I’m a non traditional student currently attending Lake Tahoe Community college. After traveling and working in national parks for the past 4 years, I’ve decided to go back to school to persue a career in natural resource management, specifically in biological surveying and ecological monitoring (maybe specifically plants). I’m working as a conservation crew member in the Tahoe basin and know exactly where I’d like my career to end up, just need to find out which school will give me the best education for the job market: UC Berkeley (very prestigious, but I would have to take an extra year of CC prerequisites), UC Davis (good research school, but its area and large class size seems less than ideal), or Cal Poly (good hands on learning environment, but not well known outside of California). Any advice in making this decision would be helpful.
My older son just graduated from UC Davis with an Environmental Science and Management degree. If you are transferring and taking many upper division course, the class sizes are much smaller than the pre-req courses. Some of his classes only had 20-40 students and all larger classes are broken out into smaller discussion sessions. UC Davis has a lot of research going on but the three internships my son was involved in at UCD were good stepping stones to internships/jobs in the public sector. He wanted to work a year and figure out what he need to do in the field to advance his career and a Master’s is a must for a decent paying/stable job in this field.
All three schools have a lot to offer but I would also add Humboldt state to the list.
Best of luck.
it really depends on your qualifications and budget. UCB and SLO aren’t reasonable targets for most people. Have you spent any time at a CC? If so, what is your GPA so far? If not, how did you do in HS and what was your SAT/ACT?
I’m in my first year at CC, so far I have a 3.8 GPA. My ACT scores in high school was 30 and a 3.6 gpa. I’m planning on having some Tahoe Basin conservation internships/work experience under my belt before transferring. I know with more hard work I could probably get into both. I would need an extra year if CC to get into Berkeley
if you can hang onto that GPA, you will be a competitive applicant to UCB but, it won’t be a lock. I’d make a point of TAGing your next favorite so you have a sure fire option.
Good luck.