Calling all Environmental Management (MEM) Applicants - 2018

[sid7395]

Anybody who is applying to MEM programs in Yale FES, Duke Nicholas School, UCSB Bren, etc.? 

[Peachy812]

Hi, Sid! 

I am currently applying to Yale FES (MEM), Duke Nicholas (MEM), Columbia SIPA (MPA-DP), and University of Colorado Boulder (MENV).

I will return to this thread once I've finished my application to share its details with you all. Hope this thread gains some traction by then. I've been reading the MEM forum for year 2011 and hope to see something similar in grad cafe this year. 

Edited October 24, 2017 by Peachy812

[laekkauai]

@Peachy812 do you have any insight on Duke's MEM minimum requirements? I'm applying this year too. I struggle with math and couldn't break 154 ☹️. I'm still going to apply with my first score since my retake was actually two points lower in quant and 2 points higher in Verbal. Wondering if a 315 composite is good enough given that the quant part is so low.

[sid7395]

Hi @Peachy812 @laekkauai

Good to see fellow mem applicants!

Finally submitted my Yale FES and Duke applications (minutes before the deadline!) 

I still have to complete the interview component and it is freaking me out - Has anybody completed their online interview?

[SerenityNow!]

Wanted to give some hope to you all - I applied a few years ago to these programs and got into all with funding after 1 year of work experience and a combined 319 GRE score. I would think you definitely are hitting the minimum requirements!

[Miss J]

I got in with combined 324 GRE score, and my work experience very likely helped my application, because my undergrad GPA was definitely subpar (3.89 out of 5). 

[laekkauai]

6 hours ago, Miss J said:

I got in with combined 324 GRE score, and my work experience very likely helped my application, because my undergrad GPA was definitely subpar (3.89 out of 5). 

@Miss J, did you end up at Duke as your choice of program? And if so, how was your application process, financial aid, and current experience? Any insight on the program and life in Durham would be appreciated!  

[laekkauai]

On 12/17/2017 at 2:59 AM, SerenityNow! said:

Wanted to give some hope to you all - I applied a few years ago to these programs and got into all with funding after 1 year of work experience and a combined 319 GRE score. I would think you definitely are hitting the minimum requirements!

@SerenityNow! Where did you end up attending?

[SerenityNow!]

@laekkauai I ended up attending SPEA (Indiana University) on essentially a full scholarship plus stipend. I had a great experience and would definitely recommend it! That being said, all these programs are great - I just wasn't willing to take on a lot of debt for a career in public service. I was also admitted w/ funding to Duke and Michigan but they would have cost substantially more.

This forum helped me a lot when I was applying so I'm happy to pay it back and answer any other questions. Good luck!

 

[laekkauai]

@SerenityNow! 

That's helpful to know, thanks! I'm applying to SPEA as well! 

[Miss J]

On 19/12/2017 at 3:45 AM, laekkauai said:

@Miss J, did you end up at Duke as your choice of program? And if so, how was your application process, financial aid, and current experience? Any insight on the program and life in Durham would be appreciated!  

Hi @laekkauai, sorry for the late reply! Which program are you applying for? I got into my choice of program (MF) and I am quite surprised by my education experience here; it is BETTER than I expected. Most teachers are very dedicated in teaching, at least in my program (MF, which is often grouped with ESC peeps), and Nicholas school is generally a very supportive community; I love my classmates (they are great)! I think the GIS classes are definitely one of the highlights in the MEM programs here especially if you plan to pursue ESC/WRM/MF program, take these classes (and even geospatial analysis certs) if you have the interest! Also, if you have any prerequisite requirements, I will suggest that you clear them all before the program starts (even though the school says you can have 1 prerequisite deficiency before semester starts); I took my calculus class at Duke for prerequisite, and I think it made my first semester here unnecessary painful when I had to juggle between school work, social life (barely afloat) and on-campus jobs, even though my calculus teacher was great. 

Duke typically gives financial aid information on mid March even though one gets an admission offer on February. In my case, I got both my admission letter and financial aid on Mar 23 (so don't panic even when you don't hear back by early March, there might still be chance!). I got only scholarships for my financial aid package, but I know many of my classmates got a blend of scholarships, work study and or assistantship. It is good to get assistantships in my opinion because you will have chance to work with faculties or other institutes like Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke Forest, Duke Lemur Center etc. 

