Do yourself a HUGE favor...bite the bullet, deal with your impatience, enroll in U of Guelph, and earn your MLA. I'm new around here, thus the late response...but I feel I'm qualified to give you some career advice. I'm a managing partner/owner (and RLA) in a Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering firm. I'll be very frank with my response...my hope is that you'll take it seriously and not be offended. If I were to get a resume from you with the MLD from Conway as your highest level of education (along with your BA History of course), I wouldn't give you a second thought. With a promising cover letter, I MIGHT peruse your info to find out more about the Conway education but you would not be a candidate for any job openings. With the current massive layoffs in the industry, you will be up against some of the top talent in the field...believe me - I've already laid them off or seen their recently brushed off resumes. To sit for the LARE, in MOST states/provinces you'll have to ALREADY have completed 2+ years of apprenticeship under a licensed landscape architect. On top of that you'll be required to have a BLA or MLA from a CLARB accredited school (schools have to renew their accredidation with CLARB every few years and that in itself is no cakewalk for the institution). There are sometimes (depending on state/province) ways around the education part, and you could very well qualify with your work experience...BUT... And then of course is the test...I worked with a person who sat for it numerous times during a 15+ year career before passing (wasn't good with the grading and construction sections but was a great conceptual designer). And that's just the licensing part. Reading your posts, I believe you're ready to go into a MLA program...and I recommend and encourage you to do so if you're serious about this: "primary interest is along the lines of large scale design, subdivisions, parks, resorts etc." You will never do that type work without being a LICENSED/REGISTERED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. The profession is so much broader and truly design-based than plants, patios, and pergolas. I think you've realized that whether you know it or not. When I was in school, we students had an inside joke...we thought it was easier to get a degree in landscape archtecture than it was to quadruple-major in art, horticulture, engineering, and ecology. And for some perspective, you mention "2 of the 3 projects are on a scale that far exceeds garden design or even residential layouts..." In my BLA program (and I'm sure is the same across the board), we would do 4-6 projects on a scale that far exceeds garden design or even residential layouts in one class (each semester)...and that was only our studio course, which was on top of a couple of lecture classes and/or core-related electives. I could go on and on with reasons why you should get your MLA over the Conway certificate, but I don't want to wear my fingers out typing (I've got a little sketching to do tomorrow)...just do yourself, your significant other, and future family a favor and complete your education to prepare you for what (I think) you truly want to do. A few final and perhaps random thoughts: - You mention putting a time constraint on what you want to achieve...with the time constraint you'll never achieve your goal of designing subdivisions, resorts, parks, etc. - Listen to DD when he talks about the rules...they are in place and you have to play by them. - The Univ. of Guelph will prepare you for a great career in Landscape Architecture...my best employee (who I've unfortunately had to lay off) is a graduate and is an extremely talented designer who understands the design process and is effective at commuunicating his design intent, which is always very well thought out. Of all my employees, I think his education prepared him better than most. - You've got to quit equating "landscaping" and "landscape design" with "landscape architecture"...they are two totally different things and are on very different levels. You must embrace that fact. - And on plantings, planting design, and the horticulture end of our profession... There's currently great debate regarding how plants and planting design fit into our profession and if it is or isn't being given it's proper attention. I'm of the opinion that unfortunately it's on its way to being a lost art. IMO, it's our greatest medium, but too many don't appreciate and understand plants as well as they should; and many RLAs deal very minimally with plants and focus instead on other aspects and scales of the profession where individual plants don't come into play . Plantings are VERY IMPORTANT to my designs, but only about 10% of the work I do actually involves plantings...the rest is planning (at varying scales and phases), rezoning, grading/drainage design, hardscape design, construction administration/observation, coordination of plans and designs with other consultants, water quality strategy with my PEs, etc, etc. - Pick up a few books to see if they peak your interest...if so, enroll in Guelph...try these: Landscape Architecture: A Manual of Site Planning and Design by John O. Simonds Site Analysis: Linking Program and Concept in Land Planning and Design by James A. LaGro Jr Design with Nature by Ian L. McHarg The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H. Whyte Those are a few...there are many more. Good Luck!

