Is Landscape Architecture a good route?

[Brian Cenci]

Tom,
      I'm 27 and graduated from Michigan State with a BS in Civil Engineering and a BS in Fisheries and Wildlife.  I am a P.E. now as a Civil Engineer in Michigan and most of what I do now is construction management in the field building mostly hydraulics or environmental engineering design items (detention systems, constructed wetlands, storm sewers, rain gardens, large scale bio swales, infiltration systems, some roads, some water systems, etc.).  My job is mostly design in the ofifce (reading plans, aerials, topo maps, working out utility conflicts, project management) and field engineering (using a total stations to check grades, etc, shooting elevations) and most of all, problem solving on the fly.  
      I was wondering, do you think going into a Civil Engineering field is better suited or Landscape Architecture, if you are thinking of going into golf course design?  I realize for me personally it might be a little late but a little curious because I work with a lot of Landscape Architects and I tend to feel what I do would be a much easier crossover to going into golf course construction and design then what they do.  I tend to think in golf course construction, especially regarding drainage, reading plans, surveying, generally knowledge of construction methods and techniques, having an engineering background helps more than an LA background, correct?

-Brian

[ed_getka]

Ryan,
    Good luck and stick with it. This has been a very interesting thread to read. I don't know how many architects you have talked to on this site, but they are a great resource you should be tapping into. I have talked to many of these guys and if I were in your shoes I know I would be able to get a lot of useful feedback from the archies here if I were in a program like yours. For example, for any given class you are taking, you should be asking what parts of the course content are most important to your future career. I would imagine there is something useful in every class you take, and someone in the field is in a position to help you identify it. Again, best of luck to you.

[Ryan Farrow]

Yes, landscape architecture is about problem solving, any design related field is. The big difference between a math or chemistry major is their problems only have one solution. When you are dealing with design there are an infinite number of ways to get to your solution which will never be exactly the same as someone else’s. You don’t get that kind of experience solving equations.  Even if you have shitty solutions you can still be successful by the way you graphically and verbally present your design. In that regard I think having some sort of design experience is extremely important.

[TEPaul]

"But when you do projects with housing involved, knowing how to speak to your former classmates goes a long way toward getting the good land for golf."

TomD:

Bullticky. Knowing how to speak to people, former classmates or otherwise is when a curriculum in political science is needed. Bradley S. Klein is living, breathing, postive proof of this fact of golf course architecture. The art of knowing both when and how to humorously insult large numbers of people is a most valuable golf architectural asset.