In terms of Durham, alas I did not have much time to explore around town since beginning of fall semester so I don't think I can be a good person to describe the style of Durham. I think the living costs here are ok and Duke students can take public transports for free. There are many apartments near Nicholas School too, the lowest rent I have even seen is 267 per month when you share a 800++/mo apartment with two other people, while the highest rent I have heard is more than 1000 per month. I will say your expenditure will largely depend on your desired lifestyle. Personally I like Durham for its vast greeneries and small-quaint-town vibes, which is a stark contrast from big cities like New York. While west Durham has more student community, I heard that East Durham is not that safe with higher crime rate. 

Edited December 31, 2017 by Miss J
tagged the person who quoted me

[wordsurfer]

Hi there! I've been dreaming about attending UCSB Bren for the last three years and am hoping I'll finally make it a reality this year. I am also applying to Scripps Masters in Advanced Studies in Marine Biology and Conservation as a second choice. 

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with taking Calculus outside of college as a Bren prereq? I thought I could simply sign up for a community college Calc course but they're giving me trouble regarding placement tests and if my high school PreCalc counts. UCSB already told me via email that as long as I'm enrolled by Jan 7th, it counts. I'm worried that these community college will force me to take PreCalc first, and I'll have to tell UCSB that I'm taking Calculus after the fact. I'm terrified to email them AGAIN about math classes. Does anyone have experience with this? I have 3 years work experience, 318 GRE, the motivation to do well at Bren, but I already have a shaky hard science background so I worry this will tip the scales.

Also, does anyone know what to do if you'd like to send Bren more than one GRE score? They say they'll only accept your newest if you send them multiple, which is a shame because I have a 318 on both, but my first one has a better math score, while my second one has a worse math score but a better AWA score. I think I'll send them the one with the higher math score but lower AWA score :/. I wish they could see both.

@laekkauai, I had the same thing happen with my second GRE. Two points higher in V, two points lower in Q  

Edited January 2, 2018 by wordsurfer

[laekkauai]

3 hours ago, wordsurfer said:

@laekkauai, I had the same thing happen with my second GRE. Two points higher in V, two points lower in Q  

I feel your pain! I ended up sending the higher math score as well of the two, even though it was very average/below average based on the profiles I'm seeing on Grad Cafe. I have 3 years work experience as well -- I think that will help in our applications!

Good luck! I will be in the same boat as you if I am lucky enough to be accepted into the programs I'm applying to. I took calculus in high school but not in college, so my college math credits are not enough. For my Duke application, I've indicated that I'm planning to take Calculus at my local community college. I've been in touch with my local CC and theyve let me know that a placement test is required. I might brush up on this via Khan Academy and ALEKS (ASU's free math program) before taking a placement test and hope for the best. If not, I would need to make up for it as Miss J has indicated. Would UCSB Bren allow you to make up for your course deficiency?

 

@Miss J - Thanks for all of the info! Very helpful. I'm looking into the ecotoxicology track, but in general am interested in strengthening my analytical and technical skills, so additional GIS would be awesome! (I only know the very basics, and even then, I am not very confident). I see that you're from South East Asia. How are the demographics of Durham/NC? Wondering how stark the diversity is. I did my undergraduate in LA, and professional planning program here in Hawai'i.

Edited January 3, 2018 by laekkauai

[Miss J]

@laekkauai 

I am not that sure about Durham because I did not travel in the city too much, although from my public transport experience I will say the local community is mainly black, white and hispanic. In the Nic School the student body is quite diverse in my opinion, many international students and rather diverse background. Ecotoxicology track students are quite rare, each cohort normally have 5 or less doing that. 

Good luck for your applications!

 

[wordsurfer]

Submitted to Bren! One more app to go. Anyone else?

[laekkauai]

Anyone think that results will come in sooner than mid Feb? 

