Why not to choose Cornell City and Regional Planning Program.

[carrotdough]

So apart from all the awesome reviews that you might’ve heard about the Cornell City Planning program, there are some flaws that should be noted so that people can make informed decision. Again, this is not the bash the school or the program, but to provide a fair assessment having gone through this curriculum, and I hope that other students can make informed choice. 

So here it goes, top reasons why not to come to Cornell City Planning program:

• No connection to the real planning world what so ever. The courses, most of them, are theoretical with little exposure to what is currently happening in the outside world. In addition, the professors are amazing academics, but have very little ties to the professional planning field.
• Faculties devote about 7-10% of their time to students and teaching curriculum (and that’s it). Also there seems to be no consensus amongst faculty members on how to structure a cohesive curriculum (everyone seems to work in their own niche) and that can jeopardize the future of the department. Perhaps too many ‘old-school’ professors not willing to look beyond the traditional boundaries.
• Also, faculty research isn't as exciting as what i've heard at other schools and that deters students from learning actively from academia. Would be good to check out how many faculties published how much in last couple of years.
• Career services is practically nonexistent. It is ONLY geared towards architecture department and pay very little heed (actually none) to planning graduate students. If you talk to them, they will tell you how awesome they are, but its just fluff.
• Not enough diversity and opportunities for international students: discussion topics revolve around american cities, professors or career services make no real efforts to go out of their limits and help students in this matter.
• The campus vibe is great. But there have been RACIST events around campus and in the neighborhood. Also the department and the students body don’t pay much attention to its ‘diversity’ while planning its events and so forth.
• The program in its essence teaches you very little hard skills. It does however, teach you how to be a smart BS’er.
• The quality of discussions in class and session is often not a graduate level discussion - lot of fluff and 'i think' statements without an literary or otherwise support to the claim.
• Very little funding available for student activities including conference participation. 

No wonder the Planetizen ranking for this program slipped from 2 to 7 this year. 
Good luck with your decisions.

[Frank Knight]

I take it you're currently a student there?

[Chai_latte]

I take it you're currently a student there?

It sounds like he/she is a recent graduate.

 

Sometimes prospective students forget to look thoroughly into a school's Career Services.  Two points, carrotdough, for sharing your experience w/ them.  To be honest, I think Career Services fall short at a lot of schools.   

[TrisWu]

However，I applied for this program this year instead of Architecture...

[jjhjjhjjh]

If you are a real Cornellian, please remove this posting. As a CRP master student, I agree with your some points, but not all. Yourself should make efforts to improve our department, rather than criticizing it. STUPID.