City and Regional Planning

<p>If you know about this area, discuss.</p>

<p>Anyone? I can't believe people are not looking into masters in urban and regional planning.</p>

<p>Hello, tenisghs. I am thinking about applying to a MPA program here at my school the University of Louisville after I graduate in 2008. Look at this website <a href="http://supa.louisville.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://supa.louisville.edu/&lt;/a> , particularly here <a href="http://supa.louisville.edu/joint_mpa_mup.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://supa.louisville.edu/joint_mpa_mup.htm&lt;/a> This program offers a joint Masters of Public Administration and Master of Urban Planning degree that may spark your interest. I don't know if this program is nationally ranked, but it looks okay to me. Tell me what you think about it. Anyone feel free to offer your comments as well.</p>

<p>Why are you interested in a Master's in Public Policy?</p>

<p>MPA=Masters of Public Administration (what entropy is looking at applying to)</p>

<p>MPP=Masters of Public Policy (what you're talking about)</p>

<p>An MUP is still a posibility for me, depending on how much I like my urban studies coursework. Ultimately I'd like a professorship, but I do have an interest in urban design and planning. The only thing that's holding me back is that I feel like I idealize urban planning too much (just like I used to do when I wanted to be an architect). You have to do a lot of rudimentary, tedious work at entry-level urban planning, but perhaps it pays off in the end.</p>

<p>Are there any urban planners/designers by trade out there?</p>

<p>Yes, I'm interested in talking to urban planners too. I am particulary interested in pursuing a concentration in Housing and Community Development. How would I find employment in this area? Do companies and firms actively recruit through the program?</p>

<p>Oh, tenisghs, I'm not interested in a Master's in Public Policy. Are you interested in pursuing that degree? What are your career aspirations after undergrad? I think we have alot of common.</p>

<p>Sighs...I'm all over the place here:</p>

<p>a) pursue a master's in education on educational foundations and policy
b) pursue a master's in public policy specializing in social and urban policy
c) pursue a master's in urban planning around community development
d) do a joint degree of the above
e) pursue a law degree (interested in legal history and public interest law)
f) pursue a doctoral degree in history and education (african american history)</p>

<p>whew. those are my possibilities. As you can see, I'm still deciding....</p>

<p><a href="http://policy.rutgers.edu/degree.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://policy.rutgers.edu/degree.html&lt;/a>
Rutgers offers Master of City and Regional Planning (M.C.R.P.)</p>

<p>tenisghs, what are your goals? From the information you have provided, it seems like you are interested in social justice, civil rights, issues in education as it pertains to African Americans? I'm just making assumptions. All of those sound like great ideas by the way. I am the same way. I want to pursue so many things and so many degrees, that it is literally driving me crazy. I feel that if I had a solid plan of what I want to do after graduation, I would be in so much better shape.</p>

<p>Yes, I am interested in those issues. I am just narrowing down which graduate degree is best for me (education, urban planning, public policy, history PhD). I plan to work more in DC (i'm currently interning in DC and loving it so much.) possibly after graduation.</p>

<p>So you like interning in DC? Where do you intern? That sounds exciting.</p>

<p>I am working on Capitol Hill with a senior-ranking congressman. Lots of events for interns. I"m working on domestic social policy issues and a bill on universal health insurance.</p>

<p>Wow, that sounds great. I wish I had that opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. I still might do that after I graduate.</p>

<p>Oh working in DC is awesome. The internships however are unpaid. I want to work again here next summer, maybe for a nonprofit organization.</p>

<p>hey tenisghs-</p>

<p>I am also interning in DC right now for a non-profit interested in sustainable development (VSBN...has affiliation with USGBC). Yeah DC is great, my address is here but Im an undergrad architecture student at Ohio State. I am also interested in city and regional planning in addition to my graduate architecture work. I would say generally look for schools with good arch programs (most of the ives, esp. upenn, mit, ect....also UVA, ucla, michigan, cincinatii) becasue they are typically in the same department or school. Good Luck!</p>

<p>whoops...of course MIT is not an ivy....but just as good</p>

<p>also look into cornell, harvard, yale, and definately columbia.</p>

<p>With regard to the question in the original post, MPA, graduate public policy/urban planning degree is an expensive proposition. Therefore, I would--</p>

<p>attend part-time...
get a scholarship...
seek employer provided reimbursement.</p>

<p>Alternatively, I would attend a graduate program at a school and in a region where the cost of living is significantly less than the Northeast or mid-atlantic area (i.e. the Boston-to-Washington corridor). Several urban universities can provide this. For example, U of Texas-Arlington, which is situated in a suburb of Dallas.</p>