[travelwonder]

Hi everyone, I'm new here! I applied to Duke, Yale (but with a concurrent MBA so we'll see how that turns out), Bren,  Masters of the Environment at UC Boulder, Berkeley ERG and Columbia SIPA -ESP.  I hope we find out soon! I got into SIPA so far, but I'm really waiting out for Bren or Yale... One can dream! 

[maria24]

21 hours ago, travelwonder said:

Hi everyone, I'm new here! I applied to Duke, Yale (but with a concurrent MBA so we'll see how that turns out), Bren,  Masters of the Environment at UC Boulder, Berkeley ERG and Columbia SIPA -ESP.  I hope we find out soon! I got into SIPA so far, but I'm really waiting out for Bren or Yale... One can dream! 

Hi there! Congrats on getting into SIPA! I was waitlisted for the ESP program (meh), but still hoping to get in.

Question: do you have a date by which accepted applicants must make a decision with your offer? I'm just trying to get a sense of when I could receive a final decision, and I figure people are also applying to other programs that don't start until fall, which makes the wait even longer!

thank you and good luck with your other applications!

[travelwonder]

19 hours ago, maria24 said:

Hi there! Congrats on getting into SIPA! I was waitlisted for the ESP program (meh), but still hoping to get in.

Question: do you have a date by which accepted applicants must make a decision with your offer? I'm just trying to get a sense of when I could receive a final decision, and I figure people are also applying to other programs that don't start until fall, which makes the wait even longer!

thank you and good luck with your other applications!

Hi, thanks! I'm supposed to make a decision by mid march. Hopefully the other schools get back to me by then! Did you apply to other schools as well?

[maria24]

1 hour ago, travelwonder said:

Hi, thanks! I'm supposed to make a decision by mid march. Hopefully the other schools get back to me by then! Did you apply to other schools as well?

SIPA was actually the only one I applied to (eek risky I know). I suppose the weird timeline of the ESP program probably makes it so that they don't get many responses until applicants hear back from other schools later on. What are your top choices?

[ani11]

On 24/01/2018 at 12:40 AM, travelwonder said:

Hi everyone, I'm new here! I applied to Duke, Yale (but with a concurrent MBA so we'll see how that turns out), Bren,  Masters of the Environment at UC Boulder, Berkeley ERG and Columbia SIPA -ESP.  I hope we find out soon! I got into SIPA so far, but I'm really waiting out for Bren or Yale... One can dream! 

Hi! I applied to ERG too.....any idea when they are sending out results this year?

[wordsurfer]

I'm waiting for Bren too! Make sure you add your admissions results so we can all be updated when the first ones go out: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=bren&t=a&o=&p=1

[laekkauai]

On 1/23/2018 at 1:40 PM, travelwonder said:

Hi everyone, I'm new here! I applied to Duke, Yale (but with a concurrent MBA so we'll see how that turns out), Bren,  Masters of the Environment at UC Boulder, Berkeley ERG and Columbia SIPA -ESP.  I hope we find out soon! I got into SIPA so far, but I'm really waiting out for Bren or Yale... One can dream! 

Congrats on your acceptance!

Applied to Duke as well. I emailed someone from Nicholas to clarify if financial aid deadlines meant we wouldn't hear from them until after Feb 16th. He responded that admissions are separate, and they will be sending out decisions in the next two weeks, so some will hear before the 16th and others may hear after

[travelwonder]

On 1/29/2018 at 3:33 PM, laekkauai said:

Congrats on your acceptance!

Applied to Duke as well. I emailed someone from Nicholas to clarify if financial aid deadlines meant we wouldn't hear from them until after Feb 16th. He responded that admissions are separate, and they will be sending out decisions in the next two weeks, so some will hear before the 16th and others may hear after

Thanks for the update! I got waitlisted for the MBA portion of the Duke application so I don't know what that will mean for the Nicholas school...  Fingers crossed for both of us! I live in fear of my email haha 

[travelwonder]

On 1/25/2018 at 1:26 PM, ani11 said:

Hi! I applied to ERG too.....any idea when they are sending out results this year?

I have no idea.... It's my first choice but it seems super hard to get into.. From looking at previous forums, I can't tell if we're supposed to get interviewed or not. Do you have any idea?