guidence- (soon to be) 6th year student

ianofitz

hi,
im a 5th yer student. ive been looking at architecture and real estate/property economics/auctioneering in dit for a while now (it will most likely end up being real estate, in terms of points). i know these areas are dodgy at the moment but by the time ive dont my leaving and im out of college it will (hopefully) be getting back up again. my parents are on my back saying that i should be looking at other courses too, but i really dont have a clue what else i want to do.
please dont reply saying "do want you want to do" or "do what your heart tells you" because everybody i talk to about this subject always says that and im sick of it.......
thank you,
ian

Aard

Property, like everything, is cyclical. It will rebound, don't worry about that. And if you're really good at what you do, there shouldn't be any major issues with finding a job in the future.

On the DIT side of things, Bolton St is very well regarded. If you do architecture, DIT is considered one of the best.

Don't listen to your parents. If there's something you like, do it. Don't wait for boomtimes to start studying something -- in fact during a low ebb is the best time to get an education.

overshoot

+1 on all of what aard said. dont worry about things now, they arent going to get much worse (not going ro imorove very quickly either). its the inability to look ahead that got us where we are now

you have 5 years minimum (6 if you take the encouraged year out between 3/4), you then have another year or 2 before you can actually get part 3 and claim to the title architect.
a lot of the architecture lecturers in DIT graduated around 1990 and came into a similar environment as exists today, some emmigrated for a few years and worked abroad, others did lots of competitions. for arch.

points for DIT arch have also dropped a lot and remember they are marked out of 800, suitability test/interview. (min score of 57 needed in the test-piece of crap)

you should try to get into the college and speak to people in the courses, i can only speak for architecture so cant really advise on the others but they will rebound with architecture

ianofitz

thank you very much guys, appreciate it alot. one question about arch, is it just interview or test? or is there a portfolio aswell?

overshoot

suitability test in Kevin Street (where you need min 57/100 unless its changed, its a bit of a joke of a test to be honest). if you get that you be called for the interview where there is another 100pts up for grabs. then CAO is xxx/800, not 600 like most courses.

its a few minutes with a two lecturers, having a portfolio to show is highly recomended. go for mostly art stuff (doesnt have to be building related your marked on creativity), they will flick past cad/tech drawing but again nice to have to show you can do it. something to show an interest in arch might be decent too, as in find a few architects you like that you can name drop, zumthor, corbusier wont send you too far wrong. if you do construction (or any working with materials include it). there is no minimum mark required here. i know one lad on the course got 10.
no harm in applying to ucas, if only for practice interviews but they arent bad at all. the cost of living is also lower which can make up for the fees difference (queens do an interview,Dundee might still come over for them & no fees in scotland)

ianofitz

@overshoot
thank you very much, very helpful

PaperArchitect

Hi Ian,

Agree with what the others have said but with regard to your first post you mentioned real estate/property economics/auctioneering as well as architecture. Architecture is an entirely different discipline from the other three and you should be careful that you don't have false ideas about what the course/profession involves. It is very involved and artistic/creative, don't do it with the idea that it is extremely technical like a lot of people do. It's also gone ridiculously easy to get into the course, anyone could get a 75 in the test and with the interview you could probably get in with 340 points.

Also consider other architecture colleges. UCD is probably a better option in my opinion at the moment as Bolton st is going through a lot of changes (still). UCD also has more funding, more facilities and a much better head of department (but changing). DIT on the other hand probably has the better lecturers but the school is scattered and there isn't much centrality to it (although that is changing too). Basically if I had the chance again I'd probably choose UCD as it is more consistent. Also thestudentroom.co.uk forums could give you a better idea about the experience of architecture school as there is more student traffic. Good luck

ianofitz

brilliant thanks. the only reason i ruled out ucd was because of the points but as you said about the suitability tests i shall add it back to the list. thanks guys for all your help