Town Planning Postgrad courses

comewatmay

Hi all,

Does anyone know what universities do Town Planning postgraduate courses? could you provide links to the collages please.Also anyone have any experiance of the courses, are they good/intresting etc i would be very intrested to know.Finally does anybody know what the job prospects are like after completing the postgrad.Thanks in advance

Mike!

HankScorpio

Queens University in Belfast does a 1 year planning course and so does UCD (Masters of Regional & Urban Planning) It's a 2 year full time course and is very expensive but is worth it if you are really serious about the field.

ryansx

Hey Mike! half way through the UCD Planning Masters and on placement with the DOE for the summer. Yeah its good, first year pretty much stuff you'd cover in arts courses, economcis, sociology etc with of a planning twist. Can be hard to see the point of some of the modules considering the fees which are quite steep! (8k) As the second term rolls around it does get more related tho and quite enjoyable. The really useful stuff, GIS etc, doesnt get done untill second year.
Small class and department so there is a good atmosphere (and social life) if you want it and you'll know everyone in your first two weeks.
The jobs situtation varies depending who you talk to. England is crying out for planners at the minute if willing to travel. Better pay and opportunuties and UCD course highly regarded as its a two year as opposed to one elsewhere. Here the private sector are best for jobs. A local authority job can be hard to come by but they are there. Having said that i dont think anybody expects to walk straightinto one as soon as we graduate. Starting saleries are about 30-35k depending if you get private or public and your starting grade. Good promotion prospects if willing to travel. Anyways any questions would be glad to help!

sign

HankScorpio wrote:

Queens University in Belfast does a 1 year planning course and so does UCD (Masters of Regional & Urban Planning) It's a 2 year full time course and is very expensive but is worth it if you are really serious about the field.

Is the fees of a 2 year course such as this covered by grants such as the local authority grants given to primary degrees ?

ling4a

haya me dear. just literally finishing up my thesis at the moment, due in 8 days! did the one year m.sc in environmental planning in Queens.
the course itself is undergoing a bit of a shake up and ive heard that this years masters course are doing different modules to ours. gone is the awful mediating space in ireland and in is more practical stuff such as GIS.
i must say, its been a good year but very much a crash course. your thrown in in the deep end but it works out.
its a mental year, the work load is huge and the deadlines are usually on top of eachother but it makes it more of a challenge and even just struggln through that with ur class makes better friendships.
i would say one thing tho, do not live on campus. houses are easy to come by and really add to the social side of the year.
the course cost 6thou euros to do it and living is rather expensive. drink is cheap but lunchs are mental.
its easier to get into than UCD and alot of people in the class would have applied there first but didnt get in so id apply for the two and make ur choice than.
jobs, well i just had an interview for the planning service in the north yesterday so fingers crossed. hard enough to get into the local authorities down south without good experience so you may have to work in the north or go to england for a few years.
but at the same time, you will be recognised by the RTPI and the IPI in half the time it takes down south.

MODENA

Hi Everbody,

Nice to hear your views on Town Planning courses particulary the MRUP.
I am currently studying for my honours degree (Property Studies) in Bolton St, and wonder at 36 am I getting a little old as regards career prospects, considering I will be nearly forty when I qualify. (and thats if I gain entry to the course it sounds tough).

Would appreciate your views and experiences of the MRUP and career opportunities after!

Cheers.

mloc

A friend of mine lectures the odd time for the MRUP in UCD and is a planning consultant.

From what I can see it's fairly difficult to break into the consultancy market in Ireland. Most positions seem to be in the public sector (DOE and An Bord Pleanala).