Hi all,
I am seriously considering applying to an MUP program BUT I am a little bit nervous about employment prospects post-Graduate school since I do not any undergrad experience in architecture or planning. I have a BA in Political Science from a public university and have been working for almost two years at a planning board.
My main concern of course is looking for a job post-Graduate school. How important is it to have architecture training, is it expected of future planners?
Don't worry about it at all. I'm at Harvard now and my class has architects, planners, historians, archeologists, economists, political scientists, anthropologists, geographers, a lawyer and a divinity school graduate. Planning's a broad field, there is nothing wrong with having people come to it from a lot of different backgrounds.
I "fell" into planning 20-ish years ago; the sum total of my experience at the time was a Bachelor's in Political Philosophy and two classes in the History of Cities.
Many of the planners I know with MUP's don't have undegrad degrees in planning.
Don't worry about it. My degree is in public administration. Most of planning is learned hands-on and most employers know that. What we look for is attitude, basic skills, teachability and how you will work with the rest of the staff.
When did I go from Luke Skywalker to Obi-Wan Kenobi?
You'll see when you go for your MUP that there is a wide diversity of undergrad degrees - mine was Environmental Hort. Don't worry about it. As long as you can think and are politic then that's a good start.Originally posted by postnatally
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