Is there anything you wish you had known more about before entering your current masters program

Appendix A

Answers from Open-Ended Questions

Listed in this appendix are all of the answers to the following open-ended questions:

Is there anything you wish you had known more about before entering your current masters program?

Many undergraduate students don't know about planning. What are the one or two things that you think would excite them the most to learn about planning?

What one thing do you wish someone would have told you about the PROFESSION of planning that might have affected your decision to go to planning school?

Is there anything you wish you had known more about before entering your current masters program?

1. Why so many plans are never realized. 2. Why planners continue to pursue rational planning. 3. Physical planning skills. 4. More training in economics

a great amount

a little more about the field of planning in general

relationship between public and private sectors. B. Finance

About dual degree programs in planning and another field

About the faculty, job opportunities

assistantships not assigned with any regard to student's interest

basic economics and environmental science

better idea of concentration

Community organization principles.

computer skills

COMPUTERS

could use more graphics skills

course arrangement

current breadth of planning topics

dept in between XX planning professors

Design - it's not taught.

design techniques, land arch, stats, comp. Programs

econ and stats

Economic devt. I'm getting more in depth now, at the end of the program, but if I had known more going in I would have focused on it more.

Economics

economics, sociology

economics, statistics

exploration of city planning vs. public policy program

few evening classes, small faculty, few diverse classes

Few people in my field of interest in the program

final paper

financial aid

Funding opportunities

funding sources for research; how tos on basics, e.g. research, workshops, tutor possibilities

general theory, general history, history of planning and arch, politics, sociology, anthropology

GIS

GIS skills, economics

hard time getting a decent job

historical planning knowledge, econ and stats

housing costs

how bad my program was going to be

how entrenched program is in the status quo

How extremely one-dimensional this program is.

How little power planners have to change devt trends - that most planners do not plan, but react.

How many classes and credits were involved

How many of the faculty had professional planning experience

how old my fellow classmates were going to be

how political it is

how the university plans its programs

how to get by on less sleep

how to go about obtaining a GRA position…

I had a lot of overlap in my undergrad education and the 1st year of planning core courses

I wish I had decided on planning prior to enrolling in [other field] graduate studies. How planning gives them (personally) a better life in an increasingly complex and difficult to manage society. They need to see its direct impact before they'll care.

I wish I had know a bit more about the field of planning

I wish I had know how narrowly education most of my planning professor are

I wish I had known how long term planning is, how important it is to the future environment and how it relates to every aspect of the real world.

I wish I had known that the area was populated with so many liberals; it lacks diversity of the political ilk of students and faculty.

I wish I had known the dept was in transition and then maybe waited for the new MURP program or applied elsewhere

I wish I had more info about all the other universities that offer planning degrees

I wish I had more of a background in planning related disciplines

I wish I had more professional work experience in planning before I enrolled in this program. But then again, if I had worked for a few years, I may not have had the discipline to get a masters degree.

I wish I had taken more micro and macro economics, and more statistics

I wish I would have talked to some current students and got their feedback on the dept.

I wish that I had a laser printer and a really nice fast computer at my house rather than trying to maneuver around lab schedules and different versions of programs at school

I would have liked to see a US News and World report type ranking of planning schools. I have little idea how XXX stands up to other planning schools.

Importance of economics

It would have been nice to know more about the program's international projects

Its emphasis and philosophy of planning education

job prospects

lack of international program

Lack of specific planning skills. I wish I would have known what I would have to seek assistance outside of the program to get beyond the basic concepts, with specific skill development.

more about law and economics

more about other planning programs

More about the faculty and planning in general

More about the planning profession

More about the problems listed in earlier question. More about other programs in the US.

more about the Univ. as a whole

more computer skills

more details about different specializations and skills demands of them in the job market

more info about faculty

more info on financial aid.

more social sci knowledge

more understanding of profession

my time would go VERY quickly

not a 2 yr prog, 2.5 years

number of elective classes is so restricted

planners salaries

Planners salary level is not going to make me ultra rich

political and legal aspect of planning

political involvement needed

precise info on professors and their accessibility; offered course content; detail on reqts for degree

problems of financial aid

program focus on a particular specialty area

program reputation affects job prospects

program was very locally focussed and not planning to prepare us for BIG jobs

pursuing my artistic talent in undergrad would have paid off in designing a grad career

screening of incoming students not very selective, resulting in many inexperienced, low quality students

Social sciences

Some basic background info on planning history

Sometimes your professors could care less if you really learn something. More interested in their research or outside work than students.

spreadsheets, graphic design

statistics

Statistics, govt, sociology

stats, economics, political setup of the city

Still don't have a clear understanding of the day to day job duties of a planner and what skills I'll need.

