I can't speak as to hard it is to get into a graduate program these days. Although I will be going to architecture school next year, it's for a completely different type of program and for a completely different reason than most (I will be going into academia).

But, when I was a senior in college (at Northwestern of all places), I did apply to architecture school and did manage to get into one m.arch program (Washington University in St. Louis), but opted to go to law school instead. Now, this was back in 1992-1993, and at that time, I was a History of Science major. I had no formal design background, yet I had taken architecture history classes where I was taught how to "read" buildings. I really cracked down and created a portfolio that tried to simultaneously showcase my drawing/visual skills with my analytical skills. Although I look back at it with some modicum of embarassment, it did work. Yet again, applying to arch. school in 1992/93 was a lot different than now (no internet, no fancy graphics programs ... just pen and paper and copying machines).

I am a firm believer that for m.arch programs, one does not really need a formal design education (I say that strictly based on my experience, and tons of folks on this site will most likely disagree with me). But then again, I often wish that at the time I applied to architecture school way back then, that I was more firmly rooted in visual analyses.

I say that your interests come first and foremost before you contact any school regarding any application. During your studies, try your best to develop your own voice, your own way of "seeing", and then once you do apply to architecture programs, see how you can show this off.

And read. Read lots of stuff. There is a vertiable canon of literature in the past couple of decades that will inform and guide you in your architecture studies/ambitions no matter what you decide to study.

I think that's all I have for you, and hopefully, it may be of some use.

well said smokey!

madprof: FYI Cooper Union is undergrad only (to my knowledge)

if u r smart u can get in to a solid program.
people know what to expect out of non-archy undergrads.
major in whatever u r most interested in. don't worry how that translates to architecture just yet. You will be in a very intense course of study when u get to archy school.

2D or 3D? What is your gig? Figure that one out and your path is already before you.

art history is a worthless degree in architecture. this i know cuz i have one.

madprof,
hopefully my experience can help you. i graduated from harvard last june, where there is no undergraduate architecture program. i was certain that i wanted to go to architecture school, and had much advice from people during my first year to major in visual art (to learn to understand space), art history, social psychology (so i would have a general knowledge), and so forth. my advice to you would be to major in what you like. i can tell you now, and you may not believe me, but you will change your mind a lot of times about what you want to do after undergrad and the most important thing is to do what you like. your major won't have a very big impact on whether you go to architecture school eventually - i know people who have majored in pretty much any field - and the odds are about 50-50 that in three years you wont even want to get an MArch. my future plans ranged from an MArch, a masters in planning, a masters in arch and urban design to a phd in sociology and a phd in urban planning/arch. you shouldnt plan too far ahead now. that said, you will help yourself by getting some basic skills under your belt. i would strongly recommend that you take some visual arts classes even if you dont major in it. take painting, drawing, even film if you can. i ended up majoring in visual and environmental studies, where i focused on urban studies, but i had a large enough portfolio of artwork that i would have felt comfortable applying to architecture graduate school. i know people who did apply with their portfolios and got in (to harvard, texas, among others). you should also take architecture history and art history classes. i dont agree that is a worthless degree - i know people who went that route and they have been fine. you can also do something like harvard's career discovery summer program if you want to get some arch studios and add to your portfolio that way, or see if you can cross register at IIT or UIC during the semester. i talked myself into an architecture internship after my first year, with a neighborhood residential architect. he taught me how to draft; it wasn't an important firm by any means but I got my feet wet, and used that to get other internships in planning and curating. start small - a modest architecture practice would consider any smart candidate, even if you dont have lots of formal training. the last advice i would give you is to meet and talk to as many architecture and history profs as you can and get to know architects and artists. you will learn a lot that way and get a good idea of where you stand. i spent a lot of time at the graduate school of design at harvard and got to know students, which helped me decide which route to take. i also wrote my thesis with a prof there, who could give me a good idea about the different programs. it also doesn't hurt when you apply, because you will have recommendations by the same people who will decide your acceptance, which is helpful. thats what i know - you can do this lots of ways, and that is my experience. the most important thing, like the others said, is to do what you want, and the rest will come.

one more thing to hopefully ease your mind - i am currently an urban planner, although i dont have a "professional" degree. so your job market might be more open than you think when you graduate, and you might consider working in the architecture world before locking yourself in to a graduate program. the best thing about your position is you will have four more years of knowledge when you graduate but will not be tracked to any profession, which i think is a great asset.

Smokey and hckybg, thanks for sharing your stories, and thanks everyone else who has given advice. It's kind of frustrating not being able to do anything architecture related at my university, and I've been having trouble figuring out how much I should be planning for the future and how much time I should spend doing what I want to do right now.

keep an open mind - email and call every person who interests you at other area universities, go to all lectures you can find, and visit buildings. you are in one of the best cities for architecture in the country, your school has great architectural history and urban sociology programs, and you have the renaissance center, which does amazing things with contemporary art. also dont miss opportunities to explore the more conceptual aspects of architecture - take philosophy and linguistics classes and find something within a studio class that lets you play with design (dont underestimate the value of a painting class, for example)