An associate degree in Interior Design is pretty worthless, IMHO, unless you want to be stuck in the materials library at an average firm.

I know of one student who became a parent during her senior year of ID BFA. She had to take several quarters off, and her work has definitely suffered. It all has to do with how you prioritize your time. My students pull a lot of all nighters, but sometimes it's because they don't manage their time well.

If you do a BFA, you will not have to do 4 years, because your general ed should transfer in and cover at least one year. You may become annoyed with the undergraduate students because of the age difference.

Most schools would allow you to do an MFA or an MS in Interior Design if you did a year of undergrad/prerequisite courses and passed a portfolio review.

I think it would be tough, but if you're driven you can do it. I worked a full time job for most of the time I was getting my MFA in Interior Design, but I don't have children. If you don't have to work outside of the home, and have good time management skills, I think you could do it.

One last thing, and it's a sweeping generalization, but you may get more empathy in an ID program, because many of your profs will be mothers/grandmothers. It's just how the gender lines breakdown between the two disciplines.

Thank you very much for your input about associate degree and possible difference in sentiment.

I have to do four years since this program is very strict about transfering credits not to mention that I went to undergrad out of the states. I thought about MS but tuition difference was too big now that I need to pay for daycare.
how much does master's degree affect getting a job? i feel that i have enough degrees already and as long as I can find a job in hospitality with bachelor's degree and have some good projects, I don't mind. does it affect promotion, I guess?

I don't think a masters degree itself will change your chances at a job, but an MFA will give you a more complex portfolio and you can enjoy the company of other students your age. It would also give you the opportunity to teach if you were ever so inclined.

Do you mind if I ask which program you are considering?

If you already have a degree, you should be pursuing a M. Arch. degree, which is typically a three-year program. It doesn't matter whether your degree was in a different field. Not sure about ID, though.

this is odd--I've never heard of someone doing 2 bachelors but I suppose it is possible? In my understanding what you would be looking for is an (additional) grad degree.

In any case, ID professional life is usually somewhat easier (fewer working hours, but also typically lower pay) than "straight" architecture. (Gross generalization, of course, but I believe generally true.) If you are absolutely sure you are more interested in interiors then you should probably just pursue that; in architecture school, you will have to show mastery of external form, massing, structure, skin/envelope detailing, even building engineering to a low, generic extent; you will also spend hours and hours learning architecture history and theory which may bore you to death if you are really interested more in interiors/textiles/etc. I have a few friends who are true Interior Designers and although many of our interests overlap, we are definitely still distinctly seperate. (Many of the things that thrill me bore them to tears, and vice versa.) (For example, I would stab my eye to avoid picking out carpet and they would likely do the same to avoid drawing a stair assembly detail, which I enjoy.)

Interiors design programs seem to be, from external observation, much easier than architectural programs. The extent of knowledge mastery inherent in the architectural degree (and licensing exams) bears this up--you simply have more to learn when designing a complete building.

I would imagine a parent of a toddler would struggle in architecture school. I went to school with a parent of pre-teens and he managed it alright, although I believe it was difficult, but a toddler is vastly, vastly more time-consuming. I'm sorry, I wish I had more encouraging anecdotes. It's not impossible...

oh, and also, this:

architects in the most firms mostly do engineering, not design

...is completely and totally untrue. TOTALLY untrue. So don't worry about that. There may be many things we do other than "design" -- depending on your concept of "design" -- but engineering is truly not often one of them.

To dutchmodernist, it is a state school in NYC-I guess you know which school it is. any opinion on the program? it seems that many people (especially fresh out of high school) drop.. I checked out other ID MS/MFA program in NYC long before but now being a parent changes everything! I don't want my debt to be double (on top of my spouse' high loan), I guess..initially i was definitely considering only master, but now don't feel it matters as long as I can get my feet in the field given my situation.

to mataray..sorry about the incorrect qoute-it was from somewhere here...and yes..I am planning to get another bachelor's degree :) it is just because I am qualified for state tuition and MArch or MFA/MS programs in NYC costs sooo much. plus, my GRE expired and C school wanted me to take it again...but, I became a parent early in fall, so didn't take it and didn't apply.

well. I feel that I am making excuses for everything and whiny, but I considered every possibility and this was the best solution in my situation in NYC, I thought. If we had to go to california, architecture school would have been cheaper than ID program there.

Thank you for the replies! I am learning everyday here.

mantaray,

My understanding is that interior designers typically make more pay than an average architect per years of experience. I may be misinformed about that. Many of our graduates work a 50-60 hour week.

An interior designer from a good program also has to study hours and hours of architectural history and theory as well as interior design history and theory. We don't need to know physics or structures, but we do need to memorize/apply building codes and know the physical properties/ratings of materials.

In our program, the interior design and architecture students share studio space, and they seem to work the same amount of hours on their school work. This may not be true at other schools, though.

Upea,

That is an excellent program, with great faculty who are really involved with IDEC. You are right, they do work their students like dogs. I believe that there are more non-traditional students (older) in that program because it is so demanding, one person I knew in the program was in her late 30s. I know they often do competitions as part of the studio structure, so it's a good way to get your work out there.

Sorry for bogarting this thread... :)

At the firms I have worked at, the general pay scale for interior designers was lower than the architects. They started about the same and topped out quite a bit lower (possibly because advancement was somewhat more limited? Not sure.) I am definitely only speaking from my limited observation in the profession, and not being an interior designer (and only knowing a handful), I suppose it is incorrect of me to generalize. Although I did make a disclaimer to that end! :)

It's probably unrealistic to ever talk about pay scale anyway as it depends on so many factors -- geographic location, whether you are in a high-end, boutique, all ID firm or in a mixed architecture/ID corporate setting, etc etc.

