Before the SOP and LORs...help narrowing the field

[enderall]

I'm new to this forum, so some of these questions may already be out there in a post I couldn't find. My biggest sense of confusion right now is the steps before the application steps.

1. Is it appropriate or welcome to contact professors, advisors, or other grad students in a program before you have a clear/specific research area developed? I have read student and professors projects/pubs to get an idea of work a department is doing, I just think I need a little clearer understanding of the broad application of a specific program (after grad school). I do not intend to go on to a PhD in the near future after completing a MS.

2. Any suggestions how to get a sense of real world application (jobs) and general understanding of a program topic, specifically ecology versus natural resources and/or human dimensions in natural resources?

3. How does a generalist in the outdoor field develop a specific research goal, if they aren't really interested in studying one very tiny specific area? For example, studying the wood rat's adaptation to chewing plants a certain way...I don't see that as being what will help me when I leave school. I need/want a broad understanding of multiple ecological systems.

Thanks for any and all answers! The first vague steps are always the hardest for me. Once defined and clarified, everything falls into place.

[iowaguy]

enderall - out of curiosity, where are you looking to apply for your M.S.? In response to your questions:

1.) I have a M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana. IMHO, for an M.S. it's not a huge deal if you don't have a clear/specific research area developed before you apply to a school; a general area of interest should be sufficient. At least, for me, it didn't matter in my M.S. applications. And, yes, I think it's fine to contact profs, etc in a program if you have questions about it, you're not going to offend anyone...

2.) to get a sense of real-world applications of the programs of a particular college, one suggestion would be to look at where their current M.S. grads are working. Most programs have such a list available. This helped me quite a bit in my M.S. application process. You'll see that some programs churn out grads that tend towards jobs in education, or policy, or science, etc.

3.) You will get your broad understanding of multiple ecological systems via your coursework and related projects. Your thesis research will likely be VERY specific, that is the nature of scientific research. One of the main benefits of doing your thesis is learning HOW to conduct research/stats, not necessarily that your findings are going to change the world... So, studying a wood rat's adaptations likely WON'T help you in your future policy/education/science job, but it WILL teach you (under your advisor's tutelage) how to conduct good research. And learning how to conduct good research should help you down the road in many potential careers...

My $.02,

Iowa Guy