My advice is to not do it.  Stick with civil engineering and get your masters or PhD...then you can practice or teach.  If you transfer to architecture, you will have to do a 3.5-year M.Arch program...so it will be an 8-year investment of time...you will accumulate a ton of debt and enter into an unsteady job market that does not pay well.  After you graduate, the IDP to licensing process takes on average of 8 years.  So you will live like a college student well into your 30s...just without the fun.

What's your motivation for switching to Architecture? I'm not quite as doom & gloom as cosmo's post above but I agree that you should proceed with extreme caution.

With a Civil degree you can still work within a firm or consult. Moving into Architecture is going to take another decade of your life (between school and licensing, if you choose to get licensed) and tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention the pay cut you'll take *after* all that extra school.

It might still be worth doing if you're really that passionate, but unless your love of design borders on masochistic (which is what's kept me in the field this long), I wouldn't recommend starting down this path.

cosmo482 and tduds,

Time and money are the biggest challenge to me, I always want to study Architecture in college but due to academic reason I ended up doing civil engineering. After studying civil for 3 years, I find myself has almost little/no interest in it and thats why I am looking for a way to get back to architecture. 

Is the MArch1 program that bad? Why there are still many students want to get into this program?

If you really want to get into Architecture, Time and Money are two things you should get used to not having.

Personally, my M.Arch was the most stressful and the most rewarding thing I've ever done with my life. I graduated with major health issues, on food stamps, and in a toxic relationship, but 6 months later I was past all those things and I don't regret any of it. My life now is fantastic. I'm almost 31 and making less than the average 25 year old Civil Engineer, but I'm happy.

But, like I said, masochism. "I always want to study Architecture in college" is, in my view, a weak reason.

tduds,

Thank you for sharing your experience. The reason why I like architecture is purely I enjoy design and particular interested in buildings. At first I thought there may be something similar in civil engineering but now I am more certain that Architecture is the area I wanna develop my career in. Since I am from Asia, studying in UK/US/CA as an international student do have the financial burden to me. Would you like to share more on your story in M.Arch? I guess I would at least try to apply one school

Architecture saved my life....it will yours too... mang!

DeTwan, please leave this site.

..

Has coming here and posting your rants made you more or less bitter?

you're my entertainment sweet cheeks....

Maybe you should find a more effective way to deal with your anger than posting here.

what if this is the best way possible to deal with it?

Ive killed enough hamsters

Clearly, it has been ineffective. Maybe you should seek professional help. There is nothing wrong with that. 

Who are you to judge? Im in my glory days gurl!

I'm also in the same boat! I studied finance in undergrad and worked at a bank for a little while.

I really hate corporate banks so I'm deciding whether to go to grad school for architecture. 

I graduated without any debt so I'm okay with the idea of taking on some debt for an M.Arch. I think that architecture would give me the ability to go into other creative fields like product design or -my ultimate goal- to become a creative director in the future. 

Anyways, I've been thinking about this for a while. Any advice would help and be much appreciated <3 

Just go and start designing products, or be a creative director of your own life. Who ever sold you the bullshit that you need a degree and take on debt is an old out dated fart.

Anything you want to know is on the internet, I mean, how the fux did Balkins get so smart.

Im telling you that more schooling is NOT the answer. Higher education in america is just like McDonlads, a for profit business that does give a shit what you digest from it.

You god damn silly fuxin kids...

I really hate corporate banks

So you're planning on working in a corporate architecture firm?

I guess it takes being on the inside and the outside to see the irony in that comment...

There are more non-corporate architecture firms than non-corporate banks.

So if I’m majored in Banking and Finance 

Can I take a master in Architecture??

its not wrong to look in the old experiences and to ask anyone who has a similar background 

Instead of making fun, you can share a positive comment or simply you can say nothing. 

ok I majored in Banking and Finance, actually I’m a senior student the next semester is my last semester. Also, I’m an honor student my GPA is 4.5 out of 5. I wanted to take my bachelor in Architecture from the beginning but I didn’t have the chance. I really love Architecture I feel it’s like my passion and I’m real interested in this field that’s why I wanted to study it 

I don’t have any problem to study abroad in any location . I kept looking and searching for universities that provide master degree in architecture for non-architecture bachelor students but I didn’t find, that’s why I’m asking here. And I don't know any person who is in a similar situation but in this thread someone mentioned that he/she studied finance and he/she hate corporate. So he/she decided to take a master degree in architecture because he/she liked it, and I’m really interested to know if he/she did it or not 

Also, I believe that your comments may help me 

Thank you

I would only do it if your passionate about Architecture and can afford to be poor. Its a field that is very hard to make money especially if you want to do good work. You can work long hours for little pay and very little recognition. I ended up teaching drafting as a career and went back to school to study Illustration and graphic design as the field was so unsatisfying in the US.