WP4 Topic: Revamping Architecture School

My issue is the detrimental system of architectural schooling. Architecture is known for being one of the hardest and most time consuming majors. Despite what people assume it is, lots of designing, drawing, and creative work, it requires a lot of hours and intense work to complete projects. These long hours and difficult to meet deadlines cause many students to ultimately drop out of the program and switch to different majors. Even from my short time since entering college, I have seen our class size dwindle significantly from over 100 students to almost 60. Not only is the community of potential architects small, but the amount that actually makes it to the end is so few. This program is insanely rigorous, across essentially all architecture programs, and even seems to lead to a large number of students with mental illnesses. Is the process even worth it? I am personally curious in finding out why these programs are structured this way. Does it need to be as intense as it is? How has this affected students in the long run? For those who actually complete architecture school, how happy are they? Are they doing traditional architecture or have they branched off into another field? Since this is my major, I feel very connected with this topic and am really interested in finding out more about why my peers aren’t making it through and if there is a fundamental flaw in the system that could possibly be changed to make the whole experience better and more beneficial or successful for everyone. I am tired of hearing about the negatives of architectural education and want to start learning more about what we can do to make this major more accessible and actually feasible. At the rate that it is going now, I am concerned that people who graduate with architecture degrees will simply no longer exist.