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How important is grad school quality in getting hired as a landscape architect?

I'm planning to go to grad school to get my Masters in Landscape Architecture. The only schools I'm considering are Temple and the University of Pennsylvania because I want to stay in Philadelphia. I could probably get into both schools, but I have a dilemma: Temple is much cheaper, and I could start this fall because it has late application deadlines. However, the program is only in the process of getting accredited and is very new. (It would be accredited by the time I graduate.) UPenn is obviously a very prestigious school, but it's more expensive, and I have already missed the deadlines to apply for this fall. The thought of spending another year in my current soul-crushing job is almost unbearable. Would I be hurting my chances of finding employment after I graduate by choosing the less-prestigious school because it's more convenient, or are employers only interested that you graduate from an accredited program? Any insight is appreciated but especially that that is specific to landscape architecture. Thanks!

Public Comments

1. Your going to grad school is important if you want to get a higher paying job as landcaper, say for a state college or state capitol. But there are illegal aliens in my state who are landscapers and they have their own companies.
2. Get the best possible degree from the best possible school that you can. You need every advantage you can get in this economy and in the field you have chosen. But the most important thing of all is that you determine now that you are going to do everything you can, once you do graduate, to get your papers. If you knew how many people graduate from LA school and never pass their boards, you would be astounded. To recap, dedicate yourself now to be the very best Landscape Architect you can possibly be: Best School, Highest Grades, Earliest Possible Board Exams, study for them hard, take them again if you have to, never give up, and never settle for a mediocre career. Make your goal to be the Frank Lloyd Wright of Landscape Architecture! One more thing: If you will take this year and work in the industry, no matter what pay you get, while you wait to get into UPenn, you will be a better LA for the rest of your life because of it.