Interesting topic SDF.

I'm a college dropout myself. Although my only reason was lack of money, not lack of desire or effort. The funny thing is I'm better off for it.

I went to college for a year and loved it. Pell grants helped to pay tuition and books and I worked 20 hrs/week at the college to pay for my rent, food, and what little else I needed. I got decent grades and pushed myself hard, but had roomates who were simply there to goof off on their parent's credit. I absolutely enjoyed classes and the campus life.

After my freshman year I took 2 yrs off to fulfill a mission for my church. When I came home I moved in with my brother (who was married with 1 kid) and got a job at a car wash then tried to figure out what to do next. I got rejected from the 2 universities I applied to. My grades weren't top notch and some of my high school transcript grades from 9th and 10th grade were abysmal. So I enrolled in the community college part time and kept working full time. I hit the math hard at the community college. Perhaps too hard. After crashing hard on calculus I started reevaluating my goals. About that time a coworker talked to me about ITT which he was attending. I didn't see much progress with the community college and the night classes of ITT looked promising since I could keep working full time so I enrolled into their CAD/Drafting course.

I kept up a 3.98 GPA the whole time I was there in spite of working full time during the days. The classes were somewhat challenging, but not hard for me to pass easily. (I taught myself AutoCAD in High School with release 10 and some manuals) In spite of the pell grant and 2 student loans the bills started catching up to me. I've never been much of a budgeter and I got into some credit trouble. Finally it got to the point where I just couldn't make it work anymore and had to drop out. The school was near useless in helping me find additional funds and I was too ignorant (perhaps naieve) to figure out a way for myself.

By this time I'd upgraded from the car wash job to a real life job "engineering" wood trusses for a lumber yard. The computer did the heavy lifting and a real engineer checked my work by modem somewhere in California. It was a job I enjoyed, but the pay sucked and the company was lousy. After 8 months I decided I needed to upgrade again. I contacted a former teacher at ITT who I knew ran the certification testing for drafters in the area. She allowed me to pay and take the exam even though I hadn't been to school in 4 or 5 months. I passed the test with 93% and left 1 page blank because I didn't have time to finish. (Makes me wonder how I would have done had I finished). After getting my certification I finally had something on paper that said I could do drafting. It wasn't a degree, but I hoped it would be enough to get me into an Architecture firm. Turns out it was. The first and only firm I interviewed with hired me on the spot.

That same year I also got married, bought my first home and my wife became pregnant with our first child. Looking back I really think of that year as kind of a miracle year where everything fell into place perfectly.

That year I also started thinking about the next step. i was a good drafter. but had a LOT to learn about architecture. I love the work though so started wondering if I should try to figure out a way to get a degree, so I could eventually become licensed. I had heard a rumor while in school that in some states drafters could take the ARE (Architectural Review Examinations) after X number of years working under a licensed Architect and completing an internship. I went to my boss and asked what he knew about it. He had heard of it as well and looked it up in the law books. Turns out I was in 1 of only 5 states that don't require the accedited degree if the other conditions are met.

Washington State requires 8 years of experience incuding the same IDP (Intern Development Program) required of the accredited graduates. An accredited degree in Architecture generally takes 5 years to complete, plus a 3 year internship. Funny how the number of years it takes either way is 8 years. The path I took had far less tuition and allowed me a wage to start a family. I'm amazed how well its all worked. Currently I'm studying for the ARE. I'll be able to begin them next year if all goes as planned or the following year at the latest.

I think its too bad that most states have eliminated the oppurtunity to advance to a professional status in this way. Usually the first thing people ask me after meeting me professionally is what University I attend. I haven't figured out a short answer yet, and usually end up having to give a quite detailed explanation of how I got to where I am. Not everybody takes it well, but most do.

On February 1st next year I'll have been with the firm for 7 years. I have been the CAD manager for the past 5 years and have managed 2 multimillion dollar projects mostly by myself even though my boss was technically the Architect of Record. Not bad for a 30 year old college drop out. Hopefuly in less than 2 years I can finally legally call myself an Architect instead of whatever generic title its popular for us overgrown drafters to call ourselves these days.

University isn't the only answer. However its getting to the point where it soon will be. I would have loved to have gone the "traditional" (historically my route is more traditional than the "traditional" route since it preceded Universities) route had it been in the cards for me to do so. It wasn't and luckily I found a path anyway. Its not true for everybody and a lot of good people will continue to fall through the cracks.

-Steve G.

By the way, since I started down this path, word spread to the other drafters in my office and there are now 5 of us hoping to get licensed this way. The firm has been buying study materials for us and arranging lunch study sessions with coworker Architects as well as engineers we work with from other firms. I haven't heard of this happening anywhere else, it really is amazing.