I've been researching and researching Canadian arch. schools, but still have a few questions that have so far gone unanswered. I've narrowed my "top three" down to UBC, UCalgary, and UManitoba, all for different reasons. Staying here in Ontario is not an option, since nothing about Carleton is appealing (at all) and I refuse to live in Toronto. I did for six years, and that was long enough!
Anyway, I have a diploma in Industrial Design from OCAD, but if I go back for another year, I can upgrade that to a Bachelor's degree.
Because my background isn't in architecture, I'm wondering if that's a major hurdle to being accepted into an M.Arch program. Some schools want non-arch. background applicants to do do a "pre-professional" or "pre-Master's" degree at their school, if the applicant doesn't already have a B.Arch. Which I don't.
Is it possible/likely to be accepted DIRECTLY into M.Arch with a slightly different background? The time required at the different schools seems to vary widely, and I wanted to hear from the Canadians who've gone this route (or can at least help me out with this query).
I've contacted the various schools, but still waiting to hear back from them.
I graduated from UBC, you need the bachelors degree to apply, but there were people from all kinds of backgrounds... business, engineering, one girl who was half way through a phd in chemistry... music, anthropology, literature... art history...
Industrial design is not a big leap at all, just be sure to get the degree it will depend alot of your portfolio and your interests i think... they like diversity rather than alot of the same. Because OCAD is not a typical university type academic setting, try to take upper year seminars, interdisciplinary, you can even mention them in your letter or cv... Also, if you can try to TA in your final year at OCAD, in addition to design you should also include artwork in your portfolio, poetry, photography, a friend of mine included music composition... (as long as you think they are good pieces)
But I know of a guy who studied art at OCAD a while out of highschool and then went to SCIARC in California for the B.Arch, a pretty good architecture school. A B.Arch is an accredited architecture degree, virtually the same as the M.Arch only it take a bit longer... Maybe an extra year / year and a half?
So, based on my fuzzy memory from a few years back,
not sure who qualifies for what but do know there is a PQ (pre-qualifying?) program for folks who don have an undergrad degree in architecture. students take courses with the undergrads as well as special studio course especial for the non arch background folks. the folks that went this route had to apply for grad school at some point but i believe most of them had no problem with this hurdle, and after that joined the regular MArch program.
MArch is nominally 2 years long. Of my classmates I was the only one i know of who actually finished in this period. average was probs around 3 years, so if you work fast the extra education (if you need to go the PQ route) is not really such a big detour. and it is i think worth doing just to catch up.
as a student i had no real complaints about the program and in hindsite there is nothing i would change...
in its favor the students of UM have been winning awards pretty regularly, and the pedagogy is wide open so lots of room for motivated students to explore things not possible in the real world. flip side of that coin is that the super technical/constructive part of design is not stressed very much. not an issue from my perspective (the workplace is designed to teach this so i see no need for it at school...) but some people might see this as a weakness...
lots of new profs coming in lately from what i hear, and mark west continues to be doing cool things with concrete and spandex, so the place is def remaining active...
I'm a current Arch.Grad student at the UofM -- just wanted to say that everything 'jump' said is fairly accurate, especially until now. However, the program is undergoing massive changes due to a lot of new blood in the faculty (Nat Chard is our department head -- from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Architecture and the Bartlett).
I'd advise you call the UofMs Faculty of Arch and ask for info on the new structure since it's going to make a big impact on how things work. They're introducing year long studios and a Thesis/Comprehensive in the form of a year long studio -- so it's setup to be 2 years for M.Arch (not '2+') ... there are many more changes worth knowing as well (like a series of 5-week workshops with lots of options instead of the regular coursework).
architecture any way you go is at least 3.5 years of schooling. can't really fast track it, there are requirements for an accredited degree. I know of people who have chosen architecture as second and third professions, a couple people who started archischool at age 40+ years... Don't worry about speed, do it if its what you want to do... Plus IMO architecture is not a degree that you can really coast through... Takes alot of commitment and drive to get through, alot of people drop out or change careers partway through...
I'm not at all afraid of hard work or long hours. I tend to thrive on them, to a point.
I am more concerned with whether I should bother upgrading my diploma to a degree, since it seems that it won't make any difference to those schools. Either way, it looks like I'll have to do a pre-professional program before entering M.Arch, regardless. If that's what I'll be forced to do, there's no real point in me returning to my old school, just to take some sociology and english classes.
Slantsix, have no fear. I graduated from OCAD from the Environmental Design program with a Bachelor degree in Design and I got accepted to all arch programs that I applied to for next september, including UBC.
I'm wondering if it would be easier for you to just finish up the degree at OCAD, it should only be an extra 4 courses that you could do in one semester. If you still need to take physics and calculus, perhaps you could take those courses at Ryerson, George Brown or UofT (since they aren't available at OCAD) and apply them to your degree at OCAD. This might be the shortest route to a master of arch program.
