Applying to Environmental Chemistry programs as a non-engineering or chemistry major?

[confusedbanana]

Hi everyone,

 

I'll be applying to grad school next year and am looking to find out what I can do to help my chances (if I have a chance to begin with...). My experience has been a little unusual from the start: at the start of my freshman year, my mom died, and it was a kind of rough and confusing period of time. I was able to maintain about a 3.5 GPA, but the main problem is that it really set me back in terms of figuring out what I wanted to study. I was undeclared my first year, but spent most of the time taking international affairs classes (enough that I now have a minor in it), then switched to health science/pre-med for my second year. Towards the end of that year, I realized that I was really interested in Environmental Health, and ended up creating an independent major in it.

 

Now, though I've tried to cram in as many environmental chemistry related courses (calculus 2, general and organic chemistry, physics, environmental engineering, etc.) as possible, I feel like it's probably not enough to make me qualified for the environmental chemistry graduate programs I'm interested in, especially since most are in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department.

 

However, in the 1.5 semesters (one full semester and a short summer semester) since I've started the new major, I've gotten about a 3.96 GPA with classes including Orgo, Calculus 2, and Genetics (that was my one A-). I'm also doing a 6 month internship with a professor who is doing environmental health research and, though I unfortunately will not get any lab work out of it, I've learned a huge variety of skills from modeling to experimental design, and I will have my name on a few papers (in addition to presenting at a major conference, though it will be for an anthropological society). I also have plans to start working in the lab with a professor who does environmental chemistry/engineering, and will most likely do my honors thesis with him, as well.

 

Overall, my GPA is a 3.6, I will be taking the GRE in December, and I am certain that I will have very strong letters of recommendation from fairly well-established people - one from the professor I'm working with now, one from the professor whose lab I will work in (he is one of my mentors and I know him quite well already, and another from another mentor whose course I recently sat-in on. While I feel like I'm doing quite well in some areas, I'm worried that my low-ish GPA and lack of a strong engineering/chemistry background will really hurt my chances. It also seems like I'll be missing some prerequisite classes for some schools, but I simply cannot fit them in before I graduate.

 

Mainly, I'm hoping to understand what I can do to fix this really weak part of my background. Is it even possible for me to get into an Environmental Chemistry program at this point? I realize that I could probably do just fine if I decided to apply to Environmental Health programs, but I am far more interested in the chemistry side and would at least like to give it a shot.

 

Thank you and sorry for the long post!

[SymmetryOfImperfection]

it is possible. however you need to prove that you're up for it with strong grades in coursework. Chemistry programs are not as rigid as some others out there; physics, chemical engineering and math are incredibly rigid in their undergrad major requirements. Environmental engineering usually isn't so rigid either, since it is pretty interdisciplinary. Note that in the US there's licensing requirements for environmental engineers which involve a P.E. license.

For environmental chemistry I strongly suggest a fluid mechanics course and an actual environmental/water chemistry course since alot of the research in environmental chemistry involves pollutant transport in fluids (air and water).

[confusedbanana]

Thanks for the reply and good advice! Because of my independent major, I have very rigid requirements and won't be able to fit those classes in without adding an additional semester (which my scholarship won't cover and I definitely can't afford to pay for myself). However, I'm currently sitting in on a graduate level water chemistry course for no credit, but doing all of the work involved (homework, exams, labs, etc.). I know that this is not the same as taking the class for credit, but if I were to talk about it in my application and possibly do the same for fluid mechanics, do you think that might carry some weight? Or is there an alternative that might be better?

 

Sorry if I come off as a little crazed - I really do want to put in whatever effort it takes, but I also don't want it to be misdirected.

[SymmetryOfImperfection]

Thanks for the reply and good advice! Because of my independent major, I have very rigid requirements and won't be able to fit those classes in without adding an additional semester (which my scholarship won't cover and I definitely can't afford to pay for myself). However, I'm currently sitting in on a graduate level water chemistry course for no credit, but doing all of the work involved (homework, exams, labs, etc.). I know that this is not the same as taking the class for credit, but if I were to talk about it in my application and possibly do the same for fluid mechanics, do you think that might carry some weight? Or is there an alternative that might be better?

 

Sorry if I come off as a little crazed - I really do want to put in whatever effort it takes, but I also don't want it to be misdirected.

fluid mechanics is a prerequisite for most environmental engineering programs, as that's where alot of environmental (water based) chemistry programs are located. Atmospheric environmental chemistry programs can be in either chemistry or environmental engineering.