Yale FES Master's Program F14

[marsmat]

Just got news from Duke! Its a yes, some prereqs and 12k scholarship. Not at all bad. Congrats again memma!

Edited February 24, 2014 by marsmat

[memmma]

Congrats to you too! And yes, that was the last of my schools...now for the fun task of trying to make a decision.

[Etownenviro]

Just got news from Duke too! in w/ a $12K scholarship and a $3K assistantship!!! Congrats to everyone else who is hearing back positively from Duke! 

[memmma]

Woo, congrats!

[trio1611]

Got into Duke as well! Some prerequisites and an 8k scholarship!

I am completely out of my misery now (ok, not misery. got UCSB long time ago) 

Believe it or not this is my top school. Just waiting for Yale to get it over it!

[marsmat]

Im more than 99% sure that I will end up turning Duke down but want to visit just in case I can prove myself wrong, so Im holding on to the place right now. Is this a really rotten thing to do, considering people may be waitlisted for the program? I have been checking the results list to see if there are any waitlists but so far haven't seen any.

[Etownenviro]

I don't think so since Duke is going to admit more students anyways than they expect to take because they know some students will turn down their offer and go somewhere else. Some years schools(in general I don't know about Duke specifically) don't even get to their wait-listed people because they already got the number of people they wanted to matriculate with their initial acceptances. 

 

You can always send them an email after you visit declining their offer and that way maybe your scholarship money or your spot in the class would go to someone else sooner.

 

What would be wrong is if when the acceptance deadline comes around you gave both Duke and another school a deposit that way Duke wouldn't know to take someone off the wait-list. 

 

May I ask why you are so sure you wouldn't attend? I wasn't even really considering Duke but w/ that generous scholarship it is now by far my cheapest option so I am absolutely planning on visiting so I can really give it a chance as well. 

Edited February 26, 2014 by Etownenviro

[Talullah]

Hey guys, Last week a lady working at admissions told me that until March 7th they would be delivering the answers.

So, keep calm!

[PandaPK]

Hey! I'm a fulbrighter too and got accepted to Yale FES on the 20th of Feb. Still waiting on Duke though! Yale is my dream school so I'm dying to go there but Fulbright sends you the place that offers the most cost-sharing so I have a feeling it won't be Yale =(. Does anyone know how generous Yale FES is with aid for international students? Particularly for Fulbright candidates?

[marsmat]

but Fulbright sends you the place that offers the most cost-sharing so I have a feeling it won't be Yale =(. Does anyone know how generous Yale FES is with aid for international students? Particularly for Fulbright candidates?

 

Im not sure about the generosity of Yale specifically re Fulbright candidates, but I know it is considered a particularly generous school in general for international applicants. Shocked that Fulbright wont let you choose your school! Can I ask which country you are applying from? Fulbright in Norway seems so so laid-back compared to pretty much everywhere else. I get on with applying and they give me cash, seems to be the deal.

[Etownenviro]

You should check out this old thread because they discuss the funding different schools give in it for both domestic and international students. It is a bit old (like 2ish years ago) but I would be surprised it Yale,Duke, Michigan, UCSB, etc.. funding situations changed drastically from year to year. 

[marsmat]

Reading the thread you linked to with all the applicant profiles makes me wonder what kind of background you guys on this thread have. Anyone want to share? Would be interesting to see what sort of mix of undergrad degrees, work experience etc we can expect to meet when we all get accepted to our dream programmes.

[Etownenviro]

To start...

 

Program Applied To: MEM and one MPA program
Schools Applied To:  Yale, Duke, Michigan, Indiana (MSES/MPA)
Schools Accepted To: Duke($$), Michigan and Indiana for the dual degree but no word on funding yet

Undergraduate Institution: Top 10 university/ non Ivy League 
Undergraduate Major: Environmental Science(hard sciences track not environmental studies/policy)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 0.5
Years of Work Experience: I wasn't sure how to count it on the apps or on this but I worked and did research all through undergrad.

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Worked at a city's office of sustainability and helped them achieve 100% green energy, was the assistant communications director on an emissions lowering campaign for a city, and currently I work with local governments on addressing and meeting various goals sometimes environmental and sometimes on other topics. I also spent 2+ years working in a lab on ancient paleoclimatology but that isn't my main interest. 

 

 

I am super psyched with how well this cycle is going for me! I honestly wasn't expecting any/many acceptances because I don't even have a full year of work experience (after graduating) at this point in time. I figured I would apply and see what happened and then reapply in a few years with a stronger resume. 

[marsmat]

Happy to hear it is going to well for you! You seem to have done a lot of exciting stuff too. So, this is me...

