Planning Admission 2021

[sh2405]

35 minutes ago, anxiousplanner said:

Given that they explicitly told us we could reach out if we haven't heard by Friday 3/5, I could imagine reaching out the following Monday - I personally wouldn't do that for a school that hadn't given such a clear deadline, but they were pretty straightforward in their email ?‍♀️. We'll see though. I'm also super anxious about this one! 

I mailed Berkeley and they said they’d try to give out decisions as soon as possible

[yellowsurf]

Fellas, it’s come to the point that I just had a dream where I was accepted to my dream school and woke up devastated that it wasn’t real lmao. Will these schools just put us out of our misery already? 

[yellowsurf]

On a more serious note, for those of you who are getting acceptances, have any of your schools indicated whether instruction will be virtual or in-person? If not, do you think they will announce that before we make decisions?
 

I can maybe deal with a virtual fall semester, but I’d have big second thoughts whether I’d want to take out loans for an entirely virtual first year. What are your thoughts?

Edited February 22, 2021 by yellowsurf

[CanPlan]

5 minutes ago, yellowsurf said:

On a more serious note, for those of you who are getting acceptances, have any of your schools indicated whether instruction will be virtual or in-person? If not, do you think they will announce that before we make decisions?
 

I can maybe deal with a virtual fall semester, but I’d have big second thoughts whether I’d want to take out loans for an entirely virtual first year. What are your thoughts?

No formal announcements quite yet, but it is pretty much guaranteed Canadian universities will be online in the fall. I currently work at UBC and all of the professors are preparing for next year as if the fall (at the very least) will be mostly online. The university sent out an email a couple weeks ago that basically said "We don't know what September looks like, but be prepared for online." There is a chance a small program like urban planning could still meet in person, but I doubt it. Given how much universities rely on international students and how every country is experiencing this differently, I don't think anyone is jumping at the opportunity to bring anyone back. 

That said, I know many US universities have stayed open/in-person this whole year. 

[anxiousplanner]

22 minutes ago, yellowsurf said:

I can maybe deal with a virtual fall semester, but I’d have big second thoughts whether I’d want to take out loans for an entirely virtual first year. What are your thoughts?

Exact same boat here. If the whole year is virtual, that would be a tough sell for me. If it's just fall semester, especially if there is any hybrid whatsoever, that's maybe tolerable. The friends I have who are in grad school this year say it was/is pretty rough to be fully remote, especially from a "making friends/meeting people" standpoint.

[yellowsurf]

8 minutes ago, anxiousplanner said:

Exact same boat here. If the whole year is virtual, that would be a tough sell for me. If it's just fall semester, especially if there is any hybrid whatsoever, that's maybe tolerable. The friends I have who are in grad school this year say it was/is pretty rough to be fully remote, especially from a "making friends/meeting people" standpoint.

Exactly. I feel like the biggest selling point of planning grad school besides getting a degree, at least for me, is the connections you make. And as a current undergrad who’s had a year of online classes, I know that’s really hard to do virtually. 

[GMK]

Like many of you, I’m still waiting for a response. I only applied to one program: Ohio State. I cannot move for school, as my husband has a strong career in Columbus. I’m disappointed that I haven’t heard yet, but really hope to hear something this week. 

[rogueginger]

On 2/21/2021 at 1:25 PM, austinplanning256 said:

Are any of you planning to try and visit any of these schools before making a decision? Obviously COVID makes that a lot more complicated 

I'm finishing up undergrad right now and we're technically not allowed to leave the city my university is in. we don't even have a spring break this year... 

I wish I could visit schools, I feel like it will be hard to commit to a school if I've never visited the city before... but thankfully, I've seen most of the schools I applied to (some while I was applying to undergrad) so that helps. but I haven't ever been to one of the schools I was admitted to and I'm nervous about that. 

