Hello, I am in my Senior year of my undergrad work and am looking for a graduate program in a related field (I have a double major in biology/natural resources). I go to Northland College, which is small, private undergrad college that focuses on environmental studies. I've been getting alot of advice from the faculty and my friends who have already graduated and attempted grad school to varying degrees of success. This is what I gather.
Biology is a good catch-all masters, but because of that it's extremely competitive and hard to get into. Natural resources is getting alot of the biology overflow and starting to suffer from similar problems.
When you're looking into habitat restoration for a species as a whole, Conservation Biology is a great place to start and keeps you in the field. Ecology is not too far removed and a viable option too.
I've visited two of the schools I'm applying to already, and had similar questions about my research interests. Essentially, I was told that it's important to have some specific concepts -- not necessarily species -- that you want to work with. It's fine to mention that you'd be particularly interested in working with x or y species, but focus your energy touting the interest in habitat restoration focused towards endangered species as a whole. If you really desire to be more directed or specific in a SOP, go for habitat type (wetlands, grassland, etc.) - not species. Again and again, I was told that demonstrating a clear focus yet a certain degree of flexibility was crucial.
Unfortunately, I'm not really aware of any schools in Iowa in the field. However, this is not necessarily because they don't exist but because I had a very specific idea of the kind of program I was looking for and when I was doing my research I never really was pointed in that direction.
Thanks very much. Conservation Biology and Ecology have been the two he's been focusing on, so that's good to know.
So, it seems the more research we do, the more we find his research interests are already pretty solid. He has no doubt about what he wants to study and where--but he's open to studying almost any species (well, other than fish or insects).
Biology is a good catch-all masters, but because of that it's extremely competitive and hard to get into. Natural resources is getting alot of the biology overflow and starting to suffer from similar problems.
When you're looking into habitat restoration for a species as a whole, Conservation Biology is a great place to start and keeps you in the field. Ecology is not too far removed and a viable option too.
I've visited two of the schools I'm applying to already, and had similar questions about my research interests. Essentially, I was told that it's important to have some specific concepts -- not necessarily species -- that you want to work with. It's fine to mention that you'd be particularly interested in working with x or y species, but focus your energy touting the interest in habitat restoration focused towards endangered species as a whole. If you really desire to be more directed or specific in a SOP, go for habitat type (wetlands, grassland, etc.) - not species. Again and again, I was told that demonstrating a clear focus yet a certain degree of flexibility was crucial.
Unfortunately, I'm not really aware of any schools in Iowa in the field. However, this is not necessarily because they don't exist but because I had a very specific idea of the kind of program I was looking for and when I was doing my research I never really was pointed in that direction.
I hope I helped at least a little. Good luck!
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So, it seems the more research we do, the more we find his research interests are already pretty solid. He has no doubt about what he wants to study and where--but he's open to studying almost any species (well, other than fish or insects).
Thanks again!
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And hey, keep us informed on how his grad search is doing!
I know I for one would be interested in seeing what he chooses to do in the end. I'm in the process of making that choice myself, after all.
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