, on the link you posted, it says 45% offer rate for 2015
However, admissions said engineering is easier to get into even though the offer rate is much lower.
I am an admission dean. I’m sorry, I looked at the wrong line on that chart.
Anyway, the data is correct. Perhaps your student guide was mistaken or was talking about something else. Again, residency is also a factor. The offer rate for out-of-state student is usually a bit lower than the rate for VA students, as you can see from the other chart.
Why do so little apply compared to other colleges within the school? The guide did say it is harder to get into since there is a lot less spots.
Overall, engineering is typically a much more financially rewarding field than architecture. An engineer can often get a good job and have a rewarding career with only a bachelors degree, while an architecture grad typically gets a masters (with much more debt) and has to do a couple years of grunt work before they can make a middle-class income.
Some schools offer architectural engineering degrees, which can be marketable.
You might look at the number of architecture degrees that are awarded vs. the number of students accepted. My guess is that many people transfer out of architecture. When I attended the A school, the faculty encouraged students to transfer out if they didn’t think they would be successful.
If you look at the data you linked, you will see that the A School recently had a much higher admittance rate because they had a big drop in applications, and they kept the incoming class the same size. The UVa A School admittance rate had been about as selective as the rest of the U in admissions rate a few years ago.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing is happening at other architecture schools, because of the employment prospects.
However, admissions rates only tell you part of the picture. You don’t know the qualifications of the people who applied on average for each school. Maybe some of the marginal applicants are no longer applying.
Engineering is what I really want to do; however, I am a lot more qualified for the school of architecture and I UVA is my dream school. Should I apply to the A school, and if I get in, transfer after a year?
I believe the engineering program has some classes that build upon each other, and therefore follow a progressive order from year to year. Not every course may be offered every semester. Therefore, if you transfer into engineering after a year, I’m guessing you may not be able to graduate within 4 years. However, I don’t have any first hand knowledge in that regard.
Also, UVa’s architecture program may be feeling strong competition from Va. Tech’s architecture program. Va. Tech has a 5 year professional bachelors of architecture degree program which may allow students to avoid the need for a masters to work in the field. UVa’s architecture program is only a 4 year BS degree at the undergrad level, which does not by itself qualify a person to become a registered architect.
One respected list shows Va. Tech as having the fourth best undergrad architecture program in the US.
I could also go into the business school in my third years and do a masters in engineering correct?
It’s a rare high school student that’s been exposed to Architecture (and Urban Planning, for that matter). UVA Architecture is deliberately small and we are very interested in students who have a passion for design for the A school, not for students who think architecture is an offshoot of engineering.
You can download [admission stats for our friends in Blacksburg here](http://ir.vt.edu/data/student/admissions.html) if you feel like comparing. Applicants will decide the school that best fits their needs.
Also, I did a summer internship at an architecture firm for a few weeks which is where I gained my interest in the first place. Is it worth adding it as an activity on common app even though it was only for three weeks?
A three week internship is worth mentioning.
I think it would be easier to get a bachelors in engineering and a masters in business, than visa versa. You can also use some of your electives as an engineering student to take at least 3 of the intro comm. school classes, even if you are not in the comm. school.
Dean J,
When you say it has been rare for a high school student to be exposed to architecture, what exactly do you mean by “exposed?” I worked a few weeks at an architecture firm and did a few projects for them. Would that be considered more than what the average high school student applying in architecture does?
@Charliesch, fwiw, per Architectural Record’s 2016 survey, VT’s architecture school is the no. 3 undergrad school in the US. But more to OPs’ question of architecture/engineering, the article offers:
“… there is a growing debate about the value of architectural education. Enrollment of first-year architecture students dropped almost 20 percent over a five-year period ending in 2013, Frank J. Mruk III, associate dean at New York Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture and Design, pointed out in an op-ed piece in the September 29 Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Mruk argues that the drop comes from the “outdated, costly and time-consuming qualification process” and suggests developing a tiered system where architectural training will be specific to the skills and goals of the students.”
This goes to the heart of the problems with the requirements for a professional degree: either a 5 year undergrad or a 4-2 year under grad/grad degree combo, plus internship requirements before being eligible to take the licensing exam.
http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/10085-americas-top-architecture-schools-2016