I do know that good ID programs require tons and tons of history and arch theory--my point was more about what interests upea more as it relates to his question of needing to pick between the two professions. In my discussions with ID friends we tend to be split on interest in these types of classes... Typically you'll get more theory and history in an arch program if only because you are literally spending more years and more credit hours in the program, period. It certainly varies per program, however.

I don't know a single interior designer who conistently works a 50-60 hour, again this is only speaking from my experience. At two of the firms I've worked out the interior designers routinely worked under 40 hours (and some were paid per hour precisely to give them that opportunity). In fact most of these were women with children and the profession afforded them much greater ability & flexibility to tailor their hours to their children's needs than I've ever seen in the architecture side of things; this may account for the inflated numbers of interior designers who do not work the ridiculous (and unnecessarily grueling) hours that architects are often expected/encouraged to work. It is just different in scale; I don't mean to be belittling, and do not at all think of the difference as so, but it is true there is a difference in scale between the projects an architect manages and those the typical interior designer manages. This difference in scale results in a difference in workload, in my observation. Coordinating redlines on a permit set between mechanical drawings, electrical, plumbing, structural, foundation details, exterior envelope details, interior details, and piping everything back and forth with the appropriate engineers responsible (not to mention specialties like elevators, acoustic/lighting engineers, code consultants, etc)... it's just a difference in scale. Too me, the challenge is exciting; to the interior designers I know, it is off-putting as the thrill of design is definitely minimized. Generally I would say there is a greater amount of project management time in architecture than in interior design. Once again, a generalization. I may be completely off-track, and I trust the interior designers on this board to set me straight. :)

yes, one thing I was going to add (to tack on to what dutchmodernist is hinting at) is that you may actually do much BETTER in a design program than your peers, because you are older, more experienced, and have something waiting for you at home to help you be efficient. :) It's not all bad, being a non-traditional student! In fact they are sometimes top of the class.

The flip side to this in my experience is that it may be more difficult for you to push yourself to conceptualize projects in a new and different way; you may find yourself naturally gravitating toward what's more realistic in design and thus having trouble thinking "outside the box". Not always the case for sure but I would just keep and open mind and watch for signs of that in yourself, just in case.

mantaray,

I think we're both generalizing a lot based on our own experience, but I am actually learning a lot from your perspective. Thanks! :)

Yes, differences of scale for sure. I am totally obsessed with working within architecture to create experience at human scale. I would be very bored dealing with mechanical and structural issues, etc. although I certainly appreciate when they are designed well! And you also observed astutely that because interior design is a predominantly female profession, sometimes there is a flexibility of work that can be negotiated.

In the past 2 years, I have seen an influx of men in our bachelor's program, so I wonder if that trend continues how it will change the profession. I think it's cool to have more balance.

I agree, balance is better! I think programs like TopDesign, etc. are actually helping achieve this. Men are realizing that it can be cool to design human habitats. Rising numbers of women in architecture would be great, too. I think it's starting slowly.

also, what is archinect, if not generalizations & obsessions? ;) I am learning a lot from your perspective as well. I hope I am disclaiming enough. It's hard to be helpful on this website, in the sense that we can only really offer our completely uneducated personal perspectives on often unanswerable and undefinable questions; but on the flipside, the people asking the questions (i hope) usually realize this and take it with a grain of salt. That's the principle I operate under, at least.

Thank you all for the valuable thoughts.
I know, in the end, the decision is up to me, even my closest friend, who is my spouse, cannot help. I cannot imagine at this point how it will go with a toddler since I will be the primary person to pick her up from the daycare. I guess I will give it a try for the first semester then see how tolerable it will be for everyone in the family and take semester by semester.
I just hope to get a spot in the daycare and loan to pay for it!

Dear dutchmodernist,

Can I ask you several more questions? I recently heard that job placement after ID programs is not ideal, meaning that most graduates end up doing CAD work and not much design. What is your opinion on that? how much are interior designers involved in acutual design (to express their own ideas) when they work at a firm? I guess getting a job is one thing and getting a job that you want is another. also, you mentioned that your students work between 50-60 hours per week at work. is that only at work or does it include working hours at home?

once you finish school, working at home is not a good idea, unless you are self-employed...in my own experience anyway.

about children :
i have 2 children, one born during m.arch, the other when i started phd. i worked part time during march and closer to full time during phd. my wife was/is prime care giver for kids so this does not compare with your situation, but with support from a spouse i do think it is possible. late nights during march meant my natural job was night duty, feeding baby and dealing with crying child in wee hours...

another way to deal with child at home was that i mostly didn't go to studio except to meet with profs. i basically made school into 9to5 job. all-nighters were conducted at home. group work (with other older students as it happened) was conducted at one of our flats, usually over wine and dinner. lack of studio culture was a bit of a negative cuz i missed out on potential friendships, but academically was not a problem. i was 29 when i did march after a few years working in office and school was for me like 2 years of christmas - wanting to be there was a big reason it was possible. motivation made it easy.

don't know very much about ID but it sounds like it is what you want to do so would recommend you go for that...architecture will maybe bore you if not interested in larger issues. we had two urban planning type studios in m.arch., and one or two landscape architecture driven studios for undergrad. if that sounds awful to you , def don't go to archi-school...

on other hand, + to confirm above comment, architects do not do engineering. in my own office, and in offices i've worked at before, architecture is a first of all a spatial pursuit, not a technical one. that is not always the case, but for many offices i think it holds true...

good luck to you!