I graduated with a Master's degree in Architecture last spring (2022). I'll cover what the experience of Architecture School is really like from the perspective of someone who's been through it. I'll mostly focus on what makes Architecture School different from a typical college experience, and by the end of this you'll have a good idea of what you're getting
into.
In This Article:
The Coursework
The Other Students
The Professors
The Lifestyle
The Opportunities
What Architecture School is Like | The Coursework
I took the 6-year track to a Master's Degree in Architecture. It started with a 4 year Bachelor of Science in Architecture, then I took two more years of Grad school and finished with a Master's Degree in Architecture.
The first year was mostly prereqs (the classes everyone has to take, like basic math and science classes). In year two I started the architecture classes started kicking in and I was taking classes about construction practices, structures, and building systems. The only thing different about Architecture School was the subject of the classes, but the experience was the same as every other degree until...
BAM!
Out of nowhere, Design Studio shows up and single-handedly overhauled my world. This is the class that truly makes Architecture School different from any other degree. Put simply, it's the class where you take what you learn about Architecture and actually design a building. Simple right?
No. There is no way to truly explain what this class is like, but I'll give it my best shot. To start, this class is six credit hours, meaning it counts as two classes even though it's one class. That's because the workload is hefty and it's almost ten hours per week of just class time. That's not even touching homework yet.
So you walk into Design Studio on the first day of the semester. It's a large open space with standing-height desks, not your usual classroom setting. Your professor shows up and you soon know which desk is "yours" for the semester. This is where you're going to put all your Architecture Tools (for a list of all the tools you'll need, click here). It's also where you're going to spend 50% of your awake hours this semester (and some of your asleep hours).
After you've been given your design prompt for the semester, the chaos begins. It starts slow. Producing diagrams of site context, reading up on the history of the area you're designing for, and running through design exercises your professor assigns every class.
Then it moves into hand-crafting scale models of your design concepts. You're expected to design and show at least three different ideas in each class and hand-crafting scale models is surprisingly time-consuming. There are a million different directions you can go with your ideas, and there's never enough time to explore them all. You're young, ambitious, and naive though, so you don't know how long things take and you think you have time for everything. You've been working late to model all your ideas and you notice the sun is rising. You've just pulled your first all-nighter; it certainly won't be your last.
Then the workload intensifies as your midterm is coming. Week after week, you've been bringing your models into class, presenting them to your professor and classmates, receiving feedback, and then advancing your design. Now, for the midterm, your professor invites professionals in the field to come in and critique your design in a semi-formal presentation. This is called "Jury". It's the first time all semester fresh eyes are seeing your project and it can be nerve-wracking. You haven't learned to separate your own worth from the work you do yet, so it's hard not to take the juror's comments personally.
There's usually about a month between the midterm and final juries, so there's a panic rush to get everything done for your Studio final. You're typically expected to make a final model that is scaled accurately and made to the highest level of craft you're capable of. It should show all of the detail you've designed. You'll also be expected to design and print multiple large sheets of paper that show your floor plans, sections, elevations, 3D axonometric drawings, diagrams, processes, and more in a beautiful and organized layout. It's understandable why finalizing your design and producing all of this in a couple of weeks while your other classes go crazy too would be a lot. Here come more all-nighters.
Final Jury comes, you present your project, and suddenly it's all worth it. On that day, you and all your classmates are looking their best after you've seen each other at your worst many times throughout the semester. Everyone has a final project that you've watched develop from their first crazy idea to the full-blown architectural design it is today. Jurors come in from who knows where just to see your project, and the feedback is overall positive with some congratulations. You probably haven't slept in two days, but the energy in the room is so good that afterward, you and your friends go out for a feast at a nice restaurant and tear up the clubs before you get home and instantly fall asleep for 18 hours.
Coursework in Architecture School is very intense, but if Architecture or design is a passion for you, it's definitely worth it.
