surviving on 3 hours of sleep, especially before reviews
coffee addiction and learning compensatory hand-steading techniques
lots of vagueries, how to decipher them; how to b.s. a response when you otherwise can't
self-doubt
staggering debt/e.w.s. (empty wallet syndrome)
comraderie and competitiveness to an intense degree
one of the best 'liberal arts' educations you'll receive

it's totally worth it

If it's what you want to do and you're determined enough to see it through, then absolutely do it. If you're unsure, approach it with caution, but if you know this is what you want to do and you're prepared to go balls out, then go for it with wreckless abandon.

Advice I heard in 4th year that I wish I heard in 1st.

If you can see yourself doing ANYTHING else with your life, do that instead.


That being said, I can't see myself doing anything else right now.

oh yeah, remember this, work once you are out of school is completely different than school itself. i am having mega trouble with adjusting to the work environment.

Thanks a lot for the responses. I'll definately consider all of them while I decide wether or not i'm going to jump right into it.

If you have no experience in architecture to begin with I suggest taking a design studio at a community college, sitting in on classes at an architecture school, working with cad (take a night class or "download" a copy), and speak to a friend or anyone you know in architecture.
If you have specific interests in mind and know that this would still be for you...then go to architecture school. Applying is easier than all the work you will be doing in school. Make sure going to architecture school is worth every cent and worth all your time. Our advice won't mean a thing till you gain your own experiences no matter what shape or form it is in.

take a look at the salary poll, and read the many posts here about 'why did you want to do this?', 'are you happy w/your job', etc. architects apparently have one of the lowest satisfaction with career rates out there, and compensation is no doubt a big part of it. where you live seems to make a big difference as well - just my opinion from reading posts here for a while - people in smaller cities seem happier, those of us in NY, LA, SF can be quite bitter at times.
i loved architecture school, but i'm not so sure about the reality of it... depends on when you ask. today (sunday 5pm) i'm working on drawings for an addition to our house, which we're designing and building ourselves - lots of satisfaction in that. tomorrow morning i'll be back dealing with pain in the ass clients who can't make up thier minds about whether or not to go with custom cabinetry and have already changed their minds officially like 5 times - can't even begin to get into how frustrating this job can be - but it's probably the same for many different fields. all i can say now is i'm extremely jealous when my mom, who is currently a school nurse, talks about how rewarding her career is and how much she loves it because she feels like she's helping people - i could never be a nurse, but i also do not feel like i'm helping people (even if i am, a few at a time, but by the time the job is over i'm often so annoyed with the clients i wish i hadn't helped them at all....)

whatever you do, take business classes. I'd love to teach some beginning arch class, or even high school, and inform everyone of the infinite options there are out there. BUT everything requires a good business sense to achieve success - don't matter what the profession. That, with basic law, accounting, tax, etc., information would make for a well informed group of yuppies (in the affectionate kind of way, after all, most on here are realatively 'young urban professionals').

SuperHeavy's comment is 100% correct, though. If you are questioning it, move on or just look more closely before diving in. many of us, myself included, could never see ourselves doing anything else, but I also care about owning a nice place, saving money for retirement, etc., and that forced me out of being a 'typical' architect. It's not enough for me to just make buildings (let alone nice buildings, which only a small handful really do), I need to know I won't starve when I am 65.
I knew I was going to be an architect since I was 13 and still left the traditional path.

All these responses mean a lot to me. Thanks a lot for eveything that everyone has said. It definately helps me paint a better picture towards what I want to deal with in the profession. Thank you very much for the honest feedback. If there's anymore, I'd love to hear it.

Trace, out of curiousity how is your career non- typical?