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Schools: USA 🇺🇸 Graduate/PhD 2015-2016 applications and acceptance notices: United States

Hi all!, Long time lurker. Finally time to contribute to the conversation.

For my background -

I got a my bachelors degree in geography from the University of Chicago
GPA: 3.6
GRE: 166 V / 156 Q/ 5 AW
Experience: I've been working as a GIS analyst at a mid size MPO for the last four years.

I'm applying to University of Minnesota, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Colorado Denver, Berkeley, and UCLA. I've heard positively from Minnesota, Berkeley, and UCLA, and just found out yesterday I got full tuition to UCLA. Which is all super exciting, but now I'm beginning to become overwhelmed with the next step of the process. I'd like to visit some of these schools before I make my decision, but all of the open houses (or welcome days or whatever) I know about are in April. Which seems way too late. Ideally I'd like to be weighing the pros and cons of each school at that point, not learning more. Additionally I'm leaving the country on April 9th, so that throws another wrench into things. So I'm going to try and go visit before then, but I'm curious what other people think, especially people on this board who have gone through this process before. Will I be missing a lot if I schedule visits that don't coincide with the open houses?

Thanks everyone, and congrats and good luck.
 
Nice to find this thread going on here!

I heard back from Ohio State and SUNY Buffalo this week (both acceptance) but figured that's because both review on rolling basis. Then I saw a Columbia regional planning result on gradcafe? Now I'm anxious thinking that I could hear from the rest any day..

I applied to:
Ohio State, SUNY Buffalo, U of Washington, Tufts, MIT, Harvard, U Colorado Denver, Penn, U of Virginia

BA in International Political Econ and Geography
GPA 3.67
GRE: V159 Q167 W4.5

Congrats everyone who's heard some good news as well!
 
Seems like a quiet week! I guess there won't be much action until first week of March.

Anyone with updates or have their ear to the ground re: the next few weeks, upcoming decisions?
 
Got accepted to U Colorado Denver and Tufts (unofficial email and waiting for potential scholarship info in March) this week!

Still waiting on U Washington, Harvard, MIT, Penn, and UVA..
 
Waiting Game

Hi folks,
Just joined.

I am currently finishing up a Master's in Urban Design at a Lawrence Technological University, in Southfield MI. I am interested in political borders and their impact on architecture and planning of cities, specifically Detroit and Windsor.

I have two previous master's degrees (in political science and science policy studies respectively) with an undergraduate in Journalism.

My stats: V156, Q 157, AW 5. GPA 3.75

Schools applied (PhD) : Harvard (already rejected)
MIT
University of Michigan

Has anyone heard from MIT or the U of M about their PhD programs? I am not sure when to expect to hear.

Good luck to everyone!
 
Acceptance Info

Hello!

I was browsing this thread for past few weeks for updates so I'll give my own:

Undergraduate study (3.56) in international relations, peace corps, berkeley planning certificate program and extensive experience related to community planning, binational relations and environmental conservation. GRE average (quant low).

Applied to UCB, UCLA, UC Irvine and Cal Poly Slo. Accepted into UCI and UCLA so far.

Good luck to everyone!!
 
officially heard from every school and it looks like I'm going to be deciding between UCLA and USC. Ecstatic to be offered so many choices! I'll either stay at the same schoolas my undergrad or move onto my rival school across town
 
gopackgo555 said:
officially heard from every school and it looks like I'm going to be deciding between UCLA and USC. Ecstatic to be offered so many choices! I'll either stay at the same schoolas my undergrad or move onto my rival school across town
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Congrats! Choosing between the two of the tops doesn't sound bad at all! Ah, that must feel really nice. Still waiting to hear from a few.. Should be over in a week or so, though. Just getting bored of waiting.
 
Heard from 5 out of 6 schools...

Haha, all the excitement from this thread kinda died down quick...

Anywho, just doing a quick update. I heard positively from:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (no $$$ offered),
University of Southern California (offered tuition half off),
University of Texas-Austin ($$$ to be confirmed by mid-March),
University of Michigan ($16k offered),
University of Illinois at Chicago (no $$$ offered).

I'm very, very (pleasantly) surprised five of the six schools gave me their decision before March. Still waiting from Rutgers, but I've pretty much decided to go to UIUC at this point. I'll be going to their open house this Friday, and I am pretty psyched about it. Anyone else attending UIUC's open house this weekend?
 
mattlaz22 said:
I officially heard from Columbia for acceptance. Waiting on all my other schools...
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Nice! What others are you waiting for? I have Harvard, MIT, Penn left. Three of the hardest from my list so I'm pretty nervous.

hollowmuzic said:
Haha, all the excitement from this thread kinda died down quick...

Anywho, just doing a quick update. I heard positively from:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (no $$$ offered),
University of Southern California (offered tuition half off),
University of Texas-Austin ($$$ to be confirmed by mid-March),
University of Michigan ($16k offered),
University of Illinois at Chicago (no $$$ offered).