[jbourne1]

On 11/19/2020 at 10:29 AM, jbourne1 said:

Age/Gender/Citizenship

27/M/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

BA in Int'l Relations / run of the mill Cal State school / 2015
MA in Public Policy / Central European University / 2017
GIS Certificate / Community College / est. 2021

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

3.4 BA/3.8 MA - No GRE, part of the reason I applied this year

Work Experience:

3+ years in immigration; 1 recent community development internship (really leaning on strength of references, GIS cert, and SOPs since I don't have the typical background)

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Combination of MA Thesis Advisor, Boss at Immigration Firm, GIS professor, Boss at Internship

Schools applied to: SJSU, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Berkeley, UCLA,

In: SJSU

Out: UC Berkeley

Wait-list:

Awaiting: Cal Poly Pomona,  UCLA

Finally rejected from Cal haha! I've more or less been anticipating this. I really only applied because the GRE was waived so no sweat luckily. I would've gone to SJSU over Cal if given the choice due to SJSU's affordability and flexibility, but still would've been happy to have got in! Congrats to all those who did and whose first choice it is!

Luckily SJSU and CPP are both hedges for the option to choose between Northern and Southern California. I would personally love to get into UCLA, sort of fell in love with their program, but I wonder if my background is more Cal State than esteemed UC (saying that tongue in cheek as I went to, and loved my education at, a Cal State).

It will be interesting to see who got into both, or one, and why in regards to UCLA and Cal. Still good luck to all!

[cityplace_uptown]

Rutgers has officially started releasing decisions! I don't have anything (positive or negative) but a friend got an acceptance email late last night. They may also be sending them in smaller waves this year.

[lululadybug]

On 2/21/2021 at 11:44 AM, yellowsurf said:

Does anyone have an idea of when most responses from schools will be sent out? Even just vaguely? Thinking of schools like UCLA, Berkeley, UNC, UMich.

One of the schools I got in wants a decision by March 15, but I’m not sure if I can give a decision by then (currently haven’t heard back from any other school besides them), so I need to ask for an extension asap.

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!!

[jd212]

On 2/17/2021 at 3:53 PM, jsm94 said:

Age/Gender/Citizenship

27/M/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

B.A. Art History and History (Double Honors), urban history and architectural history coursework / Top 15 Liberal Arts / 2016

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

3.77 / No GRE

Work Experience:

- 4 years in academic publishing 

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

- 3 undergrad professors, likely strong due to close working relationships. 

Schools applied to: SUNY Buffalo, Cornell University, Harvard, University of British Columbia

In: Cornell (20k / 50%), SUNY Buffalo  (11.3K / 100% in-state)

Out:

Wait-list:

Awaiting: Harvard, University of British Columbia

Results:

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.

[yellowsurf]

3 hours ago, lululadybug said:

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.

Thanks for reaching out! Yes, the school is on that list, but they haven’t offered any scholarship to me. So I guess it doesn’t apply to my situation, but luckily I was able to request until the end of March to make a decision.

[lululadybug]

19 minutes ago, yellowsurf said:

Thanks for reaching out! Yes, the school is on that list, but they haven’t offered any scholarship to me. So I guess it doesn’t apply to my situation, but luckily I was able to request until the end of March to make a decision.

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.

Edited February 23, 2021 by lululadybug
typo

[anxiousplanner]

On 2/17/2021 at 10:10 AM, anxiousplanner said:

Age/Gender/Citizenship

28/F/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

BA in Geography / good state school / 2013

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

3.4 BA - No GRE

Work Experience:

7+ years total, tangentially related to planning. 3 years doing community organizing for a union, 3 years for a small business development program, 1.5 years for a company that builds innovation spaces. SOP tries to make the connection to planning (my interests are in economic development, inequality, & racial wealth gap), but I'm now doubting myself. 

Letter of recommendations: 

All former or current managers, no academic letters.

Schools applied to: UC Berkeley, UCLA, Rutgers (dual with MPP), UIC, USC (dual with MPP)

In: Rutgers (dual with MPP), UIC

Out:

Wait-list: 

Awaiting: UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC (dual with MPP)

Results:

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).

Edited February 23, 2021 by anxiousplanner
edited for clarity

[planningfor2021]

43 minutes ago, lululadybug said:

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.

 

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. 

 

[yellowsurf]

Hey everyone, I started a new thread for us to ask personal questions, get advice, vent, etc.! Just if we want to clean up this thread a little to keep it for admissions results and decisions. Feel free to continue chatting here, but I just wanted to provide a place to have possibly off-topic discussions. Hope you all don't mind.

