maelduin Posted March 19, 2014 Posted March 19, 2014 Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone can give me a reliable look into the reputation of the UM Forestry and Conservation school. I've looked all around on the internet and I find some promising things. The school itself isn't very highly ranked, but this department seems rather strong. Does anyone have any experience with it or has anyone heard of it?
kev0476 Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 If you are interested in timber management or forest fire management it is a fantastic program. If you are interest in natural resources there are other programs that are better choices.
maelduin Posted March 20, 2014 Author Posted March 20, 2014 kev0476 thank you for the response! Essentially I'm weighing it against a program at UBC right now in Canada. I'm going to be joining the M.S. program in Systems Ecology if I were to go, and I wanted to get a good feel about the overall reputation of the school. Where about did you find information regarding the program specifics? That's awesome that you were accepted to UW. I applied--didn't get in. I went for a short visit though and fell in love with Seattle.
kev0476 Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 (edited) I'm currently in Bhutan and one of the forestry Chiefs (Department of Forestry) went to UM for forest fire management whom I have developed a friendship with. UM is basically the USFS's head of forest fire research, money flows there for fire. It seems to be a consensus between Private industry friends and my past professors that the program at UM is timber and fire vs UW (better for natural science) and Penn State (I applied to the geography M.S. but most likely my choice as I want to pursue conservation within land trusts). I also got a chance to meet with one of the senior professors at UM when he visited Bhutan and chatted about my goals and the program. That said, if you want a chance to visit Bhutan, UM has one of the best connections within the country. Yale is the other major school here. I've heard that the department has forwarded decisions as of Tuesday to the graduate school for notification via electronic system. (I'm still waiting though) And waiting to see if I get off of the waitlist for funding at Penn State. Application season is far from done. Congrats on UBC, I wish I had some information about that school for you, but I didn't look into it. Best of luck! Edited March 20, 2014 by kev0476
maelduin Posted March 20, 2014 Author Posted March 20, 2014 Thanks! Actually there's no definitive outlook yet from UBC, just good vibes. I probably spoke too soon. But I'm really thinking that UM might be the better school. It seems like it has a much more intimate and focused atmosphere. When I visited UW it was a lot of the same feeling. A small--dedicated building with really friendly staff. I think if you go there, you'd definitely enjoy it.
kev0476 Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 Thanks! Actually there's no definitive outlook yet from UBC, just good vibes. I probably spoke too soon. But I'm really thinking that UM might be the better school. It seems like it has a much more intimate and focused atmosphere. When I visited UW it was a lot of the same feeling. A small--dedicated building with really friendly staff. I think if you go there, you'd definitely enjoy it. Appreciate the vote of confidence. Without funding from Penn state I am 50-50 between Penn and UW.
maelduin Posted March 25, 2014 Author Posted March 25, 2014 Did you call/e-mail the coordinator to find out more?
kev0476 Posted March 25, 2014 Posted March 25, 2014 Last I heard was that the department has forwarded decisions to the grad school about a week ago. The delay is from the actual grad school and not the department. I was hoping to have a response by last friday. No news since then but I am pretty much decided on Penn state even with a decision from UM so I haven't dug further.
maelduin Posted March 25, 2014 Author Posted March 25, 2014 Interesting. Yeah, I didn't get any kind of information from the graduate school specifically yet. I hope that information comes soon. I hope your Penn State decision works out!
kev0476 Posted March 26, 2014 Posted March 26, 2014 Rejected from UM, bit of a surprise but such is life.
maelduin Posted March 26, 2014 Author Posted March 26, 2014 (edited) Kev, Eek!! When did they get back to you about it? Rather, how? Maybe the CFC only really accepts people with full funding packages?. It could be that the person you wanted to work with there couldn't find an applicable project to get you in under that would allow you to research without financial burdens. Really sorry to hear about that though. Edited March 26, 2014 by maelduin
kev0476 Posted March 26, 2014 Posted March 26, 2014 Email directing me to check the website. I'm shocked but in the end I have already decided on a different school because it was a better fit. Maybe they figured out that the program wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I have a few other ideas of why but its not really important as I would have said no anyways. Have you still not heard?
maelduin Posted March 26, 2014 Author Posted March 26, 2014 Kev, Yeah, no news yet. In fact--I'm not even sure what website I should be checking. What website did you use!? I applied through that applyweb applet, but I didn't get anything else to direct me to a different site and that website doesn't seem to update anything.
kev0476 Posted March 26, 2014 Posted March 26, 2014 The email directed me to the applyweb site. They posted a PDF of the notice after logging in.
maelduin Posted March 27, 2014 Author Posted March 27, 2014 Kev, Thank you for the update! This really helps. Hopefully I hear some developments soon.
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