Sometimes the career you built first is not the career you ultimately want.
For someone drawn to interiors, spaces, and the built environment, that realization can lead to an obvious question:
Is it too late to move into interior architecture if my education or career started somewhere else?
Cal Poly Pomona's Online Master of Interior Architecture is designed to serve both working designers and people making a deliberate career transition into professional design practice.
CPP recognizes two paths into the program
The first is what CPP describes as the credentialing path. These students are already designing. They may work in interior design, architecture, or a related field and already have a portfolio.
The second is the career change path.
These applicants have built careers elsewhere but want to make a transition into design. CPP specifically notes that career-change applicants may bring portfolio work from adjacent areas such as graphic design, real estate, event design, or personal design projects.
Your starting point and your destination are different things
Career changers and experienced designers enter the program with different experiences, but CPP's program materials emphasize that both ultimately work toward the same credential and portfolio standards.
The curriculum provides a progression through design research and theory, space planning, technical knowledge, advanced studio work, and capstone experiences.
That structure allows students to develop both design thinking and technical understanding as they progress.
Don't disqualify yourself before asking
Someone coming from another profession may look at a graduate interior architecture program and assume their background automatically excludes them. CPP encourages prospective career-change students to speak with MIA Program Coordinator Irma Ramirez before making that assumption.
Your previous career may be different from interior architecture. That does not necessarily mean your previous experiences, creative work, or perspective have no place in your next one.
Thinking about making the transition into interior architecture? Review the MIA admission requirements or request more information to explore your path into the program.
Related Articles:
What Do You Learn in a Master of Interior Architecture Program?
Can You Earn a Master of Interior Architecture Online?