I watched my freshman class of 90 Architecture students turn into 30 graduates. Only 10 went on and finished a Master of Architecture degree. Here are the most common reasons my classmates told me they couldn't do it anymore.
Why Architecture Students Drop Out | Workload / Burnout
This is the overwhelming leader of all reasons Architecture Students drop out. Architecture School comes with a very intense workload that takes a little bit of insanity to overcome. It is so intense that a healthy sleep schedule is a joke we all laugh about together while our faces age twice as fast as they should. All-nighters in the Design Studio are so common that it's not a surprise to find students with some kind of pillow or sleeping gear at their desks. You can find a deeper explanation of an Architecture Student's workload here. For a student that's just coming out of high school, it's understandable why this kind of extreme workload would make someone think twice about an Architecture degree.
Why Architecture Students Drop Out | Mediocre Payout ($)
In pursuit of an Architecture degree, Students work just as many hours per week as a medical student or law student, but will get paid significantly less upon graduation. The average salary for an Architect in the U.S. was about $80,000/year. That's after you've graduated from a six year program, get two years of experience and then take five exams to become licensed. Then, add a few more years of experience and you might make $80,000/year when you're about 30-35. Right out of college, the going rate is around $60,000/year on average. Not to mention, if you take out student loans, that'll be taking a good chunk of your money for 10 years after graduation if you don't pay them off early.
A lot of Architecture Students are artistic minded individuals and don't ask many questions about money going into the degree, so the find out a year or two into the degree what they can actually expect to earn. When they find out, some students decide that it's not worth the insane workload to get such an average salary upon graduation. It's enough to make some students drop out or pick a different profession.
Why Architecture Students Drop Out | Missing Passion
Another thing many Architecture Students don't learn until after they've started taking classes is that this degree is only worth it if Architecture is a passion for you. As we mentioned, if your primary motive is money then this isn't the best choice. If you're doing it because you think it'll be fun, you're going to fall hard when the workload shows up. If you're doing it to please someone else, that will only get you so far. When you're staring down a double all-nighter to finish your final project on time, your doubts about whether you even want this will eat you alive.
The only way to justify the kind of work you do as an Architecture Student is simply that you are passionate about it. Why else would you redraw a floor plan seven times over to make sure you've tried every possible solution and have picked the best one? Why else would you accept $60,000/yr after a six-years of intense work that's put you $100,000 in debt? You'd only sacrifice for something like that if you love it. You want to design a better world and make the ideas in your head become real-life experiences for every else to enjoy. There's a fire in your soul that burns with creativity and desire that no number of all-nighters, failed designs, or criticism can put out.
Why Architecture Students Drop Out | Success Is Vague
There are no right answers in Architecture. There are some rules and guidelines, but people get famous when they break them, so...
Most fields of education teach you the correct answer and then you succeed by being able to understand and repeat that right answer. In Architecture, your answer is only as good as your ability to defend it. It's your design philosophy vs. theirs, and you never know for certain that you're doing the right thing. This can be really hard for students who are looking for a simple yes or no when they ask if they're performing well. What defines well? What does it mean to define something? What are you? These questions are the type of questions you may be expected to answer when you're defending your design decisions. It's laughable, but I'm so serious.
Some students drop out of Architecture School because they want a clear definition of success, and there often isn't one in this degree.
Why Architecture Students Drop Out | Missed Expectations
This is a normal reason to change majors or quit school altogether. It's just not what you expected. This is especially applicable for Architecture Students because it's not at all what most people think it is, and most students just don't know much about it before they start.
The workload is surprising for a lot of students, but that surprise is early on. Later on in the degree, a more disturbing realization will also lead to students dropping out. It's the realization that your school never really gets to the part where they teach you practical skills for the field. Architecture school does not train you for a job. It teaches you how to think like a designer. Students can start to feel like they're paying good money for an education that isn't teaching them what they need to know to succeed in their profession, and that can be enough for them to switch majors or drop out. There is some truth to this frustration, but it's mostly that these students never make it to graduation and apply for jobs. The degree alone is usually enough to land your first job, and most firms know that hiring someone straight out of college is an investment and they'll have to train you.
Why Architecture Students Drop Out | New Opportunities
The skills a student will develop in Architecture School quickly become valuable and marketable, and they can capitalize on that value faster if they change careers than if they finish Architecture School.
All Architecture Students learn how to think like a designer. They'll use Adobe Creative Suite software (i.e. Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro CC, etc.). They'll learn to use 3D Modeling software (Revit, Rhinoceros, Blender, etc.) and they will also ultimately learn how to render those 3D objects. They may learn how to 3D print and prepare files for laser cutting as well as hand-crafting scale models of design concepts. They learn how to present an idea to a live audience and sell their ideas. All of these skills open doors to other careers and often times students find those other opportunities fit them better anyway. If you're interested in a list of alternative careers for Architecture Students, you can read that article here.
Why Architecture Students Drop Out | Rollercoaster of Life
Not every Architecture Student that drops out dislikes Architecture or isn't passionate about it. Sometimes, it's just the way things go. Prioritizing being a parent, taking care of your own parents if they become terminally ill, not having enough access to funds, needing to work full time to pay rent, and many other life-changing events can be the reason people leave Architecture School. It's not always a bad thing that people change their minds and in some cases, it's the best decision someone can make for themself if the career isn't a good fit for them.
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