I work 40 hours a week. I took my gen. eds. at community college, and got an associate degree in architectural technology while I was there. That took me 3 years. In December, I will graduate with my bachelor of science in architecture. That took an additional 4 1/2 years. I shifted between full time and part time course loads, depending on how classes fit in with my work schedule. This semester, I'm full time, and work is busy too, so it's a little nuts, but it will all be worth it. I think you'll find most courses are offered at night. I have an 8 am class twice a week, so I come in to work late on those days. When the office is slow, I pull out the books and do homework.

Just Liki Chili...said its possible


I work 25- to 30 hrs a week / and the rest of the time in school

Schedule


work Class unoffical class time

mon 8:30-3pm 5pm-9pm 9-11

tues 8:30-2pm 3pm-9pm 9-11

weds 8:30-3pm 5pm9-pm 9-11

thurs 8:30-5pm no class 6pm-9pm

fri 8:30-12:30 2pm-6pm 6-9pm


Hours spent in unoffical class time varies....
usually allniters during presentations, midterms, and finals..


that what my schedule looks like pretty much...at least for this spring qtr

tumbleweed,

you can be my part time lover

Thank you for the input. I'm just sort of putting out feelers, doing a little "feasability study", as I don't really want to move on this until my in-state tuition rates kick in next March. If I can figure a way to balance the load, my employer should cover the cost of MOST of my courses. This "education benefit" hinges upon my willingness and ability to work full-time. I may try to do some core courses before that, as the local CC is pretty reasonable, even for out of state. In other news: It's snowing!

work /-----Class/---- unoffical class time

mon 8:30-3pm/--- 5pm-9pm/--- 9-11

tues 8:30-2pm/--- 3pm-9pm/--- 9-11

weds 8:30-3pm/--- 5pm9-pm/--- 9-11

thurs 8:30-5pm/--- no class/--- 6pm-9pm

fri 8:30-12:3 /--- 2pm-6pm/---- 6-9pm

i agree with tumbleweed... its doable, as i konw people who did it successfully... but i too recomend trying to work a few less hours if thats possible. I would work 2 or 3 full days a week plus shorter days on studio days, i had a 2nd job weekends where i could pick up 15 or so hours a week. My average for my last 2-3 years of school was around 30-35 a week. It was enough to pay my rent in crappy apartments, but it didnt negatively affect my studio work too much.
If its possible to partition your time by working full days 2 or 3 times a week and then having half work half class days, i found that was the best method. There is something tricky about switching from work to school and then back to work again on a regular basis.

I actually have no Choice....

I have a 1 year old son......and The truth is I work for an MEP firm which are cool with my education decision so they are really flexible with me. They pay me decent and are understading when it comes to school issues.

So I guess if you work for some one that will be flexible and understands, it will probaly make it easier to work

I get very little time to see my son....

but on the weekends I spent as much as I can with him....

Yeah. I have a wife to be, and we want to have wee ones at some point in the not too distant future, so a full-time income is rather necessary. It's all going to be a balancing act. I'll just have to go home and start training with brooms on my nose.

I think I would die if I worked fulltime during grad school...

A little masochism never hurt anyone ... or maybe it did.

haha, well good of you to at least be "thinking"....charlatan.

IN any event, best wishes, and I say: where there is hope and drive, there is success.

You can def. do it mate!

I try to take two classes max while doing 40 + overtime. I try to do some extra-curricular stuff too on the side like pro-bono and music club, but not both at the same time. The important thing is that your employers understand and respect that academics come first. Any employer that does respect that are usually good anyway. A good thing to start doing is to incoporate some work from school into the work at the firm. I've mentioned before on another thread how I was allowed to do research during work hours for both the firm and my school work. It is hard to find an employer like that. I don't think the quality of my school work or at the firm has suffered, but I do fear the stress level has impacted my health. When there is a final review for studio, a deadline at work, and a concert, I call it the perfect storm.

PhilArch...I can agree with that....

A school Project..Work project , and wife's birthday.....

