Make the most of your summer

So here we are in early July. Personally I love the summer time for a few reasons. The gorgeous weather, getting actual sleep & No Studio!! I am always so ready for summer by the time exams roll around at the end of the spring semester. Summer is a time of relaxing and de stressing for me. But it’s also a time to prepare for the upcoming school year. I mean summer is for relaxing, and you will defiantly need it after a semester studying architecture, but it can also be a time where you can get ahead in architectural learning. I often find myself with a little time to kill in the summer, especially on weekends when I’m not working. So take a break from your Netflix marathons and follow some of these tips to get ahead of the game.

1] Get an Internship

Or an architecture related employment job. Remember your friend IDP? With the new guidelines for reporting there is no longer a time limit for how long an internship has to be in order for it to count. Imagine how many hours you can get towards IDP working an architecture internship for the summer. I’ve been lucky to have internships the past two summers, but getting one is not easy. If you find yourself not in an internship for the summer, try and see if your summer job counts for IDP. If you work for a construction company, landscaping firm, interior designer, work at a nonprofit etc. those hours can count as long as you report them according to the guidelines outlined in the IDP handbook. On average the time it takes to complete IDP hours (all 5600 of them) is 5 years. Working over summer break, winter break, weekends, anything that counts and you can record helps you cut this time down. Not to mention working in an architecture firm or architecture related field give you valuable experience to put on your resume and portfolio and will teach you things you can’t learn in the classroom.

   

2] Update your portfolio

I always take time during the summer and winter breaks to update my architecture portfolio with my work from the previous semester. It’s always a good idea to do it sooner rather than later because it can take a big amount of time to get done. And this way your portfolio is always up to date with your latest work. You would never (or should never) show up to a job interview with an outdated /incomplete portfolio. Take the time when you don’t have the stress of deadlines and projects to get it done; you’ll thank yourself during the semester.

3] Get up to date with software

Most software producers come out with a new version every year that may contain updates, a new interface etc. Save yourself some time by playing around with the new versions before the semester starts. You don’t want to waste time trying to find a command that moved right when your start a project. This can stress you out and make you struggle. And also take some time to learn how to better use these programs. Sites like Lynda and YouTube have hundreds of tutorials that teach you everything from the basics to advance techniques.

4] Architecture Road Trip

One of my goals for the summer time is to take a small road trip and see some architectural icons in the US. I’ve been to Boston several times but I would love to go on my own and see icons like Trinity Church, buildings on MIT’s campus, Boston City Hall and the Elizabeth Gardiner museum. Boston is only an hour and a half away from me so I hope to find a free weekend and go. Other road trips I would like to go on, Falling Water. Arguably the most iconic of Frank Lloyd Wright’s residences, Falling Water should be on everyone’s architecture list. This road trip is a little more out of the way though, seeing as it’s located in rural PA. It’s about an 8 hour drive from RI. Hopefully when I get a little extra $$ for gas I’ll take the trip. The point is get out there if you can! Make a list of things around you and go see them. Take pictures, explore and see if the things you learned in school were right. I’ve always believed the best way to learn is from experience, and there is no better way to learn about the Farnsworth House or Gropius House than to go see them for yourself.

5] Create your own Entourage Library

This is still on my to-do list for this summer, but I think it will arguably be the best thing I do for myself all summer. This will save you TONS of time when it comes to creating renderings and adding entourage. I always spend the most time on websites like http://www.immediateentourage.com/  searching for scale people, plants, cars and textures to add into my renders. By preparing and organizing them into a folder on your computer/portable hard drive, you won’t have to waste time searching for them, downloading the file, removing the background and so on. By building and maintaining your own personal library, you’ll set yourself up for success.

6] Sketch, Draft & Letter

Read about the importance of being able to do these three things in one of my older posts here.

7] Take time to pursue other interests

Whether that be art, dance, music, sports, running, kayaking, Netflix marathons, what have you. Take the time to enjoy your other hobbies and people in your life. I believe happiness is the ultimate key to success, and you must be able to balance architecture with other aspects of your life to maintain your sanity. And don’t just do this over the summer, do this for life. 

Hope you find these tips helpful! What other things do you think architecture students should do over the summer?

