<p>Hello, </p>
<p>I'm finishing up my 2 years at community college in boston and now I'm trying to apply to schools and I have no clue what to apply to. I want to apply to schools in and out of state and also in and out of the country. I don't have much money, but i'd like to apply to the best anyways, just in case i get lucky with financial aid. </p>
<p>Anyways, I'm trying to find the best schools for Ecology. I plan on doing field research in ecology for a while and then becoming an ecology professor, so the best schools for me would be those with an active ecology department that does a lot of research, or somewhere i can network effectively within the ecology/biology department. I just have no idea what schools are good for this. </p>
<p>Help would be really appreciated! </p>
<p>Note: My GPA is about 3.5, but i'm going to apply to the really prestigious schools anyways because I have an otherwise impressive resume and I might get lucky (and also I get a fee waiver for applying to schools through the commonapp)</p>
<p>Think of what area interests you particularly. Big western universities will be strong in forestry and land management; coastal colleges will be stronger in marine biology. Almost every state university will have respectable departments, and be generous in accepting C.C. graduates. Unfortunately, most colleges do not make a lot of financial aid available to transfers. If you need a lot of assistance, you should probably focus on your own state flagship university. The most elite private colleges offer very few slots to transfers, and, while your GPA is solid, it probably will not get you into “the really prestigious schools.” Check in with your CC, to find out what colleges have the best transfer agreements. Some other colleges with good Ecology/Envi. Sci. programs include Evergreen State, in Washington; College of the Atlantic, in Maine; Eckerd and New College, in Florida; Warren Wilson, in NC; Berea, in Kentucky. They are all somewhat unconventional, with a lot of independent and “hands-on” study opportunities. They are also known for strong graduate school admission records. If you can handle out-of-state tuitions, try West Virginia University, University of Colorado, University of Montana, University of New Mexico, and Iowa State. Closer to home, you could look into URI - especially if Marine Science interests you, UVM, et al. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that you do not need to go to a school that has a specific ecology major–biology or environmental science should do just fine, so long as there are sufficient ecology course offerings. You will need a graduate degree to become a professor, so you don’t need to specialize just yet. Many (maybe most?) of the students in my grad program (a top ecology program) have undergrad degrees in biology. And while having research opportunities available at your school would be great, there are also lots of opportunities, some paid, for students to get involved in field research in the summer away from their home universities (eg. REUs, things listed on ECOLOG, various job boards, etc.).</p>
<p>Your GPA may not be competitive for substantial grants at many schools, so make sure there are a few “low-cost” (relatively) options among your target universities, for example:</p>
<p>SUNY Plattsburgh
SUNY Maritime College
U of Alabama-Birmingham
Ohio Wesleyan University</p>
<p>Not cheap but reportedly pretty good financial aid:
U of San Diego
U of Portland</p>