<p>I work in forestry investments and find most of the foresters I have contact with come from the following schools:</p>
<p>East Coast: Auburn, Va Tech, U Ga
West Coast: Oregon State, U British Columbia</p>
<p>NC State has a well regarded forestry research program, but surprisingly I don’t have any contact with anyone from there. (perhaps they are more ‘lab rat’ types!).</p>
<p>I don’t know if these schools still have programs, but a lot of my guys came from Stephen F. Austin, LSU, Humboldt State (CA), and Georgia.</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone!! Great places to start research. He originally had been thinking of a LAC, but it looks like if he goes that route he might have to go ES. He is in Vermont right now going to school for a semester on a rural organic farm. When I dropped him we looked at UVM and he LOVED it… made him maybe reconsider an LAC. I think UVM has something like an Environment and Natural Resources school there. Looks good. They also have a med school there too which would be good for him for internships. I looked up UW yesterday because he really likes the PNW, and it has A LOT for an outdoorsy type. I will also research University of Utah and Maine. </p>
<p>The reason he likes LAC’s is because he loves the small classes and intellectual environments. Some of these really big universities seem too impersonal… but maybe I am way off base. </p>
<p>My S is a pretty accomplished rock climber and mountaineer. That is why he got asked to be on the search and rescue… he is able to do a lot of difficult climbing techniques. He also has volunteered his summers working in the back country of the US on conservation and trail work, and like MOmofwildchild noticed… he is VERY smart, nice and incredibly unpretentious… I actually think that something in Forestry would suit him very well.</p>
<p>I have been to business meetings at deer camps! Numbers and budgets are presented just as if we were in the corporate office, but we all sit around in jeans with deer heads on the wall (I’m not crazy about that part of it). Foresters (actually, resource managers at this point) have full command of all the numbers and need good business sense, too.</p>
<p>I think you will find Forestry programs at one of the public U’s in most states. In Wisconsin there is one at UW- Stevens Point. This state offers some smaller demand majors at only one or a few campuses. UW-SP is located in the middle of the state- plenty of forest land in the area. Typically forestry majors are not planning on grad school or the academically most rigorous college campus. Many will want to work for their state’s DNR. Your son needs to consider future employment probablilities when deciding a region to choose his school.</p>
<p>Just noticed the possibility of premed. While one can major in anything for medical school your son may need to decide his focus. He should look at the requirements for a forestry major at some schools to decide if that major is really what he would want.</p>
<p>Addenda- just looked at the UW-SP Forestry major page- they claim to be the number one undergraduate program in the country. Their recommended freshman-sophomore schedule doesn’t leave room for premed requirements. A sidebar tells of grads in the National Park Service and Peace Corps- Africa.</p>