sharpies
scale
xactos
cutting triangles
band-aids
duct tape
electrical tape

neck tie for impulse hanging...

seriously - you need to supply your own 'drafting' table?

anything you personally feel comfortable drawing with, chalk/crayons/markers/pastels etc

el jeffe - we don't need to supply one but I've heard it's beneficial to have one in your apartment. Should I not bother getting one?

Indeed. a drafting table in 2009??? put the 200 bucks towards a student copy of rhino or cs4...

there have been multiple instances where i nearly disposed of my small, adjustable and tilting drafting table "w/ parallel bar".

archaic as it may sound, it conveniently seems to come in handy for hand drawings/sketches, water coloring, and just plain thinking simultaneously with your hands (when you're not storing ton's of books or documents on top of it, i suppose).

Hmm ok. Well just give me your lists. I'm just starting out in January... I'm not going to have any idea how to use rhino or cs4 yet. Would buying one of those programs be getting ahead of myself?

I'm just unsure of what to put my money towards. I'm not sure if they are going to ask me to buy anything. Obviously they'll tell me what books to buy but I mean besides that.

As helpful as these posts are, they are conflicting so I'm unsure of who to listen to.

I went to the bac for a year and a half. Are you doing the AOP? I suggest it, you'll learn how to use all of this stuff a lot quicker. The difference is not only going to class in the day rather than at night. The real difference is having studio 4 times a week vs. once a week. You need more time in the studio at first, to get accustomed to all of this stuff. The first two years there are all handdrafting, no computer work is allowed for studio at all. I think it starts to change as you get further along. They do give you a list of supplies before you start, and give you the names of stores where you can purchase, but if you want to get a head start I can tell you what you'll definitely need:

DRAFTING:

-A drafting board, at least 18"x24" with parallel bar OR a t-square (t-square is a lot cheaper, easier to carry back and forth to school which you will have to do a lot, but slightly less convenient to work with. I personally bought both, left the board in my apartment and brought my t-square to school when working in studio)
-Leads - H's, HB, B's.
-Lead holders (basically looks like a metai pencil, they're heavier to allow for more control while drafting, and you insert your leads into them)
-Lead pointer (to sharpen leads, looks like a round little cylinder with an opening on its top for your lead)
-White vinyl eraser (look for staedtler mars plastic, or something similar)
-A roll of trace, at least 12" long.
-Some good quality paper, dont go for that yellowish drawing stuff. Get some nice, heavy paper. You can buy it in rolls, which is a little cheaper, or in pads, (get at least 18"x24" size).
-You'll need some translucent vellum eventually, you may even prefer it to the opaque white paper, but at least in your first studio, they'll probably tell you what paper to use. After a while you can choose what you prefer. Wait to get the vellum until youre told to so, because its expensive.
-30/60 and 45/45 plastic triangles, the bigger the better, and clear will be easier to work with.
-Architect scale. Make sure its not an engineers scale.
-Drafting tape or dots.
-Back pens (pilot precise V5 are nice)
-A few black sharpies
-Drafting box
-Maybe some kind of box or pouch to keep all of this stuff in.

MODEL MAKING:
-olfa knife and spare blades, or x-acto. Its a matter of preference but i hardly use my x-acto, always the olfa.
-Sobo Glue
-Cutting mat ( bigger the better, i suggest 18" x 24")
-Chipboard (you'll probably want to start out with 1-ply until you get more comfortable with the stuff)
-Painters tape (can be helpful to hold things together while glueing, without damaging the surface of your model)
-Metal ruler with a corked back.

I might be forgetting a few things. You're also going to have to take a class called Freehand Drawing, and there are a few more supplies you'll need for that, charcoal, chamois cloths, etc. But those supplies will be a little more specific depending on your teacher so just wait until youre given a class list, but just keep it in mind.

And let me warn you, the overall cost is painful at first! Be ready to drop a few hundred dollars. But, its a nice feeling knowing that this is the first and last time you'll have to make the purchase. There aren't too many textbook purchases that you'll have to make, so this is the replacement.

Lastly, enjoy the bac! Its a really tough place, but you learn a hell of a lot. I transferred to another architecture program because the prospects of graduating in 7+ years (with this economy) were too much for me to handle. But i feel completely confident in my abilities, and am really excited to be an architecture student. I came into the bac knowing hardly a thing, but you'll learn quickly (especially doing the AOP) There are some really great teachers there, and some downright lousy ones. A few of the classes are jokes, some classes should be revered, like any normal institution. You'll feel overwhelmed at first, first semester is the toughest, but as you get comfortable it starts getting fun!

Oh sorry- under the DRAFTING supplies, at the end of it i wrote "drafting box," that should be "drafting brush"

Also- in response to your second post. The school's computers are pretty set up, all the programs that you might want to use are installed on them already. Rhino, Revit, Maya, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Form Z, etc. The list really goes on. I suggest using those programs at school before you think about buying anything. You'll also be able to choose to take half-semester courses on any of those programs. But as i said before, you wont be using any of those programs for your studio work for the first two years at least. Its good to get familiar with them though, earlier on. Especially since you'll be jobhunting, (i assume you understand what the bac is all about) employers will be looking for knowledge of those computer programs.

Definitely get familiar with CS4: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator. You'll need to know those to put together a portfolio. Take the portfolio design class, I took it my second semester. ALWAYS scan, photograph your work, immediately after you finish things.

Sorry last post!

Buy your stuff from Utrecht, Dick Blick, Pearl. All are close enough to school, (not sure where you plan to live) Utrecht is walking distance from the BAC, just walk down Mass Ave, past Berklee, Christian Science Center, etc, you'll find it. Students get a 10 or 15% discount with an ID card

Thanks dm66048! Your posts were extremely helpful. I was trying to get an idea of how much I'll be spending and you definitely helped. I am doing the AOP for the first year. I didn't like the idea of jumping right into the workplace when I had no idea what I was doing, lol.

The idea of graduating in 7 years or so is a bit much, but I figure if I don't end up liking the set up of the BAC I can always transfer out. Where did you transfer to if you don't mind me asking? Also, do you know when they give you the supplies list? At orientation?

Yeah, once you're there I think you'll start to decide what youre preferences are. The BAC is ideal for some people who have certain circumstances. I really felt like i wanted more of a university environment, and i needed better studio culture. But because the BAC is so geared towards getting you into the workplace, you'll have a pretty great portfolio after a year or two there so if you do decide to transfer I'm sure you'll have the credentials to do so.
For personal reasons I wanted to go to school in chicago, so in the end i was choosing between the school of architecture at UIC and IIT. It took me awhile to choose, but after stalking all of the uic vs. iit posts here on archinect (trust me there are many) i ended up choosing uic and am very excited about it!

I can't remember exactly when I was given my supplies list. For some reason I feel like it was mailed to me...but you'll definitely get one at orientation, and I remember getting one on the first day of studio too. You wont need anything for your first day, but I remember getting an assignment that day to build three models for the next day. With no supplies and having a class after studio till 7 that day i was feeling STRESSED! I remember turning my knife over in my hand again and again to figure out the best way to use it.ahh haha what a bad feeling that was. Like i said, the first semester is the hardest. First two weeks in fact are terrible, when everything is so new and confusing to you (i think they try to weed out the people who shouldnt really be there). But you're going to learn very quickly, and by your second semester you'll laugh at how difficult everything seemed to be at first. It gets more and more fun as you get further into the program, but it'll take hard work and patience. Enjoy it!