Henriette
I am certain you are much more equipped to enter into architectural studies than you might think, many schools have a Masers program with a 3 year track for nontraditional students such as yourself. Southern Illinois University, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign I know personally lawyers and accountants who chose to enter a design profession and are doing quite well from those programs. Be prepared for three years of intense study but it is possible.

What will be most constructive is to get a meeting with faculty and bring what creative work you have. This can be sketches, designs for buildings, paintings, sculpture, even clothing you designed can all be valid submissions in a portfolio. Design is problem solving and many of the best design programs are interested in how you can grow as a designer not where you are now. Show your creative process clearly and you should be able to get in to several good programs.

Over and OUT
Peter N

Marry one......and  live a comfortable life with all your business skills.  I'm sure your partner would be willing to share their architectural glory, for sound financial advice. 

Thanks for the reply! I would from now on look for these masters programs directly, and as well start preparing that portfolio. My head is spinning basically all awake hours on some 'visual idea' - so ill take your advise and show my capability of a creative process! 

Any other suggestions also welcome! (although marry one I would not consider as career change for me! ;-) but who knows where you find happiness and peace of mind!)

Why bother with school? Waste of time and money in my opinion. If you have the resources, build a house. Learn by doing.

Watch out.

It is a difficult profession for women. Read the May or June edition of the Architectural Review. Look at the Architects Journal Report. 

You also will have to work for 3 years after your masters and then take the ARE which will take you another 2.4 years. So you are about to embark on a 8 year plus journey. You didn't mention if you have or intend to have children. Again read the press on Women and Architecture.

Honestly with your background I would become a client and hire architects to help make your dreams a reality, or go into partnership with an architect in your own firm. 

imho, you are facing a REAL CLIMB KILIMANJARO!. it can be done but it def wont be a walk in the park!

It's a great profession for women - esp where I work, there are 1 women and only 3 of us guys and guess who wears the pants in my office - and the women with business knowledge who can sell ideas go even further - by all means go into architecture - don't believe that BS about architecture being tough for women - maybe 20 years ago, but now it's a tough field for guys.

Ignore the negative comments about women in architecture, at least as far as the U.S. goes.  At any place I've worked, I've NEVER seen a woman with a degree in architecture shortchanged.  It could happen, but it would tend to happen at certain smaller firms with almost predictable ownership structures.

This is a life planning question.  Will you feel comfortable being in school?  It's 3(+) years in the U.S.  How is your ability to translate spatial concepts onto paper, so you can produce a portfolio for admission, often the most important ingredient of the application process, depending on the popularity of the school?  You should be counting forward from now, through the M.Arch., through the internship process, and through the examination and licensing process.

From what I gather, you are already a business woman with street smarts and practical knowledge.  I gather your education is mostly in commerce.  While you mention working in other fields, you worked in an architectural office during college, so you've set foot in a firm whereas some M.Arch. applicants have or had not - myself included.  Your father is in a wing of the construction industry, so that strengthens your case.

Again, this will become a life planning question for you as to how badly you want to do this until you stop working.  Also, the M.Arch. is usable for other allied endeavors and fields, and development might be natural for you, that is, IF you decide you don't want to work in an architect's office.  It's not only women who do other things ... it's a small world:  I was in the check-in line at Montreal airport to come home, and the guy in front of me had just finished the M.Arch. 1 at a public univ. in the Northeastern U.S. and he was in project management for a big subcontractor.  In the meantime, you need to assemble your portfolio of drawings and photos in a cohesive, and slick enough, manner and go through the hoops of the application process if you choose to do this.

Architecture is a compendium of positive and negative qualities.  The most gratifying is the tangible nature of the work.  The most frustrating can be the milieu, and that too varies by geographic market, firm culture and clientele, and the person's ability to grapple with these ingredients.

@observant thank you for you long and good advise. It's a life planning project as you say. I'm now thinking that working for the next 20 years should be in a field where I wake up fresh every morning and have natural inspiration and being surrounded by more creative people than the corporate business world. I know that architecture is also a battlefield. But, when your passion for business start to be challenged it's also a sign. This to me is not escape from my current life and career, it's about being true to myself and in flow with my own inner passions. I have had many director and VP positions in a field that has taken me to work in 7 different countries where I have lived, and i studied abroad as well as having my regular business on a global basis. My field is in commerce, and mostly in marketing, business development in a field of mobile communication and digital services in a leading firm. I'm used to starting things from scratch, enter into new markets, and I also did my own startup for 5 years in the software space. I have all my life worked in a male dominant space, and I still wear skirts and pants! I have worked across different cultures including masculine societies and being accepted as a woman. 

When you say about going back to school I'm not afraid of that. I have also now my own savings project so I could get started full time next year. What I wanted to know is the type of schools that would accept non-traditional applicants as I understand is the term, and if my current curriculum vitea would have any value at all. I have always liked studying, and getting to learn something within my true passion will not be an obstacle. Is it possible for me to start with remote learning (eg an online program) already this fall? If I apply in the US would I need to contact the schools to know more about their admission of non-trad applicants? Would I be able to go straight to a Masters program? Please please give me some more on this.

to you advise on the portfolio; YES observant, will do! I'm already planning 3-4 projects that I have either done and implemented as well as plans for new ones. I will start working on this imediately. For perspective drawing etc and getting spaces onto paper; et you point and I do already always scetch with at least space perspective. A last thing; I'm considering an investment into a building project over the next 10 months. From some of the advise above they say build a house an learn from that. This might be my dream project and I will work with an architect and developer. This may tie up some finances for me, but could be a great project for my transformation phase. This would also be part of the hands on experience I will have. 

