I am a graduate of Penn State's Architecture School -BArch 89"
and have always thought that our attrition rate was high. My freshman class began with 89 students and by my 5th year, the 5th year class began with 27 students of which 20 finished and graduated on time at the end of the 5th year.
I have often wondered about what the attrition rates are at other Architecture Schools, as a comparrison to my experience.
How about other Architecture School graduates, what was the attrition rate at your school?
This can potentially be helpful information for future students because this is information that may not be advertised by Architecture School Deans.
Thanks
Penn State BArch '07 here. I believe we started out with 96 and by the time we finished our 5th year we were down to the low 40's. That number also includes some individuals who took an extra year to graduate.
M.Arch. 3 year - started with about 22 or 23, and were down to 18 or 19 by the end. At least 1/3 did something unrelated to architecture or allied fields, with most of that group returning to their previous field of study or occupation.
Washington State '94 here. Our big culling happened at the entry to the professional BArch program, just before third year. We went from about 230 declared pre-arch majors to 45 professional majors in one shot (412 applications total). As I recall, 38 of the 45 graduated with a BArch, two finished the BS Arch only, and four dropped out or flunked out. The job market sucked when we graduated, even though it was improving a little by that point. only 5 of us had jobs at graduation. Five years later, I heard that more than third had quit architecture and gone into something else. Now I think it's more than half.
Started with 87 I believe. Graduated with ~20. This may not be an accurate representation of the norm because our first semester was when Katrina hit NOLA, so we lost about a dozen more right off the bat who otherwise would have started 2nd year.
Washington State '94 here. Our big culling happened at the entry to the professional BArch program, just before third year. We went from about 230 declared pre-arch majors to 45 professional majors in one shot (412 applications total). As I recall, 38 of the 45 graduated with a BArch, two finished the BS Arch only, and four dropped out or flunked out. The job market sucked when we graduated, even though it was improving a little by that point. only 5 of us had jobs at graduation. Five years later, I heard that more than third had quit architecture and gone into something else. Now I think it's more than half.
One of the most competent people I know went there for a B.Arch. WSU is, overall, not restrictive for freshman admission. Is the 230 to 45 because you think they admitted too liberally in the beginning and/or because only 45 were good enough? Did people who were REALLY talented also get bumped? I know a U of Idaho B.Arch. right next door to you guys (less than 20 miles?) who was graduated, and she was a terrible employee, so I don't think her school discipline could have been too good. B.Archs. seem to have at least 1 cull, if not 2, right before Yr. 5 to dial them back to a BA/BS.
Mar 7, 13 8:08 pm ·
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Architecture School Attrition Rates
I am a graduate of Penn State's Architecture School -BArch 89" and have always thought that our attrition rate was high. My freshman class began with 89 students and by my 5th year, the 5th year class began with 27 students of which 20 finished and graduated on time at the end of the 5th year. I have often wondered about what the attrition rates are at other Architecture Schools, as a comparrison to my experience. How about other Architecture School graduates, what was the attrition rate at your school? This can potentially be helpful information for future students because this is information that may not be advertised by Architecture School Deans. Thanks
Penn State BArch '07 here. I believe we started out with 96 and by the time we finished our 5th year we were down to the low 40's. That number also includes some individuals who took an extra year to graduate.
M.Arch. 3 year - started with about 22 or 23, and were down to 18 or 19 by the end. At least 1/3 did something unrelated to architecture or allied fields, with most of that group returning to their previous field of study or occupation.
Washington State '94 here. Our big culling happened at the entry to the professional BArch program, just before third year. We went from about 230 declared pre-arch majors to 45 professional majors in one shot (412 applications total). As I recall, 38 of the 45 graduated with a BArch, two finished the BS Arch only, and four dropped out or flunked out. The job market sucked when we graduated, even though it was improving a little by that point. only 5 of us had jobs at graduation. Five years later, I heard that more than third had quit architecture and gone into something else. Now I think it's more than half.
Tulane University 2010 5 year M.Arch.
Started with 87 I believe. Graduated with ~20. This may not be an accurate representation of the norm because our first semester was when Katrina hit NOLA, so we lost about a dozen more right off the bat who otherwise would have started 2nd year.
Washington State '94 here. Our big culling happened at the entry to the professional BArch program, just before third year. We went from about 230 declared pre-arch majors to 45 professional majors in one shot (412 applications total). As I recall, 38 of the 45 graduated with a BArch, two finished the BS Arch only, and four dropped out or flunked out. The job market sucked when we graduated, even though it was improving a little by that point. only 5 of us had jobs at graduation. Five years later, I heard that more than third had quit architecture and gone into something else. Now I think it's more than half.
One of the most competent people I know went there for a B.Arch. WSU is, overall, not restrictive for freshman admission. Is the 230 to 45 because you think they admitted too liberally in the beginning and/or because only 45 were good enough? Did people who were REALLY talented also get bumped? I know a U of Idaho B.Arch. right next door to you guys (less than 20 miles?) who was graduated, and she was a terrible employee, so I don't think her school discipline could have been too good. B.Archs. seem to have at least 1 cull, if not 2, right before Yr. 5 to dial them back to a BA/BS.
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