'Civil Engineering' vs 'Civil Engineering with Architecture'?

I've been researching University options lately, specifically Civil/Structural Engineering courses as it's my desired study choice, and I have regularly come across 'Civil Engineering with Architecture' as well as 'Civil Engineering' courses?

I was just wondering whether or not anyone could identify the advantages and disadvantages of taking one course or the other? The entry requirements for both courses are the exact same as far as I can tell, so I felt knowing if one course would offer me more than the other would I would obviously go for said course.

The University I am looking at which is offering these courses the University of Glasgow, as well as the University of Edinburgh which offers a 'Structural Engineering with Architecture' course.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Reply 1

kelvin_pangg

BUMP

Looking for the same answers aswell! Anyone who does either could give us an insight?

Reply 2

petyou

Original post by kelvin_pangg

BUMP

Looking for the same answers aswell! Anyone who does either could give us an insight?

Hi,
I'm currently at Southampton and what I would say is that the first two years of your course will virtually be the same regardless of what strand you apply for. In addition, universities are flexible in terms of allowing you to choose what elements you want to have in your degree from yr 3 onwards.

Reply 3

kelvin_pangg

Original post by petyou

What would the difference be though, do you know at all?

Reply 4

kelvin_pangg

Would the one with architecture be less maths intense and more on design and stuff.

Reply 5

petyou

Original post by kelvin_pangg

Would the one with architecture be less maths intense and more on design and stuff.

Sorry for not replying earlier. If you do decide to do any engineering qualification there will be a lot of maths, regardless of whether you have architecture as part of your course.
Doing civil engineering and architecture will definitely lead to you doing more creative things in third and fourth year.
But as I said earlier, whichever university you end up at, you should have the flexibility to define exactly what you want your degree to be, as you go along. It isn't worth worrying about too much right now.

Reply 6

kelvin_pangg

Original post by petyou

Well for me I'm making a decision on whether to apply for the civil eng on its own or with the architectural bit.

Reply 7

KardasDragon

I was literally at the UoG open day this weekend and I'm also applying for Civ Eng. The professor went into the differences in a lot of detail. He basically said that the "with Architecture" course is about 80% CivEng and 20% Architecture. The 20% is taught as a studio subject at the GSA. tThose 20% thare are shaved off are the water and environmental modules. The degree will help you work with structures from a design perspective, but you won't be anywhere near being a chartered architect, so it's only for those who really want to be working in a specific field. It is also much harder to get into as there are far more limited spaces.

Reply 8

kelvin_pangg

Original post by KardasDragon

Well I think I might stick with civil engineering, my lecturer says that architects struggle to find jobs after graduating.

Reply 9

Hiver

In UofG Architecture comprises 20 out of 120 credits in 1st, 2nd (and 5th year if you are doing MEng), this goes up to 30 in 3rd and 4th year. A lot of people go into it not knowing what it is exactly and the number of people on the course from 1st to 2nd year has halved in the past. It is purely tutorial based where, you have a day in GSA working on a given brief supervised, you then go away and finish the work at home and come back the next week with an iteration of the finished product. You may pin the work up and have a discussion with the class about what is good and what isn't and then you're off again, doing another iteration at home and so on until the final week of said project. You then have reviews twice a year where you pin up all your work and get feedback on it.

These 20/30 credits are a VASTLY different experience to studying Engineering or any Science based degree for that matter. Doing well pretty much solely relies on you showing up, doing your best and taking on board criticisms of your (and everybody else's) work every week and making the appropriate adjustments. There isn't a myriad of textbooks and video tutorials for how to do something like you would have for the rest of your subjects, as it is not formulaic in any way and the constraints of "right" and "wrong" only apply to Architectural norms and functionality of things like how thick a wall is or how large a room should be (which are things you pick up along the way and I personally haven't yet been explicitly taught). Everything else is down to your imagination. It teaches you to be able to stand up for your design as you will have to explain your design decisions and definitely helps with public speaking and taking constructive criticism on the nose.

You miss out on environmental modules in 3rd and 4th year which narrows your playing field slightly when you graduate but if you're dead set on Structural Engineering then it may well be the best course for you. It is by absolutely no means a way of getting into Architecture, it is simply giving the civil engineer an insight into the way architects design which makes for a more cohesive team when working on projects in industry, and an appreciation for design in cases where the job doesn't involve an architect.

I recommend getting in touch with the university you're wanting to apply to and asking to speak to a student on the course over email as they'd be able to explain everything to you first hand.