<p>OP, Cornell is excellent for both basic and applied ecology.
[Department</a> of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology](<a href=“http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/]Department”>http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/)
[Courses[/url</a>]</p>
<p>About Cornell: You have some good stats, but your SAT is a bit on the low-end for Cornell. It might be worth a shot, though. At Cornell, the biology depts are cross-college, i.e., they are shared across the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences. The CALS is the land-grant college for NY State; Cornell operates it under contract to the state. Admission to it is somewhat easier than admission to CAS, but NY State residents might have an edge. For a NY State resident, the cost of CALS should be lower, too, than for a non-resident. I don’t know how much cost would be a factor for you and your parents, however. </p>
<p>Judging by your screen name, are you from NJ? If so, you’re lowest cost might be at your state flagship, Rutgers, which has programs in biology and related areas. However, some public universities in other parts of the country still might be less expensive. I say “public universities” because if you want to major in Wildlife Biology/Ecology, it’s a subject that typically is offered only at public land grant universities with a college of agriculture or natural resources. (Although at the graduate level, there are a few private universities, e.g., Yale or Duke, that offer programs in applied areas.)
[url=<a href=“http://rci.rutgers.edu/~deenr/undergrad/index2.html]Rutgers”>http://rci.rutgers.edu/~deenr/undergrad/index2.html]Rutgers</a> Undergraduate Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources](<a href=“http://www.dnr.cornell.edu/cals/dnr/undergraduate/courses/index.cfm]Courses[/url”>http://www.dnr.cornell.edu/cals/dnr/undergraduate/courses/index.cfm)
[Rutgers</a> Human Ecology](<a href=“http://humanecology.rutgers.edu/major.html]Rutgers”>http://humanecology.rutgers.edu/major.html)
[Department</a> of Environmental Sciences Web Page](<a href=“http://envsci.rutgers.edu/programs/envsci_ug.shtml]Department”>http://envsci.rutgers.edu/programs/envsci_ug.shtml)</p>
<p>This brings me to my next comment and your counselor’s recommendation about doing an undergrad major in biology, followed by graduate study in environmental studies. Your original post mentioned “Wildlife” so my assumption was that you specifically wanted recommendations about Wildlife Biology/Ecology programs. When you say “ecology” or “environmental studies”, it could mean a lot of different things. A lot of kids want to study the “environment”, but there are multiple types of programs and multiple pathways for doing so. The first consideration is whether your primary interest is basic ecology (i.e., research-oriented) or applied ecology. If it’s basic ecology, then you can pursue that in a biology department. Some biology departments offer a specialized track in ecology. Many universities divide their bioscience departments into subspecialties, e.g., a department of ecology & evolutionary biology or some similar title. Other universities still keep the traditional department structures, so you might find a dept. of zoology, which would include the coursework on general and animal ecology. If your primary interest is applied animal ecology, then you be looking for a dept. of wildlife or fisheries & wildlife or some similar title. These departments will be found in colleges of agriculture or forestry/natural resources at public land grant universities. (Often, agriculture programs and natural resources programs are combined into a single college, depending on how a particular university is structured.) Some universities have interdisciplinary majors or depts. of environmental science. “Environmental science” usually refers to more than just ecology as studied in a biology dept. It also includes the chemical, geological, atmospheric, and other aspects. So studies in environmental sciences might include environmental toxicology, air pollution, water resources, etc., usually from an applied perspective (prevention, remediation). “Environmental studies” is a broader term that might include aspects of environmental science, but also includes social science and humanities aspects of the ecology or the natural environment, e.g., environmental law and policy, historical changes, “nature” writing, environmental ethics, etc. These links to programs at Illinois and at Minnesota give some good examples of the range of applied programs that are available:
[For</a> Future Undergraduates in NRES :: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois](<a href=“http://nres.illinois.edu/future_undergrad]For”>http://nres.illinois.edu/future_undergrad)
[Environmental</a> Sciences, Policy and Management : College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences : University of Minnesota](<a href=“http://www.cfans.umn.edu/UndergraduateStudents/CurrentStudents/MajorsandMinors/ESPM/index.htm]Environmental”>http://www.cfans.umn.edu/UndergraduateStudents/CurrentStudents/MajorsandMinors/ESPM/index.htm)
[Forest</a> Resources : College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences : University of Minnesota](<a href=“http://www.cfans.umn.edu/UndergraduateStudents/CurrentStudents/MajorsandMinors/FR/index.htm]Forest”>http://www.cfans.umn.edu/UndergraduateStudents/CurrentStudents/MajorsandMinors/FR/index.htm)
[Forest</a> Resources : College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences : University of Minnesota](<a href=“http://www.cfans.umn.edu/UndergraduateStudents/CurrentStudents/MajorsandMinors/FR/index.htm]Forest”>http://www.cfans.umn.edu/UndergraduateStudents/CurrentStudents/MajorsandMinors/FR/index.htm)</p>
<p>You can certainly do an undergrad major in biology and then do another type of environmental program in graduate school. If you decide to major in a basic bioscience, you have a much broader range of both public and private universities available to you. At the private universities, there is a greater possibility of financial aid than you might find as an out-of-state applicant at a public university. (So you’d have to compare the cost of a private college or university with financial aid vs. the generally lower cost of many public universities.) It all depends on where your primary interests lie, and what you’d like to do with your degree.</p>