Firm #2 doesn't sound like a bad place to start. I don't think you should be too surprised that star architects aren't lining up to hire a person with no experience and no professional degree. The all-important things for you right now is to get some experience on your resume and to get a real-world glimpse into the practice of architecture.

I think that the reason you're taking a year off is to get some practical experience and see what the profession is about. A year in a small residential firm will usually give you more direct exposure and experience in more aspects of a project's lifespan than a year in a startchitect's office as an entry-level intern. I did both of those in the early part of my career and both had their ups and downs.
In the star firm I did work on some great projects, but the lifespan of those projects is so long that it was several years after I left before they were completed. I had some design input there, but never on the "broad brush, big-picture" sorts of issues - just on little details or elements here and there. I worked on a lot of 3D rendering and basswood models, and I did a lot of unglamorous CAD work (for example I remember spending weeks plugging in systems furniture and cubicle partitions, and days doing a window treatment schedule and keying all the window shades onto the floorplans.) I never once saw a client in the time that I worked in that firm.
I had a much better experience some years later as a project manager in another "star" firm. I think the opportunities for design input and real integration into projects are considerably better in those types of firms once you've got a few years of experience.

In the first small firm I worked in I had lots of client contact, worked on a lot of projects in different phases, including a good deal of planning and design from start to finish, and the lifespans of residential projects are often short enough that some will start and end within a year. It's much easier to get the often-elusive construction administration experience, and to be exposed to things like bidding and contracts.

I'm a little concerned about your attitude that you want to go into these firms and "make them aware" of "something that actually is architecture". Regardless of the size and star-status of the firm, pretty much any firm out there that is building anything at all can teach YOU about "what is actually architecture" right now. The administrative parts that you're shying away from, and the less glamorous projects and tasks, - those are things that make up the majority of the day's work of most architects - even the stars. Design is a small percentage of the total package. Much of it is dealing with contracts, office management, marketing, client contact, codes and permits, writing specifications, etc. etc.

This is not the "melting point" of your education. It's the next phase of it. Embrace it.

monster.com's slogan applies here: Never Settle.

Don't take a job if you will be embarrassed by it or if you will need to "explain" why it's on your resume to a future employer. (I have a one-year blip like this on my resume.)

The job market is pretty good right now. Are there other firms besides the starchitects that you admire and could see yourself working for? At minimum, your recent job search among the starchitects has given you some industry knowledge that you can apply to other firms when you approach them for the first time. Think about what the starchitects told you - for example, "We're looking for blah blah blah," and use it to inform your contact with future firms.

you gotta walk before you can run... small young firms are the way to go. You will go through the entire process from design to CD's. I think it is the best way for BA's to get experience.

What the heck does one do in a Star Architects Office with no experience or degree......Run Prints, stock supplies?

Right now all you have to do is have a pulse and there would be a job waiting for you. It's a great time for graduates. I can remember graduating with a b.arch in undergrad the semester after 9-11 and the market was pretty haggard so I decided to go into grad school.

It's a much different story now.

eco governmental? is that econo or ecological?

Have you tried anything between starchitect and sellout? There's a whole big middle ground in there that produces fine architecture, even occasionally great architecture, that just does have the marquee name on it.

eeayeeayo.. Thank you for that post, it was eye opening.

eco = economical (cheap), sorry for that

You guys have strong points and I thank you for them. I really wanted to advance in the year off from academia being surrounded by people who share the same passion as I. Then returning to graduate school I wanted to be a new person who has this different perspective on what architecture is. Do you guys know what I mean or am I living in a dream world? I’m not stating I know what architecture is at the moment, I just want to find myself in this profession. I still feel lost and working in these firms I don't think will help and will just render me into a cad monkey which I did not go to school for.

ah if u look at the idp most of the units are cadmonkey orientated. i think you should change your name. mc burrito sounds more serious. or maybe mc wholenechilada. if youre not into the brevity thing.

Nobody thinks they went to architecture school to be a CAD monkey. But very few people graduate from architecture school and immediately find themselves doing what they think they went to school for. vado's right that about a third of the IDP units are in construction documents alone (i.e. drafting) - meaning that it's expected that a new grad will spend at least a year's worth of their internship working on producing construction drawings.
I agree with some others that you're more likely to get broad, varied experience and more responsibility at a smaller firm at first.
I think that if you imagine finding an entry-level job where you design all day everyday then yes, you're living in a dream world. You can't find yourself in the profession without learning all aspects of it, and that takes a long time. Work somewhere where you can observe and participate in the most varied tasks. Work somewhere where you can hear all the principal's phone calls and be exposed to meetings and decision-making (even if you're not one of the participants). I'm not saying this is impossible in a big firm or a starchitect firm, but in many of them newbies end up a little isolated from contact with the outside world or even with the star architect himself (or herself). If you hold out for the job with the star I'm sure you can find it somewhere, but it might be disappointing if you end up in a model shop with the other newbies or in a cube being handed redlines day after day. Anyway many of those firms screen resumes looking for the all-important one year of professional fulltime experience. Without that you may be in for a long wait.

I hear what you're saying, but I don't think it's the most realistic thing in the world. Not because those places aren't out there, but because they're places that you've got to put in some grunt work to get into. The most unrealistic thing is not that you want to do great work with inspiring people, it's that you want that job right now instead of a few years down the road. I think you may be limiting yourself by only giving yourself one year to find and work in this great environment. If you have no experience, why should a place that great hire you? Get experience where you can, and keep trying for the great places, instead of holding onto the mentality of "I'll just work for one year."