Hello, y'all,
I have applied for a urban planning masters with the urban design concentration for Fall 2018 and I am trying to decide on my choices. As for my background, I have recently graduated with a BS in Architecture at UT San Antonio and want to become a city planner. I am trying to chose from UT Austin, UPenn, and UW Seattle. I wanted to study outside of TX for a new urban perspective since I always lived inside TX, however tuition is a big issue. UT is affordable because of in state tuition, UW and UPenn would make me take out private loans alongside government loans, while I only need government loans with UT. I would like to hear everyone's opinion if UPenn would be worth the very expensive tuition for the Ivy league connections and other opportunities, or go with UW, still in a different environment and strong design based program but cheaper then UPenn. Although I would need private loans. Or go with UT which is more affordable, while still a strong program. Which school would y'all recommend with connections, and employment, while taking loan repayment and tuition into account. I plan to work for city government, and possibly pursue the public loan forgiveness which could help. Thank you for any comments and help.