Planning Admission 2021

[willplanning]

3 minutes ago, oliviaplanning said:

 

Thanks so much for the answer!! I am going to do mine tomorrow, did they ask anything specific about UBC, or was it more so why you want to go into planning? 

Kind of hard for me to answer that without just telling you the exact question I had, but it's a bit of both

No need to worry, the questions are simple. It also says in the instructions not to have notes or anything to read from; you can easily answer all of these off the top of your head. Good luck!!

[yellowsurf]

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?

Edited March 5, 2021 by yellowsurf

[heyhey101]

2 hours ago, willplanning said:

I did the SCARP interview this morning; glad to answer any questions anybody may have. 

It's four questions, 3 minutes each. The questions relate to you and to urban planning as a profession. Nothing out of the ordinary, or anything you would have to do research for. 

The strangest part, for me, was just speaking to myself. I wish it was a real interview. As strange it sounds, I would recommend talking out loud to yourself for 10-15 minutes before answering the questions. I won't disclose the specific questions I got, but glad to help out otherwise!

@MildlyJaded, I applied to UBC, UofT & Ryerson, and would rank them in that order. I'm finishing my McGill undergrad, so would love to go somewhere else. Nothing against McGill, loved my experience here, but it's also my hometown and I would love a change. I've heard great things about UBC, and 2 years in Vancouver sounds great, albeit expensive. 

 

Was there any questions situational? Like “what would you do if” kinda questions?

 

oh forgot to say thanks

thank you!

Edited March 5, 2021 by heyhey101

[willplanning]

4 minutes ago, heyhey101 said:

Was there any questions situational? Like “what would you do if” kinda questions?

 

oh forgot to say thanks

thank you!

Nothing like that, no. They're all very open ended questions that you can take whichever way you want. 

As soon as I got the interview request, I wanted to get it done as soon as possible. Made me so nervous! Glad to hear I can help you guys out ❤️

[planning]

17 minutes ago, yellowsurf said:

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?

I actually never received any emails about portal updates, and my portal still looks the same too. The updated funding was in an email this morning as a reply to the initial acceptance email that I received on Monday. I think just be on the lookout for emails from them, hopefully it comes soon!

[jd212]

I just got my UBC SCARP interview invite - I thought I was out of consideration because I didn't receive an invite last week, so this is a nice surprise!

I'm curious as to how high stakes it really is, or if it's just another element of the application they consider once you're past the initial stage? I can't imagine they get a truly great sense of myself through a handful of little clips - is it a glorified TOEFL screen?

[heyhey101]

2 hours ago, jd212 said:

I just got my UBC SCARP interview invite - I thought I was out of consideration because I didn't receive an invite last week, so this is a nice surprise!

I'm curious as to how high stakes it really is, or if it's just another element of the application they consider once you're past the initial stage? I can't imagine they get a truly great sense of myself through a handful of little clips - is it a glorified TOEFL screen?

Yeah you have exactly the same question as me. I couldn’t gauge how close/not close to admission. I was wondering about that when I got the invitation. When is your interview due by the way?

[ojireojire]

5 hours ago, yellowsurf said:

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?

Yeah I'm just here to concur with @planning. I  got an Email - a separate one albeit - but my admissions portal has not changed a bit. I'm guessing they're a bit overwhelmed. And in the second Email, they attached my original offer letter, but in the body of the Email mentioned my new funding total. 

[Mistes]

Age/Gender/Citizenship

27/F/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

B.B.A. International Business (Marketing/Green Business), Minor: Sustainability

GPA - GRE  - TOEFL (for Int'l students) 

3.51 - no GRE [I took it but it was abysmal so I didn't submit it]

Work Experience: 5 years

• Skanska (Civil Construction) - Infrastructure Proposals/Envision Certification 
• Solar Company - A lot of positions from Marketing/Graphic Design through Business Development and Sustainability Management
• Urban Land Institute - Intern

Side Note: I entered into various design competitions to bolster my portfolio

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Undergrad professor x2 (Green Business and Energy Resources teachers)

Professional Managers x2 (Solar Company and Urban Land Institute)

Schools applied to: UPenn, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard (2 programs, MUP and MDes)

In: UPenn [Urban Design], Harvard MDes (This is the other program I applied to - I had the intention of doing a dual program with the Harvard MUP), 

Out: Harvard MUP

Wait-list: UC Berkeley, #2 on waitlist for Urban Design

Awaiting:  Columbia

Results:

