suburb repairman or anyone else I would like to get a copy of your application. I don't plan on copying your application just need to get where they are coming from. Any help will be appreciated.
suburb repairman or anyone else I would like to get a copy of your application. I don't plan on copying your application just need to get where they are coming from. Any help will be appreciated.
Hey mods: this is not me...but i think their name is a little too similar to mine!Originally posted by beachbum
I would be most grateful if those of you who responded with copies of your AICP application to the original poster would also send a copy to me!
Thanks very much!
Hi NHPlanner,
A very happy 09 to you,
Could you please send me your AICP form as well? I just need urs for reference. Also would you by any chance have a copy of the recommendation letter format. My boss wants to see what needs to be touched upon.
Thanks a bunch
Oh great, more people with low post counts looking for a hand out! It's interesting, but part of life, when people come on here for one reason, then split never bothering to contribute on any of the other meaningful topics.
So much for creativity and originality.... Let's just plagiarize our way through life.
I only shared mine with Teh Clube members.
FWIW, I don't share mine with anyone. Only those that have built up a bit of a presence here.
"Growth is inevitable and desirable, but destruction of community character is not. The question is not whether your part of the world is going to change. The question is how." -- Edward T. McMahon, The Conservation Fund
I apologize if my post in any way offended anyone. I dislike recreating the wheel and made the assumption that as people had shared their AICP Application Letters in the past they might again. I was wrong to make that assumption. I find the situation somewhat disheartening as all I did was make the same request that was made by others in 2007/2008. If I had seen the same type of responses to those requests, I never would have made my recent request.
Maybe a better way to soIicit help/input would be to invite anyone who is working on their AICP Application Letter to exchange ideas. My email address is jcooley@culpepercounty.gov if you wish to correspond without getting slapped for an unknown breach of forum protocol. You can also leave me a Visitor Message on this forum. Even if I don't hear from anyone, good luck on the exam!
Sincerely,
John G. Cooley
The online application gives you plenty of space to enter the four separate criteria. To be on the safe side, I would type up the criteria on a separate sheet and save it as a copy and only put the final document on the online application. You can save the online application before submitting the document. The employer verification (mailed separately no later than 2 weeks after you submit the online application) is an abridged form of the online application: all employer verification(s) should match what is submitted online.
I'll look over your drafts for the online application and employer verification. I would prefer to see both to make sure they match up. Planners' applications are confidential documents that contain a lot of personal information on specific projects. Certified planners must also adhere to the AICP Code of Ethics, and I think asking to see another planner's application is a border line ethics violation. Some people on here were doing a HUGE favor helping me out with my application not too long ago.
"This is great, honey. What's the crunchy stuff?"
"M&Ms. I ran out of paprika."
Family Guy
Thank you very much for your response and offer. I was not and am not looking for content to use in filling out my ACIP Application Letter, just some direction or guidance on what worked for others in terms of formatting and style. I saw one comment stating that a first person narrative describing what that person accomplished as a professional planner worked for them. I ran with this and now have about a page a piece for each question. That is the kind of help and guidance I was/am looking for, not project descriptions.
Sorry, turned into long winded planner, imagine that!
One last question that hopefully will not get me laughed off the forum....What the heck is PM!?! I have seen it used twice in regards "PM me" and I have no idea what it means.
Doesn't anyone write letters longhand anymore?
Thanks for your patience,
John
private message, click on my name.
"This is great, honey. What's the crunchy stuff?"
"M&Ms. I ran out of paprika."
Family Guy
Can someone who has shared their application form before please share it with me? I'm revising mine for an appeal and I'd like to have an idea of what is acceptable. If you work in the private sector, I'm especially interested. Thanks!
There typically is a reason why they rejected your application, especially working in the prviate sector. I work in the private sector and had no trouble qualifying for the AICP exam. Since you have a low post count, i will not share my application, however, we can start with some basic questions that might help guide others who are applying for the November Round. What the heck do you do in the private sector? How many years experience? To you specialize in something?
No Signature Required
I'm not sure what a low post count has to do with it. I have an MPA with 4 years experience as an senior environmental planner. I write environmental assessment for public sector projects. I was rejected because my responses to criteria 2 and 3 did not demonstrate urban, regional, and rural planning experience.
