I am a high school student and I want to have a degree in architecture. My dad says that an engineering degree would help me with architecture. Would it? He also said that engineering would help me sign off on drawings for architecture, but I can’t find any articles that tell me if it would or not. I would like to design houses, or large buildings. How would any of this work?
Both architects and civil engineers participate in designing buildings, but in different roles.
For architects, the first professional degree is a 5-year BArch, or an MArch degree following a bachelor’s degree (time to complete an MArch can depend on whether the bachelor’s degree is in an unrelated or related field). Degree accreditation is by NAAB.
For civil engineering, the first professional degree is a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, usually a 4-year program, though it is often somewhat overloaded (more credits per semester than the usual number), with many students needing an extra semester or year. Degree accreditation is by ABET.
You can compare course work in each type of degree program to get an idea of what parts of building design each profession focuses on.
@katelynndana, Engineering and architecture are two separate career paths, though it’s not unheard of for people with engineering degrees to get architecture degrees as well. (Though, not at the same time!).
Architecture is a combination of construction and design and involves a lot of collaboration with engineers, building contractors, specialists and of course the clients. Larger firms will have engineers on staff. Smaller firms will collaborate with engineering firms. Architects need to have an overall understanding of the engineering challenges of their buildings, but they are not expected to be able to actually perform the engineer’s job.
Generally, a licensed architect is authorized to “sign off” on building plans; however the regulations vary from state to state.
As @ucbalumnus notes you can either study architecture as an undergraduate (the 5.0 year Bachelor of Architecture) or you can get an undergraduate degree in something else (e.g. art, architectural studies, even engineering) then get a Master of Architecture.
The BArch is an intensively focused architecture program, and is only recommended for students who are sure that they want a career in architecture. The BA/BS+MArch route takes longer and costs more but allows for more undergraduate experimentation.
If you’re thinking about studying architecture, I would suggest that you invest in a summer career exploration program offered by many schools of architecture. This will give you a better idea of what a career as an architect would entail and of the several educational routes that you could follow to become a licensed architect.
Engineering degree helpful in becoming an architect? Only if you want to spend another 1.5 years in college.
NAAB accredited MArch programs almost all have a “3+” degree for incoming students without a pre-professional NAAB BS in Architecture. It takes 7 semesters. If you have a BS in Arch, it takes 4 semesters. The “3+” program path usually means the MArch student is taking all the junior and senior BS Arch classes before they start the MArch program.
Going to a technical school might make it easier to pass some of the registration exams. My friends who went to Cal Poly had easier times with structural exams.
Engineers can stamp ENGINEERING drawings AFTER they pass the PE exam in their state. Usually to be able to do that, you need a ABET accredited degree, become an EIT (engineer in training) for a year or two, take the FE exam, work a couple years, take the PE exam. You CAN’T do that while working as an architect.
Likewise, if you are an engineer, no one is going to hire you to do the architecture of a building.
TL:DR - want to be an architect, get a degree in architecture. A degree in engineering will only waste your time.
Texas Tech has a dual degree in Architecture and Civil Engingeering. I don’t know about the merits of having both degrees but others seem to have covered that is the posts above. However, since there is at least one program there must be some advantage. My son has a friend in the program but I don’t know anything more.
Even more, nobody will likely pay for the double degree(s). I contemplated doing just that after my undergrad civil engineering, but that was 35 years ago when there was no AutoCAD, so everything was done by hand and I simply did not have the patience to do architectural drawings of the quality expected. Instead, I went into computer science and human factors engineering. I did pass my architecture genes to my daughter who’s wrapping up her M.Arch in May :).
Given the lengths one has to go in getting a license, whether Civil or Arch, doing both in parallel is unlikely, and doing them one after another means you’ll eventually be licensed in both at age 30+. An arch firm won’t really care about the civil engineering creds, and civil engineering won’t do you much good unless you focus on structural engineering.
There is also architectural engineering, a lot of schools have it. Not an easy program.
Looking at that Texas Tech dual degree I see that it’s a BS in Civil Engineering plus a BS in architecture which is different from a BArch. I looks like an interesting – and very demanding – program, but in order to become a licensed architect in most states, you’ll still need a Master of Architecture.
Look into architectural engineering programs. The amount of time and money (arch is a 5 year program, I’d add at least a year and a half minimum if you were to do engineering as well) you would spend getting 2 degrees would be a waste. Honestly, you already will need job experience and hours to take the licensing exams, so you are basically setting your career back. Architects and engineers stamp different things, you don’t need a background in one to stamp the other.
The simple answer is no. Search the archives of this forum to see why.
you also need about 3000 hrs of work experience in my state before being allow to take the Architecture license exam, same for the PE license, but may be more hours. Similar to an apprenticeship with the trade professions.