City Planning Masters

[hezaa]

I am a California resident who is primarily interested in Community and Economic Development. (I have very little professional experience, so I would like a well-rounded program where I can explore other interests as well.) I was accepted to UCLA, Rutgers, and UPenn for City Planning Masters programs. I think that I can do UCLA and Rutgers (cheaper than UCLA for me) with minimal debt. UPenn gave me money to cover 1/4 of tuition; I would have to get loans for about 80k (including living expenses).

I'm looking for advice on:

the quality of the programs in preparing you for practice

name prestige/power of the schools (Would Rutgers or UCLA limit me more to jobs in the NE or West respectively?)

UPenn's program is housed in the Design school - Would I get a rigorous policy based education? (I am not very interested in design.)

size and feel of the programs

accessibility of the professors

Thanks!

[ms_kathi]

Hey There,

Those are all great programs. Since Penn is housed in a design/arch school- it's going to have a focus of design. Great school, but I don't think it focuses as heavy on policy.

Rutgers is super policy based- it's what they do best.

It's similar in each case. Rutgers will allow you to create more contacts on the east coast. UCLA will allow you to create more contacts on the west coast. It's all about where you see yourself in 5 years. it's not to say you can't up and leave- you always can. However, you have to see this as you are setting yourself up to be in this place for a while.

I would check out Planetizen. Just google it. They have a planning guide you can purchase for $49.00 It really helped me out when I was trying to decide between which programs I wanted to apply for. But there is a small portion which has student feedback and ratings of the programs. It breaks down the pros and cons of the program, cost, deadlines, job rate after graduation, internships ect. It was great, but like I said I bought it in the beginning.

I know that Rutgers doesn't have a large classroom size. I can't say anything about UCLA. I didn't have any interest in their program.

I am a California resident who is primarily interested in Community and Economic Development. (I have very little professional experience, so I would like a well-rounded program where I can explore other interests as well.) I was accepted to UCLA, Rutgers, and UPenn for City Planning Masters programs. I think that I can do UCLA and Rutgers (cheaper than UCLA for me) with minimal debt. UPenn gave me money to cover 1/4 of tuition; I would have to get loans for about 80k (including living expenses).

I'm looking for advice on:

the quality of the programs in preparing you for practice

name prestige/power of the schools (Would Rutgers or UCLA limit me more to jobs in the NE or West respectively?)

UPenn's program is housed in the Design school - Would I get a rigorous policy based education? (I am not very interested in design.)

size and feel of the programs

accessibility of the professors

Thanks!