 

Legitimate question: I'm wondering whether I could do an MDes as a creative design-centric MUP alternative. It's not accredited but I will have an Urban Planning/Ecologies focus.  Thoughts? Is an MDes considered useful when applying to planning or architecture firms or just says "I didn't spend 5 years in Arch school"?  It might seem strange given my business/marketing background. 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Mistes

[heyhey101]

2 hours ago, Mistes said:

Age/Gender/Citizenship

27/F/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

B.B.A. International Business (Marketing/Green Business), Minor: Sustainability

GPA - GRE  - TOEFL (for Int'l students) 

3.51 - no GRE [I took it but it was abysmal so I didn't submit it]

Work Experience: 5 years

• Skanska (Civil Construction) - Infrastructure Proposals/Envision Certification 
• Solar Company - A lot of positions from Marketing/Graphic Design through Business Development and Sustainability Management
• Urban Land Institute - Intern

Side Note: I entered into various design competitions to bolster my portfolio

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Undergrad professor x2 (Green Business and Energy Resources teachers)

Professional Managers x2 (Solar Company and Urban Land Institute)

Schools applied to: UPenn, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard (2 programs, MUP and MDes)

In: UPenn [Urban Design], Harvard MDes (This is the other program I applied to - I had the intention of doing a dual program with the Harvard MUP), 

Out: Harvard MUP

Wait-list: UC Berkeley, #2 on waitlist for Urban Design

Awaiting:  Columbia

Results:

 

Legitimate question: I'm wondering whether I could do an MDes as a creative design-centric MUP alternative. It's not accredited but I will have an Urban Planning/Ecologies focus.  Thoughts? Is an MDes considered useful when applying to planning or architecture firms or just says "I didn't spend 5 years in Arch school"?  It might seem strange given my business/marketing background. 

I want you to consider landscape architecture. 

I have ecology background and with additional education in architecture design at technical college in working at an architecture firm here in Vancouver for 3 years.

I think if your focus is planning and ecology you could try landscape architecture and work at a firm that does LA and planning together (pretty common for a sizeable firms to do both). I was also considering those two myself.  

I just think mud is hard..at least what I’ve seen at architecture field in my area only senior architects and up can only really do design. I’m thinking it won’t be too different there. And your job opportunity can be too limited. Architects with highly technical skills/constructions are highly sought after.  Unless you’re very exceptional junior  

As an landscape architect you’d have access to jobs and projects as architecture business gets busy. 
 

[oliviaplanning]

14 hours ago, heyhey101 said:

Yeah you have exactly the same question as me. I couldn’t gauge how close/not close to admission. I was wondering about that when I got the invitation. When is your interview due by the way?

I just did my interview, so if anyone has questions feel free to post them!

[urbanplanning2021]

On 2/19/2021 at 6:26 PM, urbanplanning2021 said:

Hi everyone! I'm applying for masters programs and hoping to focus in the intersection of housing, data, and equity. Best of luck! ?

Age/Gender/Citizenship

25/F/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

BS in Biology and Environmental Science from competitive New England liberal arts school in 2017

GPA - GRE  - TOEFL (for Int'l students) 

GPA: 3.62, GRE: 167V, 167Q, 5.5W

Work Experience:

2.5 years at urban planning data internship in city government, recently started as a research assistant at an affordable housing tech startup/non-profit, 4 semesters as a TA for a course in R at a local university, 1 year at a food justice org.

Research Experience:

N/A

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Internship supervisor, undergrad biology professor, and the professor that I'm TAing for.

Schools applied to: USC, Berkeley, UCLA, UPenn, UIC, Rutgers, Harvard

In: USC, UPenn, Rutgers, UIC

Out: Harvard, Berkeley

Wait-list:

Awaiting: UCLA

Results:

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!

Edited March 5, 2021 by urbanplanning2021

[educationtoplanning]

22 hours ago, GMK said:

@educationtoplanningI think we are the only ones who have posted thus far who have applied to Ohio State.  They are taking their time with decisions this year!

I JUST (finally) got my acceptance notification! Hope you received one as well!

[GMK]

5 minutes ago, educationtoplanning said:

I JUST (finally) got my acceptance notification! Hope you received one as well!

My portal still shows pending! Ugh!

 

[anxiousplanner]

7 minutes ago, urbanplanning2021 said:

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!

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. 

