maelduin

Rvict, I think he means he had a very high GPA with no real  usable knowledge  from it. Rather his good grades didn't actually describe his aptitude and therefore prevented him from good employment opportunities.

Rvict, I think he means he had a very high GPA with no real  usable knowledge  from it. Rather his good grades didn't actually describe his aptitude and therefore prevented him from good employment opportunities.

As someone that has JLPT level 1 and has spent 5 years living in Japan, I have to say I don't think a 6 month program and that amount of  self-study is really going to get you to a very proficient level in that time frame. Japanese is a language, like many others, dependent on cultural references to communicate effectively. I think that you'd have hard time calling yourself proficient/fluent without a decent amount of time spent in the country. And, no, I don't think 6 months is enough.

I would spend time in Japan doing something that allows you to study intensively, but for a longer period of time.

Then again, I don't know your abilities or your skill in absorbing a language. For reference though the following are a must:

Kanji in Context (the full series plus reference text)
Intermediate Japanese (Writen by McGloin I believe)
Anki (study every day!)
Lang8 (You can use this to study Japanese with Japanese people while helping them learn English)
Once you get to a level of proficiency where you can start reading even a little bit, do it and just keep doing it. I hope this doesn't come of as arrogant! Let me know if you need any other suggestions for helpful texts!

That's the biggest problem I guess. I've got a Major in Japanese and East Asian Studies in my undergrad, so in all honesty that's not very applicable to what I have going here for applications. Do you think I'll more or less be just rejected without any field work whatsoever? I was thinking I'd maybe try for the MF at Berkeley which would likely give me their 8 week field study course regardlesss, might take more time to graduate though. Is there funding in Forestry? It's a passion I'd like to follow up on, and I'm willing to work hard to get into it. What would you recommend for temp/seasonal field positions? I've been looking but I don't know how I can find work like that right away. I was considering working for a year, and then trying for the fall of 2015 for school, but I have a to be wife to work with on all this too!
 
Thanks for your input wanderingalbatross!

Hey everyone,
 
So I'm looking to get into a a Masters program in Forest Ecology/Hydrology or something focused on climate change/climate change mitigation and adaptation. I've been looking at a few different schools and their programs. Here's my overall statistcs:
 
GPA (Last 3 years): 3.56
Major GPA: 3.8
 
GRE
Verbal: 161
Quant: 159
AWA: Waiting
 
I've been actively studying about different climate issues and topics through coursera. I don't have access to a reasonable univiersity as I live in Japan. I'm trying to connect with locals to get into a forestry project, but recently just studying for the GRE and researching grad programs has taken a lot of time.
 
Where do you think I stand for these schools?
 
Berkeley
Yale
University of Wisconsin, Madison
University of Washington, Seattle (this is where I'd love to go)
Oregon State University
University of Michigan
 
In addition, do you have any other recommendations for places I should look at?
 
Thanks for any help!
 

Your scores look pretty good for forestry and your high in-major GPA will help. One thing you should be aware of is that in the natural resources fields, forestry included, field experience carries a lot of weight. If you are planning to move to the US before the due date for your applications, you should definitely look into temporary/seasonal field positions. Anybody can be smart but this type of experience shows that you can actually go out and do the work, which is critical not only for getting into a good program but also for getting a job when you finish. As for your list, try checking out University of Vermont as well.