Is the Urban Planning and Design option track in the Program on Urban Studies equal to either an architectural design major or minor as a preparation for graduate schools in architecture?
No. The Urban Planning and Design option is designed to provide a good background for those pursuing graduate study in either Urban and Regional Planning or Public Policy. The key courses you would need to prepare for graduate architecture schools that are not a part of the Urban Planning track are Physics 21, Architectural History 3 (or another history of architecture survey course), and either CEE 135 or (more ideally) CEE 111 which are computer courses oriented to architecture. Beyond these specific courses, the Urban Planning concentration does not encourage you to focus on the studio arts, which are vital in putting together a portfolio for your application to architecture school. At minimum we recommend Art Studio 140 and Art Studio 60. In addition, you would want to take CEE 31/31Q (Accessing Architecture Through Drawing) and CEE 130 (Introduction to Architecture Studio). Having pointed out the necessary architectural coursework missing from the Urban Planning options, we see se
