planningfor2021

Anyone going to create a USC Fall 2021 Prospective class thread? 

Planetizen's ranking criteria is kind of a joke. Any one have link to the departmental citation ranking?  

Anyone going to create a USC Fall 2021 Prospective class thread? 

I didn't hear many people on this topic saying that they applied to Upenn. Do you consider that the course is not so good or is too expensive?

Hi, has anyone here received any financial aid from UPenn?

Sorry, I don't have any idea  But I'd perhaps suggest reaching out to Sean Campbell. He's been super helpful and responsive!

Thank you!! Congrats on getting into your dream school!!  

True SFU looks good if environment planning is your focus. Someone said on Reddit some time ago you can specialize in urban planning there too. But I couldn’t find anything about it in their web. Accredited program is important but having a portfolio at the end of the program is also as important to me. I wasn’t sure if SFU program will help me? Was a question. 
Hence Ryerson or Calgary was also reallyyyy tempting (and other schools with more architectural focus) but this year I’m limited to BC.  Just general advice as someone having some time spent in architecture field is that If you think you’re from “unrelated planning background” (lot of things are actually quite related but if you think so) or with very little exposure to graphics, arts and all,  I think going to school that will help you a lot building stronger portfolio especially if urban design is your aspiration 

Speaking as someone who is in their 30s and has been working in the "real world" for a number of years before applying to go back to grad school, my advice is take on as little debt as possible. Go to whatever school is most affordable for you. 
Seeing people talk about taking on 40k+ in debt saddens and scares me. It's just not worth it, and that debt is going to hang over you for a long time. 
I know a lot of milestones in life seem like they are a long ways off, but they aren't. That debt will get in the way if you want to buy a house, travel, have kids, take a leave of absence, decide planning isn't right for you, and everything else.  

Can't speak for SLO and I believe I might've touched on this earlier in the thread but I've done the most research into SJSU and spoke to the most people affiliated with the school there than any of the other schools I've applied to (Grad Advisor, 2 professors, and about 4-5 students).

It seems there is definitely a significant chunk of students that go to SJSU part-time or while they work as a way to get ahead within the field in the Bay Area (almost all of them seemed to view the school as public sector-oriented except for one person who worked for Lyft). One of my contacts said that a number of her colleagues today (she worked first for MTC and then for SF County) were her peers from school. Planning, Community Development, and Transit agencies across the Bay are choc full of SJSU grads. As she said "It's a small planning world so I know a lot of the planners in the public sector through SJSU. Your reputation from grad school definitely follows you."

Of those I talked to, they all said SJSU's program is well known throughout the Bay Area (in part because it's just one of two Bay Area programs - the other being Cal). The Capstone Community Planning course is really unique and not something I necessarily saw duplicated elsewhere since most community-involved work at other schools seems to be reliant on your internship choice. I think this gives you a built-in opportunity to network within the San Jose/Santa Clara County community even beyond your internship so you get to double down on potential job opportunities. I also asked each school's (SJSU, Cal, UCLA, CPP) Grad Advisor "Do you help students find internships?" and SJSU seemed to give the most help - I think in part because, at least for UCLA/Cal, they expect the prestige and connections of the institution to make securing internships easier.

The certificates are also an interesting twist. I talked to both Cal (which I didn't get into) and UCLA and both said the concentrations are just within the department and your course planning, there's no official documentation stating it on your transcript or diploma, whereas you actually receive a certificate at SJSU. Not that important knowledge wise but could be an edge at face-value re: resume.

That being said, I'm still holding out hope for UCLA (even though it's a big reach for me) in part UCLA's program seems to draw from social justice/critical race theory principles. I feel like the theory vs. practical argument always finds a way to put down "theory" - but if the planners of the past were schooled in the "theory" we might expect from UCLA today, perhaps there wouldn't be so much harm left to undo.

There's one really telling statistic about UCLA's planning program though - the largest employer of UCLA planning grads... UCLA. That tells me that the program is probably 1) PhD Heavy and 2) More focused on contributions to the field of planning than making planners out of students.

