<p>I got accepted to the Rosentiel school, and I was just wondering if anyone out there is in the marine sciences program and could give me some info on it :)
PM me if so please.
Thanks :)</p>
<p>My son graduated from Rosenstiel last December and now works at the grad school and SVMom’s daughter is currently a freshman in the program. We aren’t students but probably have a number of answers to your questions, so ask away.</p>
<p>Vinceh is right (as usual). </p>
<p>My daughter absolutely LOVES Miami and the Marine program is FANTASTIC!</p>
<p>Ask away…</p>
<p>jessybomb16 I responded to your PM though I forgot to copy my answer. I think it would be helpful if you could copy my response and post it here. I think a lot of new students have similar questions.</p>
<p>vinceh’s reply to my questions are here :)</p>
<p>Class sizes within the Marine Sciences department tend to be fairly small, 12-25. As you may know along with your Marine Sciences major you will have to choose a second Science major from either Chemistry, Biology, Physics or Geology (I think). The classes in the general sciences tend to be larger since they have the regular majors, the premeds and the marine science majors taking them, though they rarely seem to get bigger than 50 after the intro classes.</p>
<p>It’s hard for me to judge how difficult you will find the program. Miami has one of the few undergraduate marine programs and it is well regarded. They tend to get a high caliber of student; given that they admitted you they must believe you can handle the work. Out of the 2,500 total students who graduate every year only 80 or so earn a MarineSci degree. There seems to be plenty of help available, though my son tells me that some of the upper level marine classes can be quite challenging. If you’re committed to getting a Marine degree you will do it.</p>
<p>The department works hard to build a sense of community. Within the first couple of weeks they take all the new students on a snorkeling trip in Biscayne Bay. It’s a lot of fun and a good way to start your college career. The department also has a strong commitment to getting undergrad students involved ongoing research. You will have the opportunity freshman year to try and get a volunteer or work-study position in any number of research labs out at Rosenstiel. I strongly urge you to get involved in these programs. My son runs one of these labs though he tends to bring in juniors and seniors as his volunteers. The more experience and education you pick up the greater the number of opportunities. The shuttle runs to Rosenstiel either every half-hour or hour, so there’s no issue getting back and forth.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about not touring Rosenstiel, it is primarily a graduate school facility. Early on, most, but not all your classes will be on main campus.</p>
<p>Finally, the biggest advantage that my son had was that he was a certified SCUBA diver before he got to Miami. He was able to take the research diving certification class as a freshman and was soon getting offers from the Phd candidates and professors to go research and collection dives. By the summer after sophomore year he was traveling around the Caribbean on research boats for weeks at a time, (his expenses paid for by the school and on a few occasions even getting paid to go on the trip). If you aren’t already a diver I strongly urge you to try and get certified. There is a program at Miami you can enroll in but you need a certain number of dives before you can take the research class. I believe SVMMom’s daughter was not certified when she got to Miami but is working on it now.</p>
<p>And don’t they have the “Semester at Seas” doing research on a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship?</p>
<p>We were on this cruise and I believe this program was from Miami.</p>
<p>no…its not a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship…crazed that sounds like sarcasm</p>
<p>but if its not sarcasm, they sail aboard a sailboat. and its not a Miami-specific program, it’s for any college students.</p>
<p>UM did just create a study abroad program to the Galapagos for only Marine Science/marine affairs majors</p>
<p>I don’t think crazed was being sarcastic. RoyalCC is headquartered in Miami and has a Marine Sciences Fund they use to support research around the world. This link from Rosenstiel may help:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/pressreleases/20090324-rccl.html[/url]”>http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/pressreleases/20090324-rccl.html</a></p>