I am new to the forums and wanted to introduce myself as well as get some input on a few things.My name is Chris, I am from the Detroit metro area and have been studying Architecture since high school.
I begun my undergrad study at Lawrence Technological University in the M arch program, I however dropped a few months later because my tuition wasn't fully covered by my loans. If anyone is from here they know that only 3 universities have arch programs and 2 of them are private (expensive).
This shattered my dreams since I wasn't in architecture for the money, but only because it is a passion of mine. I had to find a plan B so I enrolled at a state university and am in the Computer Science department. I find myself unhappy with this however, I have been accepted into both arch programs that our local private universities offer.
The university of Detroit mercy is where I've wanted to go from the start, but tuition runs about $27,000 a year. I have not applied for financial aid because I am afraid I will get denied again and end up wasting another semester doing nothing and getting nowhere.
My current university does offer a civil engineering degree, but even if I pursued this and made me concentration in structural engineering, it just isn't the same and I am a much more design oriented person than mathematical which you need a very strong background in to become any type of engineer.
I guess I am looking for some advice, peruse my dream or stick to my current program which i don't really like. I am aware that the job market for architects is bad, and that 1 in 1000 actually make very good money. I am content with all of this but I don't know if I will be content with letting go of something I love and doing something with computers.
Is anyone in the same boat? Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.
Also, the 3rd university that offers architecture if the university of Michigan but the campus that offers it is 2 1/2 hours away from me and I cannot dorm up there because of personal reasons.
I'm confused: Lawrence Tech and Detroit Mercy are in Detroit Metro. UMich architecture is in Ann Arbor, which is not 2.5 hours from Detroit, even in traffic. If it's your passion, you will figure out how to make the dorm situation work, right? Though I don't think UMich is going to be any less expensive than the other two; if anything it will be more expensive.
I guess no school in Michigan offers a 5 year accredited BArch degree any longer, so you'll have to get a Master's anyway (I really disagree with this change in the education system, but whatever. That boat's sailed.) An undergrad in civil engineering isn't a bad place to start - can you take electives in any kind of architecture where you are?
Try to graduate with the least debt you can. It's actually important. And this too: have you spent time in a firm? Could you shadow an actual architect and see what their day to day job is like? Because it's not all design all the time. Passion or not, it can be an exceptionally frustrating profession. I shudder to think how many current students are graduating $100k in debt without ever having interned therefore having no idea that working in the field is oftentimes miserably unsatisfying.
But I am 1 hour north east of those schools, so for me its already an hour drive to Lawrence tech, then another hour and a half to U of M. U of M is roughly the same price but since it is a state school and not private generally people get their tuition covered.
I have actually visited and called many firms around here and offered to come in for free and work, I even had letters of recommendation from my high school arch teacher as well as the arch teachers at the community college I started at.
Cival eng covers too many things of which I have no interest in, and even if it was a pure structural engineering degree, it doesn't give me the architectural aspect or the job. There are no arch courses here, not even the most basic such as vis com and design. They have an autoCAD class but I already know autoCAD very well.
the Benefit of the U of M MArch program is that it is a joint program with the Cranbrook Academy, and NAAB accredited. Cranbrook Academy = great program
A "joint" program? When did this happen? When I was at UM there was one studio offered to grads only that was taught by the current professor in residence at Cranbrook.
Man, I really don't know what to say. UDM and LTU are more regional degrees, and while it is slowly improving, the metro Detroit architecture market is difficult right now. If you have excellent design skills and GPA, you could do two years at a community college and try to transfer into UM's four-year BS, but honestly, I doubt they take a lot of community college transfers. I would run this plan by UM Architecture before pursuing it to get their feedback.
I know architecture may be your dream, but I don't think I can recommend you get $135K in debt to achieve it.
Hello
I am new to the forums and wanted to introduce myself as well as get some input on a few things.My name is Chris, I am from the Detroit metro area and have been studying Architecture since high school.
I begun my undergrad study at Lawrence Technological University in the M arch program, I however dropped a few months later because my tuition wasn't fully covered by my loans. If anyone is from here they know that only 3 universities have arch programs and 2 of them are private (expensive).
This shattered my dreams since I wasn't in architecture for the money, but only because it is a passion of mine. I had to find a plan B so I enrolled at a state university and am in the Computer Science department. I find myself unhappy with this however, I have been accepted into both arch programs that our local private universities offer.
The university of Detroit mercy is where I've wanted to go from the start, but tuition runs about $27,000 a year. I have not applied for financial aid because I am afraid I will get denied again and end up wasting another semester doing nothing and getting nowhere.
My current university does offer a civil engineering degree, but even if I pursued this and made me concentration in structural engineering, it just isn't the same and I am a much more design oriented person than mathematical which you need a very strong background in to become any type of engineer.
I guess I am looking for some advice, peruse my dream or stick to my current program which i don't really like. I am aware that the job market for architects is bad, and that 1 in 1000 actually make very good money. I am content with all of this but I don't know if I will be content with letting go of something I love and doing something with computers.
Is anyone in the same boat? Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Also, the 3rd university that offers architecture if the university of Michigan but the campus that offers it is 2 1/2 hours away from me and I cannot dorm up there because of personal reasons.
I'm confused: Lawrence Tech and Detroit Mercy are in Detroit Metro. UMich architecture is in Ann Arbor, which is not 2.5 hours from Detroit, even in traffic. If it's your passion, you will figure out how to make the dorm situation work, right? Though I don't think UMich is going to be any less expensive than the other two; if anything it will be more expensive.
I guess no school in Michigan offers a 5 year accredited BArch degree any longer, so you'll have to get a Master's anyway (I really disagree with this change in the education system, but whatever. That boat's sailed.) An undergrad in civil engineering isn't a bad place to start - can you take electives in any kind of architecture where you are?
Try to graduate with the least debt you can. It's actually important. And this too: have you spent time in a firm? Could you shadow an actual architect and see what their day to day job is like? Because it's not all design all the time. Passion or not, it can be an exceptionally frustrating profession. I shudder to think how many current students are graduating $100k in debt without ever having interned therefore having no idea that working in the field is oftentimes miserably unsatisfying.
But I am 1 hour north east of those schools, so for me its already an hour drive to Lawrence tech, then another hour and a half to U of M. U of M is roughly the same price but since it is a state school and not private generally people get their tuition covered.
I have actually visited and called many firms around here and offered to come in for free and work, I even had letters of recommendation from my high school arch teacher as well as the arch teachers at the community college I started at.
Cival eng covers too many things of which I have no interest in, and even if it was a pure structural engineering degree, it doesn't give me the architectural aspect or the job. There are no arch courses here, not even the most basic such as vis com and design. They have an autoCAD class but I already know autoCAD very well.
the Benefit of the U of M MArch program is that it is a joint program with the Cranbrook Academy, and NAAB accredited. Cranbrook Academy = great program
A "joint" program? When did this happen? When I was at UM there was one studio offered to grads only that was taught by the current professor in residence at Cranbrook.
Donna, UDM does offer a B.Arch.
Man, I really don't know what to say. UDM and LTU are more regional degrees, and while it is slowly improving, the metro Detroit architecture market is difficult right now. If you have excellent design skills and GPA, you could do two years at a community college and try to transfer into UM's four-year BS, but honestly, I doubt they take a lot of community college transfers. I would run this plan by UM Architecture before pursuing it to get their feedback.
I know architecture may be your dream, but I don't think I can recommend you get $135K in debt to achieve it.
How could you start school without knowing what financial aid you are getting? That seems odd to me.
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