How I Met Your Mother is a sitcom that ran nine seasons from 2005 to 2014. The audience watches as the main character, Ted, tells a story to his kids through flashbacks of how he met their mother. Ted stretches the story out and includes many details of his past relationships, both romantic and platonic. He starts out the series as an architect, and then in season five becomes a professor and teaches architecture. Eventually, he becomes the youngest architect with a skyscraper in New York City, for the fictional bank GNB.  

Architecture Student Ted

There are quite a few references in the series to Ted being an architect and boring his friends with facts and history about architecture.  However, there is little mention of him going through architecture school. While there are plenty of flashbacks to college with his friends Lily and Marshall, there are no references to a sleep-deprived Ted or drawings and models scattered through his dorm. The show makes occasional references to Wesleyan University in Connecticut, which is a smaller liberal arts school. So it’s possible Ted studied the humanities in his undergrad and received his M.Arch elsewhere. There is just never any mention of him having his master’s degree. In the first few seasons, Marshall is in law school. But we never get references from Ted being in architecture school.  

The Late Nights

To someone who never went through an architecture program, this probably isn’t that big of a deal to miss a small part of his schooling. But as a fan and an architecture student, I want to see Ted Mosby in studio. I want to see him sleep deprived, gluing his hands together while Marshall and Lily come visit him at two in the morning to “eat sandwiches.” 

And another thing. One of Ted’s rules is, “Nothing good ever happens after two am.  If it’s after 2 am, go to sleep.”  Now his mother told him this, and maybe he finally started to listen in architecture school.  It’s great if you can actually leave the studio at two, but I usually call it quits around six am.  Now, some people may be able to avoid this through excellent time management, but sometimes those late nights are inevitable.  

His Professors

Later on, after Ted finishes his plans for his skyscraper, he runs into his old professor he hated. This guy told him he would never be an architect. He sits down in class ready to show him up and realizes how captivating his lectures are. After class, he goes up to the professor and says how inspired he was and shows him his building. To his dismay, the professor echoes his thoughts from years before, that Ted will never be an architect. Professors like this are not uncommon. Architecture is subjective, and sometimes that even extends to how the professors feel about you.

Licensed Ted

“Ted Moseby: Architect” is a pick-up line in the show, so he needs to be licensed in the state of New York. The rules slightly differ depending on the state you receive licensure. However, as a general rule of thumb, you cannot legally call yourself an architect until you are licensed. This includes a professional degree, recording hours in six different categories, six exams based on those categories, and, depending on the state, certain state-specific qualifications. If they spent time diving into Marshall’s process of taking and passing the Bar, then why not the ARE? Now, in season 1, when Ted is working as an architect, he is 27. He could have his license if he went to a 4-year liberal arts program, followed by a 3-year M.Arch, that puts him roughly at 25. This gives him two years to be licensed by the start of the show. 

If Ted Can Graduate Architecture School, So Can You!