Environmental Management and Policy 2019

[hammyc]

@hardikpokhrel @QL1998 When did you submit your applications? I submitted on deadline day so I'm hoping that's the reason why I haven't received a decision yet. 

[hardikpokhrel]

1 hour ago, hammyc said:

@hardikpokhrel @QL1998 When did you submit your applications? I submitted on deadline day so I'm hoping that's the reason why I haven't received a decision yet. 

I submitted on Dec 15 deadline (the priority one).

The financial aid hasn't come in yet but wanted all of your thoughts on Duke Nicholas vs Yale FES vs Michigan SEAS in terms of strength of curriculum for energy or Sustainable System in case of SEAS ?

[hikarusymphony]

On 2/17/2019 at 4:43 AM, hardikpokhrel said:

Thank you so much for this info. According to website though the number is 80% instead of 88%. Anyways, the important figure is the average package of $30k which is substantial. My focus is Energy and what I have gathered from this forum is that Energy is best at Duke. (even better than Yale FES). What other colleges/program did you apply to and what is your top choice? I got admit from SEAS Michigan and Duke. Awaiting Yale FES and SPEA Indiana (MPA/MSES). 

Duke MEM '18 grad here. Just wanted to chime in- the average package of $30k is incorrect, unless Nic School included data for PhD students as well. The best scholarship you can get for MEM is the "Nicholas Scholar" award, which covers 2/3 of the tuition (~$25-30k). And yes, Duke supposedly has the best program for energy. The alumni network is fantastic, and the Clean Energy Field Trip to SF is a must- we got to meet the head of energy procurement for Google (Duke MEM grad), manager for energy storage division at Tesla (Duke MEM grad), etc etc etc. The curriculum for EE is pretty rigid, but the courses, projects, and networking opportunities provide you with all the modeling skills and connections you need. Most of my close friends from Duke (mostly international students) were hired with a starting salary of $65-70k, and got sponsored for a visa. Those that could not find a job in the US were those who struggled with English. Regardless of your technical qualifications, not being able to communicate effectively in English is detrimental for your job search in the US. However, these alumns were able to easily find jobs in their respective home countries.

[hardikpokhrel]

2 hours ago, hikarusymphony said:

Duke MEM '18 grad here. Just wanted to chime in- the average package of $30k is incorrect, unless Nic School included data for PhD students as well. The best scholarship you can get for MEM is the "Nicholas Scholar" award, which covers 2/3 of the tuition (~$25-30k). And yes, Duke supposedly has the best program for energy. The alumni network is fantastic, and the Clean Energy Field Trip to SF is a must- we got to meet the head of energy procurement for Google (Duke MEM grad), manager for energy storage division at Tesla (Duke MEM grad), etc etc etc. The curriculum for EE is pretty rigid, but the courses, projects, and networking opportunities provide you with all the modeling skills and connections you need. Most of my close friends from Duke (mostly international students) were hired with a starting salary of $65-70k, and got sponsored for a visa. Those that could not find a job in the US were those who struggled with English. Regardless of your technical qualifications, not being able to communicate effectively in English is detrimental for your job search in the US. However, these alumns were able to easily find jobs in their respective home countries.

Thanks a ton for the insights. 

Even I was thinking 30k was a bit generous. Also according to post in this forum, most of the students end up getting a assistantship. What are you thoughts on this??

 

Also, What do you as a current student feel about the Yale Fes program as against Nicholas. 

[chaparralcountry]

Agreed with the helpful insights!

I'm planning on applying this fall to Duke NSOE, Yale FES, and Michigan SEAS. I'm also curious about the funding situation - were scholarships/assistantships + summer work enough to defray most of the costs? Were these things decided by test scores, work experience, or other factors? 

Also, what's graduate life like at these places? I remember someone in a past thread was kind of snarky about FES being a "hippie" school and praised NSOE for its pre-professionalism, but I honestly wouldn't mind the former, and don't know a lot about SEAS. I've had a chance to visit all three campuses.  

If these questions belong in another thread, just consider it a free bump. Congrats to those who heard back already! 