I'm very, very (pleasantly) surprised five of the six schools gave me their decision before March. Still waiting from Rutgers, but I've pretty much decided to go to UIUC at this point. I'll be going to their open house this Friday, and I am pretty psyched about it. Anyone else attending UIUC's open house this weekend?
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Congrats! Yeah me too. I thought I was off the hook until early March-ish. Personally can't attend any open house but hope you enjoy!
 
akism said:
Nice! What others are you waiting for? I have Harvard, MIT, Penn left. Three of the hardest from my list so I'm pretty nervous.



Congrats! Yeah me too. I thought I was off the hook until early March-ish. Personally can't attend any open house but hope you enjoy!
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I'm waiting for NYU, Pratt, Hunter, and UPenn. I believe Upenn will release their decision by next weekend, based on their website and a mass email. Good luck!
 
gopackgo555 said:
officially heard from every school and it looks like I'm going to be deciding between UCLA and USC. Ecstatic to be offered so many choices! I'll either stay at the same schoolas my undergrad or move onto my rival school across town
Click to expand...

Same here! Have you gotten the official letter in the mail yet from UCLA? Jennifer Choy said that they got sent out later than expected because some staff were sick but I'm anxious to hear about funding! USC gave me full tuition but UCLA has a food studies certificate that I'm really interested in..
 
I am admitted to Mich and waitlisted at Columbia. Columbia admission says the announcement for reserve candidates will be after 21 April. Do you guys think it is possible to get raised from Columbia waitlist in the early of April? My decision deadline for Mich is 15 April. :( I saw someone from gradcafe (M.Arch program) got off from waitlist in a week after the announcement.
 
thenameisjeje said:
Same here! Have you gotten the official letter in the mail yet from UCLA? Jennifer Choy said that they got sent out later than expected because some staff were sick but I'm anxious to hear about funding! USC gave me full tuition but UCLA has a food studies certificate that I'm really interested in..
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What are your primary interests? (desired concentration)
 
Hey y'all. First time poster, medium time lurker. Very stoked to become a part of this forum. I'm now in the whole deciding where to commit stage as well.

Undergrad was in Art History, graduated magna cum laude from a good university in the Midwest. GRE is decent. I spent a year doing localized preservation work in small towns in France.

I was accepted to:
UT-Austin (MSCRP)
Tulane (Preservation Program)
USC (Heritage Conservation Program...and considering applying late to their planning program)
Columbia (Dual Historic Pres/Planning)
Maryland (Dual Historic Pres/Planning)

I've crossed Tulane and Texas off of my list so far. Tulane had no funding opportunities (unfortunately) and I am 95% sure I don't really want to live in Austin.

That leaves USC, Columbia, and Maryland, all of which offered me very generous funding packages. Maryland offered an assistantship + stipend + in-state tuition waiver, which is a very enticing offer. Also the proximity to DC and the associated internship opportunities are very appealing. Columbia, of course, if appealing for a number of reasons -- depth and skill of faculty (spoke with a HP professor yesterday who is doing very interesting, if extremely academic, work), location, prestige, etc. USC is in a similar boat.

So, I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I really don't know where to go. Anyway, congrats all around!
 
congratulations! That's a great dilemma to have :p

On what to pick - do these programs have open houses? Depending on where you live and whether you can attend, visiting a program or two during their open house is a great way to narrow down your choices. See whether you like the campus, and class size (do you prefer small programs or large programs? That made a huge difference to me in crossing out schools). Also see if the location is a place where you can see yourself living for two years, based on both preferences and affordability. Good luck!
 
akshali2000 said:
congratulations! That's a great dilemma to have :p

On what to pick - do these programs have open houses? Depending on where you live and whether you can attend, visiting a program or two during their open house is a great way to narrow down your choices. See whether you like the campus, and class size (do you prefer small programs or large programs? That made a huge difference to me in crossing out schools). Also see if the location is a place where you can see yourself living for two years, based on both preferences and affordability. Good luck!
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Hey! Thanks for responding! I feel so lucky to have so many options.

I visited UMD and am going to the upcoming Columbia open house for admitted students. Really dug the environment a UMD and am looking forward to getting a better feel for Columbia. I can't decide between DC and NYC. Both provide so many opportunities for internships in both preservation and planning. I think it's going to come down between policy and theory (and perhaps the future of policy). Columbia seems to have pretty affordable housing (for NYC) available but I still haven't looked into housing around College Park.
 
lmacniven said:
What are your primary interests? (desired concentration)
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Community/economic development, sustainability, social justice, and GIS. I get the feeling that either school would serve me well and I feel like I've done all the research on them that I can without actually seeing the campuses for myself, but I won't be visiting until the admitted student events in early April like RIGHT before the decision deadline. USC has a slight edge both because of the scholarship and because I really wanted to go there for undergrad, but never would have gotten in.

hames said:
Hey! Thanks for responding! I feel so lucky to have so many options.

