thoughts based upon questions, noted in order:

R1 --- going back to school is an expensive way to work toward this goal --- would it be possible for you to push the quality of the work you are doing to a level where it might earn you the opportunities you seek without investing in another degree?

R2 --- probably a very good reason to go back to school --- what would you like to learn and research?  if you are going back for a second masters, you should have a focused idea of what you'd like to do and if the schools you consider have people who can help you specifically with those interests?  If you're not sure what you want to do --- you just want an-open-ended opportunity, that is fine as well, just try to find a school with diversified offerings

R3 --- school is an expensive way to do this --- can you do it with competitions, pro bono work or increasing the quality of the work you are currently doing?

too old to go back?  no --- when i was looking, at each open house someone asked about age --- most responses were the average age of applicants looking at second masters or masters of science was 27-34 

you can probably get in anywhere if you are creative, plan ahead, make some connections, put the time in, revise alot and figure out how to best present yourself

Thanks for the feedback. It does still seem crazy to me to think that I want to go to back to school. I'm in the middle of taking my ARE exams, so I need to make a decision on where I spend my time: study for ARE or work on graduate school portfolio and take GRE again. I took it back in 2005 when I was applying for my M.Arch degree, but I'm assuming I will have to take it again since the writing portion was not factored into our score at that time.

I think when I started undergrad, I didn't think too much in the future about what city I wanted to work in and what kind of architecture design I was interested in long term, so I'm kind of hoping for a do over to get myself where I want to be.

i went back for my second masters at 35 and it was a great thing for me to have done - for similar reasons to yours: by then i had figured out where my interests were and i gave myself a chance to focus on them. 

Crazy?  No.

Misguided?  Possibly.  (Not a criticism, but a respectful observation.)

(Aside: not sure how your race figures into the question.)

As you already know, doing a master's in architecture (or any other field, for that matter) is a lot of work, and can cost a lot of time and money.

If you know for sure that a second master's will get you much closer to your eventual goal, then go for it.  But anything short of this relative certainty could be a recipe for both disappointment and massive debt.

Now, a master's in a related but different field (planning, landscape, urban design, fine art, art history, museum studies, etcetera) makes more sense, at least on the surface, since it shows a broadening of your expertise.  (A version of this might be an MArch recognized for its very specific focus: computation, building technology, preservation, etcetera).

Put me down for this opinion: unless you're really confident about the prospects a second masters will bring, don't just do it on spec.

i came back to school at 31.  during the years when i was working in firms after getting my BArch, i traveled as much as possible, read a lot, entered competitions and attended some conferences, workshops and symposia and a bunch of lectures.  i also participated in graduate reading groups in the university town where i lived if/when the grad students would allow/invite me to do so.  by the time i applied for graduate school, i had a better idea about where i wanted to focus my efforts during graduate school, both based upon my professional experience and the extracurricular activities listed above.

i first made contact with professors with whom i thought i might like to work 1-2 years before applying.  With each, I had a brief discussion about my interests, what i'd like to do in returning to school, I learned a bit about them, and generally figured out if we seemed to have a good vibe with each other.  by the time i applied, i was able to tailor the application in a very focused way.  it seems you'll find a range of stories on this forum, from those who apply without even knowing too much about the school or faculty and who still get admitted to those who plan out each application distinctly

good luck

@citizen - although my age, gender, and race may seem irrelevant, it seems you have a better chance of getting into schools if you're an international student or at least a more interesting background than I do.

Just to clarify, I wouldn't want to go back to school just for the resume alone. I just want to set myself up for the future and what city and firms I would like to work at. As I mentioned earlier, I think I didn't have a clear idea of what my interests were when I went to graduate school, and I feel like I'm going down a road professionally that I don't want to end up following for the rest of my career. I would definitely want to go to a school that offered a specialized degree that I'm interested in or there's really no point in me going. 

I knew I needed to get my M.Arch to get licensed, so I did. And now, my interests and design aesthetic have changed, and I still think I have a lot I would like to learn. I don't want to just work anywhere doing any type of architecture. 

I second the comments above. You're not too old but it doesn't sound like a good choice at all. Investment of another year or two, and who knows how much in loans, to get another degree you already have so you can work in big cities sounds like a mistake especially when you consider these cities aren't doing too well.

Finish up your exams and let the rest take care of itself. You are much better off with a license and working then with an unnecessary degree.

 i went back to school to attend post-professional after 7 years.  its not really crazy , if not, its more beneficial to go back to academia after spending years of experience at work, because that time, you'll get more of what is taught to you because you could apply them to the accumulated knowledge you earned outside.

