Colleges in cities. GOOD cities.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a transfer student, but I figure this forum gets more traffic so here goes.</p>

<p>I'm very strongly considering switching my major from economics to urban planning, or some sort of pre-urban planning major like geography or environmental studies. I'd really like to go to a school in a well-designed, aesthetically-pleasing city to get an idea of how I'd like to spend my career. I'll be transferring for fall 2010, </p>

<p>My stats are: (skip this if you just want to suggest cities you love that you want me to love)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.45 (upward trend, 4.0 last semester, 3.5-4.0 this semester, will be 3.5 to 3.8 by the time I transfer)</p>

<p>SAT: 2150 (760 M, 700 R, 690 W, retook on March 14th, won't be much higher, but probably won't be lower)</p>

<p>SAT II: (Math II: 740, U.S. History: 790)</p>

<p>ECs:
Biggest: Coordinating a conference for my church involving 55 youth from 3 states. I was in charge of organizing staff, transportation, events, and supervision.</p>

<p>Others: Sustainability Club (college), construction on 2 houses in Mexico for Homes for Hope, about 50 hours of paid tutoring, 20 hours of volunteer tutoring, will be more when I transfer, I'm also considering Phi Theta Kappa (community college honor society)</p>

<p>High School GPA: 3.3 UW, 3.48 W</p>

<p>(start reading again)</p>

<p>Colleges I'm considering that are not in big cities but have good planning programs:
Cal Poly
Cornell</p>

<p>Colleges I'm considering in big cities:
Chicago
WUSTL (St. Louis isn't great, but their Urban Studies program has study abroad in DC and London)
Macalester
University of Washington
UCLA
UCSB (Santa Barbara, more like a medium-sized city but whatever)</p>

<p>I'm open to colleges anywhere but Arizona, which is ugly sprawl everywhere (I'm pretty sure, post a picture if I'm wrong). Colleges without a planning, geography, environmental studies, or urban studies major are probably a no-go.</p>

2

<p>Georgetown?</p>

<p>JHU is in Baltimore. Not the greatest, but DC is close too as is Philly.
Speaking of which: UPenn?</p>

3

<p>UPenn’s urban studies program looks really nice, although it’s probably a huge reach for me.</p>

<p>Gtown and JHU don’t have any planning-related majors though.</p>

4

<p>If you want to get into urban planning, just stay where you are for college and take this study abroad program:</p>

<p>[IHP</a> Cities in the 21st Century](<a href=“http://www.ihp.edu/programs/c21c/]IHP”>http://www.ihp.edu/programs/c21c/)</p>

<p>You’ll visit mega-cites on four continents. with homestays in each. The entire program is centered around issues of megacities and globalization – environmental issues, urban migration issues, city planning issues, poverty and shanty-towns, NGO efforts. </p>

<p>My daughter did the program. Just as an example, she spent one day in the New York City Planning Department and another day getting a tour of the massive skyscrapers in the Pudong district of Shanghai with head of urban planning for the district.</p>

<p>The program is loosely affiliated with the MIT urban planning department and is a gateway into their Masters of Urban Planning program. It is THE transformative study abroad program for anyone interested in urban planning, policy, and issues.</p>

<p>It is very immersive. For example, the New York portion of the trip includes walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and the George Washington bridge before launching out into the study of a neighborhood. Each visit to a city includes some kind of field-based research on a neighborhood - either interviewing residents, observing in a train station or park, etc.</p>

5

<p>You might want to look into Reed or Lewis and Clark; I’m not sure if they have a major in your field, but Portland is a very nice city (as nice as a big city can get), and has a lot of new development in urban planning, such as the current work being done on mass transportation in the downtown area. I’m slightly biased towards any thing remotely Oregonian, but many non-Oregonians have said Portland is a nice city, compared to others of the same size.</p>

6

<p>NC State university, located in Raleigh, NC. The Raleigh metro area is the fastest-growing urban area in the country. Additionally, Forbes today named Raleigh as the number one place in the United States to do business. The city itself is very nice, and not insanely big.</p>

7

<p>I’d definitely recomened the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Beautiful campus wedged right in between two of the cleanliest, nicest, and most fun cities in the US. (Although I am slightly bias).</p>

<p>Also, I’m not exactly sure if they have the programs you’re looking for, but I’d also look into the University of Colorado - Denver. Beautiful city, nice school.</p>

8

<p>Brown’s urban studies program is extremely strong.</p>

<p>I’d caution against going to big cities for your plans. Providence, a small city, has had a lot of challenges and has made tremendous changes over the last 20 years. Brown is a huge player in many of these changes and Brown students, undergraduates included, can often be found at every level of decision making in Rhode Island government. There’s an advantage to being able to fit all of the people who are involved in the decision making and implementation of a reform into a single room, which makes smaller cities (but large enough to still face the same challenges as larger urban environment) excellent case studies for those who are studying the city as a unit/structure.</p>

<p>I actually think it’ll be much harder to actually be involved and track reform changes in a larger city as a student than it would be in a medium-sized city. In NYC, for example, it’d be difficult to become an expert in and follow even a single subset of issues surrounding a single area of urban challenge. That’s not true in the mid-sized cities across the country.</p>

<p>I’d be looking at urban studies programs and consider medium-sized cities facing considerable challenge with a history of, or a commitment now to, reform efforts if I were planning on getting on urban planning.</p>

