About

ArcStart is a three-week residential architecture program at the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, open to all current high school students — freshmen through seniors — as well as rising college freshmen. It runs July 12–31, 2026, with students housed at Bursley Hall on Michigan's North Campus in Ann Arbor throughout. Taubman College is one of the most respected architecture schools in the United States, and ArcStart is structured to give participants a genuine experience of what studying there looks like: studio-based work, the same tools used in the undergraduate program, and instruction led by a faculty member with graduate student instructors drawn from Taubman's own BArch and MArch programs.

The three weeks are organized around an immersive studio environment that runs nine to five daily, with evening activities, recreational time, and meals in the residence hall dining room. Students work through a sequence of projects designed to introduce core architectural design concepts — how architects think about space, how ideas are communicated through drawing conventions, how site conditions shape design decisions — and develop work toward a digital portfolio by the program's end. Coursework includes instruction in Rhino 3D modeling software and the Adobe Creative Suite, alongside hand drawing, drafting, and physical model-making. Optional workshops vary by year based on faculty specializations and have included digital fabrication, parametric design tools, and architectural photography. The program also incorporates field trips into Ann Arbor's architectural landscape and to Detroit — a city with one of the most significant concentrations of twentieth-century American architecture anywhere — as well as visits to professional architecture firms, giving students direct exposure to what architectural practice looks like outside the academy. A 90-minute admissions presentation by Taubman's undergraduate admissions team walks students through portfolio requirements, application criteria, and pathways to the Architecture and Urban Technology degrees.

The cohort runs 75–100 students, with a 12:1 student-to-instructor ratio in studio and an 8:1 ratio in the residence halls. No prior experience in architecture, drawing, or design is required and there is no minimum GPA for eligibility. The application requires a transcript, a 250–500 word essay, and an optional scholarship request. There is no application fee. The program costs $6,250, which covers tuition, housing, meals, field trips, and all instructional supplies. Need-based scholarships are available for students demonstrating financial need, including non-Michigan residents; the program cannot guarantee full scholarships but reviews all requests against federal income guidelines. Michigan residents under age 18 in grades 6–12 with family income below $125,000 may separately apply for the Watson A. Young Scholarship through the University of Michigan's Center for Educational Outreach. The 2026 application deadline was February 26; the 2027 cycle is expected to open in early January 2027.

Architecture is among the most underserved fields in the pre-college landscape — there are very few programs that provide genuine design studio experience rather than a tour of famous buildings. ArcStart is one of the most substantive options that exists: three weeks of real studio work, real tools, real feedback, and a digital portfolio to show for it, at one of the few architecture schools in the country with a consistent national reputation. For a high school student who thinks they might want to study architecture or urban design and wants to find out before committing to a portfolio-required undergraduate application, this is the program that answers that question most directly.