What is the career path to a successful career in architecture?

There are several possible ways to start a career in architecture. In order to become a registered architect, you will need to have a professional degree which can be either a Bachelors of Architecture (B.Arch, a 5-year undergraduate degree) or a Masters in Architecture (MArch, a 3 year masters degree, completed after a typical 4 year bachelors degree). In high school you could focus on taking art classes to build your portfolio and creative skills, and make sure to keep up on science and math classes as college-level calculus and physics class will be required later on. If you are sure that architecture is the path you want to pursue, you should look at colleges that offer a 5-year BArch program. This will be an intense program, but will prepare you for a professional career as quickly as possible. Alternatively, you can pursue a more typical Bachelors degree - in a related field such as art history or engineering, or something else all together. I personally studied art, art history, and philosophy in college and only decided in my senior year that I was interested in a career in architecture. There are several summer programs that are a great way to get an introduction to what architecture school might be like and build your application portfolio for school, including programs at the Boston Architectural College, Harvard's Graduate School of Design, Columbia, and UC Berkely maybe of which you can do as either a high school or college student. It might also be helpful to try to get an internship or entry-level job at an architecture firm to help build your experience before applying to go back to school. After completing your professional degree, either BArch or MArch, during your first few years of work you will need to complete the Internship Development Program which typically takes 3-4 years and insures that you gain experience in different aspects of professional practice. Once you have fulfilled your training hours you will take several tests (similar to the ways lawyers take the Bar exam) to become a licensed architect. Although the preparation required for a career in architecture is quite long, and very intense, you have a lot of flexibility in terms of the type of work you choose to do, the size of the firm you work for, if you want to work full time or part time, if you want to teach or pursue an academic career, if you want to start your own business, if you want to travel, etc. There are several different paths that can help to prepare you for a successful career as an architect, and it depends mostly on when you decide it is the job for you and your specific skills and interests.