[Frenzy]

I'll be graduating in june 2007 from high school, and i was just wondering on any courses/post secondary institutions that offer architecture or architecture related programs to undergrad students that can help me get into a graduated architecture program.

-thanks :)

[Canadian Mind]

I'll be graduating in june 2007 from high school, and i was just wondering on any courses/post secondary institutions that offer architecture or architecture related programs to undergrad students that can help me get into a graduated architecture program.

-thanks :)

hey hey, I'm not alone, started my own thread a few months back, someone (trueviking?) put up a really good website with links to all the different schools.

[officedweller]

In Ontario, it's an undergrad degree at Ryerson University in TO. Maybe also at U of Toronto.

[Jared]

^

It's a Masters at UofT.


Frenzy, I went through all this myself a few years ago (so keep in mind all this info is a few years old!).

There are 10 architecture schools in Canada (I'm countign the ones where you can get registered with the province's archictecture board, so "architectural technician" stuff like BCIT doesn't count). Most of them are Masters degree programs, the only Undergrad one that immediately comes to mind is U of Waterloo, which has a Bachelors.


Most universities will have some sort of undergrad program they recommend, though officially you can apply for your Masters as long as you have a Bacchelors degree, it doesnt matter in what (but you chances of getting in are slimmer). Many universities have an undergrad program called Environmental Design (UBC, Calgary, Winnipeg, Dalhousie and some others). UofT has an arts "architecture studies" undergrad, IIRC

At UBC, the ED program was second year entry. I was planning on applying for it, and picked my first year courses (2005-2006 academic year) based on what they recommended, however last year (in Dec 2005 or Jan 2006) they announced that they were cancelling it (of course, now I have taken a bunch of courses as pre-req's for ED that are useless to me! those idiots should have given peole a year's heads up!!). I've transfered into Engineering at UBC, and managed to get some transfer credit from first year courses that overlap with the ED pre-req, but I am still in a mix of catch-up first year courses (i.e. Chemistry, Computer Programing, a math and a physics course), as well as some second year courses which I'm able to take.

[mersar]

The Environmental Design programs at U of C are graduate level programs, not undergrad. They do have a minor in Architecture Studies which can be taken as a first step towards the M.Arch, usually done through general studies (3 years), followed by a project as part of the admission criteria.

[AUM]

I did my undergrad at the University of Manitoba. It was a great experience and it has a very good reputation. I completed my Masterss here at the University of Calgary. My suggestion is to do the undergrad in architecture prior to a Masters. If you are serious about pursuing a career in architecture that would be my suggestion. Many of the courses in my undergrad were similar to the Masters courses here at U of C which allowed for advanced standing and shortened my time from the 4 year masters to 3 years. If you have any questions let me know and I'd be more than willing to give you any help I can.

[Frenzy]

Currently im am enrolling into urban studies at the univeristy of calgary under the faculty of social sciences, and trying to take a minor in architectural studies in the faculty of communications and culture. Is that possible? from what i've heard yes, but not so sure. Also the graduated faculty of enviromental design suggests that a degree related to the built enviroment is helpful in admission.

just a side note. whats it like being an intern architect AUM?

thanks

[mersar]

I would imagine its possible (usually there aren't many restrictions on having a minor offered by another faculty, I personally am doing a major from science with a social sciences minor). Best bet would be to contact the UPO (http://www.upo.ucalgary.ca/) if you aren't sure.

[AUM]

Currently im am enrolling into urban studies at the univeristy of calgary under the faculty of social sciences, and trying to take a minor in architectural studies in the faculty of communications and culture. Is that possible? from what i've heard yes, but not so sure. Also the graduated faculty of enviromental design suggests that a degree related to the built enviroment is helpful in admission.

just a side note. whats it like being an intern architect AUM?

thanks

I like it....i would not trade the education and the experiences for anything. I definitlely look at the world in a broader perspective. I have wanted to do this since I was a kid so it works for me. I have been fortunate to work with some really great and talented people. Everyday I am learning something new so it is stimulating from that perspective. I think there are alot of options out there and definitely a lot of opportunities.

But in the end you have to really love what you do becuase it is not the most financially rewarding careers in the very beginning. The earning curve takes a while to get up there until you are registered and have some experience behind you. But once that is complete your options are quite open to work for yourself....work your way up in a small, med or large firm. Or even pursue work in related ares of the industry such as development, government, coroporate and so on. All in all there is nothing I would rather be doing for a career.

Hope that answers your questions a bit.

[Boris2k7]

I'm currently in my second year at the UofC doing a major in Urban Studies. Don't have a minor though... I would do what mersar said and contact the UPO. They are easy to talk to.

[Frenzy]

Boris555 what is social sciences like?

