You need to ask yourself some questions?

1. Do you do what it takes no matter what to accomplish a goal?

2. Do you have a history of setting goals and following through?

If you don't have a history of doing what it takes no matter what and following through, then architecture is not for you.

If you're currently a sophomore in Econ, you are looking at a minimum of 5 more years of schooling to get a professional degree in architecture. Either you switch to a BArch program right now (5 years) or finish your Econ degree (2 years) and do a MArch for non-pre-archs (3 more years).

That's a lot of school, and a significant expense, for a job that's probably not going to pay more than $45K/yr for the first few years you're doing it. Be aware of that reality. You should certainly avoid going into debt to make it happen.

2. Do you have a history of setting goals and following through?

^-- abandoning econ degree

i can understand why you're concerned about a career in economics, entering a world that will soon have no economy left.  however, there is a very good chance that architecture as a career is not what you're thinking.

i would suggest doing what you love as a hobby rather than a career...

life lessons from harry chapin

I can't advise anyone to go into architecture right now.

But since your question was asking for advice on your portfolio, here's my advice: Take some art classes, do some life drawing, try some collage, take photographs of things that catch your eye.  Spend time every single day sketching the buildings and scenes you see around you and are curious about.  Do some watercolors, make some jewelry or furniture. Don't bother with CAD, but play around with free SketchUp until you're quick with it to show others the ideas for designs that are in your head - ideas you've worked through with hand drawing, IMO.

We often bemoan here the lack of business sense/training that most architecture programs have.  So focus on knowing your econ and enjoying the art-mkaing stuff on the side, then see, after grad school, how well those two fields can merge.  Good luck.

Take some art classes, do some life drawing, try some collage, take photographs of things that catch your eye.  Spend time every single day sketching the buildings and scenes you see around you and are curious about.  Do some watercolors, make some jewelry or furniture.

Exactly.  Make stuff now.  Draw things now. Photograph now.  Build and assemble now.  Do the things you can do now without waiting to go to school.  Forget about learning AutoCAD, there are way too many more interesting ways to express yourself.  Learn to play an instrument.  Go to a public woodworking shop, take a class and design/build some things for your house.  Learn to sketch then teach someone else.  Blog and write.  Find your own expressive voice.  Grad schools - should you decide ultimately to go that direction - are looking for interesting people to add to their mix.  Making and doing and learning with the visual and sonic and tactile voice you made yourself is what will help make you more interesting, should that time come. 

@CashMoney- My Econ degree is pretty much a backup plan for me, something to fall back on just in case, yo! lol

@Xenakis - I think you have to be able to do both of those in order to succeed in ANY type of career lol

@gwharton - I know what you're talking about. I checked out other Canadian universities and they offer B.Arch, unfortunately University of Calgary does not. I understand that I'll have to do 2years of Economics so I can study (yay..) 3 more years for M.Arch.... I don't have the option to move to a different city so just so I can switch to B.Arch, because I'm paying for my own tuition... I won't be able to support myself yet.

@DonnaSink - What did you mean by 'can't advice anyone to go into architecture right now' ? Is the current job market for architects low or something? btw thanks for your tips very appreciated. I'll definitely start looking into it.

@timothy - 'find your own expressive voice' I'll definitely be working on that!! Thanks!

' What did you mean by 'can't advice anyone to go into architecture right now' ? Is the current job market for architects low or something?'

can't... stop.... laughing...

Architecture has probably the highest unemployment of all the fields you could go into. It's especially bad if you consider it is supposedly a professional degree (other examples of professional degrees include law and medicine). In Canada, the majority of architecture work is either custom homes (and Canadians are not known for having the most contemporary or interesting of tastes) or high-rise condos. Wheeeeee!

I'm also from Calgary, by the way.

Portfolio advice: do loads of drawing. Take real photography courses (anyone can take a halfway decent pic with a dslr, but can you be creative or show a high technical skill?). Try painting and sculpture classes at ACAD or as electives if you can. And start using adobe creative suite (especially photoshop) now.

