Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Pratt Institute
University of Southern California (USC)
Tulane University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Temple University
University of Oregon
Cranbrook Academy of Art
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
Kansas State University
COMMUNITY COLLEGE/ UNIVERSITY?
Hi, I'm interested in taking Arch as my major. But i still haven't decide if i should take B.arch/ BS (could get some advice here) and should i go to college first for 2 years then transfer into uni or should i just go to university immediately? (i want to take USA- maybe California? ) and which college/ university is great for improving my skill and get a job? i know this is commong question as it should depend on myself but.. im so confused!
Right now I'm in my last year of senior highschool, which is disastrous how late am i to think about this.
Transferring from a community college is a waste of two years, and the money associated with it. The architecture program will be a set number of studio years, regardless of the credits you transfer.
Thx for your information, but isn't college supposed to be lower price? and as far as i know c.college and univ 2 years would be a general study?(except i'm wrong about this sorry). Well,i'm considering college because i don't feel that confident in my art portofolio, so i thought maybe i could help myself to push my GPA in college and it'll become easier to go to uni cause uni acceptance rate is quite lower than college does.
no. try listening. you will have 4-5 years worth of courses and studios in an undergraduate architecture program, regardless of what credits you transfer from a shitty community college. how is this so mystifying?
"Architecture programs are structurally discriminatory against community college graduates."
Conversely, the general study requirements provided by a Community College are not considered relevant to the practice of Architecture.
The B.Arch is a five-year program with architecture courses throughout your five years. This type of degree is accredited meaning you will qualify for licensure.
Yes, community colleges are cheaper but they are limited in their offerings. Many do offer programs where you can do two years, get an associates degree and then transfer as a junior to a four year program. That is not the case with a B.Arch program since it is architecture classes through all five years. At best you would get your core classes done during those two years but would still have five years of architecture courses.
Community college would possibly work better getting a BS, but then you would have to get a Masters to qualify for licensure. Just doing the B.Arch is likely cheaper overall than doing a mix and match of schools.
Wow, the advices were all new to me, it really helped me a lot in many ways, thank you. Especially for explaining me how is the university majority perspectives and the pathways for the licensing stuff. So far, I decided to go for B.Arch and I'm sure to take university rather than college because of this forum. I'm gladly to receive any new informations.
Oh, and do you guys have any University recommendation? Maybe in California? or a personal experience/knowledge (I've been thinking to try UCLA/UCB/Cal.Poly but I'm not sure which is the best for me)
Thank you, sorry if i was being naive.
You should also be aware that the way you're using "university" vs. "college" isn't the way they're used in the US. There are many colleges that offer a B.Arch - so you don't necessarily need to choose a university. "College" in the US generally just means an institution that offers undergraduate degree programs. A university typically offers graduate programs in addition to bachelor programs, and typically offers more fields of study than a college offers. A university may contain one or several colleges.
Universities aren't necessarily more selective in admissions, or more expensive, than colleges. There are many private elite colleges, and many more affordable state universities.
"Community college" usually refers to a local institution that has mostly 2-year associate degree programs, and sometimes trade/vocational programs, and sometimes also remedial and life skills programs and programs for people who didn't finish high school, etc. Community colleges can be an affordable way for students to get general education credits - but as has been discussed by others, transferring into an architecture program from a community college is not always smooth and sometimes results in more time spent overall.
Oops, sorry about that. what I mean is "community college" when i said "college" back there :) and thanks for the advice .
You can save money going to community college but it will cost you in time as others have pointed out. So you knock out 60 credits of general educational credits such as math, language arts, science, electives etc etc. But then you go to the five year architecture school. It will take you five more years but you will only have to go part time for a few semesters. This could be a benefit if money is the concern. Save at community college and then allows you time to have a part time job when at the university. But that is 7 years in the end for the 5 year BS degree.
Assuming their student visa allows them to be a part time student.
Missed the part where he/she is not in the US. But I did exactly what I stated above. Transferred to the university with 60 credits. Not all went to my major but a lot did. I then petitioned the school to allow me and about 15 others in the same situation to combine 2nd and 3rd year studio. 2nd year was morning and 3rd year was afternoon. So that year I pretty much had 4 hour studio in the morning, lunch and 4 hour studio in the afternoon. Worked out for me but not certain others can pull it off.
Yeah, I'm not from the US. What do you mean by "transferred to the university with 60 credits"? and where do you transferred from /to?( it's okay if you want to keep it private though)
Btw the petition sounded really great!
The explanation were great thank you!