Phew, essay over. Bored on a Sunday... lol

I'm feeling the same way about UCLA, but also bit hesitant about a cross-country move (I also live in MA!) and Los Angeles in general. Chicago seems much more my speed.
What attracts me to UCLA is the emphasis on social/racial justice, and I think UIC would offer a similar experience. I also agree about rankings; I'm not sure they actually matter that much in practice as long as the program is a good fit

Anyone in at USC already know how much financial aid they are being offered (aside from scholarships from the department)?

This really depends on how scholarships and financial aid are handled at the particular institution. At our school, the chairs and program directors handle the scholarship offers because it is all based on merit. For schools that consider financial need, then it may be different, though usually it is the merit funding that I think can be negotiated rather than the need-based funding that is likely allocated based on a needs analysis formula.
In general, if you feel like the scholarship offer was determined by the chair, program director, or faculty admissions committee and not by the financial aid office, then you should reach out to them to discuss your scholarship offer. I very much agree with what the poster jgiara said above - if you have a competing offer, definitely leverage that as much as possible, and express that while the school/program may be your first choice academically, the competing offer is making it difficult to accept the offer from a financial standpoint and nicely ask if there is any additional funding that may be offered to you so that you can feel confident enrolling in the program. Negotiating scholarships is something that I personally hate is a thing at all because usually those that feel confident and comfortable negotiating are usually those that do not need the money as much but have had the privilege of being brought up knowing not to take no for an answer ("the squeaky wheel gets the grease" as I refer to it!). HOWEVER, it is a thing that happens so you should feel comfortable inquiring in a respectful manner. You've already been admitted at that point so you have nothing to lose by asking as long as it is done respectfully.
Also, something I see happen A LOT - at our institution, whatever scholarship you are offered is what your scholarship will be annually for however many years your program is and we cannot increase scholarships for your second year. I often have continuing students that did not receive scholarship their first year, or received a lower scholarship the first year, ask if they can get a scholarship or increased scholarship for their second/remaining years. Unless the school/program you applied to EXPLICITLY states that they have a process for awarding additional scholarships to continuing students, DO NOT COUNT ON THIS HAPPENING. Make sure you negotiate your offer BEFORE you pay a deposit or complete your enrollment/decision form, because that is more than likely what you will be locked in with for the duration of your program.
If you aren't sure if you should reach out to the chair, program director, or faculty to negotiate scholarship, then reach out to the admissions or financial aid office and ask them who you should speak with regarding your scholarship offer and they should let you know.

A good friend of mine (in planning gschool currently) got a large merit package from a university. He used this as leverage to get money from the two other (higher ranked) schools where he was admitted and did not receive aid. He sent them proof of this package as requested, and his offers at those two schools increased significantly. I think if you have a good offer somewhere, but you'd ideally like to attend elsewhere, this strategy works. At the end of the day, all of these schools want us to attend, and if you were admitted, they absolutely want to do what they can to get you there (within reason). With the exception of a few schools (and PhD programs), masters in planning programs don't typically reserve a ton of available funding for their incoming cohort, most likely because these are technically 'professional' degrees.