A natural diaster..

all,
just so you know, there are others out here planning on combining work and school. I am about to enter a program for an Arch Tech associate's degree like Chili did. I too am married with a 3+ yr old and another due in the next week or so. I am entering this field later than most of you probably (35, english degree, furniture/interiors experience), so I am planning baby steps--literally.

charlatan,
we have a 10 yr age difference, but I am sure we are not the only two redirecting to this field. It is good to get this advice and encouragement from others who have gone before (cheese factor not intended).

Hah. Yeah. I'd hate to sound like a Star Trek fan or something, boldly going where no one has gone before. Not only would that be cheesy, it would be untruthful. I was fairly certain I'd get some good advice here, as I've been lurking for a while.

I would love to work for an architecture firm, but I don't even know how to begin to get my foot in the door. I was a tech support rep at a software company for a few years while working my way through art school (read: not going to class, because I didn't know what I was going to do with an art degree), then, because of my interest in building and architecture, I went to work for a custom home builder who builds in the $1 million + range. I wanted to get into design all the while, and eventually was supposed to do kitchen/bath design, which never materialized, and in hindsight, I'm glad it didn't, because all of his clients wanted the same thing in their 6500+ square foot quasi-colonial monstrosities (for 2 retired people no less). Then I went to work on the supply side of the construction business, where I have found myself doing truss design (roof and floor) for residential projects.

Any ideas for how I might get into an architecture firm without any formal training?

You guys are all super brave. I couldn't have worked fulltime. Always really admired people who did. Course most of these had already been in architecture for years. So often these people demanded respect for many reasons.

I think if I really wanted to do architecture and had to work fulltime, I'd move to Boston and go to the BAC. Students there have to work fulltime. It seems like a supportive environment in a cool part of Boston. And you'd be around a lot of others in the same boat.

Hm. 'tis a thought. I just really don't want to move back East :)

Charlatan - I went to CU Boulder for ENVD a few years ago, wound up moving back east and am about to finish my degree here. Anyway, I did work full time when I was there. In all seriousness - it just depends on how little sleep you can get away with and the flexibility of your work schedule. I even took 12 summer credits one term, 6 of which were a studio, and worked full time. You'll need to work some place that lets you work late so as to attend your classes, obviously.

I would not mention to any professors there that you work full time. I felt like some were biased against it and it informed their grading. If you want to talk to someone there though, I would recommend Professor Shane Rymer. He worked full time while attending Sci-Arc, as the story goes.

One other thing - undergrad still isn't accredited, right? Have you considered finishing your art degree and going to Denver for your masters? It might take you less time, be more practical with your work schedule, and the funding is so much better for grad students.

That has been a thought. The biggest issue is that most art classes don't transfer between institutions. I've been considering an undergrad art or econ major, whilst working on the portfolio. The company I work for will pay for most classes if I'm on a track that they will find "useful," which typically means something like business/finance/engineering, but they've been known to pay for econ, for those who are more inclined to go a "liberal arts" route. I'm down in Colorado Springs, so I'm actually looking to start out at Pikes Peak Community College, and then transfer to UC-CS if I decide to do an unrelated bachelor's.

Thanks for the input!

Just don't think about the loss of credits. There's not much you can do about it. I know it sucks.

Hello,
Like you and many others I fell into the same situation. My answers came in the way of the BAC (Boston Architectutal College, formorally the Boston Architectural Center). They now have an online Master program, I an one of 14 others that were selected to be in the first semester of this program and let me tell you it is a great program. The program was such a great sucess that they are starting three other first semester studios in Augaust. The majority of the program (studio and other classes) are online and there is a one week intensive studio week where all the students come together in Boston. This program is great for those that do not wish to relocate somewhere to finish school and not stop work for two - three years to complete their schooling. Below are links to some of the blogs (where students and instructors interact) from the first semester:

http://distancemarch.blogspot.com/ (instructors blog)
http://kab-1.blogspot.com/ (my blog)
http://kylebasilius.blogspot.com/ (classmate blog)
http://karrick-studio.blogspot.com/ (classmate blog)

The cost is reasonable and the experiance is like no other....

The school website is: http://www.the-bac.edu/

and the info on the program is here: http://www.the-bac.edu/x1100.xml

Hope this helps and good luck.

It may be a consideration once I decide what to do about this little undergrad problem. Thanks!