Hi Mr Azarimy,

I'm a graduate from UCSI with Part 1 degree and have been working for six months. I'm thinking to pursue my master overseas, however, with my low cGPA of 2.7x would I have any chance to be admitted into any graduate school? And could you recommend any school or place with low requirement of GPA and would accept students with low GPA like me?

hi. i've not been well updated with the current standings of overseas architectural schools to definitively answer that question. however, u might wanna know that many overseas PG schools are quite eager to get international students as they pay more fees and generally less hassle to teach.

usually they have a 3.00 base requirement, but with some experience, u should be able to compensate that. i guess the best way to find out is just apply everywhere and see what sort of reply comes in. it wont hurt applying, yes?

which country do u plan to go to?

Yeah definitely! I'm planning to go UK (Bartlett, Bath, Sheffield etc). Hoping they would consider my below cut-off point results.. Alternatively Australia or NUS (though it'd be entering a preparatory class similar to their forth year, do you have any idea how competitive to get in there?)

Hi Mr Azarimy,

I am graduating soon in Part 1 unaccredited school in MY. So I want ask, i need to apply part1 exam in LAM in order to work? and minimum 6 months working experience from the date I got Part 1 accredition from LAM before applied any schools for Master locally/internationally?

Or, just ignore above, direct apply locals/international Master study, after that just apply Part 1 & 2 accredition from LAM?

those are pretty high ranking architectural schools. i studied in both bartlett and sheffield, while my best friend did her masters in bath. these schools are highly sought after, u need more than 3.00 to land a place. NUS is even harder to get into, being the very few asian architecture schools in the world top 25.

although i encourage everyone to try and further study, i have to say that u need to be realistic with ur options too. but do try, nonetheless.

legally, u need a part 1 to work. so usually what people do is to register to sit for the exam. while waiting for the exam date, they will be allowed to work. even if they fail, they can still continue to work to gain knowledge and skills, which is very useful to pass the exams.

the 6months minimum requirement is for intake into part 2. lets say u graduate feb 2017, then u sit for the exam (and pass) in october2017, ur 6months working exp only counts after oct 2017. meaning u have to work at least until april 2018 before u can apply for sept 2018 intake.

this is the main disadvantage of going to unaccredited programme.

if u wanna go straight to part 2, then u have to find a non-accredited part 2 school. since this literally does not exist in malaysia at the moment, then u have to opt overseas. an accredited part 2 programme will not be allowed to take in unaccredited part 1 grad or they will risk disaccreditation of the entire programme.

hello,im new here.
planning to go for a degree in architecture at UTAR or LIMKOKWING.cant decide between those two.any advice?

any particular reason between the two?

have you looked at other options? you can find the list of architecture schools and possible paths in and out of them in the first page of this topic.

because by far these two are among the cheapest for degree in architecture.. for private uni at least.

both have been recognized under LAM but limkokwing expiry date was on December 2016..
should i be worrying about that?

thanks for the reply btw..

LKW just went CAAEM accreditation visit. they havent published the results yet. should be fine i think. no school have ever had their accreditation dropped... yet.

the two schools have grown and matured. so u cant go wrong with any of them. u just have to weigh in other factors like living costs, distance to accommodation, friends and stuff like that.

what about public unis?

good the hear that.

the requirements for public unis are quite high.thats why i just go for private unis.

thanks again,sir.

what's the plan after that? for part 2, i mean?

Whoa! Thanks for telling me! Should post this disadvantages in the first page of this forum to WARN those choosing unaccredited school.

BTW, part 1 exam date is in October 2017? Or any time after I can apply and wont missed out the time set by LAM? BTW, i will graduate finish on May 2017, in the application form, it need my certificate details( is it mean i need to wait my convo day (sep/oct) to have the copy of certified certificate detail in order to apply exam?

This post has been edited by unoobla: Jan 13 2017, 08:36 AM

Noted. I will do that in the future.

The date is just an example. Please check with LAM directly. U can apply any time, and will usually be assigned to the nearest exam.

Regarding certs, u need to check with ur uni. Most unis have convos 3-4months after finish studies, meaning u'll waste time there. But they can issue a letter that certifies i have finished studies and waiing for convocation.

U can use this letter to apply.

Sir,

I want to ask something regarding the school fee internationally. In your experience, which school is most affordable in UK and AUS (accredited school only)? So that at least we have basic research on the school.

australian is currently one of the most expensive place to study in. the fees are high in AUD, so conversions will kill u immediately. then comes the living costs, which in total is even more expensive than the UK.

if u want cheap, try EU schools like germany. of course they're not accredited by LAM. but we've had many graduates from there and they had no problem passing the LAM exams when they get back here.

maybe working for a while before going for part 2..

i mean after that. because ur decision in part 1 can affect where u can end up with (or even limit ur choices) for part 2.

Hello MR. Azarimy.

I already grad like 6 months ago with a part 1, but now I have sudden change of heart to become an academician instead of pursuing Part 3 in the Architect career path. I don't know why UiTM suddenly sent me an offer letter to further my studies in Building Conservation despite not applying for any postgrad programme (its not for Part 2 Masters).

How is the job market to pursue to become an Associate Professor or research career specifically in Architecture? Is it really tough to land a permanent position?

there are generally two ways u can become a successful professor of architecture:

a. garnering enough experience as a professional (part 3);
b. becoming an expert with a PhD.
(or combination of both)

most IPTAs nowadays will only entertain candidates with either part 3 or a PhD to become their fulltime academic staff. of course, there are IPTAs that are still growing who are willing to take part2 with masters, but those positions are filling up fast.

despite what people think, there are literally hundreds of people currently taking PhD in architecture all over malaysia. it'll spawn about 20-30 PhD holders per year, enough to cover the needs of architecture academician in the next 10-15 years.

if u really wanna go down this path, i recommend going for either of the two (part 3 or PhD), whichever u can get faster or for certain. the demand for those will remain high for the next 10 years or so, as i see that many lecturers in various schools will be retiring soon.