We do transfer students from second and third year to 5 year schools in LA and beyond, most of them transfer to Woodbury, USC, SCI-Arc, Cal Poly, UCLA sometimes with great scholarships and we have students with a BA or BS degree preparing, applying and getting accepted for graduate programs of the same schools. We are a transfer program almost all of our students are here for that purpose only and 95% of final 2nd year studio transfer each year. Only very few apply for associate degree which has little or no value in itself in today's architectural job market. I am talking about East LA College in the heart of urban Los Angeles.
Oh, you are invited if you are in the area.
https://archinect.com/news/art...
Thank you! I will check it out!
The opinions in this thread seem like they are largely coming from people who did one or the other.
I did exactly what you are asking about, and it saved me a lot of money. The real key is knowing what you are going to do after CC, and exactly how credits will transfer. Most architecture schools are in sequence, as is mentioned above, and that will drive how long it takes you to get through them. However, a lot of the schools don't have architecture specific design classes the first year, they are often basic design courses that you can find transferable credits for. I knew which undergrad I was going to before i went to CC, and took 32 credits that transferred as 25.
If you don't plan it well, it will be a disaster. If you do plan it well, it can save you a lot of money and really not impact your education much because of how many gen-eds and basic courses you'll take either way.
I would be very careful about this though.
If you spend an extra year in school because you didn’t calculate credits right, it’s a disaster. If you spend an extra year in school because you wanted to take some extra art classes on the cheap, to prep yourself for the rest of your life in design, sure that might be a reasonable move. Either way, it’s about planning. But my statement was if you don’t plan it well it will be a disaster, so I stand by that. Also, doing any more CAD than is necessary to get credits in your next level of education is a waste.
The person seems to be looking to enter California so unlike residents, tuition per unit is not as cheap for out-of-state/foreign students. And the system is packed.
If it's their first time here, they might have to wait and have some luck to get the basic required classes as they likely start from the bottom with little priority. That just kills time and a year can easily slip into one or two or more.
Paying a school for one extra year that you didn't plan for is a disaster times 2. You pay the school $20-$30k and you lose a years worth of wages. That, to me, is a disaster.
@donuts
Yeah, it would be smart to apply to a couple of schools, not exclusively in California....
Where would these night school students work though? Assuming firms will need to hire kids out of high school and if they're any good or devoted to a profession they have no idea about. If it's just regular students, that is something else but the whole structure of studio basically eliminates any time for work.
so lets say I have almost one year done of my first year of community college right now while in high school meaning I could potentially graduate early in college.My school has turned to a promise school where anyone who graduates from that school receives two years of community college for free what would you do ? would you take that opportunity and finish all your under graduate credits and transfer or go straight into a four year university ?
yes
yes, if the credits from the community college in fact fulfill your university or core credit, otherwise just take what's needed at not cost. If you're in any hurry that is. Free school = "Stay here...stay as long as you can... for the love of god cherish it.." - Billy Madison
Hi everyone. I'm going to study Architecture at a community college this fall and I'm a bit confused on which general education subjects should I take. Any ideas??
Thanks
P.s: I know that studying architecture at a cc is not the best choice but I had to due to our financial issues.
What you should do is look at the typical requirements at the architecture schools to which you're considering transferring. Your architecture-related courses aren't very likely to be accepted as satisfying any core requirements in a 4-year (or 5-year) architecture program, but the required core general subjects usually will. At best the architecture-related courses may satisfy elective requirements.
General education requirements vary from one college to another. Fairly typical example: my undergrad program required 2 semesters each of English composition, philosophy, and history of art, and 1 semester each of math and a lab science - so any of those that students took in community college usually transferred directly. Most other general education could count toward electives, though sometime courses are rejected if they're things that the school to which you're transferring doesn't offer themselves - for instance the program at which I teach doesn't accept any transfer credits of theater or dance courses, because our degree program doesn't offer those subjects.
Thanks a lot for sharing :)
Depending on where you are, some CC architecture courses do transfer to universities, some don't. Make sure you know which applies in your case - if you can knock out your first 2 years of studio at the CC, do it, but if studios won't transfer, then you might be better off spending your CC time building more basic skills (e.g. drawing). Of course, this is in addition to Threesleeve's advice on GEs.
Ah I see. Thanks a lot for sharing. :)
so spending 2 years at a cc will most likely result in 5 years at a NAAB accredited university so a total of 7 years to get a B.A. of Arch unless the cc satisfies the architecture requirements (is it rare for them to offer these requirements)???
you might be able to get some credits for whatever you took in cc
Is it possible to knock off 2 years as long as the cc courses I take are transferable for architecture? Also if I am studying architecture isn't it better to do an associate degree in architecture at a cc and then transferring rather than just doing my general ed??
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