kmanshouse

Hello - I have twin sons in high school and one of them really wants to be a conservation officer, or otherwise work in nature. He is a tough, physically fit kid that can handle that part of the work. He is a B student, and weak in math. He is smarter than he is a good student, if that makes sense. Given we have twins, we are trying to keep our costs low, but still give our sons the opportunity of a college experience.

I've spent hours and hours looking for reasonably inexpensive choices that will provide him with a good education in wildlife conservation, but not be too rigorous on the math or too heavy on the technical science side. We live in Illinois.

Wisconsin Stevens-Point looks absolutely perfect, but I'm not sure if he will get into their Natural Resources program. I need a few more options. He would love to work in the mountain states if possible, but I think as long as we stay midwest or west with the school, that would be fine. Several schools in Missouri have these types of programs, but I have no idea how good they are.

Any ideas or help, given the above, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

tropicalslushies

University of Montana.

jbrynsvold

What about the Environmental Sciences program (Columbia College - Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science: Environmental Science Degree - Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science Degree Requirements) at Columbia College (located in Columbia, Missouri)? It provides a broad look at all sciences and prepares students for jobs in private companies as well as government agencies. The degree program doesn't require much math, but instead focuses on sciences like biology, zoology, ecology and chemistry. Also, Columbia College features small class sizes that will make your son's education much more valuable. If that sounds like something he would like to do, you should suggest Columbia College to him!

For you, Columbia College is quite affordable (Columbia College Day Campus - Tuition & Fees). They feature something called "fixed rate tuition," which means you would pay the same amount of tuition for all four (or 5!) years he would be at the college.

I am a twin myself. Are your boys thinking about going to the same college or do they have their own independent searches going? I know when I chose my college, where my brother was thinking about going was a big factor in where I wanted to go. We basically searched together. It's an important factor to think about!

raiders83

oregon state is supposed to be one of the best programs for what you want
Homepage | College of Forestry | Oregon State University
idaho has some good programs
By College
idaho state is cheap but doesn't have too many degree options
isu.edu
I would look at all the other small state schools like montana, wyoming, they are much cheaper than other state schools.

If you want to be in the mountains, Denver is where the the great plains start, and most of montana and some of wyoming is flat as well.

kmanshouse

jbrynsvold - thanks for that post - I will look into that.

As parents, we don't want them going to the same school. They do everything together and it has really stunted their social progress in life. They get along fine with others, but stick together in a crowd, etc. They need to experience life as individuals. After college is over, they can do what they want, live together, whatever. But they need the separate experience first.

It would be nice though, if the schools aren't on opposite sides of the country - it would be ideal if they were within a day's drive from each other. But we'll see.