Edited February 24, 2019 by chaparralcountry

[hammyc]

7 hours ago, hikarusymphony said:

Duke MEM '18 grad here. Just wanted to chime in- the average package of $30k is incorrect, unless Nic School included data for PhD students as well. The best scholarship you can get for MEM is the "Nicholas Scholar" award, which covers 2/3 of the tuition (~$25-30k). And yes, Duke supposedly has the best program for energy. The alumni network is fantastic, and the Clean Energy Field Trip to SF is a must- we got to meet the head of energy procurement for Google (Duke MEM grad), manager for energy storage division at Tesla (Duke MEM grad), etc etc etc. The curriculum for EE is pretty rigid, but the courses, projects, and networking opportunities provide you with all the modeling skills and connections you need. Most of my close friends from Duke (mostly international students) were hired with a starting salary of $65-70k, and got sponsored for a visa. Those that could not find a job in the US were those who struggled with English. Regardless of your technical qualifications, not being able to communicate effectively in English is detrimental for your job search in the US. However, these alumns were able to easily find jobs in their respective home countries.

That's some really good insight. Pretty rare to have people stick around these boards  after getting into grad school. 

So far it seems like Duke is the undisputed leader for energy, but I'd like to focus on climate change policy and economics. I got into Duke as well and I'm curious to know if you have any insight into the EEP concentration? 

Also, would you be able to speak more about the flexibility (or lack thereof) within the MEM? For example, if I focus on EEP, would I be able to take classes from the EE concentration as well?

[hikarusymphony]

14 hours ago, hardikpokhrel said:

Thanks a ton for the insights. 

Even I was thinking 30k was a bit generous. Also according to post in this forum, most of the students end up getting a assistantship. What are you thoughts on this??

Also, What do you as a current student feel about the Yale Fes program as against Nicholas. 

Most students who receive financial aid from the Nic School are partially awarded with a regular scholarship + a one-year assistantship (~10hrs/wk for $3000), which gets converted into a scholarship in your second year. This $3000 scholarship will not be awarded in your second year if you choose to not accept the assistantship, so effectively you are working for $6000. The assistantships could be anything from an RAship to an alumni relations assistant, administrative assistant etc., so you could use it as an opportunity to advance your career. Once you are on campus, the Nic School will provide a list of available assistantships, and you will apply for the positions like a normal job- everyone is guaranteed a position somewhere. You can always find other jobs on campus as well (i.e. library assistant or RA with other profs), without being limited to the assistantship options. 

The general impression I got is that Duke is more structured, and the curriculum is designed to help you develop some technical, specialized, essential skills for your topic of interest (at least for energy and GIS). This was what I was hoping to get out of my MEM, so it worked out perfect for me. If your focus is energy, Duke has a hub called the Duke Energy Initiative, which promotes interdisciplinary work between the B school, Nic School, Sanford, Pratt, Medical school, etc. https://energy.duke.edu/ It's not just an on-paper collaboration, but it's fully integrated into the university which I thought was very cool.

Yale on the other hand, gives you a lot of freedom with regards to the courses you can take. All the professors and courses are fantastic, so people who do not have a clear idea of their goal could end up graduating with a broad, general education without developing advanced skills. If your goal is to interact with leading thinkers/policy makers, and to have a better understanding of the big, important ideas, Yale could definitely help you with that. Duke definitely has some great connections as well, but I feel that Yale has an edge in that aspect. Since last year, FES has been trying to address the issue and made it mandatory for students to declare a concentration (if I remember correctly). That being said, Yale only accepts people who are already mature/advanced lol. 

Also, I got the sense that Nic School's student body was more entrepreneurial(?), and FES students were more of your-typical-environmentalist type. 

In terms of ROI, Duke seems to have an edge over Yale- it may be just because Duke students are younger on average, hence at an earlier stage in their career, so the MEM gives them a greater boost in salary even if graduate from Yale and Duke had comparable post-MEM salaries. I can't recall exactly so you should check the programs' websites. It's all there. 

