Saturday, March 15, 2014

Flying into the Future as a Texas Architect


Jennifer Smolka, Ph.D.

Mark, our second son, is a high school junior and we have started the pathway to college selection. It’s just as exciting as the first time a few years ago when our oldest son Will walked the path to find his place at Angelo State University as an animal science/pre vet major. ASU has been the best place where Will has been able to find the right school in terms of culture, size and opportunities. Now, we want to find the same best fit for Mark. We are excited that he has chosen to study architecture. It’s a good fit for this natural talents that we saw even as a young boy building with Legos.
The first step was to get schedule for college admissions exams. Mark took both the SAT and ACT in the last month to see which one will have better results. We have heard that some kids do better on one versus the other. Will’s ACT scores, which took advantage of his science skills, was the one that helped him earn college funding from the Carr Scholarship at ASU. After we have Mark’s results, we are going to make arrangements for a study course or program based on the results and the experience. We planned on a first attempt to get rid of the fear of the unknown and just give him the experience of taking the test. We told him not to stress out about it and to think more about the process so that he will can figure out his own strategies for how to study or prepare. He came out of the SAT saying that he needed to work on vocabulary from his DC English course to help him for his next attempt on the SAT. When the student figures by his own experience what he needs, it greatly improves the potential impact on the studying and preparation. Now, we wait for those results.

While we are waiting, we started our list of colleges for visits. We already knew that Texas Tech University had a great architecture program. Since we are a Red Raider family, we know that this could be a great choice for him. Mark has also wanted to be an Aggie for quite some time so we had our first two choices. Beyond those two schools, we started listing ones that Mark was interested in visiting: Sam Houston State University, Tarleton State University, and of course, Angelo State University. If you are an architecture teacher, you may already be shaking your head because you know what we just found out. None of those other schools have an architecture school. 

We found a great resource to help us investigate which universities have schools of architecture that are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board and there are only EIGHT in Texas. The Texas Society of Architects provides all of the important details about the eight schools in Texas:
As we investigated these schools, we found a few interesting details. At Texas Tech University, there is two-step process to get into the pre-professional program. The first step is the acceptance to the university and to the general architecture program. After the first year, students will have a comprehensive review that includes a portfolio component. As we implement the Architecture and Construction High School TEKS and assessments, a student who has already had the experience of creating a professional portfolio will have an advantage during the application to the pre-professional program at Texas Tech University. The University of Texas at Arlington also has an undergraduate portfolio review for transfer students, but first-time freshman who have not had college design courses do not submit a portfolio.
Two Texas programs have been ranked in the top 20 undergraduate programs by DesignIntelligence.  Rice University (3) and University of Texas at Austin (6) are at the top of that list. For graduate programs, Rice (15) and UT (11) are also the only two Texas schools on the list. Rice and UT are both considered excellent education institutions in Texas. But they are both difficult schools get accepted into. Additionally, as the only private school on the list, Rice University’s tuition is considerably higher than the other seven state schools with a cost of attendance of over $54,000.

There are different specializations within the schools of architecture. For example, Texas A&M University has a wide variety of undergraduate majors in the School of Architecture:
As we continued our search, we found that there are several community colleges and two year colleges that provide associate degrees in architecture and related degrees.  These degree options are good opportunities for students who may not want the big university setting just yet. Matching the right program to the right student at the right time takes time, conversations and a lot of listening.
Now that we have our start of colleges to visit in the next 6 months, we have to start gathering for scholarship opportunities. The Texas Architecture Foundation was quite a find with a huge listing of scholarship opportunities for each of the eight schools in Texas. The College of Architecture at Texas A&M also provide a large list of scholarships which include ones specifically for Texas A&M but also general scholarships that would be good regardless of the university attending. Many scholarships are specific to place of residence so be sure that you read each of them carefully. (Don’t forget sites like School Soup (Architecture) or Fast Web to find many scholarship opportunities matched to your profile).
Our kids – whether they are our students or our children – need our help, guidance and support to make the journey down the path to their career choice. By sharing resources and starting discussions with them throughout their entire high school, students can make educated decisions that fit with their long-term career goals, personal learning styles, and financial support opportunities.
Now that we have the exams taken, our list of colleges to visit plotted and our possible scholarship opportunities earmarked, we are ready to head out on a few Texas college road trips. It’s exciting to be preparing for our next little bird to leave the nest and fly into his future as an Architect.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Search Engine Optimization Tools


Technology is opening up many doors for young marketing students. Young executives are expected to understand the complicated world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how to leverage social media for increased sales. SEO marketing promotes products by using keywords that describe the product niche. Students can use web tools to look up what keywords might use on a website to increase web traffic.

The following are free tools that provide free keyword ideas:




Students can learn about all of the different ways consumers might try to find their website by completing a search on these websites. Here is an example of a keyword project:

Directions: Students will select a company that offers at least three different products or services and complete the corresponding description boxes.