Planning Admissions 2022

[nacohhhhh]

@Quincy_Taft_Coolidge @colime or anyone else who got into PSU with or without funding: is there any chance I could take a quick look at your award offer page on banweb? I just talked to the financial aid chat people and now they are making me even more confused. The tuition and fees estimate either reflects a course load of 15 credits… or 9 credits. Have literally no idea which at this point and tuition might literally be almost double what I thought it was

Edited March 11, 2022 by nacohhhhh

[eastcoastplanner]

On 1/12/2022 at 9:39 AM, eastcoastplanner said:

Hi everyone! Excited to wait for results with y'all.

I'm an older student making a career change. I didn't go to college after graduating from high school in 2006. Instead, I went into retail management for many years. I started working towards my associate degree at a local community college in 2016 while working full-time, and I ended up quitting my job and transferring to a top-5 public university to study planning in Spring 2020. My undergrad school has a 1-year urban planning master's program that I'm eligible for direct admission to, which is most likely what I'll end up doing. However, I also decided to apply to a few Ivy League schools just to see what happens.

Age/Gender/Citizenship

33/M/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

Bachelor of Urban Planning / top-5 public university / 2022 (first-generation student)

Associate Degree, Social Sciences / Local Community College / 2019

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

3.9 (bachelor) / 3.9 (associate) / no GRE

Work Experience:

6 months at a planning & engineering consulting firm (currently employed); 1.5 years with an economic development organization; 8+ years in retail management. I also volunteer with a local refugee resettlement nonprofit as a public transportation trainer. Research experience: I worked with the chair of the planning department as part of an independent study course on the Federal Opportunity Zone tax incentive program.

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Three letters from professors. I've taken at least two classes with each of them. I work with one of the professors at my internship, and one of the other professors is the Assistant Dean of Students.

Schools applied to: MIT, Harvard, Columbia, UVA

In: Columbia (no funding), UVA ($7500 merit scholarship)

Out: MIT, Harvard

Time to make a difficult decision. I'd love to live in NYC for a couple of years and get my master's from an Ivy League school, but UVA is offering me a partial scholarship and it would only be a year-long program since I did my undergrad there.

[colime]

27 minutes ago, nacohhhhh said:

@Quincy_Taft_Coolidge @colime or anyone else who got into PSU with or without funding: is there any chance I could take a quick look at your award offer page on banweb? I just talked to the financial aid chat people and now they are making me even more confused. The tuition and fees estimate either reflects a course load of 15 credits… or 9 credits. Have literally no idea which at this point and tuition might literally be almost double what I thought it was

I am also unsure about my funding, I just set up my banweb but it says "no financial aid information available". I did get an email yesterday about a $3000 partial tuition award, and I have been basing my estimate off of the "per credit" cost on the Graduate Tuiion and Fees page. It has been confusing though and I'm not sure if they're updating funding all at once. But I believe we have 72 credits required and the per credit cost is $449 or $676 depending on residency?

[stop making sense]

On 12/14/2021 at 2:30 PM, stop making sense said:

Also I thought I'd get the ball rolling with sharing stats/schools/etc. I copied the format from last years thread.

Age/Gender/Citizenship

22/F/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

BA in Urban Policy / top 40 LAC / Expected May 2022

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

3.75 cumulative / 3.93 major / 3.96 upper division, no GRE

Work Experience:

1 year as a research assistant in a multi-university urban planning study; 1 year as a student researcher doing original research; 2 research internships with community organizations; 2 internships with local government agencies; 2 years doing paid work on local campaigns; and 4 years of experience as a housing justice organizer.

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Research advisor, academic advisor (and chair of department's research institute), and another former professor. 

Schools applied to: UCLA, Cal, Columbia, Harvard, The New School  

In: UCLA, Columbia 

Out: Harvard,  Cal

Wait-list:

Awaiting: The New School  

Results:

Wow, in at Columbia with the $40,000 annual Avery Scholarship. UCLA has been my dream and top choice but damn if this doesn't make me think a little bit! 

[Quincy_Taft_Coolidge]

50 minutes ago, nacohhhhh said:

@Quincy_Taft_Coolidge @colime or anyone else who got into PSU with or without funding: is there any chance I could take a quick look at your award offer page on banweb? I just talked to the financial aid chat people and now they are making me even more confused. The tuition and fees estimate either reflects a course load of 15 credits… or 9 credits. Have literally no idea which at this point and tuition might literally be almost double what I thought it was

I am not 100% sure but I believe that it accounts for the mandatory units to be considered a full time student.

