USC MUP vs UMich MURP

[ChristineWang]

So I'm in a little bit of a dilemma and I'm hoping that you guys can help me out. Here's my situation. I was admitted to both USC and UMich for graduate programs in urban planning. My focus will be in housing as my background is in nonprofit housing development and my aspiration is to work in housing development management in a leadership position. I'm a foreign national so I'll be an international student.

The locations of both programs appeal to me as Ann Arbor seems like the perfect little college town but no one can say no to LA. I went to UCLA for college so LA holds a special place in heart but I quite like the idea of moving to a new city, not to mention Ann Arbor which sounds absolutely lovely. I didn't receive funding from UMich and I'm waiting for funding information from USC. I'm not expecting any funding from USC either since my undergraduate GPA was below 3.0 due to my mental health at the time. I know that the general consensus is to choose the cheapest option but that probably won't be applicable in my case. I do plan to ask for funding from both schools but I doubt I'll be successful. think I'm fine with working either in California or in the Northeast so that won't be much of a contributing factor as well.

Both schools offer certificates in real estate development and seem to offer a significant number of classes in housing policy and development. I know that the USC MUP is known to have a focus on real estate development and I'm unsure about UMich. I guess my question is, which school has a greater focus on housing development and better career prospects in the field of housing development. I look forward to any advice. Please help me out!

[Plannerlady]

On 3/24/2023 at 12:39 PM, ChristineWang said:

So I'm in a little bit of a dilemma and I'm hoping that you guys can help me out. Here's my situation. I was admitted to both USC and UMich for graduate programs in urban planning. My focus will be in housing as my background is in nonprofit housing development and my aspiration is to work in housing development management in a leadership position. I'm a foreign national so I'll be an international student.

The locations of both programs appeal to me as Ann Arbor seems like the perfect little college town but no one can say no to LA. I went to UCLA for college so LA holds a special place in heart but I quite like the idea of moving to a new city, not to mention Ann Arbor which sounds absolutely lovely. I didn't receive funding from UMich and I'm waiting for funding information from USC. I'm not expecting any funding from USC either since my undergraduate GPA was below 3.0 due to my mental health at the time. I know that the general consensus is to choose the cheapest option but that probably won't be applicable in my case. I do plan to ask for funding from both schools but I doubt I'll be successful. think I'm fine with working either in California or in the Northeast so that won't be much of a contributing factor as well.

Both schools offer certificates in real estate development and seem to offer a significant number of classes in housing policy and development. I know that the USC MUP is known to have a focus on real estate development and I'm unsure about UMich. I guess my question is, which school has a greater focus on housing development and better career prospects in the field of housing development. I look forward to any advice. Please help me out!

You really cannot go wrong with either so don't stress too much about it! I suggest you ask the departments to connect you with current students so you can ask them questions about their experience (especially students specilizing in housing or real estate). I would just warn against Michigan weather, it gets very cold and you'll be suseptable to seasonal depression so just be careful

[ChristineWang]

On 3/30/2023 at 8:03 PM, Plannerlady said:

You really cannot go wrong with either so don't stress too much about it! I suggest you ask the departments to connect you with current students so you can ask them questions about their experience (especially students specilizing in housing or real estate). I would just warn against Michigan weather, it gets very cold and you'll be suseptable to seasonal depression so just be careful

Thank you so much for your comment!