Whether at Duke or Yale, I am constantly drowning in the mountain of opportunities so you can't go wrong with either program. You should also consider things like the geographic location and weather too. I personally prefer New Haven- its right next to the Long Island Sound and a 2-hr train ride away from NYC ($35 round trip), but I feel miserable in the winter months (the lows are averaging -5 Celsius this week). North Carolina is beautiful, but Durham is approximately 3 hours away from ANYTHING (Charlotte, the mountains, the beach, Washington DC; i.e. you need a car), but it is much warmer than New Haven. The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (the Triangle) area also has some AMAZING Indian and Middle Eastern food. Both cities are beautiful and has a very cool vibe. 

9 hours ago, hammyc said:

That's some really good insight. Pretty rare to have people stick around these boards  after getting into grad school. 

So far it seems like Duke is the undisputed leader for energy, but I'd like to focus on climate change policy and economics. I got into Duke as well and I'm curious to know if you have any insight into the EEP concentration? 

Also, would you be able to speak more about the flexibility (or lack thereof) within the MEM? For example, if I focus on EEP, would I be able to take classes from the EE concentration as well?

I was checking the results for my friend who applied to Duke and Yale for MEM/MESc! 

I don't know much about EEP, but if you want to study climate change economics and policy, Duke has Billy Pizer, Brian Murray, and Lori Bennear among others. My friends just attended COP 24 in Poland as a part of a UN Climate Change course https://bassconnections.duke.edu/about/news/bass-connections-class-goes-un-climate-change-conference-poland

In terms of the curriculum, I think EEP is one of the more flexible/versatile concentrations- i.e. energy economics, water resource economics, etc. are cross-listed with other concentrations. Each concentration has slots for "elective courses" for the graduation requirements as well (see "COURSE PLANNING WORKSHEETS" https://nicholas.duke.edu/programs/masters/eep)

Edited February 24, 2019 by hikarusymphony

[QL1998]

On 2/23/2019 at 8:52 PM, hammyc said:

@hardikpokhrel @QL1998 When did you submit your applications? I submitted on deadline day so I'm hoping that's the reason why I haven't received a decision yet. 

I submitted my applications on December 15th. Hope you could hear from them soon!

[QL1998]

On 2/24/2019 at 3:29 PM, hikarusymphony said:

Most students who receive financial aid from the Nic School are partially awarded with a regular scholarship + a one-year assistantship (~10hrs/wk for $3000), which gets converted into a scholarship in your second year. This $3000 scholarship will not be awarded in your second year if you choose to not accept the assistantship, so effectively you are working for $6000. The assistantships could be anything from an RAship to an alumni relations assistant, administrative assistant etc., so you could use it as an opportunity to advance your career. Once you are on campus, the Nic School will provide a list of available assistantships, and you will apply for the positions like a normal job- everyone is guaranteed a position somewhere. You can always find other jobs on campus as well (i.e. library assistant or RA with other profs), without being limited to the assistantship options. 

The general impression I got is that Duke is more structured, and the curriculum is designed to help you develop some technical, specialized, essential skills for your topic of interest (at least for energy and GIS). This was what I was hoping to get out of my MEM, so it worked out perfect for me. If your focus is energy, Duke has a hub called the Duke Energy Initiative, which promotes interdisciplinary work between the B school, Nic School, Sanford, Pratt, Medical school, etc. https://energy.duke.edu/ It's not just an on-paper collaboration, but it's fully integrated into the university which I thought was very cool.

Yale on the other hand, gives you a lot of freedom with regards to the courses you can take. All the professors and courses are fantastic, so people who do not have a clear idea of their goal could end up graduating with a broad, general education without developing advanced skills. If your goal is to interact with leading thinkers/policy makers, and to have a better understanding of the big, important ideas, Yale could definitely help you with that. Duke definitely has some great connections as well, but I feel that Yale has an edge in that aspect. Since last year, FES has been trying to address the issue and made it mandatory for students to declare a concentration (if I remember correctly). That being said, Yale only accepts people who are already mature/advanced lol. 

Also, I got the sense that Nic School's student body was more entrepreneurial(?), and FES students were more of your-typical-environmentalist type. 