[stop making sense]

Anyone have any advice for leveraging funding? Am hoping to maybe use my Columbia offer to ask for more funding from UCLA.

[nacohhhhh]

4 minutes ago, Quincy_Taft_Coolidge said:

I am not 100% sure but I believe that it accounts for the mandatory units to be considered a full time student.

Did your banweb say $6882 for tuition + fees per quarter? 

[Quincy_Taft_Coolidge]

9 minutes ago, nacohhhhh said:

Did your banweb say $6882 for tuition + fees per quarter? 

Yes

[planningapplicant]

38 minutes ago, stop making sense said:

Wow, in at Columbia with the $40,000 annual Avery Scholarship. UCLA has been my dream and top choice but damn if this doesn't make me think a little bit! 

Oh my goodnesssssss! Congrats! Makes me realize just how expensive US programs are ? 

[nacohhhhh]

42 minutes ago, Quincy_Taft_Coolidge said:

Yes

Damn yeah it’s probably for 9 credits then (assuming you’re out of state). Very annoyed that they would send us cost of attendance offers that don’t actually reflect anywhere close to the cost of the credits necessary to graduate

[stop making sense]

On 12/14/2021 at 2:30 PM, stop making sense said:

Age/Gender/Citizenship

22/F/US

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

BA in Urban Policy / top 40 LAC / Expected May 2022

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

3.75 cumulative / 3.93 major / 3.96 upper division, no GRE

Work Experience:

1 year as a research assistant in a multi-university urban planning study; 1 year as a student researcher doing original research; 2 research internships with community organizations; 2 internships with local government agencies; 2 years doing paid work on local campaigns; and 4 years of experience as a housing justice organizer.

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Research advisor, academic advisor, and another former professor.

Schools applied to: UCLA, Cal, Columbia, Harvard, The New School  

In: UCLA, Columbia ($40k yearly scholarship), The New School (75% tuition scholarship)

Out: Cal, Harvard

Wait-list:

Awaiting:

Results: In at UCLA, Columbia ($40k yearly scholarship), The New School (75% tuition scholarship). Out at Harvard and Cal. 

Also in at The New School, Parsons for their MS in Design and Urban Ecologies with a 75% tuition offer, ending my grad school application process! My goal is now to try to get more funding from UCLA but in any scenario I think it'll be UCLA for me! Congratulations to everyone, it feels good to not be waiting for any more decisions. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by stop making sense

[LLL666]

6 hours ago, eastcoastplanner said:

In at Columbia! No email, I just happened to check the portal. No funding, sadly.

Also in at Columbia without funding. Too expensive for me.

[planningapplicant]

In at Waterloo! $16,000 guaranteed, but it's for a TAship over two years. Anyone else? 

In so far: Manitoba, Queen's, Waterloo

Out: 

Awaiting: Alberta, Dalhousie 

[keyboardranger]

5 hours ago, planningapplicant said:

In at Waterloo! $16,000 guaranteed, but it's for a TAship over two years. Anyone else? 

In so far: Manitoba, Queen's, Waterloo

Out: 

Awaiting: Alberta, Dalhousie 

Congratz!! Waterloo is a good one and I'm still waiting for their final decision. How are you prioritizing your 3 offers based on the info you're having now?

For UWaterloo, have you met with a professor (presumably your potential supervisor) via ZOOM before the acceptance?
Not sure if it's because I'm an int'l I met with mine recently. Still waiting for updates but I'm so anxious......

[planningapplicant]

23 minutes ago, keyboardranger said:

Congratz!! Waterloo is a good one and I'm still waiting for their final decision. How are you prioritizing your 3 offers based on the info you're having now?

For UWaterloo, have you met with a professor (presumably your potential supervisor) via ZOOM before the acceptance?
Not sure if it's because I'm an int'l I met with mine recently. Still waiting for updates but I'm so anxious......

Thank you!! 

No, I didn't zoom with my potential supervisor. They never asked or sent anything about that. I found out about the acceptance because I randomly checked my portal and it was there! There's a letter attached in the Quest portal with funding details and some program basics but nothing about the supervisor. 

I don't know how to choose ? Manitoba has been my top choice for so long because I'm really into the architectural side of things, and Queen's is an amazing school and their students do a lot of work with local govt. I think Waterloo might be a bit too research intensive for me, but it is still an amazing program and they're great with co-ops. 