I visited UMD and am going to the upcoming Columbia open house for admitted students. Really dug the environment a UMD and am looking forward to getting a better feel for Columbia. I can't decide between DC and NYC. Both provide so many opportunities for internships in both preservation and planning. I think it's going to come down between policy and theory (and perhaps the future of policy). Columbia seems to have pretty affordable housing (for NYC) available but I still haven't looked into housing around College Park.
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I went to Maryland undergrad! I loved it. Housing isn't too hard, and houses in the old town area can be pretty cheap and are in between the Metro and campus, but the architecture/planning/preservation building is kind of at the opposite side of campus if you're looking to be super close. As a grad student I would avoid any of the newer apartment complexes, like View, Varsity, Landmark and whatever it is they're building on Knox - they're kind of expensive ($1000+ for an individual bedroom in an apartment) and can get really rowdy. I lived in the View and Varsity while I was there and saw/heard way too much that I wouldn't want to see as a grad student, and Landmark opened right after I left but I'm sure it's the same or worse since it's right next to all the bars and sorority/frat houses. The Dominion building is right across the street from architecture and is mostly grad students/faculty and is really nice, but expensive. Mazza Grandmarc is also alright and an older crowd/international students but it's way further up Route 1 (walkable if it absolutely has to be, and there's a bus). There are definitely other options for any budget/distance too, but parking is a pain and they're purposefully making it worse to discourage driving, so anywhere walkable, on one of the bus routes, or even at a different Metro stop would be my choice. Obviously I love talking about College Park so if you have any other questions about living there let me know!
 
Hames

In that case I would go with whichever program offered you a substantial financial aid package. Both planning and historic preservation (which seems like what you are leaning towards) are difficult fields to find jobs in and don't pay huge salaries, so if they are both quality, reputable programs with students and faculty you like and places that you would like to live for 2 years, then go for the lesser debt!
 
thenameisjeje said:
I went to Maryland undergrad! I loved it. Housing isn't too hard, and houses in the old town area can be pretty cheap and are in between the Metro and campus, but the architecture/planning/preservation building is kind of at the opposite side of campus if you're looking to be super close. As a grad student I would avoid any of the newer apartment complexes, like View, Varsity, Landmark and whatever it is they're building on Knox - they're kind of expensive ($1000+ for an individual bedroom in an apartment) and can get really rowdy. I lived in the View and Varsity while I was there and saw/heard way too much that I wouldn't want to see as a grad student, and Landmark opened right after I left but I'm sure it's the same or worse since it's right next to all the bars sorority/frat houses. The Dominion building is right across the street from architecture and is mostly grad students/faculty and is really nice, but expensive. Mazza Grandmarc is also alright and an older crowd/international students but it's way further up Route 1 (walkable if it absolutely has to be, and there's a bus). There are definitely other options for any budget/distance too, but parking is a pain and they're purposefully making it worse to discourage driving, so anywhere walkable, on one of the bus routes, or even at a different Metro stop would be my choice. Obviously I love talking about College Park so if you have any other questions about living there let me know!
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Will do! Thanks! Do you think it's possible to live in DC and commute? I was hoping to find a place either near a metro station or bus stop.


akshali2000 said:
In that case I would go with whichever program offered you a substantial financial aid package. Both planning and historic preservation (which seems like what you are leaning towards) are difficult fields to find jobs in and don't pay huge salaries, so if they are both quality, reputable programs with students and faculty you like and places that you would like to live for 2 years, then go for the lesser debt!
Click to expand...

I'm starting to feel that way too. I'm in the middle of a funding negotiation with Columbia and I probably won't commit anywhere until I go to the open house. Definitely will get a better feel for the program then.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts :)
 
hames said:
Will do! Thanks! Do you think it's possible to live in DC and commute? I was hoping to find a place either near a metro station or bus stop.
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Definitely! Columbia Heights and the U Street area in particular have good nightlife/stuff to do and would be super easy to commute, like 4 or 5 stops in the opposite direction of rush hour. They're getting redeveloped pretty quickly so any of the new buildings are going to be $$$ but you can also find shared houses pretty easily. Adams Morgan is a little bit further of a walk to a metro but you can get to both the green/yellow and red lines.
 
Undergrad: Sociology
GRE: 170 V, 164 M, 4.5 A

Applied:
Georgia Tech
University of Washington
University of Michigan
Harvard
Texas A&M
University of Georgia (Landscape Architecture)

Accepted:
Georgia Tech
UW
UM
UGA

Rejected by Harvard.
Haven't heard from Texas A&M.

Choosing between Georgia Tech or UW (haven't heard much about financial aid from either of these schools yet), but I will most likely to go Tech (because i'm a GA resident). Yay!
Looking forward to the fall :)
 
Congrats everyone for surviving this application season and heading off to great schools!!

Anyone here going to Penn?
 
Portland State

Anyone here still waiting to hear from Portland State? I know some other people have already heard, but I'm still waiting and have heard back from every other school now.
 
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