Architecture Vs Architectural Engineering Degree
Q: My daughter is a senior in high school and is interested in pursuing an education in architecture. A teacher recommended she look at arch eng since she is strong in math and science, and less so in the arts. She visited the Milwaukee School of Engineering which has an arch eng program and is now interested in attending there. I'm more inclined to suggest she pursue a traditional architecure degree. Does anyone have any comments on an arch eng degree? If she wants to head more in the eng direction, should she pursue a civil eng degree instead? I guess my main concern is the employment opportunities once she graduates. Any comments would be welcome.
A: -If your daughter wants to become an architect, she should get a degree from an accredited architecture program rather than settle for an architectural engineering degree, which is basically civil engineering with an emphasis on the structural design of buildings. I know a very talented man who became an architect with the arch eng degree, and though he could produce fine construction documents and details, he couldn't design his way out of the proverbial paper bag. His education hadn't given him any studio design experiences or cultural perspective to understand the issues involved in design. By the way, being strong in the arts actually has less to do with being a good architect than you may be assuming. Being good in math and science usually means that she is a logical problem solver and a clear thinker, which are the most important qualities an architect can possess. On the other hand, there are lots of structural engineers out there who might have become competent architects, but were more perfectly suited to structural design and generating calcs. She might be successful at either profession, actually. To be clear about the differences between the two professions though, architects must have leadership abilities to take charge, command respect, and direct others--abilities that aren't typically required of engineers. While both architects and engineers typically live "inside their heads", engineers live more in a world of rationally abstract concepts, if you know what I mean, than do architects. Architects usually have a billion interests while engineers have few. Architects are often pretentious, overconfident, overeducated, skeptical, and very observant. Engineers are often boring, two-dimensional, focused on the task at hand, yet still ambitious and concerned about fair remuneration. The stereotypes for each profession can be exaggerated, but still they are somewhat accurate. Your concern for your daughter's employment opportunities is understandable. I have a 20-year-old son who is majoring in Chemical Engineering, so I am feeling good. Architects and structural engineers are highly employable, but the construction industry feels the ebbs and flows of the country's economy to an extreme degree. Thus, job security is not always so secure. -In addition to the comments from rktectcdm: Ask the school what professional registration is possible with the architectural engineering degree they offer. I worked with a very nice fellow with that degree which essentially allowed him to do residential scale work. It was not acceptable as a base for a professional license of either PE or RA. The book "Architect? A Candid Guide to the Profession" by Roger K. Lewis would be a worthwhile reference at this point. It can be ordered from Prarrie Avenue Books. There are a lot of different skills and career paths within "architecture": Renderers, working drawings producers, specifications writers, site managers. Although it may be the long way around, many colleges and universities offer a Masters of Architecture which begins with an undergraduate degree and then a two year masters program. This would give your daughter some time to become familiar