[GMK]

9 minutes ago, educationtoplanning said:

I JUST (finally) got my acceptance notification! Hope you received one as well!

Did you apply for a PhD or Master?

[educationtoplanning]

Just now, GMK said:

Did you apply for a PhD or Master?

Masters! I'm positive your PhD app would be reason for the delay. The wait is excruciating!!! Hoping that it won't be much longer before you receive some good news.

[urbanplanning2021]

2 minutes ago, anxiousplanner said:

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. 

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

[GMK]

9 minutes ago, educationtoplanning said:

Masters! I'm positive your PhD app would be reason for the delay. The wait is excruciating!!! Hoping that it won't be much longer before you receive some good news.

Thank you!   Good luck with your decisions!

[austinplanning256]

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

[heyhey101]

2 hours ago, oliviaplanning said:

I just did my interview, so if anyone has questions feel free to post them!

How did it go? Did you like the interview? Do you think the kind of questions will help the admission committee to make decisions?  I will probably have mine on Sunday. 
thank you!

[oliviaplanning]

1 minute ago, heyhey101 said:

How did it go? Did you like the interview? Do you think the kind of questions will help the admission committee to make decisions?  I will probably have mine on Sunday. 
thank you!

It went well, there was one question I think I did poorly on but other than that I Think smooth sailing. The questions are straight forward so don’t over think them! I want to say yes, but I don’t think it’s about the questions. You just want to be positive and bring your personality out! Everyone will have relatively similar answers, so I think it’s about being authentic and you! Good luck

[heyhey101]

7 minutes ago, oliviaplanning said:

It went well, there was one question I think I did poorly on but other than that I Think smooth sailing. The questions are straight forward so don’t over think them! I want to say yes, but I don’t think it’s about the questions. You just want to be positive and bring your personality out! Everyone will have relatively similar answers, so I think it’s about being authentic and you! Good luck

Wow that’s great! Thank you again for the interview feedback. I hope you have a restful happy weekend! ? 

[Mistes]

4 hours ago, heyhey101 said:

I want you to consider landscape architecture. 

I have ecology background and with additional education in architecture design at technical college in working at an architecture firm here in Vancouver for 3 years.

I think if your focus is planning and ecology you could try landscape architecture and work at a firm that does LA and planning together (pretty common for a sizeable firms to do both). I was also considering those two myself.  

I just think mud is hard..at least what I’ve seen at architecture field in my area only senior architects and up can only really do design. I’m thinking it won’t be too different there. And your job opportunity can be too limited. Architects with highly technical skills/constructions are highly sought after.  Unless you’re very exceptional junior  

As an landscape architect you’d have access to jobs and projects as architecture business gets busy. 
 

This is going to weigh on me - I think because I pushed myself towards planning and kind of peripherally viewed LA but never considered it much because most programs are longer than 2 years. I'm pretty sure I won't be doing another application cycle but that being said, is there any way I can set myself up by going the urban planning route? I was viewing the urban design concentration as a middleground that would help cross that divide but perhaps there is a more strategic move I can take. 

I may have enjoyed the solar company I was in as they trusted me with creating solar engineering designs after training me and reviewing my work...something a larger company is unlikely to trust someone not offically trained with. It may have driven me to set unrealistic expectations on the sheer amount of flexibility I like to have in my work. 

I do really appreciate the feedback - it's a perspective I found myself pushing aside to hone in on urban planning. 

[willplanning]

On 3/3/2021 at 3:14 PM, willplanning said:

Figured I would chime in, it's been helpful to see fellow Canadians post their news!

Age/Gender/Citizenship

22/M/CAN

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

BEng Civil engineering/McGill/Spring 2021

GPA - GRE  - TOEFL (for Int'l students) 

3.74/no/no

Work Experience:

- summer internship in the engineering department of a small city, summer internship + 8 months part-time at a federal infrastructure management company.

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

McGill urban planning professor, McGill civil engineering professor, engineering-related boss. 

Schools applied to:  UBC, UofT, Ryerson. 

In: 

Out:

Wait-list: 

Awaiting: UofT, Ryerson

Results: Video interview with UBC

Didn't apply to McGill. I was told by a professor in the department that they don't accept students directly from undergrad, prefer related working experience. Waiting on Ryerson, it seems others have already heard from them recently. Good luck all!

Just got an acceptance from Ryerson! Unofficial email, with an official letter to come. 4k scholarship as well.