[Boris2k7]

Uhhh... depends what you mean. We're kindof a slacker faculty, kinda like Comm. and Culture, and courses aren't hard as those in the natural sciences...

If you are looking at Urban Studies like me, be prepared to sometimes have to fight for courses with people from other departments. This happens a lot especially if you are looking at Sociology and/or Political Sciences courses. It really sucks, but there's not much you can do about it. However, this isn't a problem with trying to get into Geography courses, so you will almost certainly doing a lot of those.

Overall I would have to say that I am satisfied with my choices so far.

[Frenzy]

alrite ic, as for the courses go, what kinda of information do you learn?
I heard that urban studies can help lead into the faculty of enviromental design. As for my course interest, i dont think i ll be looking at sociology/political science.

my plan is to also take a minor in comm and cult with architectural studies.

[squeezied]

i had a bad experience for urban studies at ubc. it's not that the course itself was bad, it's just that i found it really confusing and too articulate for me to understand whats going in the lectures. i took the course hoping to learn abt transportation, sprawl, and some local issues. unfortunately for me, i didnt learn any of those(or at least hardly any). if any of you are interested in seeing the course homepage... http://www.geog.ubc.ca/~ewyly/u200.html i ended with a horrible mark, and i mean terribly horrible. but that's just me i guess, the average for that class was 71%.

[Boris2k7]

alrite ic, as for the courses go, what kinda of information do you learn?

Well, the introductory course contains a lot of info about urban design principles (read: just the principles), info on the planning process, planning history, effects of sprawl and segregation, etc. That's all I've seen so far. Other courses required by the program support it by giving you a grasp of basic social and political theory (ex: marxism and feminism pop up in just about every course I've taken), research methods, some history, geography and geospatial methods, and more along these lines. As for gaining practical skills... well, so far I can make pretty maps and assign values to lightbands in ArcMap, that's about it...

I heard that urban studies can help lead into the faculty of enviromental design.

This is what I am going to do (except that I will probably be going abroad for my graduate)

As for my course interest, i dont think i ll be looking at sociology/political science.

If you are doing Urban Studies then you will almost be required to take some courses from one or the other, regardless of personal choice (and that is, again, assuming that you have many choices at all... sometimes you just get stuck with the second, third, or fourth choice option). Either that or you could try to load up on Anthropology courses instead...

[Boris2k7]

i had a bad experience for urban studies at ubc. it's not that the course itself was bad, it's just that i found it really confusing and too articulate for me to understand whats going in the lectures. i took the course hoping to learn abt transportation, sprawl, and some local issues. unfortunately for me, i didnt learn any of those(or at least hardly any). if any of you are interested in seeing the course homepage... http://www.geog.ubc.ca/~ewyly/u200.html i ended with a horrible mark, and i mean terribly horrible. but that's just me i guess, the average for that class was 71%.

Ouch, sorry to hear about that mark. I'm curious as to finding out what you thought was confusing... I won't ask you what your mark was though.

I just got a 95% in my course... also an introductory course.

[squeezied]

I'm curious as to finding out what you thought was confusing.

well i cant really give u a straight ans considering i had like no idea what was going on. i read the lecture notes and into the first few paragraphs, i'd ask myself "what the hell did i just read?". they're way to articulate and deep for me to understand. but thats not to say its a bad course to take; im not trying to discourage anyone from not taking it. its just taht i guess im not the right person for it. i guess i should mention it was a year 2 course and im in year 1... but that wouldnt really make a diff since there is no first year urban studies.

a little about myself: im somewhat of a steryotypical asian, good in math, bad in english(i guess thats y im not in arts and the reason y i didnt fair so well in urban studies):haha: . im in the faculty of applied science(engineering) because architecture(what i ultimately want to take) is within that faculty. but now seeing how bad i did in urbanstudies combined with the fact that i hate reading(im assuming architecture has quite a fair bit of reading to do) i think im gonna stick to being a purely mathematical, albeit terribly boring, engineer

well i digress. bottom line, if u arent a steryotypical asian(ie u like reading), by all means take urban studies.

[Frenzy]

If you are doing Urban Studies then you will almost be required to take some courses from one or the other, regardless of personal choice (and that is, again, assuming that you have many choices at all... sometimes you just get stuck with the second, third, or fourth choice option). Either that or you could try to load up on Anthropology courses instead...

ahh i didnt kno that. my sister said she took thoes corses.. and they arnt
that bad.

but refering to squeezied and his experience with urban studies at UBC, isnt it different at UofC?

[Boris2k7]

squeezied: I hear ya. We must be opposite sides of the brain. Same thing with my brother who is going into engineering here. Really good at math and science, hasn't a clue about the Social Sciences. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that I am limited to high school level science and math...

Frenzy: yes, the courses would differ slightly. I'm not sure how much. I took a look at the link and the subject matter looks very similar to me...

