For some reason, I felt like my IQ dropped points after spending all those days and nights in studio. The dean's statement that students should be working nights and weekends should have been the red flag. My interests were in history and physics when I entered college. I just fell into the major and it never felt right. I was a talented artist but not as creative as the other students. There were many times where I just wanted to leave the major but I just didn't believe in quitting once I started. But everyone was so sociable and loved to talk and the teachers loved talking about star architects. I guess it was kind of entertaining.
I didn't listen to my gut and leave in year 2. So here are reasons to leave this major before you waste too much time in it. Because it just gets worse and worse. It never gets better.
The 5 year program and long road to licensure becomes a prison sentence.
In many other fields, young, smart, and educated graduates are given opportunities. As a young architect, older architects look at you like you are too young. Lets face it. The old are intimidated by young people and keep them in place by telling them they are too young and unqualified. A quicker licensure path will allow young graduates to compete fairly with the older architects that want to intimidate the competition.
Don't fall for the you can be Frank Gehry too nonsense. Leave that to the wanna be actors and musicians.
Pay is unbelievably low. Without a license, opportunities are few. You will work long and hard.
This skill set is so unique and the education is so focused your skills will not be transferable. No hr recruiter will look at your experience for any business, administrative, sales, accounting, finance, etc position. You will be pigeon holed. You will have to go back to school and study something else.
Unless you are ready for the long haul, don't venture down this path if you are going to quit at year 10.
The camaraderie amongst students is a positive. But it will disappear after college. You will face the workplace alone and there won't be many opportunities.
If you decide to drop out, there is a whole world outside of the major. Other studies that will pay more and are just as creative: programming, web design, product design, product developer, animation, computer game designer.
If you aren't smart enough to be an engineer, this isn't a good alternative. Again, find another path.
Women don't do well in this profession.
If you are creative and a true passionate designer, this if for you. However, you will have to try to survive with the low pay and lack of benefits many firms offer.
Consider these things seriously before you move forward.
citizen
Dec 2, 14 12:18 am
Agreed.
gdub
Apr 16, 16 8:58 pm
architectureisforidiots
There is something to be said about your post. Way to go!
-Why do lawyers get to go to law school and pass the bar right when they get out and become lawyers? These are the same people that will go after your license when you screw up! Why can't architects have the same type of system? There is a team of Consultants who determine if a building is going to fall down -whomever says that that's why we have to do an internship - is only purposely making life more difficult for the rest of us.
-For those that say that we need to continue on the same path, stop trying to make architecture out to be this "coveted" thing that is impossible or extremely lengthy for people to attain. You are only causing there to be more crap architecture in the world because there are simply not enough good architects to choose from. Let the market decide who should be the architect. Let the market choose who will get their licensed stripped if they screw up.
-If we want to change the profession, get rid of the 5 year degree or the 4+2 in addition to 3 years of pain staking internship plus 5 exams to pass go. Why can't it be like law school and be 3 years long and instead just include a practicum during that period? And when you get out, you can take an exam and you are done?
-There is HAZING in architecture school and there is HAZING in firms. The whole lengthy process is HAZING! Stop lying to the greater architecture community and pretending it doesn't exist! Let's start talking about it.
-Let's start talking about pay inequality between women and men in the profession.
-Let's start talking about the fact that very little women make it towards licensure, not because they get paid less(can't negotiate) or because they drop out to become moms but instead because they are treated differently in firms.
-Let's start talking about the admin stuff that women are asked to do in the firms that men aren't. Let's start talking about how incredibly different the "real" world of architecture "actually" is like in a firm than it is in architecture school.
If you are going to sit here and tell everyone that the building will fall down if you don't have 5 years or 4+3, or 4+2 years of school plus 3 years of internship plus exams, then why don't STRUCTURAL, GEOTECHNICAL engineers who actually DO affect whether or not the building WILL fall down have to do the same?
waterproofdoggy
Apr 18, 16 10:31 pm
Indeed this high-intensity workload is required, and this might be little things can be done, in fact, this is necessary since proficiency dose not be obtained by merely time. Some thing I noticed is that the industry on US are becoming much promising, this suggests potential satisfying reward, but still, earn it on your own lad!
For some reason, I felt like my IQ dropped points after spending all those days and nights in studio. The dean's statement that students should be working nights and weekends should have been the red flag. My interests were in history and physics when I entered college. I just fell into the major and it never felt right. I was a talented artist but not as creative as the other students. There were many times where I just wanted to leave the major but I just didn't believe in quitting once I started. But everyone was so sociable and loved to talk and the teachers loved talking about star architects. I guess it was kind of entertaining.
I didn't listen to my gut and leave in year 2. So here are reasons to leave this major before you waste too much time in it. Because it just gets worse and worse. It never gets better.
Consider these things seriously before you move forward.
Agreed.
architectureisforidiots
There is something to be said about your post. Way to go!
-Why do lawyers get to go to law school and pass the bar right when they get out and become lawyers? These are the same people that will go after your license when you screw up! Why can't architects have the same type of system? There is a team of Consultants who determine if a building is going to fall down -whomever says that that's why we have to do an internship - is only purposely making life more difficult for the rest of us.
-For those that say that we need to continue on the same path, stop trying to make architecture out to be this "coveted" thing that is impossible or extremely lengthy for people to attain. You are only causing there to be more crap architecture in the world because there are simply not enough good architects to choose from. Let the market decide who should be the architect. Let the market choose who will get their licensed stripped if they screw up.
-If we want to change the profession, get rid of the 5 year degree or the 4+2 in addition to 3 years of pain staking internship plus 5 exams to pass go. Why can't it be like law school and be 3 years long and instead just include a practicum during that period? And when you get out, you can take an exam and you are done?
-There is HAZING in architecture school and there is HAZING in firms. The whole lengthy process is HAZING! Stop lying to the greater architecture community and pretending it doesn't exist! Let's start talking about it.
-Let's start talking about pay inequality between women and men in the profession.
-Let's start talking about the fact that very little women make it towards licensure, not because they get paid less(can't negotiate) or because they drop out to become moms but instead because they are treated differently in firms.
-Let's start talking about the admin stuff that women are asked to do in the firms that men aren't. Let's start talking about how incredibly different the "real" world of architecture "actually" is like in a firm than it is in architecture school.
If you are going to sit here and tell everyone that the building will fall down if you don't have 5 years or 4+3, or 4+2 years of school plus 3 years of internship plus exams, then why don't STRUCTURAL, GEOTECHNICAL engineers who actually DO affect whether or not the building WILL fall down have to do the same?
Indeed this high-intensity workload is required, and this might be little things can be done, in fact, this is necessary since proficiency dose not be obtained by merely time. Some thing I noticed is that the industry on US are becoming much promising, this suggests potential satisfying reward, but still, earn it on your own lad!
Edit disappeared. Sad.