What about you? Is Waterloo your top choice? I really hope you get accepted soon!!! Fingers crossed for you!!

[keyboardranger]

51 minutes ago, planningapplicant said:

Thank you!! 

No, I didn't zoom with my potential supervisor. They never asked or sent anything about that. I found out about the acceptance because I randomly checked my portal and it was there! There's a letter attached in the Quest portal with funding details and some program basics but nothing about the supervisor. 

I don't know how to choose ? Manitoba has been my top choice for so long because I'm really into the architectural side of things, and Queen's is an amazing school and their students do a lot of work with local govt. I think Waterloo might be a bit too research intensive for me, but it is still an amazing program and they're great with co-ops. 

What about you? Is Waterloo your top choice? I really hope you get accepted soon!!! Fingers crossed for you!!

Haha thanks for the intel and I will check my Quest daily like a mad man!

UWaterloo is indeed very research-oriented, so I'd say it is a bit tricky and personal for me to say anything. The co-op thing, however, is more in the undergraduate level I'm afraid...although the planning grad program requires a summer internship, it is probably not the same structure/scale as their famous co-op education. That said, if you prefer working and living in Ontario (like me), UWaterloo is an excellent starting point with lots of resources and recognition! Same goes to Queen's as you also pointed out. These two programs are both very well known in the planning profession in Ontario, some say even more than that in UofT.

I didn't apply to Manitoba simply and mainly because its deadline was one of the earliest and I missed it lol. I don't have much intel about its planning program either so I can't give any insight.

For me, personally, if I were genuinely very into something, I'll excel it very much easier 'cause I'll go above and beyond autonomously. And vice versa, regrettably. Of course not everyone is like me, though. Just my two cents.

[Making other plans]

15 hours ago, planningapplicant said:

In at Waterloo! $16,000 guaranteed, but it's for a TAship over two years. Anyone else? 

In so far: Manitoba, Queen's, Waterloo

Out: 

Awaiting: Alberta, Dalhousie 

Congratulations on offer and great $!! Got an email from Waterloo over a week ago that said they were starting to review application but no word yet. When did you hear?   expected they'd be more generous than Queen's but there's little info on their program. Heard the master's courses are cross-listed with undergrad planning courses. Also Queen's has an orientation week, field trips etc. Also no clue how many master students Waterloo has in planning. Maybe I missed an info session but not aware they had one of those either.... An idea of how program compares to Queen's?

[planningapplicant]

8 hours ago, keyboardranger said:

Haha thanks for the intel and I will check my Quest daily like a mad man!

UWaterloo is indeed very research-oriented, so I'd say it is a bit tricky and personal for me to say anything. The co-op thing, however, is more in the undergraduate level I'm afraid...although the planning grad program requires a summer internship, it is probably not the same structure/scale as their famous co-op education. That said, if you prefer working and living in Ontario (like me), UWaterloo is an excellent starting point with lots of resources and recognition! Same goes to Queen's as you also pointed out. These two programs are both very well known in the planning profession in Ontario, some say even more than that in UofT.

I didn't apply to Manitoba simply and mainly because its deadline was one of the earliest and I missed it lol. I don't have much intel about its planning program either so I can't give any insight.

For me, personally, if I were genuinely very into something, I'll excel it very much easier 'cause I'll go above and beyond autonomously. And vice versa, regrettably. Of course not everyone is like me, though. Just my two cents.

Ooh, this was quite helpful actually. I didn't know their famous co-op programs were mostly an undergrad thing - that's definitely something to consider. It's a tough program to gain intel on because there's not much on their website in terms of student life, which is a really important factor to me because planning is very interactive and requires a lot of group work and collaboration, and I think Queen's is probably the strongest school in Canada for that.

I didn't notice it when I read the letter last night but I just saw that I got assigned my top choice supervisor at Waterloo who is doing amazing work in the topic I want to pursue so that's reallyyyy enticing. Aaah it's all so hard haha! 

10 minutes ago, Making other plans said:

Congratulations on offer and great $!! Got an email from Waterloo over a week ago that said they were starting to review application but no word yet. When did you hear?   expected they'd be more generous than Queen's but there's little info on their program. Heard the master's courses are cross-listed with undergrad planning courses. Also Queen's has an orientation week, field trips etc. Also no clue how many master students Waterloo has in planning. Maybe I missed an info session but not aware they had one of those either.... An idea of how program compares to Queen's?

