Should I Pursue a Planning Degree?

Submitted by SBond on Tue, 04/01/2008 - 11:50.

Hi all. I'm looking for some advice from some planning folks, as I've already gotten an earful from the engineers I work with. I'm currently employed as a staff-level geolgist and I'm planning on attending graduate school in 2009. I want to branch out into another field, and I'm trying to decide between pursuing a degree in planning or environmental engineering. I would most likely focus on water resources with either option. On one hand, I'm quantitatively competent and have a hard-science background. Engineering seems like the safe choice to me, as I assume my job prospects and salary would be a bit better. On the other hand, I seem to diverge from many of my engineering peers in that I am more interested in holistic solutions to environmental problems, rather than strictly technical ones. I have a strong desire to deal with issues of resource allocation and protection in a democratic fashion. I also have a significant amount of GIS experience and a desire to put it to use. So, I guess I'm wondering if any of you have been in a similar situation. How did you make your decision, and are you happy with the decision you made? Would my quantitative background go to waste in a planning career? I know this comes down to a personal decision, but I'm trying to get as much information and as many opinions as I can. Thanks and many apologies for the lengthy question.

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Re: Should I Pursue a Planning Degree?

Submitted by apomp on Sat, 04/05/2008 - 11:40.

Interesting question, as I am a water resources planner working at an engineering consulting firm. My academic degree is actually in economics, but I have become a planner in my 11 years of working life (and now my AICP). I would say your decision to pursue an engineering or planning degree depends upon what you would like to do afterwards. If you'd like to work on the issues important to you through a planning department, I'd guess the planning degree would be most useful. If you like to be in consulting, either could be good. There are consulting companies working in water resources that are both planner-focused and engineer-focused. My firm is engineer-focused (main work is design), and I believe having an engineering degree would have been more beneficial to me - in terms of salary, faster advancement, earlier respect - while still enabling me to do the work I've been doing. There are several other engineers who do a lot of planning-type work. For a while, my company didn't really know what to do with me, but I have since gotten through that period. GIS experience is definitely a plus in the engineering world, and in water resource planning.
Hope this helps in some way. Good luck with whichever you choose!

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