Your next steps.

Grade 9: Map your courses. Notice your world.

• Do this: list your school’s graduation rules and the subjects your possible colleges require.
• Recommended: map the math path to precalculus and check how to reach physics. Read course descriptions before choosing next year’s classes.
• Try this: sketch one room. Mark where people walk and where daylight enters. Save the date and one thing you would change.

Grade 10: Try, save and revise.

• Do this: check your course plan before you choose next year’s classes.
• Recommended: keep a folder of drawings, photos of models and short notes on what you changed. If you have a camera, a simple photo is enough. Otherwise, keep the paper work and write the date.
• Optional: take an art, drafting or design class if it fits. Try a free design tool only if you want to; paper work also counts as exploration.

Grade 11: Compare three real options.

• Do this: record each program’s subject and application rules. Check whether the degree fits your goals.
• Recommended: fill one requirements sheet per college. Try its net price calculator with a parent or guardian when their information is needed. Save the result and its date.
• If a portfolio is required: start early enough to make and revise your own work. A paid camp or private coach is not a universal requirement.

Grade 12: Meet the dates. Compare the offers.

• College requirements: submit the application and school records, plus any portfolio, interview or tests the college requires, by their separate deadlines.
• For aid: complete the forms that apply to you. Check for missing items in each portal and save confirmations.
• Recommended: compare grants, loans, work earnings and total years of study. Check whether aid renews and what grades it takes to keep it.

Build a course path, not a perfect résumé.

Keep your grades as strong as you can in courses that stretch you and fit your school’s options. Math, science, English and the arts all help. Colleges also look at how challenging your classes are, given what your school offers. There is no single GPA that earns admission to every architecture school.

Plan toward precalculus and physics. These subjects are expected or recommended by many programs, though the exact rule is school-specific. For example, Carnegie Mellon requires math through precalculus-level topics and one year of physics for architecture. This is one school’s rule, not a national minimum. Other programs use different subject lists.

Some schools use Integrated Math I, II and III before precalculus. If you took Algebra I in grade 8, your path may reach calculus in grade 12. Science order also differs. Use your course catalog to fill the course plan. If you are behind this example, check summer or other approved options before paying for a class.

Sources: CMU: course requirements. Checked October 7, 2026.

Just discovered architecture?

Start with colleges whose deadlines and requirements you can still meet. Sort your existing creative work before making new pieces. If a portfolio is required and you lack suitable work, use the alternative-request script. Do not assume silence means a waiver. Include other programs that fit your interests and finances, including ones that do not require a portfolio.