[cityplace_uptown]

5 hours ago, cityplace_uptown said:

Rutgers has officially started releasing decisions! I don't have anything (positive or negative) but a friend got an acceptance email late last night. They may also be sending them in smaller waves this year.

 

36 minutes ago, anxiousplanner said:

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).

Update — got an email acceptance for Rutgers this afternoon!   

[earlpe]

hi all--I've been lurking on this thread for a while and thought it was time to make my own post

Age/Gender/Citizenship

28/M/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

BA in Urban Studies w/planning concentration & political science minor / good public university in northeast / 2015

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

3.7 BA (3.4 overall--I transferred) - No GRE

Work Experience:

5ish years overall

3.5 years in planning at an urban transit authority in a small northeastern city, 1 year at a design-focused community development nonprofit, internships in bike/ped and transit advocacy

Letter of recommendations: 

current supervisor (planning director at a transit authority), undergrad professor/advisor

last letter was split between a former supervisor for 3 schools and a current colleague for the rest

Schools applied to: Rutgers, Michigan, UNC, Georgia Tech, Toronto, SUNY Albany (all masters in planning)

In: Rutgers, SUNY Albany (still awaiting funding info for both)

Out:

Wait-list: 

Awaiting: Michigan, UNC, Georgia Tech, Toronto

Results:

[plannerd97]

Another long time lurker here... figured it was only fair to share some stats

Age/Gender/Citizenship

23/F/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

BS Urban Planning- large public university in US, 2019

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

3.97 BS; 157Q, 158V, 5.5 W (didn't submit unless it was required) 

Work Experience:

~2 years in transportation planning, a couple of relevant internships, and research experience. 

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Former boss, former professor, former professor/dept chair/thesis advisor 

Schools applied to: UCLA, Berkeley, UIUC, Michigan

In: Berkeley, UIUC

Out:

Wait-list:

[oliviaplanning]

Just wondering if anyone has applied to any Canadian universities? I've applied to Queens, UBC, and VIU. Have not heard back from any yet!

[CanPlan]

5 minutes ago, oliviaplanning said:

Just wondering if anyone has applied to any Canadian universities? I've applied to Queens, UBC, and VIU. Have not heard back from any yet!

I know a few people have heard back from Ryerson, but it seems like that is it. I'm personally still waiting on UBC. Based on previous years/threads I'm expecting some applicants will start to receive offers around the end of next week. 

[oliviaplanning]

Just now, CanPlan said:

I know a few people have heard back from Ryerson, but it seems like that is it. I'm personally still waiting on UBC. Based on previous years/threads I'm expecting some applicants will start to receive offers around the end of next week. 

also waiting on UBC, def my top choice however .. I dont know how competitive my gpa is. I know DAL has also been sending out, but I didnt apply there!

[ojireojire]

Okay going to join the bandwagon of folks who decided to stop lurking. 

Age/Gender/Citizenship

24/M/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

B.A Political Science/Berkeley 2019

GPA - GRE  - TOEFL

3.86 GPA, 163V - 160Q - 4.5 AWA

Work Experience:

Worked at an Urban Planning nonprofit for one summer, director in a student-run nonprofit, internships at city

Research Experience:

4? semesters assistantship (don't remember on top of my head) on unrelated subject (terrorism)

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Two professors and a political figure

Schools applied to:   Rutgers, Cal (never happening), Penn, Florida State, Portland State, Harvard (never happening), UCLA, USC, UMN, UNC

In: UMN, Rutgers

Out: 

Wait-list: 

Awaiting:  Everything else

Results:

Edited February 23, 2021 by ojireojire

[futureplanner]

I'm hoping to focus on environmental health justice so anxiously waiting to hear back from the more social justice-centered schools

==========================================================================

Age/Gender/Citizenship

25/F/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

business-economics undergrad / mid-size private university / 2017

GPA - GRE  - TOEFL

3.5 GPA - did not submit GRE

Work Experience:

4+ years in urban planning related jobs/internships in economic development and transportation

Research Experience:

currently a volunteer on a research-heavy project, economic development researcher in undergrad

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Two professors from undergrad and a previous manager (CEO/Founder)

Schools applied to:   Rutgers, Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard, USC, Michigan

In: USC, Rutgers

Out: 

Wait-list: 

Awaiting: Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard, Michigan