Hi everyone,

Need some grad school advice. I am really interested in socio economic policy determinants of urban design and I would prefer a course where I can devote more attention to these aspects instead of delving further into a purely design centric course. I am already equipped with a 5 year professional degree in architecture and have had the opportunity to work on some urban design projects during an internship however I wasn't actively involved in the design process and mostly delegated research/presentation work (small fry in a very large team). My ultimate career goals lie in working with NGOs or international agencies such as the UN-HABITAT, UNDP etc. 

There are four programs I'm particularly enamored by-

1. MSc Environment & Sustainable Development at UCL DPU

2. MSc Urban Development and Resilience at NTNU

3. M.Arch II Urban Design at Cornell AAP

4. MSc Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences (Urbanism track) at TU Delft

Now the problem:

I graduated this year and have two six month internships under my belt. My percentage in B.Arch was 65% (i'm an international, we don't get a GPA). The class toppers had around 75%. That makes my academic record kind of on the average side. Wikipedia tells me the rough GPA equivalent should be 3.5.

GRE is 324 (165v159q), which is above the 80th percentile.

I am not sure how great my portfolio is but I have enough volume of work that is urban design related and can demonstrate my sustained interest in this field. Will post link in a few days for feedback.

SOP and LORs should be solid.

My question is does an average GPA significantly affect my chances at top tier schools considering I have only one year of work ex? Should I wait and apply next year after gaining more experience or do I give it a shot? I cannot afford to apply to too many schools. Can you also suggest 1-2 'safety' schools with great urban design programs?