Welcome City and Regional Planning Students

Students in the Urban Design concentration without a B.Arch will be considered for an in-person urban design summer mini-studio from August 4th – August 15th. Please take these dates into account when securing housing. Students will be contacted by the department by the end of June if they need to take this class. The cost for this course is $500.

City Planning students will participate in a mandatory orientation from August 18th – 20th. This is an excellent opportunity for students to get to know the cohort, faculty, and Weitzman facilities. Please take these dates into account when securing housing.

Q: Why is the entry term set to Summer 2025 on my decision form?

A: Students in the Urban Design concentration may be required to complete the Urban Design Summer Institute. While your official degree program begins in the fall, this course takes place during the summer. Please see the Urban Design Summer Institute section at the top of this page for further information.

Q: I didn’t get the scholarship I was hoping for. How do I inquire about additional funding? 

A: Scholarships at Weitzman School are limited, but some small additional awards may be available close to the response deadline of April 15. Please email Megan Ryerson (mryerson@design.upenn.edu) and CC Patrick Bransfield (pbrans@design.upenn.edu) for more details. 

Weitzman Admissions maintains a list of external scholarship opportunities (link here). We recommend browsing this page for additional opportunities.

Q: I applied to another Weitzman School program besides City Planning but didn’t get in. Can I add another degree later?

A. Yes, this is common. Start your City Planning program in the Fall of 2025, and then apply to a second department when applications open in September.

Q: Can I defer admission for a year or two?

A. Deferrals are approved on a case-by-case basis and only offered for extraordinary personal or professional reasons. Scholarships are not guaranteed for any approved deferrals.

Students considering a deferral are encouraged to withdraw and reapply the following year. If you are considering deferring your admission, please reach out to Patrick Bransfield (pbrans@upenn.edu).

Q. I want to start preparing for fall courses. What books should I read?

A. Planetizen’s Top Urban Planning Books of 2023 is a great place to start. Additionally, we recommend students familiarize themselves with recent editions of the Journal of the American Planning Association and the Journal of Planning Education and Research. We also encourage incoming students to read the Philadelphia Inquirer to familiarize themselves with current events and issues within the city. Philadelphia Inquirer issues can be accessed for free via Franklin Library by logging in with your PennKey.

If you’d like to get to know Philadelphia beyond the Inquirer, we suggest the web-based Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, WHYY news (Including Plan Philly), and Hidden City Philadelphia.

Please note that these are suggestions and not at all required readings.

Q. Can I start putting together my course program?

A. Information about registering for classes will be sent to your Penn email in mid-June. A Q&A session will follow.

Q. Is it easy to find housing in Philadelphia? Within walking distance of Penn?

A. While it is not difficult to find housing in Philadelphia, you will need to give yourself a few days to look, familiarize yourself with nearby neighborhoods, and consider finding a roommate. Feel free to peruse Penn’s Off-Campus Housing Services page for assistance with your housing search.

There are also a limited number of opportunities for graduate students to serve as residence hall advisors. Applications for these positions close on April 4. Please view the College Houses & Academic Services site to apply.

Q. Will I need a laptop if I don’t already have one?

A. Yes you will need a laptop. The Weitzman School IT department will be sending you information on minimum specifications and purchase opportunities in June. Please note, Weitzman IT strongly discourages using Apple Mac products in our program as applications like ArcGIS Pro are only available for Windows.

Q. Can I find out who my academic advisor will be? And can I contact him or her?

A. Advisor assignments are announced on August 1st, but feel free to e-mail any city planning faculty member about your program of study.

Q. What are certificates?

A. Certificates are like a second concentration but are offered on a cross-departmental basis. Taking a certificate means foregoing most of your electives, so you should probably wait until you come to Penn before deciding for sure if you would like to pursue a certificate. Weitzman School offers many certificates. To find out more about them, visit the Certificates web page.

Q. Can I contact current Weitzman students by e-mail to get their perspective on the program?

A. This is the time of the semester (March and April) when students are incredibly busy with their studies. Please reach out to Patrick Bransfield (pbrans@upenn.edu) and he’ll put you in touch with a student ambassador.

Q. I’m still undecided between Penn and another program. What else can you tell me that help me make up my mind?

A. Penn’s combination of core skills and knowledge, diverse and deep concentrations, dual degree programs, and multi-department certificates is unparalleled. Penn also provides an opportunity to work collaboratively with other intelligent, interesting, and engaged students, many of whom will become lifelong friends. Philadelphia is also a particularly interesting place to study city planning, with its unique history and complexities. Philadelphia is also still affordable compared to other major cities. And finally, even though a Penn education is expensive, past graduates tell us they can’t imagine not having come to Penn.

We hope we've answered all your questions. If you have others, feel free to e-mail Patrick Bransfield (pbrans@upenn.edu). We hope to see you in August!

There are a variety of on-campus employment opportunities for MCP students. Unless otherwise specified, these opportunities are typically only available to active students once classes begin. Positions are usually not offered to incoming students before the start of the semester.

RA Positions:

Our faculty regularly hire MCP students to assist with their research. While incoming students are typically not offered RA positions, likelihood of securing a position increases during your second semester and second year. Compensation and work hours vary, but all students are limited to working 20hr/week when classes are in session per University policy. RA positions are not ideal for covering tuition expenses, but they can provide sufficient funds for grocery costs or social activities.

TA Positions:

Our department regularly hires enrolled students for TA positions. While these positions are typically not available during the first-semester in our program, opportunities increase during your second semester and second year.

GRA Positions:

Graduate Resident Advisor (GRA) positions are a great way to offset living expenses. GRAs live in undergraduate dorms and work to foster community within their halls. GRAs receive free on-campus housing, a $3100 stipend, 150 meal swipes per year, and $400 dining dollars per semester. Applications for these positions close on April 4, 2025 and applicants must be enrolled full-time to apply. Please view the College Houses & Academic Services site for more information and to apply. Please direct questions about GRA positions to the College Houses team, as they oversee GRAs.

Additional Student Employment Opportunities:

Penn maintains a student employment site on Workday where enrolled students can search and apply for jobs. The positions listed are campus-wide, so there's regularly additional opportunities for you to secure on-campus employment. Please note that like RA positions, students are limited to 20 hours/week while classes are in session.

External Scholarships:

Regarding external scholarship offers, our Weitzman admissions team maintains a list of non-Penn affiliated scholarships (link here). Please note while there is only one city-planning-specific scholarship listed, there is a large list of identity, region, and community-based scholarships further down the page. Feel free to peruse the list and apply to any scholarships that interest you.

We're hosting an Admitted PhD Student Visiting day on Thursday, March 20. This event is tailored to PhD students and will be more useful than our MCP Open Houses. Admitted PhD students will receive an invite from Patrick Bransfield (pbrans@design.upenn.edu). Please reach out to Patrick for more information if you were admitted to the PhD program and did not receive an invite.

Waitlisted PhD applicants should complete the waitlist reply form if they wish to remain on the waitlist. If a position in the PhD program opens up, you will be notified.

Please reach out to City Planning Graduate Group Chair, Eugenie Birch (elbirch@design.upenn.edu) with any program-specific questions or concerns.