Anyone waiting for Yale FES result here?

[greendiplomat]

You are right. It says the 19th

"Due to the significant increase of applications, the review process has been extended, therefore all students will receive the final admission decision no later than March 19th."

I don't know why I had next week in mind.

Could we keep the convo FES-pertinent? I have a mini-heart attack whenever I see this thread updated!

[asha]

Sorry! I know how that feels.

[chenchak]

Could we keep the convo FES-pertinent? I have a mini-heart attack whenever I see this thread updated!

Mine is worse:( I'm in Asia now and have to wake up in the middle of the night since last week to check email...

Maybe I should just ignore it:(

[chenchak]

dinged for me:(

[kabutar]

In! I'm still not sure whether it's a mistake

Sorry to hear that, chenchak...

[Vivane]

Finally accepted. Financial information coming shortly. Excited!

[lilanngel]

Finally accepted. Financial information coming shortly. Excited!

Accepted as well.

Hmm.. did it say "Financial information coming shortly"?

It didn't say anything about financing in my letter.. :-(

[kabutar]

Accepted as well.

Hmm.. did it say "Financial information coming shortly"?

It didn't say anything about financing in my letter.. :-(

In mine it said if I applied for financial aid the information would follow shortly.

I'm still checking and rechecking to make sure it isn't a mistake. I'm paranoid now after the unfortunate experience the other fellow had with WWS.

[Vivane]

Accepted as well.

Hmm.. did it say "Financial information coming shortly"?

It didn't say anything about financing in my letter.. :-(

This is quoted from the letter: If you have applied for financial aid, your award notification will arrive shortly.

[lilanngel]

In mine it said if I applied for financial aid the information would follow shortly.

I'm still checking and rechecking to make sure it isn't a mistake. I'm paranoid now after the unfortunate experience the other fellow had with WWS.

What happened to him?

[kabutar]

What happened to him?

He got an email acceptance to WWS, then a few hours later he got another bunch of emails saying there had been a mistake and he was actually waitlisted. Luckily I think since we have actual letters there should be less chance of such a mistake...

[zhao22]

I got in as well! Congrats everyone!! Hope to hear about FA package pretty soon.

[lilanngel]

This is quoted from the letter: If you have applied for financial aid, your award notification will arrive shortly.

Thanks, Vivane!! In my elation, I think I missed that line. :-D

Congrats, everyone!! See you at the Open House in April! :-D

Edited March 17, 2010 by lilanngel

[kabutar]

Thanks, Vivane!! In my elation, I think I missed that line. :-D

You need to update your sig

[redcascade]

See you guys in August!

[kabutar]

I'm curious if anyone knows how the school is regarded? Is it Yale's prodigal son or is it on par with everything else? I suppose I'm only curious because the acceptance rate is 30%, which seems high for an Ivy...

Maybe I'm so stunned at being accepted I'm looking for reasons to discredit myself lol. Anyway, questions meant in the nicest way possible.

Edited March 19, 2010 by kabutar

[lilanngel]

F&ES and Duke's Nicholas School have the best MEM programs in the nation (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though). It was also established in 1900, making it the oldest environmental school in the country. I heard from my manager (who graduated from the Duke program) that the Yale MEM program is more management-focused, while the Duke program is more scientific.

Btw, where does it say that 30% of applicants were accepted?

[greendiplomat]

BOO rejection .

This was a test-round, since I'm applying as a college senior, but I guess I got my hopes up after getting into SIPA...

Oh well, I guess I'll have more of a chance to get a fellowship/aid next time around.

I'm curious if anyone knows how the school is regarded? Is it Yale's prodigal son or is it on par with everything else? I suppose I'm only curious because the acceptance rate is 30%, which seems high for an Ivy...

Maybe I'm so stunned at being accepted I'm looking for reasons to discredit myself lol. Anyway, questions meant in the nicest way possible.

F&ES and Duke's Nicholas School have the best MEM programs in the nation (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though). It was also established in 1900, making it the oldest environmental school in the country. I heard from my manager (who graduated from the Duke program) that the Yale MEM program is more management-focused, while the Duke program is more scientific.

Btw, where does it say that 30% of applicants were accepted?

I think the acceptance rate is high compared to other schools because environmental programs are much more specific and are therefore more self-selective than, say, a business or a law degree, which draw more generalists.

And I think the 30% acceptance rate is from last year, given that they can't possibly have a figure for this year yet (since a few more people will probably be accepted from the waitlist).

[kabutar]

F&ES and Duke's Nicholas School have the best MEM programs in the nation (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though). It was also established in 1900, making it the oldest environmental school in the country. I heard from my manager (who graduated from the Duke program) that the Yale MEM program is more management-focused, while the Duke program is more scientific.

Btw, where does it say that 30% of applicants were accepted?

Thanks for the info! That's good to know. It definitely seems more management oriented than Duke's - I was basically thinking about doing the Enviro Law and Policy stream which would make it closer to a policy degree lol. You probably still know more than me though: what kind of jobs do people usually go into coming out of this? The dean of forestry at my local university is an FES grad so I'm going to talk to him, but I also want to ask around as much as possible

The 30% number was from last year - from the article posted on page 1 of this thread where it said apps were up 5% from last year too.

[elementarian]

hello, all! just wanted to update those who have been accepted to FES and are anxiously awaiting financial aid info: i contacted the financial aid office today to get an ETA, and they emailed back:

"Financial aid awards will be emailed this week."