In terms of ROI, Duke seems to have an edge over Yale- it may be just because Duke students are younger on average, hence at an earlier stage in their career, so the MEM gives them a greater boost in salary even if graduate from Yale and Duke had comparable post-MEM salaries. I can't recall exactly so you should check the programs' websites. It's all there. 

Whether at Duke or Yale, I am constantly drowning in the mountain of opportunities so you can't go wrong with either program. You should also consider things like the geographic location and weather too. I personally prefer New Haven- its right next to the Long Island Sound and a 2-hr train ride away from NYC ($35 round trip), but I feel miserable in the winter months (the lows are averaging -5 Celsius this week). North Carolina is beautiful, but Durham is approximately 3 hours away from ANYTHING (Charlotte, the mountains, the beach, Washington DC; i.e. you need a car), but it is much warmer than New Haven. The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (the Triangle) area also has some AMAZING Indian and Middle Eastern food. Both cities are beautiful and has a very cool vibe. 

I was checking the results for my friend who applied to Duke and Yale for MEM/MESc! 

I don't know much about EEP, but if you want to study climate change economics and policy, Duke has Billy Pizer, Brian Murray, and Lori Bennear among others. My friends just attended COP 24 in Poland as a part of a UN Climate Change course https://bassconnections.duke.edu/about/news/bass-connections-class-goes-un-climate-change-conference-poland

In terms of the curriculum, I think EEP is one of the more flexible/versatile concentrations- i.e. energy economics, water resource economics, etc. are cross-listed with other concentrations. Each concentration has slots for "elective courses" for the graduation requirements as well (see "COURSE PLANNING WORKSHEETS" https://nicholas.duke.edu/programs/masters/eep)

Thanks deeply for the insights! I'm wondering if you can provide any information about the avg cost of attending Yale (living expenses etc.)?

[QL1998]

On 2/23/2019 at 7:52 PM, theoryofnothing said:

Congrats!! Now I regret not applying to Yale.. I’m still in my final year as well. Ended up applying only to Michigan SEAS, because they don’t emphasize on work experience. Do you mind telling me your stats? 

Thanks! I'm an international student from UBC. As UBC is not using a 4 or 5 point GPA so I'm not sure about my equivalent GPA in the US. My avg grade is 89/100 (at least top 5%). My GRE scores are 170 (Q) + 163 (V) + 4.5 (W). I only have two periods of (not so relevant) academic working experience as a research assistant and teaching assistant on campus.

[sara501]

Recieved an acceptance from Bren yesterday, no financial aid info yet...

[hakunamatata1]

1 hour ago, sara501 said:

Recieved an acceptance from Bren yesterday, no financial aid info yet...

I’ve also applied to bren but haven’t heard anything back yet. I noticed acceptances going out this week. Congratulations!! 

[hammyc]

On 3/1/2019 at 2:08 AM, sara501 said:

Recieved an acceptance from Bren yesterday, no financial aid info yet...

I haven’t received anything yet and this is making me anxious. I’m only waiting on Yale FES and Bren right now and I’ve seen people receive admits to both schools already.

Is it normal for decisions from one school  to go out gradually over a couple weeks? I would have thought that all decisions would go out at the same time. 

[sara501]

8 hours ago, hammyc said:

I haven’t received anything yet and this is making me anxious. I’m only waiting on Yale FES and Bren right now and I’ve seen people receive admits to both schools already.

Is it normal for decisions from one school  to go out gradually over a couple weeks? I would have thought that all decisions would go out at the same time. 

When did you submit your application for Bren? Try checking your status page, they may have updated it without sending you an email.

[hammyc]

3 hours ago, sara501 said:

When did you submit your application for Bren? Try checking your status page, they may have updated it without sending you an email.

I submitted Yale FES on Dec 15 and Bren on Jan 5. I’ve been checking the status page for both every day!

[SC88]

18 hours ago, hammyc said:

I haven’t received anything yet and this is making me anxious. I’m only waiting on Yale FES and Bren right now and I’ve seen people receive admits to both schools already.

