GRE today

[Alfred_E._Neuman]

Motha Fukka that was a long 4 hours.

But I scored what I needed to get into Ga Tech's Master of City and Regional Planning program. Damn sure doesn't secure me a spot in the program but it at least gets my foot further in the door. Now I' going to take a nap.

[Mickey O'neil]

Congratulations, Al! Good luck getting in!

[tzg]

Best of luck on getting in. I hate these sorts of tests. You take it and then you spend another hundred dollars or so to send it to all the schools you want to get into, and it's the least important bit of criteria in the entire application unless you bomb it. Okay, some fellowships (that aren't directly in your field) like the look of a very high score because it gives them a way to compare applicants from different areas "objectively" without knowing anything about your field, but it's mostly poppycock. Congrats on getting that crap out of the way.

[Fat Cat]

Good for you and good luck moving ahead.

[Crust Bucket]

Good going Alfred

[DrDonkeyLove]

Congrats! GA Tech is a very cool campus in the heart of a great city. Hope it works out for you.

[Shapecharge]

Uhh, have you really thought about that program? I mean, are you sure that's something you want to get involved in? I think being the person who is stapped to that spinning wheel thingy while the blindfolded knife thrower is throwing knives at you may be a bit more rewarding emotionally, intellectually, and financially metaphorically speaking.

[Blaidd Drwg]

Uhh, have you really thought about that program? I mean, are you sure that's something you want to get involved in? I think being the person who is stapped to that spinning wheel thingy while the blindfolded knife thrower is throwing knives at you may be a bit more rewarding emotionally, intellectually, and financially metaphorically speaking.

I concur.

Consider the trades if you want to exercise independent thought. Consider drugs if you want to do Planning.

[odin]

I'm afraid your bit of good news is completely over-shadowed by Mickey's signature pic.

[Freki]

I'm afraid your bit of good news is completely over-shadowed by Mickey's signature pic.

True, but congrats anyway.

[Pinky]

But I scored what I needed to get into Ga Tech's Master of City and Regional Planning program. Damn sure doesn't secure me a spot in the program but it at least gets my foot further in the door. Now I' going to take a nap.

Congratulations on the nap!

Also the GRE.

[Dunn]

Congrats Al!! Get to it.

Also, who is that Mick?

[baffled]

Also, who is that Mick?

I'm clearly not Mick, but that's Sara Jean Underwood - tumblr link, not entirely safe.

[Turdacious]

Congrats on getting one step closer to earning a 30k piece of paper.

[Blaidd Drwg]

For serious and no homo, feel free to PM me about the field in question as you get closer. I've got more than a few years in and a pretty good sense of where it's going, which is not to say all down..there's some sectors of the market where you can really do well.

[Mickey O'neil]

Also, who is that Mick?

I'm clearly not Mick, but that's Sara Jean Underwood - tumblr link, not entirely safe.

Yes.

[Alfred_E._Neuman]

Thanks for the congrats guys. Tech takes graduate applications over the winter for the following fall. I'm in the process of putting together my letters of reference and writing samples.

I have serious doubts about whether I can actually get in, but I have a few connections I hope can carry some weight for me. If by some miracle I do get in, I think this could be the perfect opportunity for me. Their MCRP degree has specializations in Transportation Planning and Environmental Planning & Management. Exactly the subjects that interest me and I think will pay dividends in the future. My undergrad and experience in Civil Engineering will hopefully be a help in getting in as well.

BD, if by some chance I actually get my sorry as accepted I'll definitely be in touch.

[Protobuilder]

Atlanta needs city planners.

Congrats.

[Shapecharge]

Blade will weight in either privately or here...with a civil engineering degree and a masters with a transportation focus you should be solid. I can't speak much to the environmental angle. Anything other than this though and I think you'd be wasting your time. I have a little insight since I have that degree.

[Turdacious]

What do you want this degree to do for you?

[Alfred_E._Neuman]

What do you want this degree to do for you?

I'll use Atlanta as an example because that's where I live and have seen the shifts in development planning actually pay dividends in quality of life. I don't necessarily want to make a career in Atlanta, just examples.

My main goal is to get a job working in the field leading projects like Atlanta's Beltline (http://beltline.org/) and re-development of urban areas like has been done in several parts of Atlanta like Inman Park over the last few years. It's basically a New Urbanist approach to planning on a neighborhood scale within a city/region rather than the old sprawl-at-all-costs based approach. The economic ROI has been proven to be much higher for this type of investment in a city than simply building more roads. It's also shown to increase the satisfaction of residents and encourage people to move back into the city.

Atlanta's development and planning strategy for the last 40 years was basically to build bigger roads farther out into the suburbs and have 4 million people drive in every day. But that's led to a traffic problem that is unsolvable with a "build more/bigger roads" attitude. But with the new urban development in the city it's getting more and more people to move inside the perimeter because the neighborhoods are actually places you'd want to live now, where even 10 years ago there were maybe 3 neighborhoods in Atlanta I'd even consider moving into.

Once the city decides to come up with a true regional transit plan, this city could be model for the rest of the country. So far nobody has proposed a workable solution for getting people from the suburbs into the city center because everybody thinks it's the other person's problem. The suburbanites think it's a city problem because the roads that are clogged every day are leading into the city. The city thinks it's a suburbanite problem because the roads aren't clogged with City of Atlanta residents, they're clogged with the suburban commuters. So no real plan has been put together.

[Pinky]

Read everything Ed Glaeser writes.

[Turdacious]

What do you want this degree to do for you?

I'll use Atlanta as an example because that's where I live and have seen the shifts in development planning actually pay dividends in quality of life. I don't necessarily want to make a career in Atlanta, just examples.

My main goal is to get a job working in the field leading projects like Atlanta's Beltline (http://beltline.org/) and re-development of urban areas like has been done in several parts of Atlanta like Inman Park over the last few years. It's basically a New Urbanist approach to planning on a neighborhood scale within a city/region rather than the old sprawl-at-all-costs based approach. The economic ROI has been proven to be much higher for this type of investment in a city than simply building more roads. It's also shown to increase the satisfaction of residents and encourage people to move back into the city.

You looking to work in the private or in the public sector?

[Shapecharge]

Hey Alfred if it's possible to have a discussion without it turning into a crazy IGx stylee madhouse I have to say I'm a bit stunned by your post above. It's seems nearly incomprehensible to me that you can reconcile your logical, factual, applied-science midset that is the foundation of your civil engineering education with the wishful thinking, pie-in-the-sky social engineering that is the hallmark of new urbanism.

[Alfred_E._Neuman]

Hey Alfred if it's possible to have a discussion without it turning into a crazy IGx stylee madhouse I have to say I'm a bit stunned by your post above. It's seems nearly incomprehensible to me that you can reconcile your logical, factual, applied-science midset that is the foundation of your civil engineering education with the wishful thinking, pie-in-the-sky social engineering that is the hallmark of new urbanism.

They have some weird ideals that banning cars and putting a cafe on every corner are the keys to utopia, but implementing a few of their land use ideas can completely change the look and feel of an area.

Think more National Complete Streets Coalition and mixed use dense zoning in city centers than the crazier aspects of New Urbanism.