Architects Like:

Thanks! The renderings were done by my friend, Jerry, who uses 3DSmax for modeling and VRay for rendering. He’s teamed up with me on several contests, and I provide the designs, Social Media promotions and written portions and he takes care of the eye candy. 

Hey - thanks for reading! Sorry for the late reply. Architecture school can be fun, hard and everything in between. A lot of it will depend on the specific ‘studio culture’ promoted at your school, but be sure to establish the way YOU want to work and be perceived above whatever rules are set for you by peers or even professors. 

There will be pressure to work long nights and to never really stop designing even when faced with deadlines. My personal belief is that you need to learn how to prioritize work, deadlines and design - college projects are no exception and will ready you for real world work environments. Staying up until 3 am rarely adds value (i.e. your best ideas usually don’t come at that time). Treat college like your job and work from 8-6 then go home, relax, refresh and do it all over again. Put in some time on the weekends and occasional nights but don’t make it your norm. Try to understand why you are doing the projects you’re asked to do and craft your designs to those goals. Really think about your reasons for everything - it will inform your solutions and process. I’d also suggest taking business classes so you understand how firms are run.

For further info on how college is (or should be) check out some articles I wrote concerning ‘myths and legends of architecture school’

http://architangent.com/2011/09/college-of-architecture-debunking-myths-and-legends-part-1/

http://architangent.com/2012/01/college-of-architecture-debunking-myths-and-legends-part-2/