Mac, I'm not really sure why you feel getting a second M.arch would give you a foot in the door at the firms you describe and for that reason I feel its a bad idea.  Better to finish your A.R.E.'s off, get as much PM experience as you can, then start knocking on doors in whatever city you want to move to.

I would imagine a RA's license would get you a hell of a lot further up the career ladder than a second M.arch.

On the other hand, if you really want to go back to school for "research" and have the money to burn then why not go for a ph.D? 

I feel like I would get so much more out of school at this point than I did when I was 20. I think I looked at it as the next thing I should do instead of something I really wanted and consciously made a decision to do. Again, I may be better off professionally getting my license at this point, but I think that would just guarantee me a job and not necessarily a job I would want long term. I look at the projects students are doing now and wish I was back in school, which again seems crazy to me since I was so glad to be done with school a few years ago and get back to making money, sleeping, etc. 

@Apurimac - I highly doubt that at first glance an employer wouldn't choose to interview a student with Harvard, Columbia, Princeton on their resume over U of H, especially if the job is outside of Texas

There was a student in my grad class who went to Harvard for undergrad, and she was a decent student, but definitely not near the top of the class in studio. She had no problem getting interviews at some great firms in Houston that my other classmates couldn't, and I think I know why. Even my own employer gets starry eyed when he gets a resume from someone from one of the ivys. 

I would honestly only be interested in a year or year and a half program geared towards my interests in a city I would want to stay and work in after graduation. I have traveled a lot, but I've lived my entire life in Texas, so again, not great for the resume since I don't want to stay here forever. 

as a middle ground between no further education versus applying but not being entirely sure about direction and purpose, what about moving to the right sort of environment first.  move to NYC, Chicago, SF, LA, SD, WDC, Boston, Atl, etc.  Become part of the type of city you desire.  start to participate with the schools you think you want to attend to whatever extent you can.  go to lectures, exhibits, symposia.  talk to faculty with whom you might like to work.  take advantage of the better bookstores and cultural events such places have.

if it is like my experience, you can keep working, you can feed off of the vibe and take advantage of the opportunities and resources mentioned above, then in a year or two, when you have a very clear picture of how you'd like to extend your education, you can apply

I think that's the best advice. Just need to get moving and decide where I want to go, probably Chicago or San Fran. 

I agree with Apurimac, if you want to go back, go for a Ph.D. If you 'admire/like/envie' the 'experimental' work done at schools, I would suggest taking a semester/workshop/course learning the latest software trend - rhino/grasshopper, maya, digital project etc..whatever you fancy. and then improve your portfolio by competitions, research, collaborations with other architects.

Personally, I believe that if you are interesting and talented, you will produce creative work that will help you finding a job/win a competition/ get clients (in a normal economy) .
on the other hand, if you lack discipline, and need a school environment to guide you - going back to school is not a bad idea if you have the means.

are you applying for fellowships or research grants?  I'm confused - why would you go back to grad school just to do what the kids are doing?

FYI - if you move out to the northeast, people don't get starry-eyed over ivy-grads. offices are trepidatious about hiring ivy grads who don't also have 4-year arch undergrad degrees and some experience - because they tend to be just as useless as any other recent grad.  maybe it's impressive out in texas, but around here everyone went to harvard. 

shit - even my plumber went to harvard.

Again, I'm not interested in doing "what the kids are doing". I'm interested in working on projects that interest me with mentors/profs that could help me. It would be great to have access to everything a grad school would have to offer with the ideas and interests I have now since I believe I would have a better idea of how to take advantage of them. 

Not sure if I'm interested in in phd. If I go back to school, I don't want it to be for more than 2 years.  I would like to do 1.5 year post prof degree in something specialized for example sci-arc's Master of Design Research in Media Architecture. My masters thesis was related to media architecture, and it's something I've been interested in for a while. 

I would like to do 1.5 year post prof degree in something specialized for example sci-arc's Master of Design Research in Media Architecture. My masters thesis was related to media architecture, and it's something I've been interested in for a while.

ok - now we're getting somewhere.  I was confused by your original post because you were asking the peanut gallery if another degree was worthwhile - which always brings out the "school is for losers who want to waste their money" and the "get MBA" crowd.

you should be asking us what programs are known for media architecture research and then find out if their faculty are doing work that you want to get involved in OR you think might be able to support your own research and what is essentially a second thesis project.  IMO - it's only worthwhile if it's something you really want to study and figure out how to develop into a career...  it's not something you do to pad your resume for a middle-management job in a traditional architecture firm.

that's the whole point. I don't want a middle management job in a traditional arch firm, and I feel like that's where I'm headed. I don't enjoy what I'm working on at work at all. I just doubt I will be able to learn what I want to on my own while I'm working. 

