Brandon_S

Not sure anyone is really wondering, but I ended up accepting Utah over Georgia Tech. I'm very happy with my decision, and hopefully some other qualified Tech applicant is able to get some extra funding now that I've officially declined.

Alright y'all, I've narrowed my decision down to University of Utah and Georgia Tech. I have a full tuition plus ~$8000/semester stipend offer from Utah, and Georgia Tech recently offered me an out of state tuition waiver while stating there are opportunities later on to apply for assistantships as they become available. With just the tuition waiver, my total costs are about $18,400 per year not including housing. Georgia Tech is my dream school whereas Utah is the most financially solid option at this point. Georgia Tech is also a more established and higher ranked program (if you think rankings really mean anything). I'm really torn between the two, and I'm worried if I choose Georgia Tech I'll end up with a significant amount of debt at the end of it all. But I think I prefer Tech overall. My decision needs to be made by Monday for both programs. Does anyone have any advice? Thoughts?

I was accepted to Georgia Tech, which is currently ranked 7th I believe. I was accepted twice actually, once last year while I was finishing up my senior year, had no relevant work experience and didn't have much volunteer experience either because I worked in res life managing a staff of 45+ people at my university and had like zero time lol. I also reapplied this year after opting to take a year off from school and was accepted again. I've been working as a community development intern at a planning firm in St. Louis during my gap year and made sure to include this experience in my application. I was offered an out of state tuition waiver last year and have yet to hear about financial support this year, but I'm hoping I'll get offered something similar or better. I'd really like to enroll at GA Tech but paying full tuition would be hard to justify when I have other great offers from a couple schools.

I may be biased because I'm still salty that UCLA hasn't made a decision on my application yet (at least according to their online system) but that makes me think the program and/or university itself is disorganized and bureaucratic. It's probably a rejection or waitlist at best for me, but I would think it's not hard to notify me of that at the same time acceptances are sent out. I mean, it's been a full week since acceptances were first announced and it's still radio silence on my end. I know a guy in USC's planning program though and he loves it, so if anecdotal evidence means anything to you...

@avatarsenpai That's definitely a much less mind blowing price tag haha. UCI is still double the price at the end of the day so it really comes down to are you willing to spend that much money on a two year degree? If you think UCI will open up more and/or better opportunities for you it may very well be worth it. There's still pros and cons for both programs, though. Have you tried getting in contact with current students or alumni or attending an open house if possible? Hearing from people who've been directly in the program might help your decision. I know the University of Minnesota was more than willing to connect me with an alum who was willing to schedule a phone call since I can't attend their open house. Perhaps UCI and CPP could do the same. Then you can ask questions to non-admissions folks and get real answers about the programs lol.

@avatarsenpai If UCI costs $45k per year and you don't have any funding to offset that, I would think it's not worth it to potentially come out of a two year program with $90k in debt. Seriously, that's a lot of f***ing money. Given that CPP is much cheaper AND offers night classes, I think it's your best option. If you can work a full time job during the day, you might have the opportunity to get involved in a potential career before you graduate (I'm an intern at a planning firm right now and one of the full time people in my office was hired as a student and is still finishing up his last semester in SLU's planning program, which only offers night classes). You could also work more to offset cost of living and maybe some tuition. The "hands on learning" aspect and career flexibility is also a major plus. But before you make a decision, maybe reach out to admissions or a faculty member at UC Irvine and see what types of funding opportunities may become available later on, if any. I've noticed a lot of schools do this irritating thing where funding becomes available in like July or August or even after the semester has begun, way after you're supposed to make your enrollment decision. If there are a good amount of opportunities that typically become available later on and you think you'd be a good candidate for one of them, you could take your chances on UC Irvine. Benefits would be like you said, better alumni network (and these connections are probably valuable). UC Irvine also has better name recognition and reputation in my opinion, which may be helpful if you're wanting to find a job outside the Irvine/Orange County/Los Angeles area shortly after graduation. But ultimately your education is really what you make of it. I think whichever program you choose, you'll definitely be able to find a job at the end of it all. Especially since you're in the LA area, which I imagine is a hot job market for planners. If it comes down to financing at the end of the day like it does for many of us, I don't think CPP is a bad choice at all. Just put in the work and you'll open up so many opportunities for yourself. Best of luck with your decision

Mine also says they haven't made a decision yet. Very irritating since I heard back from some programs as early as January. The fact that they charged $105 for this application makes it even more frustrating. So glad to see UCLA puts their students/potential students first ?. But for real, this is pretty cool. I just hope it's not taking too much time away from them.

My Georgia Tech admission letter said that financial awards were in the process of being finalized and notifications would be sent out "in the coming weeks." Last year they tried to entice me to enroll by offering me an in-state tuition waiver in the first week of April or so, but I applied again this year with a beefed up resume and better references so maybe that'll count for something. It's a very competitive program though so who knows. As for SLC, it seems like a great location with the mountains and all. They seem to care about sustainability a lot, which I really value. I get the impression that it's growing pretty steadily right now, which would be a nice change compared to the struggling rust belt city I live in currently. The diversity aspect does concern me to some degree for sure. The density issue doesn't worry me too much because I think the numbers may be artificially low...the city limits include a big area of uninhabited land in the west as well as a good chunk of the Wasatch mountains in the northeast. I'm visiting next week though, so I'll be able to get a better feel of it when I'm there. FWIW Atlanta is also very car oriented, less dense than my current city and not too much denser than my hometown (Omaha).

Here's what I have so far: Accepted University of Minnesota--out of state tuition waiver plus $20,000 fellowship University of Utah--half time teaching assistantship and half fellowship through National Institute for Transportation and Communities (full tuition covered plus ~$12k stipend and health insurance option) Georgia Tech--still awaiting financial info; hoping for something decent since this is my dream school University of Washington--still awaiting financial info Deferred from Last Year Saint Louis University--$7k scholarship spread over two years, applied for assistantship and awaiting reply University of Nebraska--in state tuition so not too much $$$, plus last year I was offered a full assistantship as campus recycling coordinator but turned it down to take a year off from school Awaiting Decision UCLA Anyone know what's up with UCLA? I've seen several posts about acceptances and also several saying they haven't heard anything from them yet. Am I to assume I'll be rejected? It doesn't concern me too much since I have some other good offers. I will very likely not attend SLU or Nebraska even though I deferred. I just wanted to make sure I had the option this year without re-applying, in case my other applications were a bust. Minnesota's offer is pretty decent for such a good program. The Utah offer is tempting, I'm just not sure that's where I want to spend the next 2+ years. Anyone know anything about Utah's program and its reputation? Job placement? Etc.?

Really? I got the sense through interactions with a student and faculty member that Georgia Tech is great as far as finding a job goes...Atlanta area is growing rapidly and the demand for planners should be high. The professor also told me that the Atlanta area consistently has more planning internships available than there are students to fill them.