For the UofC, basically the first year course has material no more difficult than you may find us discussing on this forum.

[Jared]

well i cant really give u a straight ans considering i had like no idea what was going on. i read the lecture notes and into the first few paragraphs, i'd ask myself "what the hell did i just read?". they're way to articulate and deep for me to understand. but thats not to say its a bad course to take; im not trying to discourage anyone from not taking it. its just taht i guess im not the right person for it. i guess i should mention it was a year 2 course and im in year 1... but that wouldnt really make a diff since there is no first year urban studies.

a little about myself: im somewhat of a steryotypical asian, good in math, bad in english(i guess thats y im not in arts and the reason y i didnt fair so well in urban studies):haha: . im in the faculty of applied science(engineering) because architecture(what i ultimately want to take) is within that faculty. but now seeing how bad i did in urbanstudies combined with the fact that i hate reading(im assuming architecture has quite a fair bit of reading to do) i think im gonna stick to being a purely mathematical, albeit terribly boring, engineer

well i digress. bottom line, if u arent a steryotypical asian(ie u like reading), by all means take urban studies.


Hmm, good thing I didn't take it then! I was considering taking it as my Arts elective, but due to schedual conflicts, I wasn't able to. I ended up picking POLI 100, I was told it's fairly easy. :P

BTW, have you taken Apsc 160 yet? I know it runs in spring as well as fall. If you haven't taken it yet, I'll sell you the text book for it ($20, instead of the bookstore, which was $40 IIRC), since I'm looking to offload it.

[squeezied]

i havent taken it yet; i have it this coming semister. i already got the text tho. but anyway, are u sure u got the right text? the used one in the bookstore is $80

[Jared]

Is it "Engineering Problem Solving with C, 3rd Edition" by Delores M. Etter?

I got mine for $40... :shrug:

Anyways, I don't want to pressure you into anything, but if you're still able to return that one you can save $60. ;)

[Frenzy]

Anybody in structural engineering?

[cc85]

wow, no people in planning school, go figure...

[natelox]

There are 10 architecture schools in Canada (I'm counting the ones where you can get registered with the province's architecture board, so "architectural technician" stuff like BCIT doesn't count).

Although true, I wouldn't discount it so quickly. As a student at BCIT, I see the advantages and disadvtanges. The major disadvantage it the complete absence of design eduction. Everything is very function orientated (form follows function anyone?). One aspect that could be considered negative or positive is the extreme work load. Although only having 25 hours a week (7 courses) this term, at its peak I've had 8 courses and 31 hours a week. The advantages, as I see them, are many. All the courses are directly focused on architecture/construction and you can get related jobs after your first year in the program. Courses on everything from contracts (architects have to administrate contracts. That's not inferred from the job description), acoustics, estimating, engineering, mechanical (HVAC, Plumbing), electrical, illumination, building construction, materials, codes and regulations, planning, manual drafting, AutoCAD, building science, surveying and some more academic courses related to architecture such as physics (with focuses on humdity, condensation, light, electrical), math (geometry, statistics) and well, you get the idea.

Now, if you want your masters, BCIT has a degree program (compared to the two year dipolma) which allows one to finish with a B.Tech which in some cases is directly transferable to university master's programs (Read: UBC, UoT) and others it offers acceptance into fourth year (Read: McGill). The advantage is that when BCIT students are applying to masters programs we already have portfolios filled with architecture related work which can be very difficult for a student with a B.Ed, B.A or B.Eng to accomplish. The disadvantage, is that BCIT is technical school, and doesn't carry with it the elegance or prestige that a University has.

And for the record, I'm registered with the AIBC, as a student architectural technologist (AT.AIBC).

[Jared]

wow, no people in planning school, go figure...

It's a work in progress, I need to finish my B. Eng first, though. :D





natelox,

It wasn't my intention to imply that BCIT and another technical schools are useless or anything of the sort. Rather, I was just explaining that if you want to be registered as a professional architects capable of sealing drawings, you can't get that through BCIT.

[rapid_business]

Speaking of planning schooling, I'm think about going back for a masters in planning if my previous degree transfers adequately. Or, perhaps even taking whatever undergrad classes I have to after my credits transfer and completing a undergrad degree in planning. I'm really considering University of Waterloo's program, and am very close to sending an application. Any other suggestions?

[squeezied]

Is it "Engineering Problem Solving with C, 3rd Edition" by Delores M. Etter?

I got mine for $40... :shrug:

Anyways, I don't want to pressure you into anything, but if you're still able to return that one you can save $60. ;)

well i got it from a friend, so i dont wanna make it awkward for me to return it

[Jared]

ok, no problem. I'll try and sell it to that Honger stoner I play hockey with. :D

He's also in first year.