A while back I met with the executive director of an non-profit environmental architecture firm for an informational interview (because, as you know, I’m thinking about/trying to decide whether I should/planning to go back to school to become an architect). The interview went well, it was quite informative really, and it was inspiring in terms of getting to see inside a real architecture firm, while at the same time bubble-bursting in terms of getting to see inside a real architecture firm.
But anyway, today the executive director emailed me with an announcement about a daylong workshop on green building/architecture (that sounds really cool, I’d really like to go…and it’s during the week so I’d even have childcare without having to go to extraordinary lengths). But what was even cooler than the announcement is the fact that the workshop is being sponsored by an architecture school that is entirely drool worthy.
This school offers a Masters of Architecture, a three year degree program (for those of us who do not have a B.Arch), entirely by distance learning, entirely focused on green/eco/organic architecture, for less than $10k. I cannot imagine anything more perfect…except for the fact that it’s not accredited, which looms large.
Realistically, as much as I might have spent many precious deadline-weighted minutes at work daydreaming about this program, I have too many concerns about an unaccredited distance learning program. If it was an accredited distance learning program then I wouldn’t be so worried because they would have found ways to deal with studio time and whatnot via distance. If it was an unaccredited local program I could at least check it out thoroughly and get opinions from local architecture firms as to how well it was reputed. But the combination is much too shaky to rest my $10k upon.
However, as I was discussing it with my boss, she suggested the very good suggestion that I could still take some classes. The classes aren’t that expensive ($350 each) and I can start taking them right now, and at worst I’ll just have something extra to add to the application I complete this fall and winter to the accredited and decently-reputed program at my nearby university.
I feel very excited about this because I worry that while I do indeed love architecture (I LOVE IT!), I fear that my love alone will not be enough to gain admittance to my local program. Oddly, they probably judge potential applicants on more than mere yearning. Taking a few classes, accredited or otherwise, can’t possibly be a bad thing.
(Unfortunately, I also planned to take a cob building workshop in two weeks that I thought would look unique and interesting on my application (not to mention just really fucking cool in general) but alas, they canceled it right out from under me. Bastards).