College vs. college.

[mizzourah2006]

I wouldn't ask people not familiar with urban planning graduate programs to rate schools. Often time they rate them on overall prestige and/or town, athletics program, etc. and not on the quality of the actual program (Which is understandable, why would the average Joe know anything about urban planning master's programs).

When I was applying to graduate programs I quickly realized that the prestige of the school was very seldom affiliated with the prestige of the actual institution as a whole.

For example, in my concentration the University of South Florida and Bowling Green State University are two of the top 5 programs. You would never know that by simply asking someone on a board to compare schools, in fact many would rank them towards the bottom. When put in with Maryland, UConn, Penn State, Purdue, Michigan State, Minnesota, Univ. of Illinois, etc.

I would focus more on the actual programs. What classes will you be taking, what do the professors research, and what are the relevant statistics you want.

Originally Posted by jamplouno

I was actually looking at UB and am waiting on an information packet from them concerning their admissions standards. I'm not too concerned with the reputation of the school as I hope to continue to get a Ph.D. and prove my ability not with where I went, but what I did while I was there.

If you plan on continuing for your PhD I would make sure the faculty are doing research in areas you enjoy/find interesting. It is very difficult to branch off into your own field of research, especially at the master's level. So I think this becomes exceptionally important and should be your top consideration if you want to eventually pursue a PhD.

[slim04]

If you are planning to go to graduate school, I'd probably contact a school near you with a graduate program and see if they could set you up with a meeting or call with a current grad student and/or professor to give you some advice on how to handle things.

I have friends that did the urban planning program at University of Buffalo (grad), Illinois (grad), UCLA (grad), and UIC (undergrad). None of them work in urban planning. It's a tough field and most of them eventually ended up in some sort of administration job in a local government or state agency. Also, I'm pretty sure none of the grad students had undergraduate urban planning degrees. I think one had an English degree and another one had a labor relations degree. I think the others had architecture, art, or engineering, but I can't exactly remember.

It might be one of those fields where you might want to major as an undergrad in something else useful if the urban planning thing doesn't work out.

[Gatornation]

Originally Posted by wag more bark less

Ranking the Top 3 strictly by location, I'd say:

1) Wisconsin. Madison is a fantastic mid-size location that has a college town vibe, but also more amenities than say, Chapel Hill.

2) UNC Chapel Hill...for the same reasons the above poster said.

3) UIC. You're in Chicago...

That's my top 3 by location, but if I was weighing location/overall academic rep (not your program specifically), I'd still say UW-Madison...with UNC close behind. Personally wouldn't give any location points to any of the Ohio schools- although I've heard they party pretty hard in Athens

I'd give UNC the edge as it's probably cheaper(always on best value list) and like someone else said it's in the top 10. CH is a great city and actually has more amenities than Madison as it's right next to Raleigh and Durham.

[MassVt]

I'll chime in with one more vote for UW-Madison; just a great campus in a fantastic city..

UIC (Chicago) would also provide a good experience....