What Architecture School is Like | The Other Students
All college students seem crazy, but Architecture Students actually are crazy. I don't mean party animals driving cars into pools crazy, there's no time for that. I mean artistic-minded procrastination that leads to designing an entire building in one weekend on 3 hours of sleep crazy. Taking a box you made 15 minutes ago and presenting it to a group as though it's the innovation of the future crazy. Having random thoughts while scarfing down a burrito like "what if each floor in a skyscraper was supported by magnetic levitation instead of columns" crazy.
Your classmates will likely be a group of creative, optimistic, artistic, "this is fine" while looking at something actively on fire kind of people. Most of them will be fairly easy to get along with and their creativity makes for a good time. I remember this one night before a midterm, me and like ten other students all knew we were about to pull an all-nighter. So, we took one of our empty crit rooms, rolled some design studio furniture in there, and set up a "Studio Apartment". Someone had just returned from Hawaii with enough Hawaiian sweet bread for everyone and someone else happened to have quirky sodas with unheard-of flavors we all tried. We were rolling laughing about who knows what and just for that one all-nighter it was a place for us all to take a break and laugh at our suffering. As with most things in life, having good people around makes it so much better.
On the flip side, there are also some Architecture Students that carry the stench of underserved pride everywhere they go and it's incredibly toxic for a creative environment. There aren't many objectively "right" answers in creative design, there are only guiding principles. So, people who like to be right have to create artificial rules for themself that make them "right" in their heads. Then they impose those rules on everyone else, trying to stifle creativity in the pursuit of being right. These people typically come from a background of having to earn love by being "good" or "right", so try to be patient with them. When life gets hard, they'll have to grow out of it or they'll be miserable. I digress.
Your classmates will be a mixed bag of many different backgrounds, but what you all have in common is you came to this school to study Architecture. It's healthy and helpful to make friends with your classmates because this degree is hard, and no one will understand better than them. You can help each other with design feedback and ideas, and the value of getting fresh eyes on your project cannot be understated. Your first design studio will have twice as many Architecture Students as your last design studio (dropouts or degree changes), so find some people who are committed and put in the work together.
What Architecture School is Like | The Professors
Your Design Studio professors have an enormous impact on how that semester's design studio course will be. Overall workload, type of work, staying on schedule, the number of readings, the amount of hand-crafted models, etc. are all heavily influenced by how your professor wants to run their Design Studio.
Most Architecture Professors have worked in the field prior to teaching or still do. They're too familiar with the real world and its limitations, so they're inspired by the limitless creativity of their student's designs. There's a constant battle in their head between wanting to see inspiring creativity and sticking to the rules of what's considered possible. The best professors balance the two, allowing for creativity, but also knowing how to scale it back when a student's design gets so unrealistic that it isn't even useful.
Professors can seem scary, but most of them still remember what it was like to be in Architecture School themself. If you're having a hard time with the workload, talk to them about it. They will usually work with you and try to find a solution with you.
Sometimes you'll get a professor that is an absolute animal though. They've been working hard long hours their whole life and succeeding at every level, and they bring a "no pain no gain" mentality to teaching. They'll push you to your limits and get every drop they can out of you. If they're good at what they do, you will learn and grow more in that semester than the rest of your degree combined. However, if they're not good, they'll run you into the ground with busy work and leave you with the frustration of confusion all semester. I've had both though, and you get through it. I'm grateful for the instructors that pushed me.
What Architecture School is Like | The Lifestyle
Once I started taking my first Studio class, there was no need to ask if the glass was half full or half empty, my glass was overflowing. I had more to do than time to do it, but I also never felt more alive.
Stepping out of a barely running car in a full suit carrying architecture models and drawings on my way to present my final project to a group of professional Architects. A Redbull in the inside pocket of my jacket because I've had four hours of sleep in the last two days and I need to make it upstairs to the presentation room. I deliver a knockout presentation in front of my friends and classmates who are sitting behind a group of professional Architects that have come to critique our final presentations. As I sit down after my presentation, fatigue hits me like a freight train now that the adrenaline of preparing for the presentation is gone.
I wake up to the sound of people clapping at the end of the next person's presentation. I join in pretending I wasn't out cold just a second ago and look around to see if anyone noticed. My friend next to me is laughing as they're posting the video of me sleeping and we start to whisper about what we're doing after this.