I graduated from UBC, I did two years of at aq local college then did a Bachelor of Lanscape Arch. at UBC then transferred to the Arch program. It was still seen only as a B.Arch back then (80's) although technically recognized as an accredited school the change to a Master's program cleaned up that. but I completed the Arch program in 3 years. It was possible to do it back then but probably only a couple of may class mates did it mostly because we all came from previous design programs ( industrial design, bachelor of Enivironmental design or Interior design.) I think it just helped with being prepared in studio and could communicate graphically a little better. It basically came down to a four week period in second year when you had to pull a couple weeks of long long hours to complete all the tasks.
I liked the program it suited my interests, liked the variety and variation in classmates backgrounds, I had friends who walked in with no previous school experience but had worked as builders, home designers etc. I think that was unique and not sure they still do it anymore but I had two guys in my class who were home builders with no post secondary training and did very well in the program. So I would certianly contact the school to see what the mix and make up of the classes are these days. UBC had lots to offer and from what I here the addition of the Environmental / landscape / planning schools to a more comprehensive mix to the program has had a good impact.
Application Package
Applicants to the MArch programme must have completed a four-year Bachelor degree or equivalent from a recognized college or university. To be eligible for admission, the applicant must have a minimum overall average in the 'B+' range [76% or 3.3/4.0 scale] in senior level courses.
Students entering the program with an undergraduate degree normally take a minimum of three and one half years to complete the requirements. However, students holding a pre-professional architectural degree [Bachelor of Environmental Design or Bachelor of Arts with a major in Architecture, for example] will typically be given advanced standing at the discretion of the School's Admissions Committee.
Assessment of applications will be made solely upon the basis of all aspects of the applicant's submission. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that his/her application is sufficiently well-documented to illustrate academic achievement, work experience and creative potential.
These components of the application need to received by the end of the first week in January:
thx bob... It sounds like the application process got a lot more up-tight, probably more interesting characters in past with less concern for grades than experience. Don't really care myself other than the characters kept the jibe in the studio pretty level and nobody got too stressed except a few who over reacted to just about anything.
For all the Canucks out there....
I've been researching and researching Canadian arch. schools, but still have a few questions that have so far gone unanswered. I've narrowed my "top three" down to UBC, UCalgary, and UManitoba, all for different reasons. Staying here in Ontario is not an option, since nothing about Carleton is appealing (at all) and I refuse to live in Toronto. I did for six years, and that was long enough!
Anyway, I have a diploma in Industrial Design from OCAD, but if I go back for another year, I can upgrade that to a Bachelor's degree.
Because my background isn't in architecture, I'm wondering if that's a major hurdle to being accepted into an M.Arch program. Some schools want non-arch. background applicants to do do a "pre-professional" or "pre-Master's" degree at their school, if the applicant doesn't already have a B.Arch. Which I don't.
Is it possible/likely to be accepted DIRECTLY into M.Arch with a slightly different background? The time required at the different schools seems to vary widely, and I wanted to hear from the Canadians who've gone this route (or can at least help me out with this query).
I've contacted the various schools, but still waiting to hear back from them.
I graduated from UBC, you need the bachelors degree to apply, but there were people from all kinds of backgrounds... business, engineering, one girl who was half way through a phd in chemistry... music, anthropology, literature... art history...
Industrial design is not a big leap at all, just be sure to get the degree it will depend alot of your portfolio and your interests i think... they like diversity rather than alot of the same. Because OCAD is not a typical university type academic setting, try to take upper year seminars, interdisciplinary, you can even mention them in your letter or cv... Also, if you can try to TA in your final year at OCAD, in addition to design you should also include artwork in your portfolio, poetry, photography, a friend of mine included music composition... (as long as you think they are good pieces)
http://www.archinect.com/forum/threads.php?id=P35820_0_42_0_C
Hang on, but you should double check about the bachelors degree at OCAD... You need a 4 year bachelors degree to apply to most M.Archs in Canada...
But I know of a guy who studied art at OCAD a while out of highschool and then went to SCIARC in California for the B.Arch, a pretty good architecture school. A B.Arch is an accredited architecture degree, virtually the same as the M.Arch only it take a bit longer... Maybe an extra year / year and a half?
i went to u manitoba; BED and MArch...
So, based on my fuzzy memory from a few years back,
not sure who qualifies for what but do know there is a PQ (pre-qualifying?) program for folks who don have an undergrad degree in architecture. students take courses with the undergrads as well as special studio course especial for the non arch background folks. the folks that went this route had to apply for grad school at some point but i believe most of them had no problem with this hurdle, and after that joined the regular MArch program.
