MSU honors program?

Did you not apply to UMaine (Orono)? It'd be cheaper for you, the outing club has a cabin right next to the Sugarloaf access road, and their Honors College is a pretty stellar program as well. I know because, well, I graduated from there.

It's probably worth it if you want to go to grad school and will probably have a step up on employment. I'm not in it and don't know anyone that is, but you probably get better housing. I know some differences are you take honors seminars and core elective credits, probably get better financial aid/scholarships, and get to graduate with honors (cum laude, etc depending on GPA).

Might as well do it, it'll certainly afford you more opportunities. I wouldn't base it off housing, though, cause after first year you're gonna want to move off campus anyhow. It'll definitely be more work and take away from ski time, but if you're in architecture you're already kinda screwed--definitely worth it, though, my architecture classes were intense and very rewarding.

Did you major in architecture there? any comments on the program/school? I still havent decided on going to MSU as i have a few other options im waiting to hear back from, but i liked the sounds of it a lot.

Also, to the umo comment, they dont have an architecture program which is what I am very interested in. I am however, going to miss the loaf, my home mountain.

Dude i came from the east to MSU and it was the best decision i couldve made.  Honors is good and architecture majors get no sleep just be ready for that.  And if you are honors you people get your own wing in the Quads which are the nicest dorms on campus.

They do in Augusta... but... it's in Augusta. That program though does serve somewhat as a funnel program to Boston Architectural College, which puts an interesting spin on the work/study idea and is somewhat nontraditional in that regard.

How sold are you on architecture?

I will end up going back to graduate school for design (after I'm done having fun) but, just food for thought, the Honors College at UMO is very open to individual research and interests. I was a communication major there and ended up writing my Honors College thesis on architecture/phenomenology/rhetoric. I had to do a lot of the research without any assistance/direction obviously, but the philosophy, art, and communication departments all worked really well with me to achieve some really great original research. It was one of my greatest accomplishments so far in life and something I still reflect on; which is why I'll be going back to grad school.

But I will caution you -- there is some real risk in going into architecture right now. There is not a lot of work going on and universities continue to pump out more and more graduates. A lot of the bigger projects are often picked up by the same groups of people over and over and the residential design market is the biggest glut of them all, everyone wants to design a house yet not a lot of houses going on. Any first job, or for many years, you'll probably be a CAD monkey. I've met a fair amount of people from places like Harvard's GSD who can't find a job, or who get a job for only $40k. A Harvard educated architect could be paid less than a teacher with BA in education their first year. Only one of those people dropped $250k on their education and it wasn't the teacher.

ALSO, it is not easy to get a job with just a BA/BS in architecture. You should be going on to get an MSC or MA II in order to increase (notice I didn't say garauntee) your chances of getting a job. That means another 2 years in a master's program. (You obviously split it: work for a while, then go back to grad school) From what I have learned it is far sometimes more valuable to firms, grad schools, etc that you have a breadth of understanding. I have been told that most often those with non-design backgrounds end up doing better in the long run.

I would really suggest thinking about taking a first year where you destroy your gen eds, make some connections with faculty, have time to have fun, and next summer apply to either Harvard or Berkeley's Summer Arch/ LArch programs. They're great, not impossible to get into and after you leave I guarantee you (since I went through one) you'll know whether or not it's something you want to do.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions at all. I think I can help you out.

I wasn't in Architecture but took the Design Fundamentals class for my major--I'm back and forth as to whether I would've been better off doing my major or architecture. It's a good school--very very design-intense complete with the pompous air that seems to be a mandate of people in the field--one of the professors was considering jobs at Princeton and other schools of such caliber and said this program is pretty similar. With that said, probably anyone in his position would claim such a thing about their program. However, it is good and I've seen some really nice work put out by the students.

The typical route is a 4-year unaccredited undergrad, followed by another year in their accredited grad program, which results in a M.Arch, so it's really nice for employment in that regard. With that said, if you're really serious, I might consider some more prestigious schools if you can get in. It really all comes down to what's in your portfolio, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a transcript from Cornell or Yale instead of MSU. But also consider where you want to be--it's four years and it should be in a place you want to be. Bozeman is a really great place, especially for skiing/outdoors stuff.

I often think that i could be applying to some more selective schools, (sat score over 2000) but i like to think that in the field of architecture, I could excel based on my work not on the name on my transcript. I have to say, I am more concerned on enjoying my life and spending my 5 years in college in a place that I like where i can ski, climb, and enjoy nature. Also, everyone says that M.Arch students have a bitch of a workload anyway, and being in the honors program would make my transcript more impressive. I dont have the work ethic to go to Harvard, but I do think that architecture is what I want to study, based on my interest in Art and Math.