yellowsurf

Still no word from UCLA. Will contact them.

No I just want to get it over with.

Looks like someone on the Results said they were accepted off the waitlist on April 21. Oh well, things don’t look so hot for us, but fingers crossed.

No, I was just about to ask if anyone else did haha. I hope we get to know very soon.

I’ve been talking to current students or recent alumni about their experiences. From them I’ve learned about ongoing research, support programs and funds, student organizations, study abroad and networking opportunities, etc. Also, I’ve been comparing their curriculums and course offerings and leaning towards programs that offer classes I’m interested in and that emphasize technical skills. It would also be helpful to look at what the program’s capstone project is — do you want to do a thesis? A group project? Other things to consider — do you want a small or a large cohort? Where would you rather intern/work at for two years?

@drew.m.b I’m in the same boat. I will sign my SIR with another school in the meantime. If I get into UCLA and decide to go there, I’ll just let my other school know and lose the non-refundable deposit that comes with a SIR. I strongly recommend that you do so too - it would be a mistake to not sign any SIR if you still want to go to grad school this cycle, because personally, I don’t see many accepted people turning UCLA down. There were also over 500 applications this cycle, much more than the 270 or so from last year.

Is anyone considering sending an email to appeal for more funding or have any advice for it? I’m specifically thinking about UNC.

Waitlisted at UCLA. I’m honestly a little surprised and disappointed. But I was told that UCLA got over twice the amount of applications it did in the previous year, so it makes sense. I’m just glad the wait is over now. Congrats to everyone else! You all deserve it.

Haha, I also feel recognizable especially knowing my peers lurk here. But I just really want to talk to people and help others during this unusual time. I agree with $20k/yr max in loans — I don’t want to take any loans with higher rates than the federal loans.

Half tuition is definitely a good scholarship! It looks like (to me at least) most people are typically getting none to a few thousand, so congrats on your offers. No one can tell you what next year looks like, unfortunately. Who knows if there’ll be more or less applicants or funding. If funding is your biggest priority, you should probably go to the cheapest school for you (unless it’s significantly lower in academic quality than others, but I doubt that). But of course, it’s important to consider other things like location, curriculum, and faculty. For me, funding is a big concern, but I also have a kind of YOLO mindset. Sure, UCLA will be over twice the price if I get into it as opposed to my second choice, and I’ll be sinking myself into a lot of debt, but UCLA has been a dream school in an amazing location and social environment (the sports, arts, etc!), that I think the experience and pride I’ll feel will make it worth it. However, I still feel like going to a much cheaper, lesser-known school will give me the same set of skills that can ultimately land me the same job as if I went to UCLA. Planning doesn’t really seem to care about where degrees come from (though the location of where your school is can definitely help you work where you want, ie LA). But I think planning degrees overall travel well. And prestige isn’t the end-all — a planning office in CA will probably have everyone from Berkeley to a small state school working at a similar position there. TL;DR, at least for me, I’m not only going to grad school for a degree, but for the life experience. I’m willing to pay more for that. I’m only going to grad school once in my life. This is NOT advice, let me be clear, but just my personal reasoning for myself. I’d agree with the previous comment - if you just want to get your foot in the door, then a cheaper school will do just fine.

@cityplace_uptown Totally relate. I’m also checking this website too often in hopes that someone has finally heard back from UCLA!

I’m practically in the same boat as you with UNC and UMich. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try (the worst they can say is no, right?) but it wouldn’t be the most convincing argument with the cost difference. Would appreciate someone’s insight as well!

@cityplace_uptown Thank you! I’m also a fellow undergrad, and this is very helpful. Like @sh2405, I’d also love to hear anyone’s opinions on SJSU and Cal Poly SLO! From what I gather about SJSU, I heard it’s a good program with great faculty. I talked to a student a couple years ago, and they said it had small 3-hour evening classes (with occasional Saturday morning classes) and a capstone thesis. It’s right next to San Jose City Hall, and a lot of students work during the day there and elsewhere. They also told me that all of their close friends in the program got jobs within months after graduation in the Bay Area. To me, it might not be the most well-known school, but it definitely is in an area with lots of hands-on opportunities and with a caring group of faculty (and it’s cheap!). I suspect students tend to be slightly older folks (not straight out of undergrad like myself), who might be working full-time jobs or changing career paths (thus the evening classes), so that’s a bit of a different social vibe than possibly other schools.

Anyone else finding it hard to make a decision between schools? For me, funding is my biggest consideration, and the tuition gap between the schools I’m considering is about $25k. I don’t know how worthwhile it is to spend an extra $25k on a school that I don’t know is *that* much better. How much do schools and locations matter when getting a job in planning?

Got into Cal Poly SLO. No official admissions letter or mention of funding in the email, and they didn't indicate if/when they would release it, so I'm not sure what to expect. As for UNC, I received an email that said my admissions decision has been updated on the portal. So I checked all over the portal but no funding offer looks changed or even been indicated. Not sure why they emailed me, if nothing has changed. Hopefully I'll get another email...? Maybe @planning or @ojireojire you could DM me to let me know what your notification looked like?