Criteria 2 deals with comprehensive view as a planner. Coming from the environmental side, this can tough because the review is simply looking at what you do, which is environmental planning. Not to say that you can wiggle around it. The criteria asks specifically:
So have any of your projects examined such a point a view, not just documenting where the bugs and bunnies are, or if there is sufficient capacity for wastewater, but rather took a look at a project from all angles, land use, social impact of new community plan, the economic impact of a new development and of course the environmental impact. Aim the appeal to focus on a project that was done over a serious of years and just focus on how that project took a "comprehensive" view. If you can't think of one, than your are probably aren't ready to take the AICP in the eyes of the APA.A comprehensive point of view means looking at the consequences of making a proposed decision as they affect various aspects of a community's quality of life: physical, environmental, social, economic, and governmental.
As for question 3, this one is a tricker one. Professional level of responsibility.
What is that? An EIR, probably not. Comp plan, redevelopment plan, open space preservation plan etc where you ran the show or contributing significantly as well as included or conducted or involved in the process of including the public wins you many points. Think of the core planning activities or planning on a large scale and you more than likely can answer this question or at least appeal.A professional level of responsibility and resourcefulness means initiative, judgment, substantial involvement, and personal accountability for defining and preparing significant substantive elements of planning activities.
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Think of your post count as the forum equivalent of a credit score. You can't walk into a bank with a low credit score and ask for a loan. You have to build up some trust with the bank before they'll loan you the money. The same works here, raise your post count to show that you're truly a trusting person, someone who will make a commitment to the site over the long term, and then maybe someone will show you their app.
So many people have come on here for one thing, then split. Leaves you with a feeling of being used.
Should what azmodela has stated above (even twice) become part of Cyburbia Forums rules and guidelines ?
just like homework.
Last edited by JNA; 21 Apr 2009 at 11:56 AM.
Yea. I hate being used. Evidently dude or dudette, didn't like my advice, they haven't posted since. You just got some cred there AZ. Care to join my mafia?
No Signature Required
Personally, I think it depends on what they are looking for. There are a lot of new people on here from homeowners who are unfamiliar with filing a petition for a setback variance to plan commissioners looking how to deal with difficult developers. In this case, I don't think it's too big of deal to just ask your question and leave.
However, there are certain things that are very confidential. I wouldn't post a draft ESR on the internet just as I wouldn't hand over my AICP application to a stranger. I already contributed to cyburbia for a long time before I prepared my application. There were plenty of planners willing to share their application with me because I had a strong track record. I didn't join cyburbia to pass the AICP exam, although it definetely helped
The AICP application requires you to think outside of the box when explaining your planning experience, especially if you work in the private sector and/or work in a very specialized area of planning. As Raf pointed out, you really need to think creatively when crafting your application. If you can't do that, you are going to have that much more difficulty passing the exam because very little on the exam is black and white, especially ethics and APA policy questions.
Hope this helps-
"This is great, honey. What's the crunchy stuff?"
"M&Ms. I ran out of paprika."
Family Guy
Don't over think the application. Read the question and the examples of work they describe as being acceptable. Then, review your experience and answer the question as they ask it. This should be simple. Keep it simple and follow the guidance they provide. I really doubt that they accept or don't accept applications because you responded in first person. Concentrate on the experience they are trying to determine if you have. If you struggle too much in trying to "bend" your experience to meet the requirements, then maybe you need to approach your boss to try and obtain the experience required. Keep it Simple.
Much work remains to be done before we can announce our total failure to make any progress.
Sub Repairman, I liked your examples. However, my current job is from Sept. 07 to present. Also, my name is not burb fixer. Could you tweak that a bit and repost it?
I agree that it depends on what someone is looking for. I have no problem with someone looking for help on a topic that is a one time situation, or they no little about and then never hearing from them again. The wanting to see AICP apps of others irks me, especially when you have single digit post counts. It just means that someone is too lazy to take the time to write the application the way that the AICP Gods want to see it. It's not that hard to do. The fact that two or three of the people asking haven't posted since they were called out shows there true intentions. It makes me wonder if any of these people are of the era where answers and examples are easy to come by, all you have to do is ask Google. Oh well...
Instant cred and it only took me 33 posts to achieve it! I hope I'm not too hypocritical with my low post count! I'll join your mafia CPSU, can I borrow your mafia membership application?
Okay, so as dicussed above , I would like to see examples of other application responses. Specifically for the new and improved criteria! I am questioning my structure and how specific I should be....Thanks!
SB (single poster), as discussed above, come back when you grow up
I did not think the above was posted. I intended to finish it with:
If you have a specific issue with a specific criterion, many of us would be glad to chime in.
