Hi Kimberly, I would say if you are 100% certain Architecture is what you want to do wit your life then just do the M.Arch now and get it over with so you can start your career as soon as possible and not have to interrupt it half way through with school. After my Undergrad I took 4 years of before applying for my M.Arch this year, the reason I did that is because after graduating from my Undergrad I was having doubts about Architecture as a career. So I took time to work in different creative fields but Architecture kept calling me back and I knew I had to finish what I had started. The only advantage I can say working a few years gave me is I've learnt to work quicker and more efficiently so hopefully the late nights will be limited. The financial burden is also a huge worry for me because I also have some student loans from my Undergrad but I feel like I just have to suck it up, get a job while in school and work holidays to lessen the burden a little. It's probably going to be a few tough years but it will pay off in the end.

Graduate school usually is a bit more self driven than grad-school - time commitment-wise I found that those who came straight through tended to do the late nights, while those that had a more solid agenda and work experience maintained more reasonable hours (I worked half time in my later years, mostly for travel expenses, though looking back I should have used it to offset debt).

The problem is that either way it's hard to offset the cost as a financial investment (there's little chance that your earning potential increases proportionately to the debt), so it really has to be about what you want to get out of those extra years in school (whether it is networking, mentorship under specific faculty, learning software -work use and academic use of software is different).  Depending on the graduate program, you may be able to open doors that are currently closed to you - it's a case by case basis and it's probably worth talking to the current students to see if the fit is right.

If your not happy with programs your admitted to, and debt is an issue, why dont you just wait a year and apply to instate schools, that is assuming you are not an international student. 

Otherwise just go for it and start your career sooner than later. 

I assume you didn't apply yet to grad school. So you do have some time to gain some real experience at a firm. If you still like it, I would urge you to apply when application season comes. 

You will learn more and more by getting out in the real world - through work experience - through meeting people in professional settings. You will never stop learning, if you are really passionate about the field - because you'll always be studying to improve yourself and give yourself an advantage over others. What i mean is: more time screwing around in school is just setting you back at some point...

IF you already have a B Arch (like I do) then I assume you are licensure eligible, correct? I'm 7 years out of college and have yet to understand the advantage of anyone with more 'education' than me. My program was 5 years. 3 years later licensed.  My friends in my city  have 6-7 years of college arch education because their programs have unfortunately justified  the 4+2 or 4+3  idea that more ' education' (at college) is always better.  The 5 year program is becoming endangered - that's too bad - because college wants more of your time (money). 

A few years out of school you'll realize that what you do around professionals and owners in this industry is what matters. Your portfolio collects dust. My 30-year old friend from our state college 5-year program is lead designer on the tallest skyscraper in China. Others are project managers at SOM. This is in Chicago. In my city, my 'new' friends are just getting into the workforce. We are all 30 years old. They did the 4 year, work 2-3 years, go back for 3 years ... thing.  

IF you're passionate about the profession, take that drive and put it to work in the real world ... now.  You got the paper/diploma, and you'll find you'll learn more by doing real things - because now it matters!

Thank you all for your advice. Yeah, I think the hardest part has been oscillating between choices and the fact that I need to make up my mind by this month. 

and @toosaturated, I actually did apply. I narrowed it down to choosing between attending a newly accredited program at SAIC with 50% funding or waiting it out a couple of years to save up some money and reapply, perhaps even look into more programs. I had offers to a couple other schools, but I am not taking them because they are offering me even less financial support. I don't mind having to take out some loans but having close to 90k of a debt because I still have to pay undergrad as well doesn't seem like an ideal situation. I mean I am aware that either way I need to live modestly and that's not something that frightens me but having the stress of barely making means meet does. 

and @paleshelter I have the preprofessional degree so I would have to do what your friends are doing and my debate is whether to take those 2-3 yrs to work in between or just go into getting the professional degree. As an undergrad I unfortunately opted for the 4 yr instead of the 5 because I simply had no real idea what I was getting into.  That's what is intimidating to me. and the school I am looking into is actually in Chicago too. I see more and more what you mean by the 5 year program becoming endangered. High School seniors definitely need to have a better idea about what an architectural education entails and the possibilities after graduating. Even when you explain it it seems like it doesn't always come through. Time when you are 18 seems easy to take for granted.

Pros (of working first)

- Directing your interests

- Developing your CAD, Sketchup, Powerpoint and PSD skills

- Potentially realizing you should aim for better grad schools than you expected

Cons

- Finding a decent firm that will hire you

- Losing modelmaking skills, and all of those other fanciful programs that schools like.  (Unless you find a very good job)

- Getting good recommendations from professors years later is a pain

- Managing the time is takes for applications while working

- Saving money won't be as easy, your lifestyle may not be the same as when you were a student

- Your overall earnings for a 2 year time is definetly less with a BA than a MArch.

- If you take MArch now, you can intern during breaks and get to know more companies

Do you have any jobs lined up? Or even a portfolio to submit to employers?
 

"Your overall earnings for a 2 year time is definitely less with a BA than a MArch."-

-I don't know if this is entirely true. Wait, no you're right. You mean Bachelor of Arts? Correct? I have the B.Arch. I was paid the exact same out of school with my 5-year degree (professional degree) vs my 6 and 7-year master degree colleagues. I find this pretty typical. My friend with a bach of arts in arch was paid probably 8-10k less (starting). 

So that is a good point because it is true from my findings. 6 years later, I discovered another friend of mine was earning 15k less than me (he had a bach of arts). We were at the same firm. I find this unfortunate.  You really want to get registered if you want more responsibility I think. Or, you need a firm education in architecture and engineering. The 4 year bach of arts must be a general degree that does not offer potential architects any leverage over other students without a declared major. Do you not focus on architecture?  All 5 years of my schooling was architecture, structures, design. 

