I was admitted into U Maryland College Park, U Wisconsin Madison, and U Mass Amherst and applied for these three majors. Environmental Science and Policy: Environmental Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics, and Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, respectively. I don’t qualify for in state tuition at any of these schools.
I’m not sure which one I should go to. I don’t care too much about the school experience and I’m more concerned about my employment outcomes after graduation and wanted some advice on which choice would the best.
Congrats on three fine schools. I don’t see any of the three having a full school career report by major. Some have for departments but not the entire school - which is a shame.
Know that at most schools, they may give you ideas, but you are on your own. Kids find internships and jobs. There is no assurance from any school.
So I would ask each department and if they can’t help, the career centers for outcomes within the majors. You want to know % employed, starting salary, job, and location. It also helps to know % reporting - meaning if 10% reporting, not great - 60% gives you a good sense.
Here is some info I found from UMD - click on the area to see past placements.
I’m guessing overall, these fields experience a lot of grad school.
PS - you will be there four years, day after day. You should 100% care about your school experience. These schools are different in environments (cities, weather, etc.), food quality (UMASS is rated the highest in the country; many schools have terrible food (not saying the others do not, just that UMASS is typically at or near the top). There’s sports and Greek life, access to DC. You might check what types of clubs or what areas these three focus on - whether farms, water, cities or something else.
You might consider which physical location you prefer to be in. While anyone can apply to jobs online, you might find certain companies/agencies that prefer to recruit locally or leverage their local alumni to recruit. I would expect to see more environmental policy agencies/companies/lobbyists in the DC area, so it could be worth pushing on Maryland a bit to see where their grads go.
The link I put in the previous message - I’m sure it’s not complete and it’s from over many years but you can see, by focus area, where some UMD grads went. I wouldn’t say they’d do better - DC is filled from all over - but that will give some idea of past roles. These type things are also good to see in general - what kinds of jobs do people get.
I’m assuming all are within budget but OP might want to ensure they are budgeted for grad school too - and if not, may want to consider it’s in state or a lower cost school still taking apps, especially for this type of field.
Not sure, but Agricultural Economics might lead to career in commodities trading/advising. I know several who followed this path, but all graduated from Penn State’s program.
If the campus and location are not important to you, then look at the courses offered for each of these majors at each school. Are all of these majors offered at each of the three listed schools ?
I assume all are within budget (no parental loans).
Purely in terms of location for 4 years, Madison WI and Amherst MA would be the best for a college student in terms of learning environment, dynamic town, internship opportunities, excellent national reputation (especially U Wisconsin).
UMDs environment is not as good imho (College Park doesn’t compare to either the Amherst area or Madison) but is not bad and being near DC (with a public transportation option completed soon) is a benefit. Did you get into a Scholar program at UMD (they really make a difference in experience, especially the first two years).
You should look at each course required for the major as a priority. Email Admissions or each Dept’s undergraduate chair to see if they can put you in touch with current majors and ask questions about their experience.
Then you can add whether you can find a Living Leaning Community of interest (unless you were already admitted to the Honors college or a specific “house”), whether your favorite club or intramural sports is offered, etc.