<p>I really feel for your situation – you do seem to be in a difficult spot.</p>
<p>Here is one option – go to New Paltz, get really good grades, and then transfer to a school which offers the major you want. I realize this is not the ideal solution. You also might discover while at New Paltz that there is something else you want to major in (many students change their minds about what to major in once in college).</p>
<p>Why is Hartwick out of the picture? It has the major [Hartwick</a> - Environmental Science and Policy Minor](<a href=“http://www.hartwick.edu/x1803.xml]Hartwick”>http://www.hartwick.edu/x1803.xml) and is known for giving good financial aid. They even have a three year program to save students money.</p>
<p>yeah, i really liked hartwick, but the same kind of thing happened. They offer “Geology and Environmental Science” as a major, and i took a mini geology class at one of their open houses and hated it. I suppose i could just suck it up and take that along with the policy minor.</p>
<p>Well, first of all, you will probably be WAY more employable as an environmental policy person if you actually know the science behind it! Being interested in environmental policy but not being interested in science is kind of, well…you’d be “environmental policy light”, I guess! I wouldn’t want someone designing environmental policy for me who hated/didn’t know anything about science.</p>
<p>I think the combination of majors that would make you most employable is something sciency having to do with the environment, and a double major or minor in political science.</p>
<p>You’d look like a great applicant to law schools and I think you’d be strong candidate for hiring right out of undergrad, too.</p>
<p>Or since Suny New Paltz has a program where you can design your own curriculum, why not look at Northeastern’s environmental studies major and just copy that? If it’s not heavy on science classes, though, it’s going to look just as bad to employers, I imagine…I think that is the concern the dean was expressing when he said your best bet was to go onto law school. I don’t think it’s that New Paltz doesn’t offer classes to make you a strong environmental studies curriculum, it’s more that the kind of classes you’re interested in are soft and don’t translate exactly into a job…law school would give you a skill set and edge to get into the field. Ex. you may not be able to help with the science side of the policy, but you could help with the legal side. See? However if you don’t have legal or science knowledge…then you’re kinda a bust.</p>
<p>[Environmental</a> Science Program at SUNY Plattsburgh - Major in Environmental Science](<a href=“http://web.plattsburgh.edu/academics/envsci/major.php]Environmental”>http://web.plattsburgh.edu/academics/envsci/major.php)
^Plattsburgh has a very good Environmental Science program.</p>
<p>[SUNY-ESF</a>, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry](<a href=“http://www.esf.edu/admissions/programs.htm]SUNY-ESF”>http://www.esf.edu/admissions/programs.htm)
^SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry</p>
<p>You could start out at New Paltz and transfer into another SUNY.</p>
<p>I agree with ump about considering a Political Science major with a minor in Environmental Science. My son is graduating from Plattsburgh in May with a Political Science major (sociology minor) with 2 concentrations: World Politics, Public Policy. He made a point to take a few environmental classes (Environmental Science 101, US Environmental Policy, World Environments/People) to complement his interest in policy. Don’t discount the quality of a SUNY education. He was accepted into 5 Graduate programs for the fall.</p>
<p>A little off topic, but if you feel like getting ur mind off things for a few minutes, post a visit report about New Paltz in the Campus Vibe section. :)</p>
<p>You also may consider University of Mass at Amhurst. My daughter considered enviromental science as a major. She is also very artsy, so we looked at schools that offered options to take art/minors classes as well. We visited and researched all the schools listed in this post. Tuition, room board and fees for OOS approx 30,000. I’m not sure but you can check as well about merit aid. I think they give out some nice money.
[UMass</a> Amherst: Department of Natural Resources Conservation Environmental Science](<a href=“http://nrc.umass.edu/index.php/degree-programs/undergraduate-programs/environmental-science/]UMass”>http://nrc.umass.edu/index.php/degree-programs/undergraduate-programs/environmental-science/).</p>
<p>University of Delaware is another option. They gave my daughter a very nice merit aid award that made it more affordable than a SUNY.
[Environmental</a> Science B.S. - UD Department of Geography](<a href=“http://www.udel.edu/Environmentsci/]Environmental”>http://www.udel.edu/Environmentsci/)</p>
<p>Another option is University of Rhode island.<br>
[College</a> of the Environment and Life Sciences](<a href=“http://cels.uri.edu/]College”>http://cels.uri.edu/)</p>
<p>These are also more affordable options and can be doable with merit aid, Pell grant, TAP, etc.</p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Which college did you decide to attend? I sincerely hope for all the reasons I read, it was New Paltz. 'Lots of people gave you solid advice. My comment may be too late, but did you check out the College of Environmental Science & Forestry at Syracuse University? The Forestry school is a SUNY, so you pay SUNY tuition yet enjoy all the perks and curriculum of Syracuse U as well.</p>