Last thing; do you think it's possible for me to work part time within the related industry during studies, and if so, based on my CV, what would be potential jobs I could get (I mean I'm a bit too old to be an intern, but perhaps some of my commercial sckills could be useful)?

again, thanks for your reply and time spent giving me advise! :-) :-)

"I mean I'm a bit too old to be an intern"

lol, you are always an intern in this field until you are licensed!

@s=r* yes of course, by all means, I did more think about other positions in an architect firm that could be possible as a part time job, eg in some more commercial area like marketing and sales of projects etc. I of course do understand that I need on the job training and practical experience, but that would be part of my career transformation and not looking for a job in an architect firm as architect intern now. I was more curious to find out if I could use some of my current experience could be of any use in an architect or design related business. That's all. It's why I ask here. Sorry if I come across as little humble, but I am.... I know I have a long way to go....

Henriette:

For starters: (1) I personally do not care for the on-line, alternative delivery methods of teaching architecture, and (2) if you are doing a masters, you will have no time to work part -time, and you will relish the time you find to do your laundry.

What you need:  (1) the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree (a), (2) an essay, (3) about 3 letters of recommendation, (4) the GRE for most schools (b), and (5) a portfolio, for which the requirement for non-trad students is more varied, but also rigorous at coveted schools.

As for the schools, there used to be about 35 that did the M.Arch. for non-trad, and it has now grown to about 45 or 50, it seems.  Consult the NAAB website and ACSA website to find these schools. NAAB = National Architecture Accreditation Board and ACSA = Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.  Since I don't know the parameters, I think you need to obtain a host of opinions on what school will be good for you and are likely places you can be admitted. Your M.Arch. program needs to be NAAB accredited.

(a) - I don't know if the degree needs to be translated for them for equivalency, but I think most universities handle that themselves - ask or read their websites

(b) - sometimes they require a TOEFL - Test of English as a Foreign Language - for those coming from a country where English is not the official language

Thank you so much observant! This is really appreciated! Concrete and useful for me. Then it is about time to start my journey, and again thanks a lot for you time! :-) 

- Henriette  

Why is the dream to be an architect? Once you receive your license, what ate you going to do with it? There are many avenues in real estate that, with your credentials, would make more sense to pursue. Remember, whoever pays the bills, ultimately has control over the design and construction of a project. You could probably find a better niche in a architecture or development company where you werent starting at an entry level position. Again, based on your credentials, you seem smart enough to educate yourself on the basics of architecture. Dont need school for that, just a good book list and a sketchbook. What is the purpose for getting an architects license? Its a big commitment. Will it really help you achieve your dream?

Nice dream. Why spoil it by trying to make it reality?

I agree with what wurden said.  Get into the field from the development or real estate side, and after devoting a few years to learning more about it while earning a salary you'll be in a better, more-informed position to decide if actually getting a degree will make you happier.

Because I can guarantee what *won't* make you happier is piling up a lot of debt to get a degree that quite likely won't in any way be necessary to improve your career prospects.

I'm only providing the information she asked for.  I, too, qualified it with "ifs" and that it is the OP's task to make this life planning decision.

i agree with miles.  and whoever else wants me to agree with them.

"working for the next 20 years should be in a field where I wake up fresh every morning and have natural inspiration and being surrounded by more creative people than the corporate business world." is not a thing that happens in the profession.

the start of the 20 years is 3 years for the masters degree, then 3-5 for IDP so you can sit for the tests to get a license.  but let's say it's the next 20 years you're looking at, after you've pissed away nearly a decade of your life.  there isn't 'waking up fresh to natural inspiration.'  even if you get all the breaks and the perfect job handed to you through some sort of nepotism or whatever else, that's really not what happens in the profession.  it might be an improvement over your current environment, with people that want to be creative, and there are definitely high points when you see your ideas actually built, but keep your expectations realistic.  it will not likely be a significant improvement.  you'll probably have to go to a lot of meetings, talk about things like engineering, and read code books.  your clients are still going to be concerned with financing and ROI.  buildings tend to be expensive, so a lot of clients take that stuff serious.  you may wake up 15 years from now and find out you literally cut your paycheck in half, and in return you get to be creative when talking to the latest intern about parametricism; less so when actually designing buildings.

@curtkram, @donna, @miles and also @wurden freo +@ observant; 

I have read all of your comments, and right now I feel that the idea of perhaps building a house, getting myself into your industry,start working on some projects in parallel to my corporate world could be a great stimulation and test for me. I will not be an architect but I could slowly transfer myself into real estate development and perhaps related industry - at the same time as keeping my current paycheck! I've decided to give myself 10 months for that - if I still want to go back to school full time I will know more - have saved up more and perhaps have more relevant portfolio projects to present. I have carefully read your comments on the profession and perhap my glorification of it - I know it's a tough world out there - and I do believe it's a lot of meetings and project management to it as well.  I also think a lot aboyt ROI on my own projects, so of course its not carte blanche! I will nevertheless check all school options, so i know what to do if i get to the conclusion of going back to school. But i also see that there are options for me that might be a transformation into your field of business, but perhaps not as an architect but more on the commercial side of things - maybe im naive - but that could eventally be the optimal route without going back to 3 years studies + then internships etc....before having a license.

I have taken the note of your advises on life planning as well as what I can expect. I have now maybe enough information and own reflection on where to start. I do have architect connections and friends - some successful some struggling. I have not dared to ask them... But now with your help and advise i know enough to start slowly my own transformation, and I will dare to talk to developers to check my opportunities. On the advise on building a house; I'm actually seriously considering that, along with one house refurbishment project. Think this might be a good 'hobby' approach while I'm still a corporate paycheck eater.... Thanks to you all! I will follow you in my continuation!