Hey, I’m new here so sorry if I do something wrong!
I’m a junior in high school who wants to go to go into environmental studies/economics. I believe I’m a fairly average student with a 26 act and a 4.2 weighted gpa with lots of extracurriculars and AP courses. I can’t afford to pay a lot for school but I still want to get a meaningful education. So far I’ve been looking at Ohio State University and SUNY-Esf, but I don’t know if I’m going in the right direction in my search. Any suggestions on schools would be great!
Do you qualify for need based aid? What’s your unweighted GPA? Your grades seem good so you might want to consider looking at some test-optional schools. https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional
Consider University of Vermont. Very strong in environmental studies.
Thank you! I don’t think I qualify for need based aid (my sister didn’t get any when she applied last year) but my unweighted GPA is a 3.78. Hopefully I can take the ACT again but I don’t know if my scores will improve.
There’s a good chance that the best value, in terms of the most educational quality at the lowest cost, would be at a public college or university in your home state. As a state resident, you should qualify for a low in-state tuition rate. If you are an Ohio resident, for example, then Ohio State might be a great value. Or if you are a New York resident, then SUNY-ESF might make a lot of sense.
You’re supposed to tell us what state you are from. You may or may not have good public university options in your home state, but we won’t be able to figure this out unless we know what your home state is.
What state are you in? Odds are that you have excellent in-state options. If you’re in Ohio, Miami U is very good for environmental science and even offers a major in zoology. If you’re in New York, other SUNY schools like Binghamton, Geneseo, and Buffalo are all great options.
Odds are that you’ll need a graduate degree for environmental studies, either a MS/PhD for the science route or a MEM/MPP for the policy route. Avoid debt at the undergraduate level, especially if you think you’ll get a professional degree.
There are hundreds of colleges that are perfectly good springboards to an environmental career, so you have lots of options. What are you looking for in a college? (Size, location, etc.) Ohio State and SUNY ESF are very different universities – what appeals to you about them?
If you are in OH, U of Akron is generous with aid.
Oh thank you! I’m from Ohio so that is the main reason I’m considering it but ESF has a relatively low out of state tuition. I am just apprehensive about OSU because of their high average act.
I’m from Ohio forgot to add that in. I’m have a very loose idea on the environment of the school of I’d like, but ideally i would want a more progressive, “hippie” type school. I’m personally not a big fan of Miami because of its emphasis on Greek life but I’ll look into it! I have grown up loving Ohio State and enjoy the Columbus area whereas I like ESF because I think getting out of state would be a good experience and I like how focused the school is on the environment.
I would check out Ohio University in Athens. Wouldn’t exactly call it a “hippie” school, but many people find it to be more laid-back and less preppy, and with more economic diversity, than Miami U. or OSU. Has a party reputation, but it’s big enough that there will plenty of non-partiers as well. Has solid econ program, with undergraduate certificate in environmental studies. There appear to be a number of state parks and national forests in the area, should be good opportunities for outdoor activities. A 26 ACT would make you a strong candidate for admission.
Run the NPC at Juniata (PA) if the school appeals to you. You could do the same at Eckerd (FL). Both might be too expensive, but they’re worth checking to see as both are good schools for your stats and what you are looking for in a major.
I too was going to mention Eckerd for OOS and Otterbein for in state. Otterbein also has a rather unique and innovative Zoo and Conservation Science program that offers some wonderful collaboration with the Columbus Zoo. Being so close to Columbus it also satisfies your enjoyment of the area.
Ohio State may let you start at a branch campus. It’s an affordable route that could get you this degree from a great school if that’s the concern.
Not sure what the programs are like, but check out Wooster and Earlham. The latter might be exactly the environment you want and its sciences are great.
Wooster, Earlham, Juniata, and Eckerd are all great suggestions.
Ohio Wesleyan is very strong in the natural sciences, particularly organismal biology. It offers the standard majors in biology, chemistry, physics, and geology as well as more specialized majors within the biological and earth sciences (botany, environmental science, environmental studies, zoology, etc.). It also offers a very useful and flexible geography and GIS concentration, which is unusual for a small college.
https://www.owu.edu/academics/
Allegheny in western PA is also well worth a look for environmental science.
https://sites.allegheny.edu/academics/
I believe your stats would qualify for the UMaine Flagship Match program. It allows you to pay in-state tuition despite being out of state if you meet the following criteria:
Minimum 3.0 GPA on 4.0 scale (or equivalent)
and
Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Math of 1120+
(or ACT Composite of 22+)
Paul Smith’s college in New York. I have absolutely no idea what their financial aid is like, but take a look. And the SUNYs are a good option too.
Agree with suggestions of Juniata and Allegheny though I don’t think Allegheny has much of the hippie vibe you’re looking for.
You should take a look at St. Mary’s College of Maryland (public LAC, not religious).
St. Mary’s would definitely fit your description of a “progressive ‘hippie’ type school” and there is no Greek life at all. Very focused on environmental issues, especially because they are located right on the St. Mary’s River. Good merit aid, small classes, beautiful campus, happy students.
They have a very popular environmental studies program:
http://www.smcm.edu/environmentalstudies/academic-offerings/what-you-learn/
Can be combined with an Econ major/minor:
http://www.smcm.edu/economics/
3.78 is a pretty good unweighted GPA, particularly if you have a lot of AP classes. I would not call that “mediocre” at all.
What is your budget? Have you run the NPC on any schools that you are considering?
Someone suggested UVM. It is indeed a very good university in a beautiful location. Since you are from Ohio, the winters in Vermont would seem pretty normal to you. I would be mildly surprised if you can get a nonstop flight from Ohio to Burlington so you might want to check how long it would take to get there. I don’t know whether or not you would qualify for the presidential scholarship at UVM, but their NPC will give you a pretty good idea what it would cost and will attempt to predict whether a merit scholarship is likely.
As others have mentioned in-state options are relatively likely to be more economical than other schools. There are also some very good and reasonably prices schools with strong environmental studies programs in Canada. Unfortunately being from Ohio the closest for you would be in Ontario, which I think may be a bit more expensive for international students compared to other provinces, although many would probably still cost a bit less than UVM and might be less than most US schools.