Apologies for sounding like an ass; but my agenda here is to get people thinking twice about 4-year college degrees that equate to 'general studies'. 4 years of studying and paying for college is a long amount of time 'to figure things out'. I have learned more in the last 6 months at my new job than the last 10 years of experience + schooling. (That may be a stretch but it sure feels like it).

Experience is everything, which is why getting the fundamentals in education, exploring and getting inspired while in school should really just be the inertia/potential energy on your way to the real world. Which is why it is difficult for me to comprehend architects studying like doctors for 7 years to get a degree where construction + design knowledge primarily learned outside the walls of the classroom .... 4 years is more than enough for architects. We're not rocket scientists.

@bmedi I actually don't have a job lined up yet but I do have a portfolio and before I found out about admissions I was applying to jobs. I had gotten interviews and things were surprisingly ok, the problem was I could not commit to anything since I was waiting to hear back from schools. So I would have to start the job hunt all together. 

@paleshelter and no you don't sound like an ass. I agree with you. It definitely felt like architecture was what took up most of my time but I did take many courses outside of architecture. I don't entirely regret that though, I do feel like there is something to the perspectives and skills I gained in my work through my other courses. It's just it definitely feels like there are just so many things wrong with our higher education situation and in architecture it only feels like it's worse. 

And today I actually heard I got into GSAPP(3 yr) but I am only getting a 15k scholarship. So now I have another part added into my decisions. GSAPP sounds great on paper but now it's again dealing with finances. 

It is starting to sound though like I probably should really get my professional degree either way but it's a matter of when and for how much, which feel like huge questions that will definitely greatly affect my future.

I'll add one last tidbit to the conversation. I great young guy I was working with at my last arch firm had the 4 year bach of science in arch. His pay was lower than he liked because he wasn't " on the path to licensure". ( I really think this is a pathetic excuse for firms to justify not paying what you deserve.) He does a lot for the firm; great communicator, great project manager, good networker .... he's only 27 or so and was managing a team of 5 or 6 people 10 years older than him on a large scale project.  In a firm of 175, no doubt in my mind he is one of the very few next associates and then principles in line.

He decided to do an ONLINE masters of arch degree because he measured all the options... decided he wanted to keep working (because why would he want to give up the great position he's in?).. pay the LEAST amount of money (because he has stupid debt from a 4 year bach of science) ... and be done in 1.5 years doing night courses.  No idea what the school is. Doesn't matter to him. Because he wants the degree to enable him to become licensed, which will allow him a path to becoming principal at a large firm... make more money... more responsibility, etc.

So he's not deterred by the no-name probably half-ass school he's attending. What are you going to learn at school that you're not going to learn at the office ??? Most top professors are owners of top firms anyways (atleast that's the case in my major market city)....if given the option:  i think it's best to 'work with them' ... then it is to do theoretical work 'for them' while at school (behind the scenes).... 

i was in your position but ended up working at a firm for three years after i got my pre-professional degree. when i applied to grad school I had much better work in my portfolio and got into much better schools. I also was a more adept designer and software user. i'm really glad i got professional experience beforehand. also with the time passing i was just a more mature person.

if you have a good option for a job working with people who will elevate your game, that's what i would choose. if you don't have anything lined up, or only something very mediocre where u won't grow, then school is the better option.

@l3wis Yup, I agree and am still in that boat right now.  I am on my third year out of school, and going back to grad school this fall. So of course, I am biased.  I would say, if the job is really good, go for it.  If not, school.  If you work first, you may be missing that extra $10-15k a year that could help pay off debt.  Not to mention, you will be wondering where all those hours in the office went when you are trying to decide whether or not you can put RFIs in your portfolio.

@pale shelter  I did mean the Bachelor of Arts.  I don't know why preprofessional architecture degrees exist.  Just do away with them, I say!  BArch and MArch(s) should be the only offerings.

@bmedi I agree, pre-professional degrees are so prevalent and school's do an awful job of being honest about them.  When I was deciding on undergrad, my undergrad school was like meh, it's basically a BArch and you get to get a Masters in just 2 years.  No one mentioned that a B.Arch allows you to get licensed and not a pre-professional - I thought that everyone needed to get a MArch when I was starting out so it was either 5+1 or 4+2.  I wish I would have done a BArch and then if I wanted to go to school again to get a Masters, it would be in urban design or an MBA or something else but now I HAVE to get an M.Arch... and school's are like it's only 2 years - yeah, if you don't want to switch schools... at some places my 2 years turned into 3.5, whatttttt?!?!  Seems like a money maker for schools.    /end of rant  

But truthfully I'm excited about starting grad school in the fall.  

Just go to Columbia, sounds like the best option you have, and with some decent need based money too. 

@kimberlyJean,

I think Both options may seem okay, as long as you make sure to make everything happend (derermined) I mean, if you decide to take a break its to kill yourself finding a job and gainig experience. My though is like some others here, better get over with the Master so we can focus on working.

Now, talking about grad school I was actually attracted to this post because I am currently graduating from Under-grad and will start Graduate school (M.arch) on Fall 2015 and I was also accepted into SAIC. My story is a bit different cuz from 6 that I apply I only got 3:

-SAIC 2 years

-Ohio st. 3 years

-Cincinnati 4years in total

I am still deciding where to go, I feel more like Ohio state but saic seems tenting for the 2 years plus they offer my $$. What did u decide, columbia? Or better yet. What are your thoughts on SAIC..im sacred that its a new school...:/