Is it normal for decisions from one school  to go out gradually over a couple weeks? I would have thought that all decisions would go out at the same time. 

I didn't apply to Bren but I am too waiting for update from Yale FES. There are no changes in my portal so I am hoping they might be releasing results in a staggered manner.

[radysun]

I've received an admit from U-Mich SEAS and Duke's Nicholas School so far and I'm waiting to hear from Yale.

Just wanted to know which university has a better program on water resources management specialization- Yale or Duke?

Edited March 4, 2019 by radysun

[sara501]

46 minutes ago, radysun said:

I've received an admit from U-Mich SEAS and Duke's Nicholas School so far and I'm waiting to hear from Yale.

Just wanted to know which university has a better program on water resources management specialization- Yale or Duke?

I also applied for the water resources concentration. I'm curious to know as well.

[sara501]

Anyone get any financial aid info yet?

[hammyc]

Rejected from Yale FES, kinda bummed. But accepted to UCSB Bren just a couple hours later!

Now gotta get funding info from Bren and Duke Nicholas then it’s time to make a decision!

Anyone else with news to share?

[SC88]

On 2/18/2019 at 10:11 AM, hardikpokhrel said:

I sent in my SPEA Indiana application just couple of weeks back. They extended the Feb 1 priority deadline to Feb 15. Also, do you all think Duke Nicholas is worth it if one has to take a loan to study. What is the ROI like ? I read that average salary is 65k (?). Is that a good salary/bad salary if you have to live in a city in US. Also, heard Durham is very cheap as a city to live in.  Is it true?

Hello everyone 

Can someone from US or a current student chime in on the loan burden aspect if we end by financing MEM courses ( from Yale or Duke) through study loans. 

How difficult does it get to pay back the loan, how easy / difficult is for international students to get good opportunities post graduating in US and what is the average aid given by Yale

Yale gives career outcomes without segregating program wise and also include joint mem/mba degrees. Do we have separate stats for MEM degrees? 

Although both come under Stem, what is the current status on visa issues in Env field. I have been told that non stem degree grads face a lot of problems in getting work visa. 

Also has there been affect of the job market in Env and energy field after Trump took office with his anti climate change attitude? 

Looking for insights 

Cheers 

Edited March 8, 2019 by SC88

[hardikpokhrel]

On 3/8/2019 at 9:31 AM, SC88 said:

Hello everyone 

Can someone from US or a current student chime in on the loan burden aspect if we end by financing MEM courses ( from Yale or Duke) through study loans. 

How difficult does it get to pay back the loan, how easy / difficult is for international students to get good opportunities post graduating in US and what is the average aid given by Yale

Yale gives career outcomes without segregating program wise and also include joint mem/mba degrees. Do we have separate stats for MEM degrees? 

Although both come under Stem, what is the current status on visa issues in Env field. I have been told that non stem degree grads face a lot of problems in getting work visa. 

Also has there been affect of the job market in Env and energy field after Trump took office with his anti climate change attitude? 

Looking for insights 

Cheers 

Based on the stats shared, its something around 65k per annum (median). 

 

Anyone got any funding info?

[snowbound]

Any idea of roughly how much financial aid is given by Yale? In agony waiting another 4+ days to know if I can afford it... 

Have all Yale applicants heard back by now? I heard back really early, and it seems that letters have been trickling out rather than all on one date. 

[SC88]

16 hours ago, hardikpokhrel said:

Based on the stats shared, its something around 65k per annum (median). 

 

Anyone got any funding info?

Thanks a lot. No info for me either from Duke or yale 

[hardikpokhrel]

5 hours ago, snowbound said:

Any idea of roughly how much financial aid is given by Yale? In agony waiting another 4+ days to know if I can afford it... 

Have all Yale applicants heard back by now? I heard back really early, and it seems that letters have been trickling out rather than all on one date. 

Yes I heard abt Yale on Feb 21 as well, but nothing on funding.

P.S I saw your posts on this thread on MEM last year (2018) - are you applying again/ deferred ? If yes, it would be nice if you could share why.