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Transferring into a B.Arch program
Hi, I'm finishing up my senior year in high school and am greatly interested in pursuing Architecture, however, due to a lot of academic underachieving, my only option to go to college in the fall is through a community college. I understand this is far from the standard path however I've seen there is some level of infrastructure is there for transfers from some schools into their architecture programs (Cornell offers a limited amount of B.Arch transfer slots, V.Tech does not, however they do allow internal transfers to B.Arch). I had a fairly good SAT when I took it, although I plan on taking it again and if I were to improve my score and reach a target GPA while at a community college, I would hope that schools would consider me. I was wondering if anyone that has successfully transferred from a community college has any advice on the process or can even just confirm that you can still complete a B.Arch after transferring in less time than it would take to complete a separate undergrad degree then pursue an M.Arch.
The follow-up question would be whether I should just skip the thought of a B.Arch and just get a different undergraduate degree then an M.Arch, or still pursue a non professional BS or BFA in Architecture.
I greatly appreciate any help on the matter.
It can be done. The ideal situation for you would be to find a community college program that has a fairly seamless path into a BArch program, often referred to as an "articulation agreement".
Otherwise, I know that most architecture programs have openings in their classes after first year (and sometimes second year) due to a significant number of people who quit the program. You may end up in school for 6-7 years in order to do your design studio classes, but you might be able to fix that with summer school. If you have access to an inexpensive community college, it's a great way for a serious architecture student to knock out your math, english, physics, classes, etc. before you start architecture school.
Thank you so much for the response! I'd certainly hope to complete the degree in the minimum time possible, both because of tuition costs as well as opportunity cost for the time I could've spent working as opposed to being in school for 1-2 years after the standard 5, which would likely be better spent in an M.Arch program following a BS or BFA.
Hi archjm,
You can totally go to a community college program and transfer into a B.Arch program. I did it, and many of my colleagues have done it. It is not as far from the "norm" as you might think. You'd want to connect with the architecture department at the community college you're thinking of and ask them about previous transfer students or "articulation agreements" as the previous Archinector suggested.
You community college program should help you in building up a nice portfolio for your future B.Arch application. Additionally, many of your community college courses can be transferred into the B.Arch program. I personally, did two years at community college and then did three years at a NAAB accredited 5 year B.Arch program, graduating in the same amount of time.
If you think you have an interest in architecture then go for architecture right out of the gate. You got this!
Thank you for all the information! Even if there was no specific advice, just hearing that it's possible to graduate on time with an accredited degree is extremely motivating. I'm currently researching if any of the colleges I'd like to apply to have specific articulation agreements that could help to streamline the transfer process. Is there any way I can contact you to find out more about your experience in the transfer/application process?
Certainly. You’ll find my contact info on my profile.
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