<p>I was wondering if anyone knew some colleges with strong Environmental Science/Biology/Sustainability etc. programs. I'm looking for reach, match, and safety schools. </p>
<p>SAT: 2110 (660 CR, 700 M, 750 W)
PSAT: 212 (64 CR, 80 M, 68 W)
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.4 weighted</p>
<p>I live in Virginia and am interested in both out of state and in-state options. Anybody have some good recommendations? Preferably small to medium sized colleges. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I have heard that College of the Atlantic is a pretty good school for environmental/ecology programs. It’s also very small (364 undergrads). I don’t know much, but it may be a safety school with your stats.</p>
<p>How much can your parents afford? Are you a junior or senior? Also, colleges don’t care about PSAT, unless you’re a NMSF or NMF.</p>
<p>Remember, environmental science is such a broad field, that certain schools will have certain strengths. If you’re looking for physical science fields, your list will be different, and many schools on this list should be eliminated, and some others should be added (mines schools, UTulsa, and a few others)</p>
<p>For really small schools (less than 1,000 people) there are several standard recommendations: College of the Atlantic, Green Mountain College, Warren Wilson College, Northland College, and Prescott College. All of these are safeties, but you should carefully evaluate whether you’d be comfortable at any of the four since they’re so different from the traditional college. </p>
<p>For schools with between 1,000-5,000 students here are some of my match/safety recommendations:
-SUNY ESF (a true gem in that students can study at one of the best environmental science schools, while getting all of the big time athletics and classes of Syracuse University for a fraction of its cost, even OOS)
-Middlebury College
-University of Puget Sound
-Colorado College
-Allegheny College
-Sewanee: University of the South (more conservative, but it’s Domain is excellent for field work, which if you do major in environmental science, you’ll be doing a lot of)
-University of Redlands (hosts the innovative Johnson’s Center, which would probably be great for an interdisciplinary program like environmental studies, but out in the sticks of SoCal)
-Pitzer College (?)
-Eckerd College
-Oberlin
-Hobart and William Smith College
-Clark University
-Bowdoin
-Colby College
-St. Olaf College
-University of Minnesota - Morris
-St. Lawrence University
-Ithaca College
-Lewis & Clark College
-Whitman College
-Beloit College (most of its environmental courses are listed with other departments, so while it appears lacking, I doubt it is)</p>
<p>5,000-~10,000 undergrads
-UNC Ashville
-College of Charleston
-Emory
-Evergreen State
-University of Miami</p>
<p>Within Virginia:
-Virginia Tech
-University of Virginia
-University of Richmond</p>
<p>Reach Schools:
-Carleton College
-Cornell University
-Duke
-Yale School of Forestry
-Dartmouth
-Stanford</p>
<p>There are quite a few more that I’m probably forgetting, so Google best environmental science schools, to get more options.</p>
<p>Connecticut College has a great department, as well as an interesting interdisciplinary certificate program [The</a> Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment: Connecticut College](<a href=“http://conncoll.edu/academic-centers/the-goodwin-niering-center-for-the-environment/]The”>http://conncoll.edu/academic-centers/the-goodwin-niering-center-for-the-environment/)</p>
<p>I usually recommend that someone interested in environmental science give thought to majoring in geology. It’s a flexible degree and the most employable of the sciences. Some colleges profess to be strong in the sciences but lack geology programs - Grinnell, Emory, and NYU, for instance - something I view as a big handicap for anyone interested in environmental science. </p>
<p>LACs with strong geology programs include Colgate, Hamilton, Allegheny, Bates, Carleton, Williams, Occidental, Washington & Lee, Oberlin, Bryn Mawr (or Haverford), Sewanee, Amherst, Franklin & Marshall, Earlham, Beloit, Union, Skidmore, Wittenberg, Juniata, Bucknell, Dickinson, Wesleyan, Macalester, Pomona, Whitman, Furman, and Puget Sound. There’s probably others I forgot.</p>
<p>Some resources for you -
[The</a> Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges](<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/green-guide.aspx]The”>The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition | College Rankings | The Princeton Review)
[The</a> Top Ten: America’s Coolest Schools - September/October 2012 - Sierra Magazine - Sierra Club](<a href=“http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201209/coolschools/default.aspx]The”>http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201209/coolschools/default.aspx)</p>
<p>Wow, you guys are the coolest. Thanks so much! I will definitely check them all out…</p>
<p>Im gonna throw out a recommendation for my school, Gettysburg College. While I am undoubtedly biased, there are a lot of students majoring in ES or BIO at Gburg and there are countless study abroad and research opportunities here. Plus, my experience with all faculty members here is incredibly positive. The (<a href=“http://www.gettysburg.edu/cwi/historians/pohanka-fellows-program.dot[/url]”>http://www.gettysburg.edu/cwi/historians/pohanka-fellows-program.dot</a>) give students a foot in the door for NPS work, though it is for historical interpretation)</p>
<p>Also, give some thought to what you eventually want to do with your environmental science degree, as that should inform your search for internships. Particularly if you’re interested in a career with a federal agency such as the National Park Service or US Geological Survey, building early connections and intern opportunities are key to finding a way into federal employment.</p>
<p>Definitely check out Whitman.</p>