M. Urban Planning : Need Safety Schools. Please Help!!

[isamup]

Hi guys,

I am an international student from Nepal and came to this website after another friend applying to grad schools highly recommended it. Nothing relevant to me was showing up when I was searching for Urban Planning in this forum so I figured I would write this post.

Here's my problem, I really need to find 2 safety schools and I was hoping I could get some recommendations. I know it sounds vague but since MURP doesn't have rankings for schools I really can't tell where I'm competitive.

Here's my Bio:

Interest:

Community Development, Social Policy, International Development. I'm looking more at working with non-profits than governments and am eventually planning on working outside the US in more developing nations.

Undergraduate:

GPA: 3.317

BA in Sociology and International Relations from Beloit College (Ranked around 60)

GRE:

Verbal: 166 (97%)

Quant: 157(77%)

AW: 4.5(72%)

Work Experience:

I graduated in May 2011 so I have almost no work experience. I did conduct a fully funded independent research on social capital in a slum in Mumbai, India over winter break of my senior year however. Also, my thesis paper addressed air pollution in Kathmandu, Nepal and proposed the restructuring of the public transport system as a potential solution.

Language Skills:

Nepali(native), English, Intermediate Hindi, Intermediate Japanese

Schools I'm Applying To:

University of Illinois - Urbana Champagne

Cornell University (Not Certain)

University of Michigan

The New School

Portland State University

Rutgers, The State University of New York

University of Toronto

University of Hawaii - Manoa

So if anyone were to drop names of universities that I could apply to as safety schools I could research them further and see if things would work out. I'm completely lost at the moment. Also, if anyone could quickly give me their opinions about how competitive an applicant I could be at the schools mentioned above, I'd really appreciate that too, although I feel silly ignoring the sticky "competitive" thread. It's just that I'm running out of time so wanted to make this more visible.

I would really appreciate your input!!

Thanks!

Isamu.

[yo_yo86]

Having done about five minutes of research on MURP programs, you may want to look at several of these links: http://www.planetizen.com/topschools

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_planning_education

http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/showthread.php?44104-New-Planetizen-rankings

http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/showthread.php?45562-Planetizen-planning-school-rankings

http://www.acsp.org/sites/default/files/ACSP_2010_Guide_0.pdf

[isamup]

yea ive looked into all that before but im still unsure about my chances in the different schools. thanks for the links though decaf!

[sulz]

You should contact faculty at the universities and express interest in their research and ask how the programs might fit in with your interests. I have my MUP and served on the admissions committee for a year. If your app isn't competitive enough you have other means to help yourself stand out. Getting accepted is half the battle, then you want to be competitive for funding.

[isamup]

yea that makes sense sulz, coz without extensive funding, there is absolutely no way i can afford a master's program.