That there are few jobs that don't work for the govt

That there are so many core classes that are not related to my interest, Int'l Devt Planning

The almost universal absence of intellectual thinking and creative thought in XXX program

The availability of classes. Not many classes to choose from.

The lack of interaction between depts and tension between one another.

the limited inclinations of faculty toward preparing students for urban POLICY jobs

The nature of grad school in general; the constant stress, volatile finances, lack of structure, etc.; The lack of a PAB rating, planning-oriented faculty in general. More courses in planning

The program is best suited for self starters -- you have to take all the initiative to complete the program and design it to your liking

The program itself

The repetition of classes from undergrad to grad programs (from different schools)

There is so much work for each class and they are all jammed into 2 years

too many things unrelated to a masters program

too many to list

too optimistic that there would be more support for issues related to social justice and envtl integrity.

transportation system

University not very supportive of program

what a non-profession it really is, don't get much respect in States

what exactly planners do on a day to day basis

Where the programs are, what reputation they have, and what the programs are really like.

Yes - how much time it takes to be a grad student!

Yes - that no one on the faculty was interested in urban env planning

Yes, computer applications

Yes, how little the professors actually care about your success or failure

yes, I wish I had taken some economic and political science related courses as an undergrad. I had no experience or knowledge within this area before coming to the masters program.

Yes, the fact that many professors were retiring or leaving for sabbatical. I also should have looked more closely at the difference in programs located in the arch dept vs. the social science dept - but I should have realized that from the beginning.

Yes. I could have taken pre-requisite courses that would better prepare me for the core planning courses

zoning and comp plans

Many undergraduate students don't know about planning. What are the one or two things that you think would excite them the most to learn about planning?

1. Application of scientific principles to land use planning (esp. geology, ecology, economics)

1. Direct way to participate in your immediate life and in your communities future; 2. Planning is frustrating at times but allows you to be action on issues which you feel are important for you

1. Diversity of issues; 2. So many fields makes it a highly satisfying experience

1. Opportunities to create some meaningful change for people in urban areas. 2. Interplay between humans and the built envt that is so often described as a series of abstract economic relationships

1. Planning inherently involves issues which affect our lives on a daily basis. 2. Planning plays a large role in building the environments in which we live.

1. Planning related courses. 2. Inject planning related themes into social and nat sci courses

1. Require them to attend a local meeting on planning issue; 2. Expose them to local land use issues, particularly those with envtl impact; 3. Do a walking tour of a depressed neighborhood contrasting with a tour of a local planning success story to demon

1. You can help shape the future of your community in order to make it more livable 2. No plan or policy is carved in stone.

a chance to look at the big picture and impact the future.

a current, hands on project

A la Liberal Arts it encompasses many disciplines/fields of study and the job prospects are very good all over the world.

a really diverse field that is useful within most other fields - very interdisciplinary and very applied

A very diverse field, in which you get to apply knowledge of a specific subject matter to impact daily lives of people

ability and potential to shape the world

Ability to affect the design of the future envt and ability to use you intellect to increase the quality of life for an abundant amount of people.

Ability to facilitate positive change

Ability to get involved in complex, multi-dimensional issues and challenged to trying to solve problems from that multi-disc perspective.

Ability to impact the future

Ability to work in a field that significantly impacts the community

Actually developing a community and helping the impoverished

Addressing the issues that planner talk about (urban sprawl, community development) in a multidisciplinary context at the undergrad level, such as in Political Science and Wildlife Mgt. It’s a start for those interested in becoming planners.

all of the opportunities to affect the future

an exciting class about planning

Better Midler said that she would have become and urban planner, had she not gone into entertainment. She said this in a Charlie Rose Show interview.

big ticket items to get their interest, mainly dealing with urban design

broad field with much potential for making a difference in peoples' lives. More than just deciding where to put streets and street signs.

broad field, range in specialties