Career-services - Columbia GSAPP

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Career Services

Career Services at Columbia GSAPP strives to keep students in touch with the professional world beyond Avery Hall and professionals aware of our excellent students. Please get in touch with your ideas and suggestions!

General Queries: careers@arch.columbia.edu
Architecture and Urban Design: Karen Cover
Real Estate Development: Rebecca Andersen Polimeda
Urban Planning: Douglas Woodward
Historic Preservation: Sarahgrace Godwin
Computational Design Practices: Adam Vosburgh

Please be reminded that Columbia GSAPP does not advertise unpaid positions or internships, and expects employers to fairly compensate students for work completed.

EVENTS

Career Services hosts a regular series of events ranging from career fairs, workshops, alumni networking events and panel discussions. Scroll down to view past events and visit GSAPP’s event calendar for the latest updates.

Tuesday Talks

Tuesday Talks is an opportunity for the GSAPP Students to connect with the larger Alumni community for informational mentorship this summer. The program pairs current students with alumni professionals for hour-long, one-on-one conversations about career development.

Alumni Conversations

February 17, 2021

Michael K. Chen, Design Advocates and Michael K. Chen Architecture
Learn more and watch a video of the lecture.

JOB SEARCH RESOURCES

Please be reminded that GSAPP does not advertise unpaid positions or internships, and expects employers to fairly compensate students for work completed.

Log into GSAPP Gateway, the School’s Career Services Platform

GSAPP students across the School’s programs are invited to log into GSAPP Gateway for new opportunities.

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Read How to Get a Job Guide (PDF)

Professor of Practice Paul Segal’s How to Get a Job booklet includes tips on how to create a strong resume, cover letter and work samples, sample interview questions, and networking dos and don'ts.

Follow Columbia GSAPP on Linkedin

Follow Columbia GSAPP on Linkedin to stay posted on updates.

External Job Boards

AIA Career Center
American Planning Association
American Planning Association, New York Chapter
Archinect job board
Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development
Association for Preservation Technology International (APTI) Job Board
Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning
City of New York
Design Gigs for Good
Dezeen Job Board
Government Jobs
Idealist
Indeed
LinkedIn
National Council on Public History
National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) Careers
National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) Job Board
New York Foundation for the Arts
NOMA Career Center
NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) Employment
Opus Career Management
Planetizen
Preservation Directory
PreserveNet
Select Leaders
UN Careers
USA Jobs
Women in Housing and Finance, Inc

Although not a job board, the AIA Firm Directory provides a directory of all firms in NYC, searchable by type of work and size of firm.

Salary Resources

Architecture

AIA Compensation Survey Salary Calculator: this AIA salary calculator includes data for full-time architectural staff employees at AIA member firms in the U.S.

The Architecture Salary Poll

Urban Planning

American Planning Association Salary Survey Report: APA invited regular, life, faculty, and new professional members in the United States to participate in this survey.

INTERNSHIPS

Elective Internship Course

This elective credit-based internship course (1.5 credits) provides students with the opportunity to apply their expertise and skills in a real world setting. Students work with practitioners and industry experts to explore their interests in more depth and to expand their knowledge of working environments and career paths. Additionally, internships provide students with an inside view of their industry and the chance to develop connections in their professional network. Only students who have completed two semesters of graduate level work are eligible for the internship course. Contact careers@arch.columbia.edu for more information.

International Students

International students interested in working off-campus in a paid position while studying at GSAPP have 2 options:

Elective Internship Course + CPT
GSAPP offers a 1.5 elective internship course (ARCHA4050, PLANA4050, etc) to allow students to fulfill the academic requirements of CPT, since Internship is not a degree requirement at GSAPP.
International students who enroll in the elective internship during fall or spring may not pay extra, as GSAPP’s tuition is a flat fee for fulltime enrollment between 12 and 19 pts. If a student enrolls in summer and is not registered full-time, they are charged for the 1.5 pt course. The class is 1.5 pts since the CPT rules state “students must earn credit commensurate with other elective courses that count toward the degree”.
Pre-Completion OPT
If an international student prefers not to enroll in the elective internship course and apply for CPT, they may apply for pre-completion OPT.
OPT does not have the same academic CPT requirement of “an elective course that counts toward fulfilling your degree requirements".
Students have a maximum of OPT time for each degree level. OPT time used during your program is deducted from post-graduation OPT.
Elective CPT and OPT requires that students first be in the US in F-1 status for two consecutive full-time semesters. You must enter the US within 30 days of the start of the semester in order for your first semester to count towards the requirement.