 

Program Applied To: Two MEM and one agroecology programme
Schools Applied To:  Yale, Duke, UWisc-Madison
Schools Accepted To: Duke($), Madison

Undergraduate Institution: Big European university
Undergraduate Major: Political Science/ Econ.

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2
Years of Work Experience: 4-5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Policy analyst internship at think-tank (6 months), freelance science journalist/ environmental educator/ FIAN right-to-food writer/ political commentary (all sorts of stuff, basically writing for extra cash for the last few years). Currently project manager researching + advocating gender equality in sustainable ag.

 

I literally had no idea about how this would go but I decided to have a shot and see what happened. Things sort of just rolled along after I applied to Fulbright and then some schools and... well, now Im just waiting for Yale. Im really excited about Madison, I have to say. The progamme seems a perfect fit, there are two fantastic advisors I can work with. Their research is almost uncannily aligned with my interests and they are really lovely people. Also, my husband likes the idea of Madison and he needs to be happy with whatever choice I make too. But we will see!

Edited February 27, 2014 by marsmat

[memmma]

Program Applied To: MEM and one Marine Affairs
Schools Applied To:  Yale, Duke, Michigan, UCSB, UW
Schools Accepted To: All; funding info from all but Yale

Undergraduate Institution: Top 10 liberal arts college
Undergraduate Major: Environmental studies, geology

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 1.5
Years of Work Experience: 1.5 since graduating; various research and internship experience while in college

Describe Relevant Work Experience: For the last year and a half, an environmental law nonprofit, mostly fisheries policy work--writing, research, outreach, etc. In college, two-year environmental economics research project resulting in a publication, geology fellowship/REU that became my thesis work, and various other smaller research/international experiences.

[Etownenviro]

I grew up in the Midwest and Madison is absolutely gorgeous! The city has lots of fun things to do, there is a big farmers market there on the weekends, it is between two lakes, and there are lots of great state parks in Wisconsin. There is a lot of cheese and beer in Wisconsin and the midwest in general if that is a plus for you haha. Also Madison is only about 2ish hours away from Chicago depending on traffic so you can get to a big city super easily. 

[marsmat]

Yay, so exciting, I absolutely love cheese and beer! They are my staple foods.

[Etownenviro]

Is anyone planning on going to the accepted student weekends/visit days? 

[marsmat]

Going to visit Duke first week of April and will attend Yale admitted students day if they let me in. Crossing fingers. Maybe even see some of you there?

[marsmat]

Ok, its this week! I am majorly counting down to Friday.

[1091098098]

I'm going to Duke Admitted Students Weekend March 20-21, and hopefully hearing good news from Yale this week too!! I find myself re-reading the same GradCafe forums about Yale FES vs. Duke Nicholas like, several times per week... 

[Etownenviro]

I am also planning on going to duke, Michigan, and Yale (if I get accepted.....) open house days. For open houses are you planning on staying with students or are you planning to stay in a hotel?

I also have been rereading forums so I'm glad to know I'm not alone! Haha especially the super long ones from a few years ago.

[1091098098]

Ugh I'm starting to think we're not going to hear anything this week... their usual FAQ says "on or around March 15", even though someone posted that this was the week.

[Etownenviro]

I hope Friday is the day! I don't know how much longer I can wait since it's the last decision I'm waiting for.

[kurenai325]

Hey guys, I'll just join in the fun as well to help pass the time! (which hopefully won't be longer than 24 hours now, for FES at least...)

 

Program Applied To: M.S., MESM, MEM (might like to switch to MESc, however)
Schools Applied To:  Michigan, UCSB, Yale
Schools Accepted To: Michigan ($15k academic leadership fellowship)

Undergraduate Institution: Berkeley
Undergraduate Major: History

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3
Years of Work Experience: 3

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 2 years of working in energy/transportation policy at a large environmental NGO (writing, research, legislative work, GIS analysis and mapping, administrative work, budgeting). Before that, one year working at a law firm as a legal clerk.

 

My situation is a bit more complicated. Since my work experience has largely been focused on policy, I applied for the policy concentrations at each school since that made me a much stronger applicant (i.e., I already had experience in the field and was already on a specific track and motivated). Howevever, my interest really lies in conservation biology/ecology and my intention is to switch over to that once I enroll at whichever school. The package that Michigan SNRE offered me, however, includes a $5k fellowship that was awarded by the adviser they assigned me (in the policy concentration). Therefore, I'm fairly sure I'll lose this fellowship when I switch concentrations. So, definitely a little concerned about that, since I really need the $$, but I'll cross that bridge when I figure out where I want to go..

Edited March 7, 2014 by kurenai325