Thanks so much!! I found out last night, not by getting an email or notification but by randomly checking my portal and seeing that the status changed and I jumped out of my seat ? I also never got an email that says they're going to start reviewing things so now I'm wondering if my email on file is wrong or something haha. They do mention an orientation week in my acceptance letter but not when it is! 

The funding is based on a TAship, meaning I have to be a TA to recieve it, so basically a job offer. Which is cool! But I'm not entirely sure if I can handle being a TA while in such an intense program. 

Fingers crossed for you!!! 

[Making other plans]

6 minutes ago, planningapplicant said:

Ooh, this was quite helpful actually. I didn't know their famous co-op programs were mostly an undergrad thing - that's definitely something to consider. It's a tough program to gain intel on because there's not much on their website in terms of student life, which is a really important factor to me because planning is very interactive and requires a lot of group work and collaboration, and I think Queen's is probably the strongest school in Canada for that.

I didn't notice it when I read the letter last night but I just saw that I got assigned my top choice supervisor at Waterloo who is doing amazing work in the topic I want to pursue so that's reallyyyy enticing. Aaah it's all so hard haha! 

Thanks so much!! I found out last night, not by getting an email or notification but by randomly checking my portal and seeing that the status changed and I jumped out of my seat ? I also never got an email that says they're going to start reviewing things so now I'm wondering if my email on file is wrong or something haha. They do mention an orientation week in my acceptance letter but not when it is! 

The funding is based on a TAship, meaning I have to be a TA to recieve it, so basically a job offer. Which is cool! But I'm not entirely sure if I can handle being a TA while in such an intense program. 

Fingers crossed for you!!! 

Excellent to hear they have an orientation week. Imho, planning schools in particular should be selling themselves on community:)

[aleman]

On 3/11/2022 at 4:28 PM, stop making sense said:

Anyone have any advice for leveraging funding? Am hoping to maybe use my Columbia offer to ask for more funding from UCLA.

Hey! So I went to a bunch of seminars/presentations in the fall for UCLA's MURP program. I suggest starting with emailing the Associate Director of Admissions, Sean Campbell. He's very helpful as well as involved with students in the admissions process. If you want more info about what they said about funding and I guess anything in general from those meetings just PM me! (I think you can do that here? I'm new to the website lol)

 

Otherwise, I am also accepting at UCLA so I'll see you there in the fall!

[purpleoven78]

In at Columbia as well but no funding. Does anyone know of scholarship options? I'm International. 

Also, anyone have more insight on the dual degree/Urban Planning program at Columbia? 

Edited March 14, 2022 by purpleoven78

[Quincy_Taft_Coolidge]

On 2/17/2022 at 4:20 PM, Quincy_Taft_Coolidge said:

Age/Gender/Citizenship

24/M/USA

Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated 

BS in Finance; Biology minor / Top 10 Christian University / 2021

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

3.618 cumulative

Work Experience:

Finance internship at nonprofit that works with Asian American immigrants to obtain citizenship, English courses, housing, and social services.

ASB Vice President.

Letter of recommendations: (from whom)

Academic Advisor, Dean of my department, student government supervisor/public policy advisor

Schools applied to: Cal Poly SLO, University of Arizona, University of Utah, USC, UCLA, Portland State, UT Austin

In: Cal Poly SLO (declined), University of Arizona (declined), Portland State (declined), USC (MPP/MUP), UT-Austin(MPAff/MCRP)

Out: University of Utah

Wait-list:

Awaiting: UCLA

Final Result:

Just got into the UT-Austin Masters of Community and Regional Planning program. So happy. Funding will come at the end of the month.

Still waiting anxiously for UCLA. If I do not hear back by this week I am just going to assume that I have been rejected.

UT-Austin and USC are my top choices and am just waiting for funding info before I make my final decision.

[woketaco]

I got an email yesterday from Pratt asking to discuss my application further. Is this an interview?

Did anyone else get this email from Eve?

[upstart2022]

Anyone hear from University of Toronto yet?

[TheTreePrince]

1 hour ago, upstart2022 said:

Anyone hear from University of Toronto yet?

This! Desperately waiting but I haven’t come across anyone who’s gotten a decision yet. Some Canadian unis seem to be sending decisions later than last year based on my quick check of last year’s results pages so not sure when to expect to hear back.