Hi i’m a year 11 Australian High school student with U.S citizenship looking to study in the states after I graduate.
I’ve been looking at schools in California as I have friends and family there.
What are some schools with a good marine science program? Needs to be not ridiculously expensive (unless I can get a scholarship), or super hard to get in.
I have a GPA of about 3.8, lots of extra curricular’s, awards, volunteer work and internships especially in the field of marine science. Haven’t taken SAT’s or ACT’s yet.
Thanks in advance for your help
All the schools here are ridiculously expensive compared to those in Australia for an Australian. And without an ACT or SAT, we can’t tell you if you’d qualify for any scholarships. As for good marine science schools generally, you can do a google search (‘best marine biology undergraduate programs’ or similar), or search this forum - the question has been answered many times previously.
You’d be better off doing your undergrad in Australia and then coming to the US for grad school (usually fully funded). You’d be fine at the usual suspects (Melbourne, ANU, etc.), but James Cook is particularly good if you want to focus on marine science.
I second the suggestion of doing a search. I have written a lot about this MANY times, as have others.
@Warblersrule; BINGO!!!
Can’t imagine that there’s a good reason to overlook James Cook University for an undergraduate marine sciences program in the U.S.
You said you have US citizenship, so you would not be applying as an International student. What is your State of residency? Look at that state to see if any of the state schools offer marine science or have a cooperative tuition exchange program with a neighboring state. New England has this type of program.
Eckerd College Marine science program includes hands-on courses St. Petersburg, FL
Oregon State University Majors and minors in marine biology available Corvallis, OR
University of Hawaii at Hilo College of Arts and Sciences offers a marine biology laboratory course Hilo, HI
University of New England Marine sciences program prepares students for positions in education and governmental laboratories Biddeford, ME
University of New Hampshire Marine program provides undergraduate internship opportunities Durham, NH
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Marine sciences graduate program offers six areas of specialization Chapel Hill, NC
University of Tampa Has a 45-foot research vessel for the study of marine ecosystems Tampa, FL
University of Miami
UC Santa Cruz
U. San Diego
New College, Florida
University of NC, Wilmington
This is a list of the more widely known colleges. You would have to looks at each one to determine cost of attendance. If you want info on Eckerd, pm me.
As mentioned in an earlier post, James Cook is well known for marine science and tropical programs.
Thanks for the advice everyone! I’ve definitely looked at James cook, and am considering going there, melbourne, or Maquarie University. Just wanted to get a perspective of the US schools because it’s a dream of mine, but an expensive one! Tuition here is generally around $10,000 a year. There are some US schools I’ve looked at that are around the same, but housing etc. would be too much to afford.
thanks 
@ECmotherx2 what do you mean my state of residency? I wasn’t born in the states but lived in the Texas for a while in elementary school. I don’t have residency though.
Do your parents now claim Australia as their home or are they their on visas? If so, then you don’t have the option of in state tuition as a “resident”. After your SAT or ACT, you will know what colleges offer merit aid and you can check the net price calculators.
You’ve made a contradictory statement. Are you or are you not a citizen of the United States? Yes, we understand that U.S. citizen can and do live abroad. Was you family in a ‘Mel Gibson’ situation? The Gibson family (Mel’s parents) are Americans whom immigrated to Australia when Mel and his siblings were young.
@LakeWashington @ECmotherx2 sorry i’ll try make it clearer. My mum was born here. She is an Australian citizen, not American. She then left for college on a schlarship for 4 years. She met my dad at college. He is an American. They got married there, then came back to AUS. Then I was born, here. THEN we moved back to texas for a bit. Through my dad, and living over there, I AM A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES. We live in AUS now, this is our home, we do not have state residency in the US. I just have dual-citizenship. Therefore I would be paying out-of-state tuition.
Thank you for the clarification. Cost wise and grade wise, you would do very well applying to James Cook. Most of the other US schools will cost about about $25-$30,000 if your SAT or ACT scores corespond to your GPA. Some schools give merit aid and financial aid. You will have to run the net price calculator after you take the tests. The registration dates for these exams are in the begining of Nov. for the Dec. tests. If you identify particular schools that you would like to apply to, I would suggest contacting the admission counselors asap.
One of the best schools in US for marine Biology is university of Miami. However it is very expensive but they do provide merit aid to select students so you never know.
@ECmotherx2 thanks that’s very helpful! @scubadive I will have a look at that school thank you
I don’t recommend that students enroll in an undergraduate Marine Science program (MS and PhD studies are your entry into the field, generally speaking), but if you’re dead set on a BS in Marine Science, then consider Stockton University (until recently known as Richard Stockton College; the administration made a dumb decision to change the name).
Stockton is public university in New Jersey not far from the ocean. A very underrated college. The Marine Science major is quite broad. Stockton participates in the Seal Rescue project. Financially it may suit you without breaking the bank. For a non-New Jersey resident, Tuition and housing can cost just a bit less than $20,000. There’s also the College of Charleston, another public college, situated in South Carolina, where generally tuition costs are less than schools in the northeastern U.S.A.
@LakeWashington Are you looking at the in-state price? OOS, Stockon is $30,816, without books.
Stockton’s website indicated that current OOS tuition is about $15K and the cheapest housing is about $5K. Did I miss any other major fees? Of course there’s the cost of campus meal plans, parking, etc.
Yep, I took a second look and saw that I missed some significant fees and didn’t multiply the per semester housing cost by a factor of two. Looks like the total COA for non-New Jersey residents is at least $27,200 per anum (excluding a meal plan). That’s still cheaper than many public colleges. If you good grades or fall within their income guidelines, several private colleges could probably bring your COA down far below $27K. One example would be Brown University, which has an undergraduate Marine Science collaboration with the Marine Biology Lab at Woods Hole.
If you HAVE good grades or fall within…
I think I have decided that I will do my undergraduate degree here in Australia either at James cook University or University of Sydney. It’s easier, much cheaper, and they are both top ranked schools. Then I would go to grad school in the US for a masters degree. Would it be hard for me to do grad school in the states? Would it be really expensive?
Graduate admissions in the U.S.A. is completely different from the undergraduate admissions process. Certainly, Grad school departments will scrutinize your GPA and graduate test scores. More importantly, Grad school deans and faculty will determine if your academic interests match their chosen research topics and projects. If you plan to concentrate on invertebrate zoology in grad school, and the professors at your target school are only interested in researching ichthyology, it’s likely that they will reject your application. Fortunately for you, most marine science departments that I have read about are fairly broad in their research, particularly the more noted graduate programs like MIT-Woods Hole, U California-San Diego/Scripps, Oregon State University, U of Washington, U of South Carolina.
As for cost, most U.S. universities offer financial assistance that covers the entire cost of graduate school, including housing. Such a stipend may include the requirement that the student teach certain undergraduate courses after his/her first year of study.