-A

Navigating NCARB and IDP

If you’re an architecture student like I am, you probably already know about NCARB. If you don’t NCARB stands for the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards, and they will basically determine your fate out of architecture school. Architects are held up to a standard like doctors and lawyers when it comes to education and certification. NCARB has a list of requirements you must meet in order to become licensed and call yourself an architect.

NCARB Record

Before you do anything, you gotta set up your NCARB record. There is a $300 registration fee, but you only have to pay $150 to start your record and the remaining when you want to submit it. Shelling out that much money as a young college student seems a bit much, but you better get used to it because there are fees associated with most things you’ll need to eventually register for.

On your NCARB Record you’ll find your Profile where you can update your basic contact information. You’ll find your IDP record (More Below) where you can document experience and view your progress. You’ll find a tab where you have to record your educational experience by mailing in your High School transcript and college transcript(s). When you get to the point where you can take your exams you’ll use the ARE tab where you can view your exam history, schedule exam appointments, and download your score reports. And finally, Registrations. When you eventually become registered you can view the registration information you have on file or enter new registrations issued from a U.S. jurisdiction, a Canadian province, or another country.

IDP (Intern Development Program)

Currently, IDP controls my life. It seems complicated, but in reality once you get it setup it’s not that difficult. IDP is how you record your experience working in architecture related fields. The IDP handbook (find it here http://www.ncarb.org/~/media/files/pdf/guidelines/idp_guidelines.pdf) is your new bible. It explains everything you could ever want to know about recording hours for IDP. Currently, you need 5,600 “experience hours” before you can become registered. Let me repeat that, 5,600 HOURS. Last year I had an internship at an architecture firm in RI, and I was able to record almost 400 IDP hours across various categories. That’s means my record is about 5% complete.

And before I forget I’ll mention this, if you have an internship at an architecture firm, make sure you keep a record of everything that you do there. Most firms should require you to keep a calendar of some sorts for them that says the things that you've been working on. Because to record those experience hours in setting A, you need to split them up by category and by day. It took me hours to enter my experiences into my NCARB record at the end of last summer. You really need to do this because the firm that you work for will be approving these hours. So if you work say 400 hours total for the summer doing various things, and you record them all in one category, the firm can say “wait, hold up” and they won’t approve that experience. The last thing you want is to be in a battle with your employer and NCARB about the hours you worked so keep an active record of the things you do and record them responding to the categories in the IDP handbook.

There are many other ways other than an internship in an architecture firm to earn IDP hours. Do you volunteer at home over summer or winter break? You can record that. Did you enter an architecture design competition? You can record that? Work for a construction company/interior design firm? You can record that. Did you visit a site with a mentor? You can record that. You can record experiences now regardless of how long they were (there used to be an 8 week minimum time period) as long as you record them within eight months of completing it. I've been recording everything I possibly can for hours because everything counts in the long run. NCARB also has an app, "My IDP" so you can record hours on the go. 

ARE (Architectural Registration Examination)

Currently, the ARE 4.0 is comprised of 7 that include multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and check-all-that-apply questions as well as graphic vignettes. You have to check your jurisdiction to see what the requirements are for your eligibility to start taking the ARE’s. In Rhode Island for example, they allow concurrent IDP and ARE. It’s around $210 for each test and its nonrefundable. You must schedule each exam through your NCARB record.

BUT if you won’t start taking your exams until 2016, like me, you’re in luck. The “ARE 5.0 will launch in late 2016 and incorporate new testing technologies to replace the graphic vignette software, which has been in use since the exam was computerized in 1997. This new version will have six divisions that align closer to how an architect practices today.”( http://www.ncarb.org/ARE/ARE5.aspx) So, one less test and it’ll be more aligned to how architects work today? I’ll take that. There is also a transition plan in place for those who are currently testing in the 4.0 and will not finish by the time the 5.0 plan takes effect.

According to NCARB, “On average, it takes about five years to complete the Intern Development Program (IDP).” And the time “between graduation and licensure is about seven years.” This can be slightly disheartening, but it sounds about right. Many of the architects I worked with last summer gave me the same advice. They said to try are take your exams as soon as your eligible. Otherwise life will get in the way. And they’re right. People get married, have kids, move, travel etc. etc. By trying to get your exams done quickly, you’ll still have time to do all those things and be less stressed.

You can find any and all information about how to become an architect by going to NCARB’s website, http://www.ncarb.org/  . Please feel free to comment, share thoughts and experiences on navigating IDP!