I’m a rising senior majoring in biology, looking to apply to grad school. Most of the programs/labs I’m applying to have a strong research focus on environmental microbiology (which is my main interest). I noticed that a lot of environmental engineering programs are doing very similar work, but I was unsure whether it would even be reasonable for me to apply, since I don’t come from an engineering background, and my math/physics skills aren’t particularly strong. The specific labs that I’m interested in are ones that I’d have no worries about applying to if they were in a biology or earth science department, but I feel like my qualifications (and especially my quantitative skills) don’t measure up to those of most students who would be applying for an engineering program. Has anyone with a similar background had any success in getting accepted to an environmental engineering program? Thanks.
Yes you can, and I know people who have done this successfully.
@berelly - Welcome to the Forum. As @boneh3ad says, it is possible. You may need to take some remedial courses once you are admitted so brush up on your math.
If you want to get into a Masters program in environmental engineering, you will need to evaluate what courses most undergraduate environmental engineers typically take. If your coursework is significantly short of what is normally taken, you should consider taking some additional Math and Physics courses before you apply. This could be done as a non-degree student at your present college, or if you are paying OOS or private-school tuition, you could take them at one of your home-state universities.
Here’s a listing of the required courses to graduate with an environmental engineering bachelor’s degree from Arizona State, 14th in environmental engineering. This was the first hit on Google.
If your coursework is reasonably close, you may get admitted with the expectation that you will make up the shortfall. Anyway, it would be best to call a few schools and get more specific information.