[Chuck]

hello, all! just wanted to update those who have been accepted to FES and are anxiously awaiting financial aid info: i contacted the financial aid office today to get an ETA, and they emailed back:

"Financial aid awards will be emailed this week."

Has anyone gotten funding information yet? I have a friend who is currently at the school and I'm pretty shocked with the small financial aid package they offered him. I know FES is trying to build their donor base for aid, so I'm wondering if the funding situation is getting better year-by-year or is simply getting swallowed by simultaneous tuition hikes.

I think that for the most part the school does not award aid amounts preferentially on merit, except in the cases of outside/university-wide scholarships, or very specific funding sources. Once need is established, they try to spread aid around fairly evenly. I think.

According to my friend, most students end up taking out the max in stafford loans for both years (21K each year), with some also taking the perkins (5K). This is in addition to working 15-20 hours a week as an RA (though I hear those jobs are plentiful for FES students). A significant number of students also take on private loans to cover living expenses or so they don't have to have a campus job. This seems like a lot of loans, but I'm just now starting to look into grad school so maybe it's normal.

If you wouldn't mind telling the forum what kind of package you got (assuming you applied for aid with full financial need), future applicants would much appreciate it!!

Edited March 23, 2010 by Chuck

[kabutar]

Just got my financial aid package... it's more than I was expecting, so I'm really happy.

[Vivane]

Just got my financial aid package... it's more than I was expecting, so I'm really happy.

Do you mind sharing how much you got? I know the FES fnancial aid is based on need. So I wonder how much they offer considering the gap between your resources and the estimated budget.

So when you share the information, please not only list the number here, but also say it covers half of the gap or covers all the gap.

Thank you very much.

[pajarero]

<br />Thanks for the info! That's good to know. It definitely seems more management oriented than Duke's - I was basically thinking about doing the Enviro Law and Policy stream which would make it closer to a policy degree lol. You probably still know more than me though: what kind of jobs do people usually go into coming out of this? The dean of forestry at my local university is an FES grad so I'm going to talk to him, but I also want to ask around as much as possible <img src='http://forum.thegradcafe.com/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /><br /><br />The 30% number was from last year - from the article posted on page 1 of this thread where it said apps were up 5% from last year too.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Commenting on the Yale FES curriculum, is it just me, or does it seem distressingly unfocused? Or at least the website seems to be lacking information. Principally, I feel the lack of a core curriculum that builds on itself and no strict requirements for developing focal areas seem to be real weaknesses. For instance, Yale's MEM degree requires taking 1 course from each of 7 general areas (e.g. Earth/Climate Science, Ecosystems & Biodiversity, Policy/Law, Info/Data Analysis) but I don't see how they ensure that these courses actually complement each other. It seems to me that Yale FES has tons of courses that sound really interesting, but they seem a bit biased toward the social sciences and they don't seem to logically build on each other. In my opinion that would encourage dabbling in lots of areas without truly become skilled in any of them. Maybe I'm wrong...does somebody have an inside view of Yale FES?

I'm sure with the Yale brand name you're guaranteed a job, but how skilled will you be? Yale FES has offered me a great financial package, nearly double what I got from Duke's Nicholas School, but I don't see that Yale would really make me an effective practitioner and scientist. It would probably, however, help me have lots of interesting ideas on a variety of environmental topics. Is that worth two years of grad school, even if it's cheap? Granted, I've only met one alum of Yale FES's MEM degree. But he fulfilled my perception of the theoretical, bubble-bound environmental manager at a big NGO (The Nature Conservancy) who despite all his ideas and supposed training, doesn't seem to have field skills nor the adaptability to respond to realities on the ground. But like I said, just one guy I know, not a statistical sample.

[Chuck]

<br /><br /><br />

Commenting on the Yale FES curriculum, is it just me, or does it seem distressingly unfocused? Or at least the website seems to be lacking information. Principally, I feel the lack of a core curriculum that builds on itself and no strict requirements for developing focal areas seem to be real weaknesses. For instance, Yale's MEM degree requires taking 1 course from each of 7 general areas (e.g. Earth/Climate Science, Ecosystems & Biodiversity, Policy/Law, Info/Data Analysis) but I don't see how they ensure that these courses actually complement each other. It seems to me that Yale FES has tons of courses that sound really interesting, but they seem a bit biased toward the social sciences and they don't seem to logically build on each other. In my opinion that would encourage dabbling in lots of areas without truly become skilled in any of them. Maybe I'm wrong...does somebody have an inside view of Yale FES?

I'm sure with the Yale brand name you're guaranteed a job, but how skilled will you be? Yale FES has offered me a great financial package, nearly double what I got from Duke's Nicholas School, but I don't see that Yale would really make me an effective practitioner and scientist. It would probably, however, help me have lots of interesting ideas on a variety of environmental topics. Is that worth two years of grad school, even if it's cheap? Granted, I've only met one alum of Yale FES's MEM degree. But he fulfilled my perception of the theoretical, bubble-bound environmental manager at a big NGO (The Nature Conservancy) who despite all his ideas and supposed training, doesn't seem to have field skills nor the adaptability to respond to realities on the ground. But like I said, just one guy I know, not a statistical sample.

Would those who have just received their financial aid packages please comment on the sweetness of the pot? Those of us who are really curious to know are potential applicants for Fall 2011 scoping out the MEM scene at different schools, we don't know who you are and will respect your anonymity!