The lifestyle of an Architecture Student is crazy. One minute you're up late having a heart-to-heart with another architecture student at 3 am in the studio, the next you're pretending you know what you're talking about while you present your architecture design. Quick and cheap lunches, more dinners delivered to the design studio than you'd like to admit. Never quite knowing when you're succeeding because there's no right answer to Architecture, but there are wrong answers.
Then, because school is such a dominant force in your life, there's the impulsive disregard for your responsibilities and you go out for a night on the town with your studio friends who are also recklessly disregarding their responsibilities. You don't know what you're going to tell your instructor tomorrow, but for tonight, they don't exist and you're free. These were admittedly some of the best nights of my life.
What Architecture School is Like | The Opportunities
A degree in Architecture offers the most incredible potential college experience if you can capitalize on the additional opportunities available to you.
One of the best opportunities you'll have is the option to study abroad. It always comes at some additional cost, but it's typically a little cheaper than taking yourself there for the same amount of time. You have the opportunity to travel the world and actually experience the Architecture you would otherwise only read about in textbooks. There's something extra special about traveling with the intention of exploring Architectural design. You have a trained eye, and you will see more in the buildings than most people around you. You'll understand how the ideas of times past shaped the way Architects designed buildings, the same buildings that now help define the culture of the area. Hand sketching the Arch de Triumph in France, smelling aged timber in Urnes Stave Church of Norway, running across the Milvian Bridge from the famous Roman Battle in the early 300s AD. Studying Architecture abroad is an incredible opportunity.
There are some Architecture organizations that will put on fancy functions for students free of charge. I once went to a Jacques-Benedict award ceremony for free because the Students for Classical Architecture (SCA) group at our school had some finalists up for an award. The classical Architecture instructor sponsored a handful of students to go and show support.
Almost anything Architecture related in your city will give you perks for being an Architecture Student. Art museums, local performance theaters, symphonies, architecture tours, famous buildings, etc. You can call places that don't normally let people tour or take photos and ask if they'll let you since you're an Architecture Student, and a surprising amount will make an exception for you. The city around an Architecture School seems to just love giving things to the Students.
You'll be knee-deep in networking opportunities everywhere you go in Architecture School. Your instructors usually have field experience and connections, so even if you just make a connection with your instructors, you're on your way. At your final jury, real Architects come in and critique your work. If they like what they see, you can run with that connection all the way into a job at their firm if it all works out. There are so many groups and organizations to be a part of that will connect you with other students and field professionals in a way that builds lasting and beneficial relationships. Networking opportunities are everywhere.
Some companies partner with Universities to complete projects on a budget and give students a chance to work on a project that actually gets built. These are excellent opportunities to get some relevant experience while you're still in school and they're usually fun oddball jobs. We had a project at my school that designed housing for researchers in Antarctica and it actually got built. There was another project that was carefully tiptoeing the line between temporary housing and permanent housing per the city's code in an attempt to provide housing for homeless people that just need a place until they get back on their feet. If you look for these opportunities, they're some of the most memorable experiences you can get out of Architecture School.
You very quickly develop the opportunity to give back and help younger students as you approach the end of your undergraduate degree. The opportunities only become more abundant as you move on to your master's degree. You can tutor younger students, sit in as a juror on their final presentations, drop by the lower studios and talk to the students about what they're working on and share your experiences. Even as you graduate and move on to the field you can still find ways to work with students and teach them the things they need to know to get through Architecture School. You never know how much it can help someone to just know that they are not alone and that there are people hoping for their success.
What Architecture School is Like | Summary
Call me crazy, but I had the time of my life in Architecture School. It's crazy, it can be really hard, and there's a lot to do. But the people you grow close to, the growth you'll see in yourself, and the golden ticket of an Architecture degree in hand make it all more than worth it. It was less than a year ago that I graduated and I already get misty-eyed thinking about it. If I could go back, I would do it all again and I would say yes to every opportunity that came across my desk.
Take a look around our website for more about the best Architecture Student Materials!
Comments