Fleeting Beauty take the intensive and get the certificate as well. Also maybe take the annuals and perennials ID classes which will give you more knowledge on some of the flowers you will be using (can't hurt). I am a graduate of the School of Professional Horticulture at NYBG and I will say two things about the classes there. 1. You get out of it what you put into it. Work your butt off and ask lots of questions. I love the education programs there and have learned so much. 2. You have LOTS of opportunities to make professional contacts. If you are outgoing, enthusiastic, and intelligent it can be a wonderful chance to impress someone that might make you a job offer or at least point you in the right direction. You will also learn a lot from your fellow classmates. I have never done one of the intensive programs (there are 3 I believe...landscape design, floral, and hort therapy) but you will all be with each other for long hours over a 4 or 5 week period. It could be a great way to make some new friends in the field too. Best of luck.

I don't see where it would hurt to take a portfolio with you when you drop in to talk to them. I really urge you to try to make personal contact with them and not just shoot them off a letter and resume' or call them on the phone, unless they've made it clear that is the only way to contact them about a job. I think you would make a really good candidate, but right from the get-go you may be faced with some hurdles, depending on their personal paradigms. I had studied horticulture and then ended up going into a completely unrelated field when I had to relocate. Before that, I was in another completely unrelated profession. Both white collar. To get back in to hort, I had a lot of bias to overcome. By getting to talk to my prospective employer face to face, I could zero in on exactly what he wanted in an employee and concentrate on telling him how I could deliver just that. I was offered a full time position, at one fourth my previous salary. What I didn't tell him was that I would have PAID him for the chance to work there for the practical experience. This was an entry level position because anything other than that in my area is/was non-existent. I figured I could work my way up if given a chance, at least coming away with a practical education, if not a fat paycheck. I have my own business now, but I'll never forget the biases I have seen in the industry concerning newbies with education, previous white collar work experience, or age over thirty on entry. You may run into it, you may not. When I hire in seasonally, I don't need someone with my qualifications, and when I get "power" resume's I answer them .....always and try to steer the candidate toward other growers in this part of the state who can use their qualifications. IOW, you'll know when you get to that point in an interview when (or if) to share, and if you decide to, you'll be ready. I guess I'm just saying delicately that some prospective employers get nervous about people they "think" won't be happy in a job because they (fill in the blanks) have never done it before, are overqualified, are used to higher salaries, are too old at thirty five........or all they need is a minimum wager person. IOW won't even give someone a chance, because they have preconceived notions about what their typical employee should be. What I look for more than anything is enthusiasm, common sense and good work ethic.

If you are sending resumes to any kind of design firm, make sure it is graphically pleasing. I have gotten every job I've ever applied for and the first thing they tell me in the interview when they pull out the resume to refresh themselves on who I am is "oh yeah, your resume is beautiful, it went right to the top" or something similar. Architects are all about every stupid little piece of whatever being graphically pleasing. The other thing I have done (and remember, this is for the design business specifically) is that I outline selected projects for each of my last 3 jobs - with the most detail on the most recent job and less detail and shorter sentences entries as you go on. Right now your resume reads a bit like a job description. It's sort of understood that you need to be able to do those things. Pick a few of your better projects and talk a little bit about what you really did. Pick the sexier projects and don't be afraid to name-drop clients (this is for paper resumes, I would NOT do that on CL - too many crazies out there). For example two jobs ago I spent a lot of time designing a major renovation of a rooftop addition on a landmark hotel. I talked about what I specifically did (in a brief way) on that project... not just "schematic design" but "developed 5 different schemes and presented to the owner in hong kong". You didn't do detailing, you "detailed both steel and wood frame buildings" or you "detailed high end custom casework" (a surprising number of people do NOT know how to properly detail casework). You want to make your experience sound exciting and thorough so they want to have you on their team, and if you had good clients (commercial I mean) it is something great to talk about in an interview. For the CL ad, I would do two separate ads - one targeting design firms and one targeting private ID clients. I would keep it short and sweet and direct people to a real resume. CL scares me though. Good luck!