9

<p>Two schools that have very strong programs in urban planning AND are located in vibrant cities that provide many opportunities for practical experience outside the classrooms are: University of Washington in Seattle and University of Cincinnati.</p>

10

<p>I’ve heard good things about UMich’s urban studies program on a graduate level, but I know very little about whether it’s accessible to undergrads or about Ann Arbor.</p>

11

<p>And if you are interested in Portland – Neither Reed nor Lewis & Clark have any of the majors you are looking for (most small LACS won’t) but Portland State does have a College of Urban & Public Affairs that does.</p>

12

<p>UWM in Milwaukee. Don’t let the US News ranking of the University fool you. Its School of Architecture and Urban Planning is a gem. Milwaukee is a beautiful and interesting city that takes planning and design seriously. I know both the Mayor and the Dean, and more important I know that they know each other very well.</p>

<p>[Welcome</a> to the School of Architecture and Urban Planning](<a href=“http://www.uwm.edu/SARUP/]Welcome”>Home - School of Architecture & Urban Planning)</p>

<p>UWM also has an excellent geography program, and hosts the American Geographical Society Library, including its preeminent map collection.</p>

<p>[AGSL</a> Home Page](<a href=“http://www.uwm.edu/Library/AGSL/]AGSL”>http://www.uwm.edu/Library/AGSL/)</p>

<p>As for environmental studies, the University is also the home of the Great Lakes Water Institute, a groundbreaking (lakebreaking?) research facility that intends to be the leading academic program studying freshwater in the world. Fresh water is the critical resource of the next century. The Governor just announced that his biennial budget will include funds for both a new headquarters for the Institute and a new research vessel. </p>

<p>[Great</a> Lakes WATER Institute](<a href=“http://www.glwi.uwm.edu/]Great”>http://www.glwi.uwm.edu/)</p>

<p>To top it all off, almost unique among urban universities, UWM is in just about the nicest area in town. If you want the definition of an unknown gem, this is it – ESPECIALLY in the areas of your interest. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

13

<p>I second worried_mom’s suggestion of the University of Cincinnati.</p>

<p>I’ll be starting their 5-year urban planning program in the fall. One of its biggest draws is the paid co-op built into the schedule, which usually results in a few job offers right after graduation. UC is on the quarter system, so that might be a bit problematic if you are transferring from a school using semesters. Also FWIW, UC claims to be the “leading BUP program nationwide.” And lastly, Cincinnati, despite some perceptions, is actually a pretty cool town with a lot of culture and charm.</p>

14

<p>On your list I would look more into University of Washington- Seattle, and University of California- Los Angeles.
You also have Cornell University for small cities, which I think is worth looking into. I interest in Cornell University, just not as high as was. Such reasons: ( I heard) Highest rate of student suicide, something about their grading system will make you easily fail, another where fun comes to die school ( originally a University of Chicago stereotype)?</p>

15

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<p>Be careful with study abroad as a transfer. Some schools require that at least half of your classes to be taken at the university.</p>

16

<p>The University of Wisconsin has a strong geography program–not sure about the urban planning aspect but worth a look. And Madison, while small, is certainly a lively city. (I see someone else has recommended the Milwaukee campus, but I’d go for the gold standard if possible, and most people will consider that to be THE University of Wisconsin, in Madison).</p>

<p>My sense is that the very largest cities in the US are not necessarily the ones that have been most successful in reviving themselves or being great examples of planning–it is very case by case, and the sinking economy may be destroying some of the success stories as I write. Philadelphia, however, has some very appealing areas that were much less so a few decades ago–if you are able to go to Penn that will be a nice option for you.</p>

17

<p>Brown looks like they have a really nice Urban Studies program as well. I haven’t heard many good things about University of Cincinnati, and UW-Madison’s geography program looks like it’s centered on GIS/Cartography instead of Planning.</p>

18

<p>Please don’t listen to mattmom’s comment about not going to school in a large city. In fact, if I were you, I would only consider schools in rust-belt or northeastern cities (or pacific coast, as well) DO NOT go to school in a suburban hell like Research Triangle in North Carolina, anywhere in the southwest, or the other sunbelt “boomtowns” like Atlanta or Orlando. </p>

<p>Actually, as much as I HATE Cincinnati after living in its northern 'burbs, I can honestly say that the University of Cincinnati would be an almost perfect option for you. Also, on UrbanOhio.com, where I post frequently under a different name, I have seen Cleveland State get absolutely rave reviews for its urban studies program, and Cleveland is truly a perfect city to complete such a major, since there are clear-cut examples of what does and does not work in urban renewal, along with its fair share of suburban monstrosities. </p>

<p>So, I suggest that you come by UrbanOhio.com, and please do a post there. The many thoroughly urban-minded forumers there like myself will be happy to give you guidance, even for colleges outside Ohio, since the forum has its fair share of non-Ohio grads.</p>

19

<p>Any matches that aren’t on my list? It seems like Penn and Brown would be huge reaches, and that Cincinnati, Cleveland State, and Portland State would be extreme safties.</p>

20

<p>Transfer student? Do they even look at SAT’s for transfer?</p>

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<p>I could make arguments against this comment, such as how Atlanta has done a good job turning the plethora of abandoned mills and factories strewn about the middle of the city into mixed-use areas, but I suppose the South isn’t really a good example of good urban planning. We like our cars too much, and public transportation isn’t really up to par with up North (though I do commute exclusively by train).</p>

<p>I will say though that “boomtowns” as you put it are likely to need urban planners. Getting an internship might be easier in one of those places.</p>