@Xenakis - I think you have to be able to do both of those in order to succeed in ANY type of career lol

Kim - have you attended architecture school or worked in this profession?

this is like the marines - only the best survive - don't kid yourself - I'm serious - I know way too many losers that underestimated what it takes - they are w/o jobs - one is on welfare - 

kim1,

Because what architects do is heavily front-loaded in the process of developing real estate assets, Architecture is highly sensitive to macro-economic conditions and the cyclicality of real estate markets. Architects are the mine canaries of the construction and real estate business. As soon as the "air" starts to get a little thin, we all choke to death. That's one of the reasons that the ABI (Architectural Billings Index) is used as a leading indicator for the future health of the construction industry. It's also why architectural firms are notorious for large staffing swings in response to immediate conditions. Mass layoffs are common. There is no such thing as job security in architecture, whether you're a CAD monkey or a senior partner. That's a hard reality of the business.

Following the 2008 market implosion and ensuing recession, the unemployment rate in architecture soared. In some cities, it went over 50%. For instance, a friend of mine owns a practice which had 152 employees mid-2007. By late 2009, he had been forced to lay off all but 14.

And it's still much higher than the national aggregate unemployment figures.

So we're in a situation now where there are way, way, way too many people with architectural training, backgrounds, and experience chasing a shrinking number of employment opportunities. Competition for work is cut-throat, and downward pressure on architectural fees and wages is high. We have a huge surplus of architects, and not enough for all of them to do. On top of all that, it will probably be a generation before the real estate market recovers to a level that can support us all, if then.

So, as a budding "fallback" economist, I'd encourage you to take a long, hard look at the realities of the architectural business before committing years of your life and precious personal capital to pursuing it.

RUN TO THE HILLS!!!  RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!!

Also to add, many architects retire much later, if at all, than other professions, adding to the situation of too many architects.

this is like the marines - only the best survive - don't kid yourself - I'm serious - I know way too many losers that underestimated what it takes

True.  But the best do survive.  The essence of what we're all saying is this:  To succeed in architecture today you have to take an unconventional path.  Traditional architectural practice, for those entering the field, is a pond fished dry.  Building design is going to the building scientists, the contractors, the builders.  It's a worthy path in it's own right, but maybe not right for you.  Architecture is becoming something different - about creating in any number of mediums, physical, digital, aural, tactile - it's not just about drawing buildings anymore.  Open your mind, see where your path takes you and don't be dissuaded.  Your voice can guide you, but you have to feed it.  Start today.  Don't wait. 

Dont do it.  Seriously.  If there ever were a career that screws its employees the most architecture is definitely it.  In proportion to our pay, architects require the most training, the most education, and the most tests to become licensed professionals.  

If architecture is something that is rewarding to you in itself and you aren't looking for financial security in return, go for it.

Finish your Econ degree while shadowing at a firm or something so you know what the grind is like. Be comfortable with the most boring parts.

Then you may be so inclined to go to grad school.

I agree with this, but have more to say.  At midstream, finish your degree in economics, take your minor in architecture, and don't look at switching unless you know what you're doing.  The minor in architecture will make you a more convincing applicant, and something most pre-M.Arch. 1s don't do.  And, if you don't pursue it, it will be a great minor because it's interesting!

About architecture, is this a new discovery, because it seems intriguing, or have you always wanted to be an architect?  Meaning, when you were 7 or 8, did you see places, or think of places, and go home and sketch them, or diagram them?  M.Arch. 1s are populated by those types, people who wanted to do another related degree (art, interior, urban planning) before M.Arch., and people who learned about their interest in architecture while an undergraduate.

Since grades and GREs less important than I thought they would be, you need to know how to draw and design 3-dimensional things.  The 4 courses I would recommend are 2 in drawing, 1 in 2D design, and 1 in 3D design, supplemented by an architectural graphics course to help you put together a portfolio.  So, then, the work inserted has to be of decent quality, with some narrative that doesn't drown out the work, and slickly assembled since the wherewithal to do that is now available.  Twenty years ago it wasn't.

