Pathway
Architecture & the Built Environment
Designing the spaces people live and work in. A rare mix of art, physics, and regulation, and one of the few licensed design professions.
Majors
- Architecture (B.Arch or M.Arch track)
- Landscape Architecture
- Interior Architecture
- Urban Planning
- Construction Management
Jobs people do
- Architect (licensure required)
- Landscape architect
- Urban planner
- Construction manager
- Interior designer
- Architectural drafter (two-year path)
Watch out
The choices that quietly close a door here
Not knowing whether your target schools want a portfolio.
Five-year B.Arch programs frequently require one, and it can't be built in a semester. Students who assume architecture is 'just engineering' find out too late.
Instead Check portfolio requirements for three programs by sophomore year, and start making work regardless.
Choosing a four-year architecture *studies* degree assuming it leads straight to licensure.
Licensure requires an accredited professional degree (B.Arch or M.Arch) plus experience hours and exams. A non-accredited BA/BS means a further two to three years.
Instead Check NAAB accreditation for any program on your list, and decide deliberately between the five-year and 4+2 routes.
Course ladder
Grade by grade
Course names differ at every school, and graduation requirements differ by state. Take this list to your counselor so the two of you are working from the same page.
Grade 8
- Art and any drafting/CAD electiveWorth doing
Grade 9
- GeometryLoad-bearing
More directly used here than in almost any other field.
- Foundational art / drawingLoad-bearing
B.Arch programs usually want a portfolio.
- BiologyLoad-bearing
Grade 10
- Algebra IILoad-bearing
- CAD, drafting, or 3D modelingLoad-bearing
- ChemistryLoad-bearing
Grade 11
- PhysicsLoad-bearing
Structures is physics. Required by most programs.
- PrecalculusLoad-bearing
- AP Art & Design or advanced studioWorth doing
Grade 12
- CalculusWorth doing
Required by many five-year B.Arch programs, check yours.
- Portfolio / advanced studioLoad-bearing
- Environmental science or sustainability electiveIf you have room
Outside class
ACE Mentor Program
Free after-school program pairing students with working architects, engineers, and contractors. Includes scholarships. Look for a local affiliate.
From grade 9
Habitat for Humanity or any construction volunteering
Understanding how buildings actually go together makes you a better designer.
From grade 10
Learn a 3D tool well
SketchUp, Rhino, or Revit. Free student licenses exist for most.
From grade 10
Summer architecture program
Most architecture schools run them, and they usually produce portfolio pieces.
From grade 11
Things to build
Document a building you walk past every day
Measure it, draw it, explain what works and what doesn't. Architects look at buildings differently, start.
From grade 9
Design a real solution for a real site near you
An empty lot, a bad intersection, a park. Model it. This is what a portfolio piece looks like.
From grade 11
Is this actually a fit for you?
Ten minutes of questions, and Bearing turns this into a plan that starts from the grade you're in.
Take the survey