Hi all. My career goal is to become a licensed architect in Canada, but I am struggling to find a path due to the reckless decisions I have made in the past. 

A bit of background: I graduated with a BDes in Industrial Design from a Canadian school in 2021. I did this program because no architectural undergrad is available in my province. During my last two years of study, I was a very unsuccessful student for reasons entirely within my control. I won't go too much into it, but I became very passive about schoolwork and didn't bother handing in most projects and skipped many classes. My CGPA for my degree came out to 2.7 and my GPA calculated over the past 60 credits is 2.5. Two F's on my transcript and six withdrawals in total. 

Needless to say, I am not an ideal M.Arch candidate for any school in Canada. 

My question for this forum is what would you do if you were in this position? Do you have any feedback or suggestions on any of the following options?

I should mention the schools I am looking at are: University of Calgary, University of Manitoba (Masters preparation program+MArch), University of Toronto, and Carleton University.

I am currently looking at the following options for accreditation in Canada:

1) Apply to M.Arch programs with my poor grades anyway (3 years)

This is the "hail mary" option and I would be relying on showcasing my industrial design projects from undergrad in my portfolio. I can touch up industrial design projects, drawings, paintings, and sculpture I did in my undergrad and use these in my portfolio. I did very well during my first two years of study so I can get recommendations from second year studio professors without issue. Highly unlikely to be admitted except for extreme cases such as application counts being low for that given year. Application will probably not even be viewed as every school in Canada states a 3.0 minimum at the least. Getting past these minimum requirements often requires the department submitting your application to the dean for their approval and decision rests upon the dean. 

All in all probably the worst option at this time. I have talked to admissions officers from all above mentioned schools and only UofT was able to guarantee that I would still be considered for admission, pending external review by deans office due to the low GPA. Other schools gave vague language and could not guarantee that portfolio/recommendations/statement would be viewed regardless of GPA. 

2) Do one year of open studies at my local university then apply for M.Arch (1 year open studies + 3 years M.Arch) 

This option is somewhat better than option 1. If I were able to do two semesters of open studies (24 credits) and achieve A- (3.7) or above in all classes this would increase my last 60 credits above the 3.0 threshold. 

Downsides here: GPA calculation varies by school and admission officers were vague in regards to whether open studies extra to the degree will be calculated in admissions GPA. For example, UCalgary advisor I spoke with stated that open studies grades will be "considered" by admission committee but not weighted in overall calculation of admission ranking. (UCalgary weighs all applicants on a scale of 100: 40 points from undergrad GPA, 40 points portfolio, 20 points recommendations, essay, experience and other considerations) Im guessing this means that any courses extra to the degree will fall under the last 20 points of admissions weighting. 

Basically, I would still be relying on external review by the dean of the faculty for any admission with this method. Although success might be marginally more viable than option 1.

3) Complete a second degree in Architectural Science at Athabasca then apply for M.Arch ( 3 years BSc + 2 years M.Arch)

This option is perhaps the most expensive and time intensive upfront (Syllabus is more lengthy but is part time study) but does offer the clearest path to an M.Arch since it would become my primary GPA calculation for any program I apply to. Another benefit is that I could work as a designer/drafter between finishing this program and starting an M.Arch. Because this is an accredited program I would be able to apply to 2 year M.Arch programs. 

I would be able to get some credit from my BDes to bring down total time to 3-3.5 years for this program. This would be full time study online. 


4) Complete Architectural Technologist diploma + gain work experience as technologist then apply for M.Arch ( 2 years AT diploma + X years working + 3 years M.Arch)

A decent option overall in terms of building real work experience but I think that I would still be held back by my undergrad grades here. None of the schools I talked to calculate grades earned in Technologist diplomas as part of their admissions GPA. The technologist diploma would still be an extra consideration to my undergraduate GPA. 

However, I both UofT and UofC advisors told me that in appealing admissions to the dean of the faculty it is important to have lots of working experience in the specific field of study and there is precedent for those with poor GPA but lots of work experience being admitted to the respective programs. 

Risk here is that I could be pigeonholed into drafting or unable to find work in architecture at all. I have spoken to a few technologist grads who were only able to find work in manufacturing or hvac design.

5) Complete Architectural Technologist diploma then start RAIC syllabus ( 2 years AT diploma + 10-12 years part-time study) 

Overall I think this option is feasible for me but I am very conflicted with this one. It is incredibly time intensive and probably requires more dedication than all other options. I know an M.Arch is intense but maintaining consistency in courses for 10 straight years while working full time sounds much more difficult.  

The downsides here are numerous. The main one that sticks out to me is that I will not be able to advance in salary as quickly and earning potential will be capped at the level of an intern architect for the next 14 years. Even longer if there is a major recession and I am out of work. Furthermore, I don’t know how my work experience under the syllabus will be viewed by employers. Would I be competitive for associate or project positions after finishing the syllabus? Lots of questions with this one. 

I thank anyone who has taken the time to read all this and I appreciate your time. Any and all feedback is appreciated.