The picture painted by gwharton is also real, though he's also talking about the situation at its very worst, back in 2008 and 2009.  For those whose career was slotted in between the Great Depression and the Great Recession, they never saw anything like that, and maybe new students won't either - they say a downturn of such magnitude comes every 60 to 70 years.  I hope they're right.  Also, cities in the U.S. which are architecture magnets, and oversupplied, even when times were good, have typically been Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle.  For some reason, this is slightly less of a problem in NY and LA, where those who have pushed for work have found it.  Where is the oversupply in Canada?  I  imagine it would be Vancouver, no?

So, then, analyze why you are doing this and if you can assemble a good enough portfolio.  There will be tedium in either econ or architecture, just different kinds.  I came from a commerce background and couldn't stay awake, and found that being a CAD monkey, and then doing the stuff of a project architect, kept me awake.  (BTW, is your economics from the liberal arts and sciences wing or from the business school, because they are different?)

Lastly, when you took your career assessment tests in high school, what did they say?  And where's Miles, with his pearls of wisdom and unfiltered view of life? He once posted "don't do what you love, love what you do."  For me, the first part of the equation would have been architecture, while the second part would have been teaching foreign languages to high school kids, to avoid the extra paper needed to teach in the universities.

I say do it. Not because you'll love it or find it satisfying, but rather because I'll have one more person with which to share my pain. 

Here's the sad realization I had this weekend... But first I'll say that I actually do really enjoy my job because it's new to me and I'm still learning. I had my first review this past week and received a substantial raise in pay (to fall in line with the average pay an intern with my experience makes in my area - I compared the numbers). 

Anyway, happy as I was with my new raise, I went to a friend's bachelor party this weekend. I was surrounded by 7 other guys, all 4 to 8 years younger than myself. I was the most educated (and to remind you, oldest) and with one exception, the least paid.  That guy works in retail, doesn't have a degree (or two, as I do), and his pay was in the same ballpark as mine. He has no school loans to repay, either, so he actually brings home more cash at the end of the month. Speaking of cash, another guy without a degree makes $100k plus, working as a grunt in the oil industry. Not an easy job, but he makes more than double what I do, and again, has no loans.  It's unlikely that I will ever earn as much money in one year as an architect, as a 25 year old roughneck.

Thankfully, I don't define myself by my job, but our playscale is an insult when compared to any other profession. It's not for everybody. I might feel a little stung by this weekend's revelations, but in plain financial terms for most cases,, being an architect just isn't worth it. 

Proceed with much caution.

bowling ball:

I'll admit that being around peers who earned significantly more than me at earlier points in their lives can bother me.  I tend to hang around them less.  Problem solved.

If they're in an occupation I'd rather not be in, such as accounting, law, consulting, and financial services, I have a "have at it" attitude.

If they're in an occupation I would have considered somewhat worthwhile, typically health related, then it bothers me a little bit.

Great hobby.  Lousy profession.

BowlingBall, I think I've gathered that you're Canadian and have friends doing similar routes with the oil. That being said, mucking on a rig is one of the single most dangerous jobs out there, and you have to live in Fort Mac. There's a reason why its so well compensated - that's the price point commenserate to risk and life that would even attract people out there.

Just saying, there's something to be said for having an architecture job versus one of those...

you can study the dismal science or you can practice the dismal profession. really, take a look at the People tab in the Community area to the left of your screen. The number of barista architecture grads will make your head spin.

BenC, oh I know how it is.  Part of the reason I went to university in the first place is because I come from a long line of manual labourers. I went to work with my dad as a kid (a millwright) and was driving a forklift for a construction company by 16.  I knew back then that I wanted no part of that grind - an air conditioned office seemed pretty appealing, even though I'd have to learn the culture. I still struggle every day, working at a white collar job while having blue collar roots. 

Back to the question at hand - nobody can truly know if it's worth it until they give it a shot. Unfortunately, this profession requires a (grueling) university degree and some (underpaid) experience before one can figure it out. Not a cheap or quick lesson.

Now that my colleagues and I are a few years into our careers, some are starting to jump ship into related areas, whether working for themselves, architectural photography, graphic design, product design, 3D viz stuff....  it's not an easy time to be in this profession, and it's not going to get any easier from here on out.  It's been said a lot lately that the traditional career path is over, and that's absolutely correct.