I'm just picturing my parents and current boss thinking I just want to be a professional student if I decide to go back to school, which is not the case. I would be at least 30 by the time I would enroll, so part of me thinks I need to just get on with working in the real world. 

can you be more specific about Media Architecture?  small scale?  large scale?   installation art?  buildings?  theory of?  hands-on making of?  more on the techy side?  more on the artsy side?

i went to grad school (1st master's) at 30 for similar reasons.  it was a good time that gave me a chance to experiment with some ideas i didn't get to work with at the office and broadened my options quite a bit work-wise, so i don't think your expectations are out of whack at all. 

i did get the feeling, though, that i was almost at the point where i was too old for it all...had i waited another year or two, i think it would have been more frustrating than productive. what i mean by this has nothing to do with age (there will be other people your age there), but with a feeling of being already formed in ways that make it hard to put yourself in a 'student' role again, and make you less flexible.  as your career has progressed you've most likely made decisions about what interests you and which ways you want to develop your knowledge/skills, and it may not be easy for you to get back to the sort of 'formative' state that is presumed in an educational setting.  you may realize that you have certain ideas and beliefs that you don't really want to change, and academic programs tend to be pretty trend-driven.

this may be less of an issue if you pursue a degree that's somehow outside your previous areas of focus, rather than an extension of what you've already worked on...

my advice would be to spend some serious time crafting your applications for top-tier schools...really craft them, with the aim of getting in but also of getting as much scholarship/grant money as you can.  if you're successful and can take some of the financial heat off your decision, then those 3 semesters are pretty negligible in the grand scheme of things...no one will even notice you were gone, much less call you a lifetime student.

@jmanganelli

media buildings, making of, and the theory behind. I enjoy the theory side, but I am always intersted in how an idea can become a functional object.

While it is a challenge to get in, have you considered GSD's MDesS?

Several of my colleagues went through the program and pretty much had the chance to pick their own curriculum. Many wound up getting to investigate some pretty interesting areas that were directly applicable to their professional and academic careers (I knew two, one worked and one taught).

I honestly haven't considered it only because I doubt I will be accepted. I've never been a great writer or presenter, but I do think I'm a creative designer. I took a look at the reserach topics that the current students are working towards, and nearly all the topics in the "technology" section looked right up my alley.

I'll definitely have to spend all my time from now until the deadline to make sure I submit my ideal porfolio and personal statement.

Mac, I never said anything about employers preferring or not preferring an Ivy degree because that seems to vary.  What I said was you could probably get up the ladder further with a liscense than with a second masters from any college, unless you specifically want to become a Rhino monkey for a starchitect. 

Any idea what the acceptance rate is for post-prof @ GSD, sci-arc, or Berkley? 

Hi Mac, did you ever consider to take a second Master in Europe?

At Maastricht University in the Nethrlands we offer a two-year English programme leading to the degree: European Master in Architecture. This could give your career a real boost. Study and research in a great European city in international teams, under the guidance of leading European architects. Check it at: www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/architecture  

Thanks for the info. Can you tell me a little bit more about the school? Are there examples or student work? Where do the students tend to work after graduation?

mac1231,

Rumor has it that the post-prof acceptance rate at the GSD is under 9%.  The GSD MDES is higher, but only because it is a relatively new program and not as many people apply.  For a second Master's you absolutely SHOULD have a rather specific agenda (though it might evolve) and you should seek out the faculty and schools that will best contribute to this agenda.  Otherwise, continue to learn and develop on your own.  An ivy league degree is not the only ticket... and not even a guranteed one.

I definitely agree about having a specific agenda. I just need to decide b/w the media architecture route and urban planning/design. Both interest me, but I would prefer the media architecture route. I think the urban planning might serve me better in the long run. I don't have any experience with digital fabrication and maya, grasshopper, etc. I would like to learn, but I don't have anything representative of that type of work to include in my portfolio.

The European Master in Architecture EMA at Maastricht University is a brand new initiative, starting next september, so there is not yet a track record of student work. The initiative has been leaunched with Delft University of Technology - the Faculty of Architecture is one of the largest in Europe. TU Delft offers the postgraduate programme European Master in Urbanism EMU, which exists since a couple of years. Great feature is that you can do a semester in Venice or Barcelona as well. EMA may have these opportunities as well in the near future. See for EMU: www.emurbanism.eu