City planning masters from San Diego State University?

[TheInternational]

So, I've been researching urban planning programs in Australia as I'd like to end up being a planner in Melbourne but unfortunately the more I look into it, the more that I see the approximate $100,000 for 2 years of a degree overseas might not be feasible ($100,000 including flights, visa, housing, food, transport, overseas health cover, and lastly tuition.) I really love San Diego, and have started thinking that maybe getting my masters in the states and then moving to Australia afterward wouldn't be a bad idea. I realize that SDSU's master of city planning program isn't accredited, but I spoke to an SDSU city planning faculty member and he said that their program is one of the top ranked on the west coast, accreditation isn't an issue for a field like planning, and that students wouldn't have a problem getting a job overseas from their program. This is the only advice I've gotten on the issue of accredited vs. non-accredited...so my question is, what do you think about this issue with accreditation?

[NickSticks]

I work with several SDSU MCP grads and while they say enjoyed the program, they have been quick to point out two things they did not like about it. First, the program is very small and elective choices are minimal. Basically you either have to specialize in traditional land-use and growth management planning, or take some classes in the civil engineering department and specialize in transportation. I don't think they offer many internationally focused planning classes except for a course or two on cross border planning. The second is that due to being a smaller program and lacking accreditation, the program is fairly regional. If you want to live and work in San Diego or the surrounding area, attending SDSU will probably give you a leg up due to it's connections with local agencies like SANDAG and the City of SD. If you want to go outside of the San Diego region your opportunities may be more limited.

Something else to note is that the MCP program is set up to cater to working professionals, so all of the classes are offered in the evening. I've heard from my coworkers that there really isn't a lot of interaction with other students outside of class nor an active planning student organization which organizes networking or speaker events. Not sure if this is important to you but it's worth knowing ahead of time.

My two cents, if you are looking to work internationally, name recognition and school prestige can be fairly important, especially in consulting sector. The big name schools in CA with strong international focuses are Berkeley, UCLA and USC.

[TheInternational]

Thank you, this information is extraordinarily helpful. I'm definitely not aiming at land-use planning and being as though I'm looking to work overseas, it doesn't sound like the best fit. Although evening classes would be helpful...Anyway, thank you!

[NickSticks]

What sort of planning work would you like do? If you are interested in international development and economic development and want to go to school in San Diego you may want to look into this program at UCSD: http://irps.ucsd.edu/programs/master...-affairs-mpia/

[TheInternational]

I've narrowed down my interests to international development and urban design. The MPIA program looks very interesting, although I wish they had a regional specialization in Australia. I'm just trying to weigh my options I suppose, International Development is of course centered around third world nations which I am interested in but I don't know how that would help me land a job in Australia, and urban design doesn't seem like a specialization that's as highly sought after as say land use or transportation planning...I am definitely looking for a program in Southern California, but I'm not sure of my chances of getting into USC or UCLA. I have a 3.8 GPA, some internships under my belt, but haven't taken the GRE yet and am not so sure how well I'll do on that, I'm not a great test-taker when it comes to mathematics. I've also looked into CalPoly SLO, they seem to have a well rounded program but since Cal Poly doesn't have the name that USC or UCLA does I don't know if that would hinder me from getting a job overseas.

[NickSticks]

Cal Poly has a pretty good reputation when it comes to Design (Arch, LA, Planning) and Engineering. If you go there I don't think you'll run into much trouble trying to get a job in Aus, especially since there are a lot (or used to be a lot) of American ex-pats working as planners down there.

[chocolatechip]

I've also looked into CalPoly SLO, they seem to have a well rounded program but since Cal Poly doesn't have the name that USC or UCLA does I don't know if that would hinder me from getting a job overseas.

Cal Poly SLO is a top-ten architecture school nationally. So while I don't know how much this would help you overseas, know that just because its smaller than USC and UCLA, and less well known, it is still quite well known as the best architecture school on the West Coast. The planning program is under the School of Arch. and Env. Design, so the CRP Department does derive some benefit by being tangentially connected to the architecture program.

During my senior year, we had an exchange student from Switzerland who seemed to love it in SLO, and I really enjoyed working with him on a few projects. I know that they would really value your international perspective at SLO.