I work at an Ivy in admissions and financial aid, and we did see an increase in app numbers this year across our programs, a bit higher in planning than in others. From what I can tell, the gains for planning were mostly due to 1) GRE being waived, and 2) MIT not accepting apps (but I think that is more likely to increase our enrollment rate, not the app rate). We did NOT see the kind of spike in app numbers that we did after 2008 recession, so I don't think the economy weighed in too much as far as apps increasing, at least not in our professional programs. Though, some schools may accept fewer students this year depending on how many students they allowed to defer last year, so the overall acceptance rate may go down.
On another note, before this discussion thread was created, some folks were asking on the results thread about whether they should feel comfortable contacting admissions to check in on decisions. I can only really speak for how that is interpreted and handled at my institution, though I do think it is similar at our peer schools. My advice is to contact the admissions staff rather than a faculty member or academic department/program staff. The admissions team is used to getting these emails and may be able to provide some insight depending on the question. As long as you are respectful and mention that you understand if we cannot provide an update or further information at this point, then no one will think twice about the fact that you reached out. We have gotten a number of emails from applicants that have heard emails have gone out but they haven't received one. Faculty are sending out unofficial early notices by email in some of our programs but not in others, and those that are sending early notice seem to be sending them out in dribs and drabs, so the fact that you haven't heard does not mean you are necessarily rejected at this point, at least from my institution's perspective.
If you have a pressing reason for wanting to know your decision earlier, like you have an offer from another school that they are asking for an enrollment decision sooner than official decisions are being released, or there is a housing application deadline or something, then mention that, but again, expect that they may not be able to give you an early decision. If the school does rolling admissions, they may be able to accommodate you more than a school that works on deadlines and reviews everyone at once (like my school).
Just trying to be helpful! I know it's a really stressful time for grad applicants and I like to support any student any way I can! If you have other questions or want advice, I'm happy to give my input.

Also in at UPenn! despite literally failing the virtual interview (talking off topic, not answering the question etc.) 
If anybody chances on this thread in the future and is stressing about it, I assume there's a lot of grace since they know it'll be nerve-wracking. Don't worry about it future planning applicants! 

I think I’m the only person who applied to Ohio State (and only Ohio State), so seeing the admission results for the popular schools is exciting, but doesn’t give me additional insight. But, I’m here for the shared anxiety.

Nah, Berkeley was the only school in California I applied to ? hope you hear back soon!

How many of you fine folks are still awaiting USC results? Starting to get hyper anxious as it seems several dean's merit admissions have come out already. I just want to get a feel for how many of us have still yet to hear back. It's my first choice (one of only two schools I applied to) in the city I've been living and working in for five years now. I'm intimately familiar with the program, campus, and even have friends currently in the program (who were all very confident about my application). It seems like they were emailing instead of updating the portal, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the delay in these results given how early they've come in previous years.
Thanks in advance! It's getting tough to focus on work for my job....haha. Why they gotta do us like this.

Still waiting on USC here!

I still have yet to hear back from USC! Also waiting on UCLA, NYU Wagner, and Harvard. 

Thank you for providing clarity during this particularly uncertain time. 
I know that admissions is super busy this time of year, so i'm weary of unnecessarily emailing questions. But i'm waiting on two schools, one of which has rolling admissions. With that, while many of my peers are receiving admissions notices, I am currently in admissions purgatory, so to speak. While this might rightfully be just be the nature of rolling cycle, earlier in the cycle, my transcripts had an error which was immediately corrected. As a result, should I reach out to admissions to inquire if my application is delayed and if there's any additional information they might need? 
I wouldn't think to ask, but an application for housing opens up soon and from what i've read, it's incumbent to apply as soon as possible because of the limited number of family housing units this academic year. 

 

Can confirm that Rutgers started sending notifications - got the MPP acceptance yesterday and the MURP acceptance this afternoon. Decisions don't have funding info, that will apparently come in the next few weeks. Still haven't heard from USC or Berkeley (or UCLA, obviously).

As a lurker from an admissions office (not one of the schools you mentioned), I just wanted to see if the school that is asking you for a decision by March 15 is possibly part of the Council of Graduate Schools Resolution on April 15th; see the member list here: https://cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_April15_Resolution_Oct2020Revision.pdf
If you have been offered any amount of scholarship from the school and they are part of the CGS Resolution, they cannot demand a decision from you before April 15.
Also, for our planning program, our faculty admissions committee chose to start emailing candidates letting them know that they are being accepted, but the official decisions will be posted in mid-March. I think many of our peers are doing the same, so if you see that someone else got an email but you have not heard anything, you still have a chance!!

In at SUNY Buffalo with $6k scholarship and $5k TAship, which is basically 100% of in-state tuition. Going to be hard to justify Cornell's costs in light of this.