MArch is nominally 2 years long. Of my classmates I was the only one i know of who actually finished in this period. average was probs around 3 years, so if you work fast the extra education (if you need to go the PQ route) is not really such a big detour. and it is i think worth doing just to catch up.
as a student i had no real complaints about the program and in hindsite there is nothing i would change...
in its favor the students of UM have been winning awards pretty regularly, and the pedagogy is wide open so lots of room for motivated students to explore things not possible in the real world. flip side of that coin is that the super technical/constructive part of design is not stressed very much. not an issue from my perspective (the workplace is designed to teach this so i see no need for it at school...) but some people might see this as a weakness...
lots of new profs coming in lately from what i hear, and mark west continues to be doing cool things with concrete and spandex, so the place is def remaining active...
my 2 bits.
luck.
So basically, I'm looking at:
- 1 year to upgrade to B.Des (through OCAD - might be optional)
- 2 years for "pre-qualifying" program
- 2+ years for M.Arch.
Add to this the 4 years I've already spent at college, plus two years full-time at a specialized art school....
I'm looking at 12 to 13 years of post-secondary education.
Aye carumba!!
I'm a current Arch.Grad student at the UofM -- just wanted to say that everything 'jump' said is fairly accurate, especially until now. However, the program is undergoing massive changes due to a lot of new blood in the faculty (Nat Chard is our department head -- from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Architecture and the Bartlett).
I'd advise you call the UofMs Faculty of Arch and ask for info on the new structure since it's going to make a big impact on how things work. They're introducing year long studios and a Thesis/Comprehensive in the form of a year long studio -- so it's setup to be 2 years for M.Arch (not '2+') ... there are many more changes worth knowing as well (like a series of 5-week workshops with lots of options instead of the regular coursework).
architecture any way you go is at least 3.5 years of schooling. can't really fast track it, there are requirements for an accredited degree. I know of people who have chosen architecture as second and third professions, a couple people who started archischool at age 40+ years... Don't worry about speed, do it if its what you want to do... Plus IMO architecture is not a degree that you can really coast through... Takes alot of commitment and drive to get through, alot of people drop out or change careers partway through...
I'm not at all afraid of hard work or long hours. I tend to thrive on them, to a point.
I am more concerned with whether I should bother upgrading my diploma to a degree, since it seems that it won't make any difference to those schools. Either way, it looks like I'll have to do a pre-professional program before entering M.Arch, regardless. If that's what I'll be forced to do, there's no real point in me returning to my old school, just to take some sociology and english classes.
Slantsix, have no fear. I graduated from OCAD from the Environmental Design program with a Bachelor degree in Design and I got accepted to all arch programs that I applied to for next september, including UBC.
I'm wondering if it would be easier for you to just finish up the degree at OCAD, it should only be an extra 4 courses that you could do in one semester. If you still need to take physics and calculus, perhaps you could take those courses at Ryerson, George Brown or UofT (since they aren't available at OCAD) and apply them to your degree at OCAD. This might be the shortest route to a master of arch program.
gwern - thank you!
How did you get your physics and calculus? Or did you?
And were these courses requirements for admission to UBC?
I graduated from UBC, I did two years of at aq local college then did a Bachelor of Lanscape Arch. at UBC then transferred to the Arch program. It was still seen only as a B.Arch back then (80's) although technically recognized as an accredited school the change to a Master's program cleaned up that. but I completed the Arch program in 3 years. It was possible to do it back then but probably only a couple of may class mates did it mostly because we all came from previous design programs ( industrial design, bachelor of Enivironmental design or Interior design.) I think it just helped with being prepared in studio and could communicate graphically a little better. It basically came down to a four week period in second year when you had to pull a couple weeks of long long hours to complete all the tasks.
I liked the program it suited my interests, liked the variety and variation in classmates backgrounds, I had friends who walked in with no previous school experience but had worked as builders, home designers etc. I think that was unique and not sure they still do it anymore but I had two guys in my class who were home builders with no post secondary training and did very well in the program. So I would certianly contact the school to see what the mix and make up of the classes are these days. UBC had lots to offer and from what I here the addition of the Environmental / landscape / planning schools to a more comprehensive mix to the program has had a good impact.
Application Package
Applicants to the MArch programme must have completed a four-year Bachelor degree or equivalent from a recognized college or university. To be eligible for admission, the applicant must have a minimum overall average in the 'B+' range [76% or 3.3/4.0 scale] in senior level courses.
Students entering the program with an undergraduate degree normally take a minimum of three and one half years to complete the requirements. However, students holding a pre-professional architectural degree [Bachelor of Environmental Design or Bachelor of Arts with a major in Architecture, for example] will typically be given advanced standing at the discretion of the School's Admissions Committee.
Assessment of applications will be made solely upon the basis of all aspects of the applicant's submission. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that his/her application is sufficiently well-documented to illustrate academic achievement, work experience and creative potential.
These components of the application need to received by the end of the first week in January:
thx bob... It sounds like the application process got a lot more up-tight, probably more interesting characters in past with less concern for grades than experience. Don't really care myself other than the characters kept the jibe in the studio pretty level and nobody got too stressed except a few who over reacted to just about anything.
those guys with no design experience must have had Bachelors degrees for something from somewhere . . .
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