Landscape architecture majors say they spend so much time in Caldwell Hall, they feel like they live on campus without paying rent – but they don’t mind.

With the largest landscape architecture program in the nation, the University’s major boasts students who take classes for five years about subjects ranging from art to engineering.

“It gets frustrating to students within the major because some people look at it like it’s just landscaping,” said Amy Blumenfeld, a junior in the College of Environment and Design. “It’s really time-intensive and hard to be in a major that is seen more simply than it really is.”

Blumenfeld said she became interested in the major when recruiters visited her high school art class and explained how different professions incorporate art, ecology and psychology in design.

“The environment affects a person in a lot of ways – physically and mentally,” she said. “I like the idea of seeing how an environment can affect a person. I want to focus on how the garden is a healing place.”

After taking core classes freshman year, specific subjects are assigned to students for subsequent years, she said.

During sophomore year, landscape architecture students begin the major with a focus on art. For the next two years, they are introduced to engineering and construction and then ecology and sustainability. By the fifth year, students create a senior project they work on throughout the year.

“At that point you focus on something. It’s like a thesis,” Blumenfeld said. “You do urban planning, residential design or focus on a smaller space like a specific farm or a golf course.”

Students have various choices after graduation for employment, including firms, companies or freelance work, and some find it difficult to choose one place.

“What I want to do changes day-by-day because with every book or magazine I read, I pick up ideas about what needs to be done,” said Andrew Graycheck, a senior in the program.

“I want to do something that remains environmentally aware. If I choose to work with a firm, I will pursue one depending on the principles and how the ethical layout the designs.”

Graycheck has participated in the Charrette program sponsored by the school in which students travel to a town and take three days to design a schematic plan for a need in the town.

“I think one unique quality about the major is that you come into the major as an individual and leave as a part of a group,” he said. “It’s like a small community where you meet people who are like-minded and hold the same principles.”

Professors also agree the program is valuable because of the level of student interest and variety of classes.

“What I enjoy teaching in this major, regardless of the subject, is the interaction with the students and how much passion they have,” said Amitabh Verma, a professor who has taught various classes including architecture, urban design and drafting. “The major is a way to be creative and make a difference in terms of what you do afterwards.”

Verma also said the required diversity of classes and focus on design both by hand and by computers makes the University’s program especially successful.

“Employers who higher graduates report being satisfied with students’ abilities and knowledge,” Verma said. “That’s what makes this program big.”