Tips for Architecture Students: #6-10

#6: Netflix

Don’t have Netflix? Get it. Its only $7.99 A MONTH. That’s probably less than what you spend on coffee in a month. I can’t even begin to tell you how many countless hours, days and nights you will spend at your studio desk. Watching a movie or a TV show can be great background noise, but beware. Netflix can be harmful if you just sit there and watch it while your work remains unfinished. Many studio teachers have banned watching movies and such from actual studio time, which is understandable. I personally only watch Netflix when I’m building models in studio, not drawing. Be prepared for show withdrawals though, I watched all six seasons of Lost in one semester my sophomore year and had no idea what to do with my life when it was over.

#7: Lock and Key

One of the things I love most about architecture school is the sense of community and family that’s formed between students. You begin to really trust everyone around you. And while you may be comfortable leaving your laptop, cell phone, supplies etc. out on your desk while you run to eat dinner or go to the bathroom, they might not always be there when you get back. That’s the sad reality of the world. The best way to prevent your stuff from being taken, lock it up. Everything has a spot in my toolbox, and I always take my electronics with me. If you’re just running to the bathroom and your studio mates are around, just ask them to keep an eye on your things. If no one’s there to watch your things, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

#8: Hide your food

This is another unfortunate reality of the world. I like to keep some food to snack on in studio since I’m there all the time. But be cautious, if your leave something yummy out, scavengers will come out and find it. Usually it was always my friends or other people in my studio group. When Easter candy goes on sale at CVS and you bring some to studio, hide that shit. Chips and dip? Hide that too. In my school they give us a fridge to store food in, but you have to make sure it’s labeled or someone else might eat it.

#9: Buy in Bulk

When it comes to model making supplies, after a few semesters in studio you generally have a surplus of extra supplies you haven’t used, which is great for study models and final models. It’s a good idea when building a final model to figure out exactly what you need and how many pieces your need, and then it’s a good idea to buy a few more. Because A) You’re not the only one who needs supplies so better to get extra before the store runs out & B) You don’t want to realize you don’t have enough pieces of something to finish your model the night before its due at 3am.

#10: Don’t slack off in your other courses

This should be a given in, but I’ve seen way too many people suffer from slacking off in their non-architecture courses. Most colleges have courses that everyone must take, regardless of major. They tend to be easier, but slightly more time consuming. When you’ve got a studio project due in two days and a paper due in a core course, it’s easy to push the paper aside to finish the studio work. But you should always make the time. Failing a course, even if you think it’s one that’s not important, can negatively impact your GPA. You could loss scholarships, be forced to retake the course and fall behind in your “important” architecture courses. Time management is something that you’ll hear everyone tell you, and I know I’d rather be tired than failing a course for not doing the work.