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Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Very very sorry for your loss ?

Sorry about your loss, but congrats on going to Berkeley!

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated everything. My dad died last Sunday of a sudden heart attack and so it's been hard. At least he knew of my acceptances before passing, I hadn't chosen a school yet because I was severely worried about funding and going into more debt but I think going to Berkeley is going to be worth it for me. I hope he will be proud of me regardless of my accumulation of debt.. 
 
I've never lived on the west coast or even visited and I am excited about the possibility to study urban planning and transportation planning in such a cool built environment with all of Berkeley's professors and research centers and connections I don't feel like I can turn such a fun amazing opportunity down. I have talked to three grad students from Berkeley and like six students from UCLA and after being an east coaster my whole life I think it will be a crazy change. I hope to pursue multimodal transit and transit equity as a planner of color and woman of color in graduate school. If anyone has any advice for west coast living, feel free to tell me! 
 
Thank you to everyone's support on here and I can not wait to be peers in planning with all of you wonderful people. 
 
Final Tally: 
Acceptances at all five Schools! 
No funding from anyone yet tho.. 
 
I will be accepting Berkeley's admission  

Haha we all deserve to rant after going through apps ? Seems like only a few students received a small amount of funding (5k ish) from UCLA according to GradCafe 

I personally love living in LA--I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and I went to UCLA for undergrad. It's a very diverse city, the weather's great year round (minus fire season), and you can easily go to the beach or the mountains. I also love its food scene and art museums. LA is known for its sprawl, so it doesn't have a typical big-city feel and it can be difficult to get around without a car. While LA's rail transit isn't great, it does have a pretty extensive bus network! I lived in Westwood the entire time I was a student at UCLA, so it was very easy to get to and from campus and run errands on foot. I had a car my senior year and it definitely made exploring LA beyond the Westside much easier. I'm planning to enroll in UCLA's MURP program and I don't think I'll live in Westwood this time around to cut down on the cost of rent. UCLA's grad housing in University Apartments South isn't too far from the Metro Expo Line, so you could use that to get to Santa Monica or Downtown LA. There's also a shuttle for UAS residents that goes to and from campus on weekdays.
I'd also suggest thinking about where you would like to work after graduation. If your goal is to work in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California, UCLA may be the better choice.

I think anywhere in Toronto would do .. based on my experience with some industry people in big global corporate headquartered in Toronto and your understanding of school. Idk if you’re also thinking about transportation planning in concept of smart city as well but speak in that regards, I know Toronto is way ahead. I think public are genuinely more interested there, as shown from (the cancelled) sidewalk lab project. As well I had an interview last year for a big corporate based in Toronto for a vancouver job  (architecture engineering and planning etc) that they actually DO have projects in Toronto regarding smart city as well as transportation.  I can only speak from architecture and things in regards to smart city and industry capacity here. Vancouver is behind Toronto. 
 
idk if you also wanna live and work in Vancouver. But there are way more big offices there. Build your skills experience there. Transfer here. You will have more chance that way. 
 
Excuse my typos since I’m typing on phone. 

UPenn financial aid packages just came out! In with 75% scholarship, pretty shook lol 

Cant get over this thread having over 44k views relative to last year's only having 19k 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

Congrats on UIC and the funding offer, that's awesome. I'm seriously considering going there - I'd say right now UCLA is the only school that could knock them out, unless USC gave me TONS of funding (UIC gave me a pretty small aid package, but better than nothing).
What appeals to me about UIC is 1) a very strong economic development concentration with a lot of really interesting research into inequality, the racial wealth gap, etc, all of which are my areas of interest, and 2) a really interesting city outside of the school. I know they aren't a top 10 school, but I also think ratings aren't that critical in the grand scheme of things, and that having a match between areas of interest/specializations of the school matter a lot more. 

In at UIC with offer of a research or teaching assistantship! Really relieved to have at least one offer that I know I can afford
With that being said, I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on the program!

Figured I'd add my stats and results for posterity's sake -- best of luck to all my fellow applicants!
Age/Gender/Citizenship
26/M/US
Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 
BA in anthropology/ southern state school / 2015
GPA - GRE  - TOEFL (for Int'l students) 
3.47 -- 163 V/152 Q/5.0 W
Work Experience:
3+ years in research consultancy; 2 years at alma mater in international recruitment office; multiple internships during undergrad (marketing and refugee services)
Letter of recommendations: (from whom)
One undergraduate professor/mentor and two project directors at research consultancy firm
Schools applied to (Master's): UNC, USC, Georgia Tech, Texas Southern, U of Hawaii, U of Louisville
In: UNC, USC, Texas Southern, U of Louisville
Out:
Wait-list:
Awaiting: Georgia Tech, U of Hawaii
Results: UNC (5k for first year), USC (Merit scholarship -- full tuition), Texas Southern (no funding), U of Louisville (no funding)
 
UNC was my top choice but their funding offer is super low despite their reputation for being fairly generous, especially towards out of state students according to folks I spoke with. I'm guessing COVID really did a number on their funding availability this year. Still waiting to hear back from a few programs but USC's offer is a pretty convincing argument for itself! Good luck everyone still waiting to hear back from places.

I also got into UNC this morning (yay! ... though out of state).
At least for me, funding was mentioned directly in the letter (not the email but the attached PDF file). It's bolded in the first paragraph. 

Ah, I'm glad you reached out and they were able to accommodate you! Speaking from my 10 years of experience in grad admissions and financial aid, I can tell you that we really do want to accommodate the applicants (and especially admitted candidates) any way that we are able to, but sometimes our hands are tied by a particular timeline or policy.