Program Admission and Matriculation Requirements

For entering freshmen, a minimum SAT score (Math and Critical Reading) of 1000 and a QPA of 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) are generally required for admission to the undergraduate program in Architecture.

Design Portfolio: Applicants to any of the School of Architecture’s undergraduate programs may submit a Design Portfolio, but it is not specifically required unless otherwise mentioned. However, transfer students to any program in the School of Architecture, along with all applicants to the professional or post-professional degree tracks, must submit additional materials, including a portfolio.

Transfer Students

Students who wish to transfer into the Architecture or Interior Architecture degree track from other programs within Marywood or from other accredited academic institutions must have a 3.00 overall QPA on a minimum of 12 credits. If a Marywood student is accepted, the student must complete a "Change of Major" form available from the Office of Academic Records.

Students holding associate degrees from accredited institutions and who wish to enter either the Architecture or Interior Architecture program must have a 3.00 overall QPA or a minimum of 12 credits in one of these two disciplines.

Acceptable Academic Standing

A minimum QPA of 2.50 is required in any of these degree tracks for any student to be in good academic standing.

Degree Tracks: Architecture

The School of Architecture offers three degree tracks in Architecture for those entering as freshmen:

• a four-year, undergraduate, pre-professional Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture degree (B.E.D.A.)
• a five-year professional Bachelor of Architecture degree (B.ARCH.)
• and a six-year professional Master of Architecture degree (M.ARCH.)a post-professional degree

The first four years of each of these degree programs include design studios and courses in the liberal arts, structures and building technology, architectural history, and digital design courses, as well as electives. In the fifth year, students in the B.ARCH. degree track select from an offering of studios with varying content and focus, along with upper-level courses in the poetics of Architecture, sustainable design, and professional practice. In the post-professional sixth-year studio, students pursue individually-defined design explorations and courses dealing with adaptive use/transformational design and the politics of environmental design.

Application to Professional Degree Tracks in Architecture

Early in the spring semester of their fourth year, students must choose which degree track they wish to pursue. Individuals successfully completing the four-year pre-professional degree track may choose to graduate with the B.E.D.A. degree. Those graduating with this pre-professional degree are well prepared to work in an architecture office or to enter any number of allied professions.

Students electing to enter the B.ARCH. or the post-professional M.ARCH. degree track must submit a project portfolio of their studio design work from each of their previous semesters and have achieved a minimum overall cumulative QPA of 2.50. Students whose design portfolio and academic record demonstrate that they are prepared to meet the demands of advanced professional study will be admitted to one of these two degree tracks. Provisional acceptance to either of these tracks will require the submission of additional portfolio projects and satisfactory academic performance, including the completion of all academic requirements for the B.E.D.A. pre-professional degree. Entrance to either of the professional or post-professional tracks is determined by the School of Architecture’s Admissions Committee for Professional Programs. For further information on application procedures for the professional degree tracks, please contact the Dean’s Office.

Those admitted to the B.ARCH. professional degree track must satisfactorily complete an additional two semesters (30 credits), earning a total of 165 credits.

Qualified students who have received their B.ARCH. professional degree from Marywood University, may apply for the one-year post-professional M.ARCH. degree. This degree track typically requires one year and an additional 30 credits of study. Please see the latest Graduate Catalog for further information.

Track 1: Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture (B.E.D.A.)

(Four-year professional degree)

First-year curriculum: 33 credits
Fall 1

Spring 1

Second-year curriculum: 36 credits
Fall 2

Spring 2

Third-year curriculum: 36 credits
Fall 3

Spring 3

Fourth-year curriculum: 30 credits
Fall 4

Spring 4

Total credits: 135

*Recommended: ECON 100 (Basic Economics); ART 223 (Basic Ceramics); ART 226 (Basic Printmaking); ART 262 (Sculpture I); ART 315 A (Basic Photography)
**Choose from: PHIL 215 (Critical Thinking); PHIL 315 (Ethics); or PHIL 325 (Philosophy of Art)
***Choose from: ART 218 (Art in the Modern Era); FA 100 (Music, Art, and the Contemporary World); FA 102 (Sound and Symbol in the Arts)
****Third-year students electing the Study Abroad Option at the ISI in Florence, Italy in the spring semester of their third year must take ITAL 101 (Italian Language: The Florence Experience) at the ISI and ITAL 102 at Marywood when they return; Fourth-year students electing the Study Abroad Option at the ISI in Florence, Italy in the fall semester of their fourth year must take ITAL 101 (Italian Language: The Florence Experience) at the ISI and ITAL 102 at Marywood when they return.

Track 2: Bachelor of Architecture (B. ARCH.)

(Five-year professional degree)

First-year curriculum: 33 credits
Fall 1

Spring 1

Second-year curriculum: 36 credits
Fall 2

Spring 2

Third-year curriculum: 36 credits
Fall 3

Spring 3

Fourth-year curriculum: 30 credits
Fall 4

Spring 4

Fifth-year curriculum: 30 credits
Fall 5

Spring 5

Total Credits: 165

*Recommended: ECON 100 (Basic Economics); ART 223 (Basic Ceramics); ART 226 (Basic Printmaking); ART 262 (Sculpture I); ART 315 A (Basic Photography)
**Choose from: PHIL 215 (Critical Thinking); PHIL 315 (Ethics); or PHIL 325 (Philosophy of Art)
***Choose from ART 218 (Art in the Modern Era); FA 100 (Music, Art and the Contemporary World); FA 102 (Sound and Symbol in the Arts)
****Third-year Architecture students electing the Study Abroad Option at the ISI in Florence, Italy in the spring semester of their third year must take ITAL 101 (Italian Language: The Florence Experience) at the ISI and ITAL 102 at Marywood when they return; Fourth-year students electing the Study Abroad Option at the ISI in Florence, Italy in the fall semester of their fourth year must take ITAL 101 (Italian Language: The Florence Experience) at the ISI and ITAL 102 at Marywood when they return.

Track 3: Master of Architecture (M. ARCH.)

After completing the B.ARCH. professional degree track at Marywood, students may apply for the one-year post-professional M.ARCH. degree track. In addition to a comprehensive Design Thesis exploring a self-formulated architectural, urban design, or technical issue/proposition, students in this degree track study the importance of environmental law, policy, and management in the shaping of our future.

An M.ARCH. first professional degree for those holding four-year preprofessional degrees in Architecture from other accredited Architecture program is currently being explored.

For further information on the M.Arch. professional degree track, please see the latest Graduate Catalog.