Does anyone have any experience with UNH Wildlife and Conservation Biology program? Comments?

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about the quality of instruction and general experience in this major at UNH. The good, the bad, the ugly. Thank you.

@Empireapple my son applied for this program @ UNH for this fall. Unfortunately, he’s been deferred to RD so we are still waiting on decision. If accepted, we plan on attending the accepted students day for that college in April. I can provide you with more information then on our thoughts. He’s also applied for the same program at URI RD, no decision here yet either. He plans on minoring in justice studies/criminal justice as he’d like to get into conservation law enforcement.

EAB426 thank you for your reply. Would you mind sharing your son’s stats? Just curious what was deferred EA. My son is only a junior so we are right behind you. Are you out of state? In state? SAT? GPA? Did you get any impression what they care about the most? I’m thinking SAT since it is a large state school? It looks like a great program. I hope your son gets his acceptance RD! My sister went to UNH and my niece is a recent graduate. Both really liked it. I haven’t been to the campus recently but when I was there it was so pretty and Durham is such a great town in a great area.

UNH wants to review his mid term grades. He was at a 3.0 with a 1480 on the SAT when he applied early action. He had a 3.5 1st semester, 3.7 second, not sure what his GPA is after these two semesters, usually doesn’t bump it up that much, but I think they are looking for a upward trend in his grades each semester. He didn’t have a great freshman year (B’s & C’s) He attends a small parochial school in Massachusetts, sports, and lots of volunteer hours. We’ll see…the wait has been extremely frustrating. We are still waiting on a few others as well, but UNH is his top choice. We visited the campus this past summer, it is absolutely beautiful and the town of Durham is great too!

I’m certain he will get in. Those SAT scores are good! I would also think they would want the out of state student. My son has a good GPA but he is taking the SAT for the first time next month and I’m not expecting great scores. He is the kind of kid who studies and works hard rather than someone who can crack something like the SAT. We shall see. You are us next year. Post here when he gets his acceptance letter!

@Empireapple I should clarify, that 1480 was on the old SAT, not the new. He took the new and did worse. This was the better score. So he is a solid B student and certainly not a great test taker! I’ll definitely keep you posted. Good luck with your search too. URI also has the program and if you’re in MA the NE regional tuition program applies at URI for wildlife & conservation bio! I think CT residents also apply, I remember seeing one other NE state but I can’t remember!

We are in upstate NY so the New England schools are a nice distance but sadly the tuition program does not apply. My impression of URI over the years has been that it is a party school. Its funny that I say that when I wen to college in the 1980s and what school wasn’t. Any thoughts on that impression? I will check it out though. Thank you! I don’t know anything about the old SAT.

@Empireapple When my son was deferred the letter directed us to this page on the UNH website. The last paragraph states what they look for in the admission process, you may find helpful

Defer Decision

If we did not make a final decision on your application, it is because we felt it necessary to review your application within a greater context of our applicant pool. The decision to postpone making a final decision on your application was driven by several interests:

• A reflection of our desire to be more conservative in our decision making earlier in the application review process so that we make consistent admissions decisions throughout the application review process.

• A reflection of our need to better understand the size and academic composition of our applicant pool and their relative strengths by waiting until all applications are received after our February 1 application deadline.

• A desire by the Admissions Office to examine your academic performance with additional senior grades in an attempt to confirm academic trends.

What Does this Mean?

There are three possible decisions a student can receive upon the initial review of their application—accept, deny, or defer a decision until a later date. Many, but not all, of the students whose decision is deferred will be accepted at a later date.

Your application will be reviewed a second time after we receive your mid-year grades. Please note that a decision will not be made immediately upon receipt of your mid-year grades, but likely by mid to late March.

What Should You Do?

You should have your mid-year grades sent to the UNH Office of Admissions, once they are available. There is no need or benefit in submitting additional recommendations or essays; nor do we offer interviews to applicants.

How Does the UNH Admissions Process Work?

The UNH admissions process is driven by your academic achievement as evidenced by your high school transcript. Your grades and course selection, as well as the academic trends evidenced on your transcript, will be the critical factor for any admission decision.

Standardized testing never compensates for poor course selection and/or grades, nor does it detract from solid achievement and course selection.

Your personal statement/essay, and your recommendation(s) provide us with the necessary information to understand the context of your academic performance and/or personal goals.

Activities, whether they are school- or community-based, do not play a major role in the decision making process for the majority of our applicants. Your activities are primarily of benefit to you since they help you understand your strengths and weaknesses and likes and dislikes. Their value to the admissions process lies in our understanding of your ability to manage your time and the contributions you might make to the UNH community. Consequently, activities never rise to the level of significance as course selection and grades in the decision making process.

That is very helpful. Thank you. What I find difficult about course selection is that my children attend a very large suburban high school. It is extraordinarily difficult to get in any honors classes. Looks to me like admissions really depends on how strong the entire applicant pool is.

My son applied for that program for the fall. He was admitted, but will not be attending UNH. One of the things I know they look heavily at besides GPA and TEST SCORE is class rank.

Thank you elise303. Where will your son be attending? What were his deciding factors?

We are not certain yet where he will attend. He has a school he is waiting to hear from that is a top choice. It is a real reach and also expensive so likely he will not go there. His second choice is looking like UVM. The only pause for concern at UVM is the amount of requirements at the Rubenstein school, which are truly overwhelming. There are more science requirements at that school than any other environmental science program we looked at. This leaves almost no room for electives, which is the only hesitation. Otherwise he loved the place. Loved the Rubenstein school, loved Vermont and loved Burlington. I think in terms of UNH we didn’t visit for a number of reasons. The town we know is not as thriving and we actually got off on a rocky start with UNH having to do with the admissions department. In the end the head of admissions was amazing, but I just had a bad feeling about the place do to a conversation my son early on in the process. I am sure it is a good school and especially good for anything environment related.

elise303…I have a sister who went to UVM and her daughter graduated from there recently. Very beautiful school and both were very happy. Only downside was out of state tuition and the far left leaning atmosphere but that is a fit for many. Good luck with that first choice.

@Empireapple, thanks.