This is great insight. We have family connection in Fort Collins and grandfather attended. We love the area. We may have to discuss further with her and perhaps substitute our Maine trip with a CO trip.
Weâve done the NPC with some rough numbers and the family contribution doesnât seem out of the question for us. Surprising actually. Our son goes to Clark University and we are paying more there than the estimates from Colby/Bates for example.
To amend my previous comment- Weâve spoken to some recent graduates of Wesleyan and they do have some very strong STEM programs- geology in particular is strong. But biology/ecology not as robust. Unfortunately our tour guide was not knowledgeable on the STEM side of things and couldnât really answer some of our questions.
All of your insight has been so helpful. I canât believe all the time youâve given in helping. Much appreciated.
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Wesleyan has an entire division devoted to environmental sciences/studies. Environmental Studies is a linked major, which means you concentrate on environmental study within another major - could be in STEM, could be in social sciences, could be in humanities. It could work for your daughter and might be worth a second look if she otherwise liked the school and the NPC suggests if could be affordable.
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Will do. Virginia tech hasnât been on our radar. Weâve been so focused on schools further north. She loves the cold but maybe the offerings can outcompete her wish for lots of snow.
Thank you for the suggestion.
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A lot of these havenât come up for us yet, so thank you! More options are a good thing at this point.
I could be wrong but it seems your daughterâs interest is more narrow than the norm - so thatâs where some of these came from.
Now I see you want Northeast - I just remembered College of the Atlantic from our trip to Bar Harbor - itâs a a lot aligned with your student - and remembered many loving Michigan Tech - although hard to get to.
How about everyoneâs favorite mid atlantic - U Delaware, URI seems to have some matched majors to throw out two more.
Thanks for this.
I think we may need to reach out to some professors there. We do have a contact from an alum. Our tour guide was not very knowledgeable on the STEM side of things and a recent STEM graduate said there are a few professors with specialties matching my daughterâs interests but not many. We could have just not spoken to the right people. Definitely donât want to rule it out as an option because all Wesleyan alums I know absolutely loved their experience. Totally willing to look into it further.
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In planning a trip to see Colgate, Iâd suggest you schedule a visit to Hamilton as well.
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Youâre right. Itâs pretty narrow. If we search wildlife conservation or wildlife biology or conservation biology etc. we get a small list of possibilities. So we expand it to environmental science or biology and we get a huge list but some of those programs donât resemble her interests so itâs been challenging! So we go through the course guides to see if the offerings are in line with her interests.
This forum has been incredibly helpful.
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Yes! I just discovered Hamilton - we have to find the time to get out into Western NY for sure.
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University of New Hampshire has excellent resources and partnerships.
The state flagships are usually pipelines for state and federal agencies working in these areas and have lots of research partnerships. They may seem larger, but can feel much smaller once in a department or major and related activities or research.
There are several majors within the Natural Resources and Environment dept:
Along with the more traditional biology options -Biology Major (B.S.) | Biological Sciences
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There seem to be a couple of different schools of thought on this. Some families place a priority on applying Early Decision (ED) to a school, and thus they plan visits around where they might ED.
Others (and I probably fall in this camp) believe that it is crucial that a student have at least one (and preferably at least two) schools that are extremely likely admits that are extremely likely to be affordable, and that the student would be happy to attend for at least four years. There are students who end up preferring their âsafetiesâ to their âreaches.â But the safeties and likelies are not going to be wasted visits, because chances are, they will admit your kid. For schools that have acceptance rates below 10% or 20%âŠit might be harder getting any waitlists/denials after the visits. But if you get an acceptance, you can always go and visit afterwards.
That is not to say one should avoid visiting any low probability schools, but thatâs not where I would put the priority. If there are low probability schools in the vicinity of higher likelihood schools, then by all means, visit them. But if time/money are limited (and for most of us, they are), then I would use them on schools that have likelier odds than lower odds.
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I think in a situation like this - after you build your list - you might even put into high priority/low priority - or demonstrated interest matters vs. not.
If youâre in W Mass, a school like - just throwing out, Skidmore - might be easy on the weekend.
An ESF wonât require interest - so you can apply and visit later.
Itâs tough with the charter school and a GPA we donât understand - so does it make sense to go to Bowdoin as a priority (where you can do Bates, Colby, U Maine, College of the Atlantic, etc.) or is a UNH or URI that are sure things - no idea on the Bates, Colby, Maine.
Itâs always good if you could batch schools at least - for efficiency sake.
Typically your publics arenât demonstrated interest schools so they could go later.
Hopefully the student can suss out a few different environments because while we hear size doesnât matter, it likely does - and one can quickly see - oh, this is too big for me or oh, this is too small for me, etc.
Good luck to OP.
Someone is pulling your leg. Wesleyan hasnât had a Geology Dept in nearly 50 years. There is a College of the Environment - maybe thatâs what they meant. As others have pointed out, Math, Physics, Chemistry and Bio all offer advanced courses through the doctoral level. You can even earn a PhD in Astrophysics at Wesleyan.
Depending on specific areas of interest, you might look at Oregon State University.
I am not sure which program would be most of interest, but both are well-regarded with lots of hands-on research opportunities.
Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences is housed in the College of Agricultural Sciences:
https://fwcs.oregonstate.edu/fisheries-and-wildlife/undergraduate-students-1
Environmental Sciences is in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences:
https://ceoas.oregonstate.edu/environmental-sciences-undergraduate-program
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Geology seems to fall under the earth science major.
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Good advice. Thank you.
This makes sense.
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Yes. The problem with Wesleyan is that there are almost too many centers of gravity on any given subject. The Dept of Earth Science & Environmental Science is indeed the successor to the old Geology Dept of 50 years ago and still leans a bit heavily in that direction. However, as @Shelby_Balik points out upstream, there is another, entirely new division of the university devoted to environmentalism that allows the subject to be pursued through the filter of a primary or linked major that can be almost anything.
So, while it may not be a complete answer to your childâs stated interest in land-based animals, the course catalogue for Wesleyanâs College of the Environment looks pretty robust for an LAC:
WesMaps - Wesleyan University
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Yes! Two great schools in such close proximity! My daughter is a rising sophomore at Hamilton, if you have any questions! Was recruited by both Hamilton and Colgate, but Hamilton won out for many reasons. She is focusing on Biology- great science programs!