For more comprehensive information regarding important eligibility requirements, please visit Columbia ISSO.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Book a Career Counseling Appointment

GSAPP students can meet individually with a Career Services Officer to review options, revise a resume or cover letter, plan a job search strategy, and practice interview skills. To schedule an appointment, please email the appropriate contact:

Architecture and Urban Design: Karen Cover
Real Estate Development: Rebecca Andersen Polimeda
Urban Planning: Douglas Woodward
Historic Preservation: Sarahgrace Godwin

Schedule a Professional Portfolio Review

Contact careers@arch.columbia.edu to set up an appointment to receive critical feedback on your professional portfolio.

Visit Graphics Project Online Resource

Graphics Project is an annual series of lectures, discussions, and portfolio reviews exploring the role of graphic design within the field of architecture. The online resource includes guides related to printing, binding, photography, and more.

LICENSURE (ARCHITECTURE)

The Master of Architecture (MArch) program, combined with practical experience, leads to professional licensure from the National Council of Architecture Registration Board. Columbia has not determined whether the program meets the educational requirements for professional licensure in any state other than New York. Please note: states may have additional requirements to sit for the Architecture Registration Exam (ARE).

The Architect Registration Examination (ARE), developed by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), is the national architectural licensing examination. For more information about licensure requirements in New York, visit New York State’s Office of the Professions.

Architectural Experience Program (AXP)

The Architectural Experience Program (AXP) is a system designed by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) to help aspiring architects track the hours and tasks completed during the internship years. Completion of the program is required by almost all American states before sitting for licensure exams.

If you want to be a licensed architect in America, we highly recommend you learn more about AXP, and register as early as possible if appropriate, since it is a time-sensitive process.

To learn more please visit the NCARB website.

Architecture Registration Examination (ARE)

The Architecture Registration Examination (ARE) is a series of 6 exams that allow an individual to get licensed in a given state in America. The exam is a national standard, but licensure is tied to individual states. Therefore you must decide in which state you would like to be a registered architect, and then apply to take the exam in that state. Eligibility to take the exam varies from state to state.

The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) will release ARE 5.0 in November. To learn more about the transition and how to prepare for the tests, please visit NCARB’s website. To see pass rates by school, please visit NCARB’s Pass Rates By School.

Columbia GSAPP ARE Pass Rates

Division Name	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Construction & Evaluation	60%	72%	69%	66%	63%
Practice Management	67%	60%	78%	79%	64%
Programming & Analysis	71%	56%	61%	63%	71%
Project Development & Documentation	70%	62%	67%	61%	58%
Project Management	69%	70%	65%	78%	67%
Project Planning & Design	58%	53%	60%	53%	64%

National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB)

The Master of Architecture program is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) and as per NAAB thereby does meet the academic requirements for licensure in all 50 states.

Please note: states may have additional requirements to sit for the Architecture Registration Exam (ARE).

Date of Last Revision: June 2020

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION (URBAN PLANNING)

American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) provides the only nationwide, independent verification of planners’ qualifications. The AICP Candidate Pilot Program enables students and recent graduates to demonstrate to potential employers a commitment to mastering planning skills and maintaining the highest standard of ethical practice.

American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Certification	Percentage
Percentage of master’s graduates taking the AICP exam within 3 years who pass, graduating class of 2020	100
Percentage of master’s graduates taking the AICP exam within 3 years who pass, graduating class of 2019	43
Percentage of master’s graduates taking the AICP exam within 3 years who pass, graduating class of 2018	50
Percentage of master’s graduates taking the AICP exam within 5 years who pass, graduating class of 2016	67
Percentage of master’s graduates taking the AICP exam within 5 years who pass, graduating class of 2015	71