<p>I've finally decided that I want to go to school to become an environmental lawyer but I need some help choosing a school that has a good enviornmental policy undergraduate program that could help me prepare and get into a good law school. So far I'm interested in the program at UC Davis and at UC Berekely. Does anyone have any insight on these two programs, such as which one might be better? I know Berekely might carry more prestige but Davis seems to be the stronger when it comes to environmetal studies. Also some other colleges with similar programs would be great! </p>
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That won’t help you get into law school. High LSAT scores and a good GPA will help you get into law school. </p>
<p>If you are a California resident, both UC Berkeley and UC Davis are great options – though it may be a bit easier to get a high GPA at the latter. If you’re not a California resident, be aware that the UCs are very expensive for OOS students and offer little to no financial aid. </p>
<p>I’m biased as an alum, but I think Duke has arguably the best undergrad program in environmental policy in the country.</p>
<p><a href=“http://nicholas.duke.edu/programs/bachelor-arts-environmental-sciences-policy”>http://nicholas.duke.edu/programs/bachelor-arts-environmental-sciences-policy</a></p>
<p>Michigan, Syracuse, Indiana, Wisconsin, UGA, UNC, Princeton, Claremont McKenna, Swarthmore, Hamilton, and many others are strong in both public policy and environmental studies. What are your stats, and what else are you looking for in a college?</p>
<p>What can your family pay? What state do you live in? If you intend to go to law school, it is essential to minimize debt.</p>
<p>You do know, OP, that the work you’re most likely to get as an environmental lawyer will be working FOR a large corporation? That possibly means defending the corporation AGAINST the environment. The jobs fighting for mother earth are rare and getting rarer, and usually involve working for some large govt bureaucracy that may not always have the best interests of the environment at heart. Environmental policy expertise is needed in government and business, but do reconsider the lawyer aspect of it. Do reconsider your post graduation career path.</p>
<p>“Environmental Studies” is the name of the major that you’re looking for (at many colleges, at least). And Warblersrule is right. Law school admissions committees, in the main, only care about the LSAT and your GPA. And you don’t need to be an alumnus of an elite law school to work for an advocacy/non-profit outfit like the Riverkeepers. In fact, most graduates of elite law schools CANNOT AFFORD to take a job with Riverkeepers and the like. Little pay, lots of loans.</p>
<p>Law schools want to know how good your critical thinking skills are; which arguably are reflected in your scores, not in your mastery of the knowledge in your undergraduate major.</p>
<p>There are a number of “environmental blank” fields from which to choose: engineering, science, policy, literary theory. LakeSr: generally “studies” is a term for an interdisciplinary approach to a topic, a way for the school to offer courses in a popular field without having to hire new faculty and staff and provide office space. There are however schools with or without environmental engineering that offer environmental science or the very different environmental policy. I know UMD offers environmental engineering in their College of Civil and EE and the latter two in their ES and EP Program. The first of these is not interdisciplinary in the contemporary sense of the term. The latter two pull on faculty from the Colleges of Agriculture, Behavioral & Social Sciences, and Computer, Mathematical, & Natural Sciences. The policy majors get very little of the sciences and none of the engineering, unfortunately, and the engineers can graduate knowing little of the policy.</p>
<p>I work in a prominent national park and know a number of people involved in proposing and/or implementing environmental policy. Their alma maters range from Allegheny College to Montana State University to Dartmouth. One constant is that they didn’t major in environmental policy in college. Usually they studied history, geology, environmental science, resource management, or a number of related disciplines and then applied the knowledge learned to implementing industrial environmental controls or studying how to best minimize human disturbance.</p>
<p>I will say that Emory has an excellent environmental policy program, assuming you’re not interested in extremely complex resource extraction issues. Syracuse, Columbia, Pomona College (not Cal Poly Pomona), and Montana State U. are all also strong in the field. </p>
<p>Just to add to @whenwhen’s remark, If I had a child going into the field I would strongly encourage her not to go into policy. And I would less strongly encourage her to stay away from environmental science. If she does go into one of these, I’d insist on summer if not year-round internships in government agencies at the local, state, or federal levels and/or NGOs. If she had strong spanish skills, I’d have her working summers with Engineers without Borders. There just aren’t jobs out there for these graduates. I know a young grad who, when her FDA internship ended, started working nearly gratis with the Forest Service on a two-man saw in the middle of nowhere, NW–just to keep working. That lasts til November. Winter is coming, OP, have a backup plan.</p>
<p>Thank you guys for replying! I do know about the downside of environmental law so i am open to the idea of changing but the environmental field and political science where ones that appealed to me over anything else. So right now im trying to look at all my options.
Is it true that the jobs in this field are diminishing? I recently heard that they will be rising within the next 5 years
I do live in california, I have a cumulative 4.2 w and 3.8 uw, a 30 on the act, and a first generation to go to college and captain of the color guard team as well as choir president at my school.</p>
<p>CA should have some good public unis that are strong in your fields of interest. Most enlightened states do because strong grads in these fields are needed by the state’s govts and industry, just not to the extent apparently that engineers and business grads are needed, at least in the eyes of some people. Just be aware that you’re going to have to work hard to get yourself out there even while you’re in school: research opps, internships, field studies with govt agencies, grant writing projects, NGO volunteering, etc. There are a lot of people, your classmates, who also want those jobs. </p>
<p>I suggest publics both for their strengths in the field and for their costs. Keeping costs low would be priority number one; the ideal would be no debt upon graduation. In environmental science in CA, I’d look at Berkeley and UCLA, and to a lesser extent UCD and UCI, because they also have national name recognition in the field. If you go environmental policy, add UCB and UCD. I don’t know the CalState programs (Long Beach) at all, but check them out as well.</p>
<p>Certainly with your grades you’re a candidate for admission at any of these schools. At the UCs GPA is more important and you are a first-gen, so the ACT should be fine. </p>
<p>If you’re intent on living and working in CA, go to a CA public college. However, if your family is wealthy enough to pay full freight, you might widen your list to include a private CA school like Pitzer where you can use the excellent natural and social sciences resources of the CCC (see if Pitzer takes the ACT). Occidental is another private possibility for someone with your stats; they pay attn to ECs, so make sure you do, too.</p>
<p>34K/yr at the UCs is not nothing, so run those net price calculators and see what your family would have to pay at any of these schools. After you do that, we can talk about OOS schools where you might fit.</p>