University of Maine

[vu_s2002]

Hi there...

I am a third year student and my major is Ecology.

I would like to know your opinion about the University of Maine and their Ecology/Environmental department. I was thinking to transfer but I found out that is not so simple. I could get my major here here first and then take graduate studies there, but I don't know if our program matches theirs.

Do you think I should contact them directly and ask about my options?

I hope you have some advice for me.

Thank you in advance.

P.S. I am going to Maine this summer to work... Is there anything I could do about the admission process or something while I'm there?

[aleks]

Hi there...

I am a third year student and my major is Ecology.

I would like to know your opinion about the University of Maine and their Ecology/Environmental department. I was thinking to transfer but I found out that is not so simple. I could get my major here here first and then take graduate studies there, but I don't know if our program matches theirs.

Do you think I should contact them directly and ask about my options?

I hope you have some advice for me.

Thank you in advance.

P.S. I am going to Maine this summer to work... Is there anything I could do about the admission process or something while I'm there?

I would recommend doing your grad work there. First finish what you started and then apply for a grad program. Also contact them, find a professor in that departmen that is working in the area that you are interested in and contact him/her directly. Don't worry if they don't write you immidiately, they will eventually. I don't know much about UofMaine, but I lived in Vermont and it is beautiful up there! You should also contact admissions for prospective graduate students and talk to them. When you are up in Maine, go and visit the campus. Schedule a tour. Make them think that you are serious about going there and also ask every question about assistanships and fellowships! GOOD LUCK! Let me know if you have any specific questions! aleksn81@yahoo.com

[elz]

Well, yes it is much better to complete the program there rather than transfer. We have worked with several students in environmental/Ecology programs. First I would suggest that you come to the graduate advising seminar. This is where you will learn how to begin to organize yourself for a full financial aid package. Also, during the course of that session, you will learn exactly when it is appropriate to contact a professor in a department that you are interested. We always encourage our students to follow Ashers Law:

Thou shalt not visit, telephone, or write to any professor without having read at least one of the research papers.

These papers are generally available on the website. The way that we work with students on these issues often insures that you have a real advocate when you application goes before the committee. Also, since so many schools are providing extensive information on their websites, one of the rules that we go through again and again are that students should be quite certain that they do not write to a professor asking for information that is already included on the website.

One thing that can be rather difficult for international students is that the American schools often have a rather sophisticated admissions process. It is important that you have thoroughly backgrounded yourself prior to writing. Another important fact is that often some schools even provide you contact information for other graduate students in your field. Should you decide to write to a graduate student, bear in mind that there is a strong possibility that this e-mail will shared with a professor in the department, perhaps someone that would be a suitable mentor for your studies - so keep that in mind as you write.

One more tip, do not go into great detail in the e-mail, but it is good if you can include your GPA (Serbian, of course) and if you have taken the GRE, include those scores - this makes you a serious candidate. If you have won any honors, it is a good chance to briefly mention those and perhaps state (see attached CV).

However, what is most critical -especially if you are after the funding - is that your communication reflect the fact that you have thoroughly researched that department and read work from that professor. It is important that the first contact show that you are a good fit for that program.

I would really encourage you to arrange to attend a group advising session for graduate students. You may call our office at 334 5227 and find out when the next available session is and place your name on the list. It is a very thorough session and provides a very good overview of the entire process.

Also have you checked the scholarship area on this forum? I believe that there are quite a few offers for Ecology.

We have a pretty good reference library and can help you find several schools that will be quite good for you. It really does require quite a bit of research to find schools that are the right fit. As I recall Maine has a very good Marine Biology program.

We will need to do some research about the Ecology, but I would guess that may be quite strong too.

Since you will be visiting the US this summer, it is important that you start the research and we can assist you in doing a swing tour of several grad schools.

Best regards,

Elizabeth

[vu_s2002]

First of all I would like to thank you for your answer.

Yes, I know it would be difficult to transfer, especially without financial resources, and I am aware of the fact that it is hard to find scholarships and financial aid for transfer students. But the reason I would like to transfer is that I need at least two years from now to graduate, and more important, I think I would prepare better for graduate studies if I was able to finish my last two years of college in the US.

I was going to contact the admission office at the UM to ask if there is a chance to check the compatibility of the Ecology/Environment program (I could send them my transcripts). That is what concerns me most. Would they recognize my diploma if I graduated here?

I am planning on attending one of your sessions in May. I am from Banjaluka (Bosnia) and I have no time right now to come to Belgrade because I have classes and exams to take.

I have conntacted the advising center in Sarajevo but they don't have an american advisor yet.

Yes, I have checked those scholarships and there are some related to my field of study (for graduate students).

Thank you once again.

Slobodan

[elz]

Dear Slobodan,

Well actually it is not so hard to head into graduate studies from here. We have had many, many students get full finanicial aid packages for graduate schools. As Aleksa and I keep emphasizing, the transfer with money included can be tough. There are really two sides to preparing for graduate studies from overseas or at a US School. The hardest part of working from over here concerns the critical reading and essay portion of the GRE. This is my opinion of course. On the other hand, often your course of study and the diversity of the program you are getting in BiH, makes you a highly attractive candidate. As I said, we have pretty good luck with graduate students and funding.

I suggest that you visit the website at the University of Maine and start to download the degree sheets and begin to informally compare what you have with what they will require of you. I fear that you will find that you need a great deal of undergraduate course work that is outside the area of your major. (I consider these core requirements one of the strongest point of the American system, because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for this kind of intellectual engagement.) See if you can locate the degree sheet and see where you stand.

Another thing that you might do is engage our alum, Dule, at Green Mountain Environmental College in Vermont. Now this small liberal arts school focuses specifically on environmental issues. Even if Dule cannot direct you, he might know where you can look to get very specific and helpful advice. He is an outstanding students and has good contact with professors, so he could certainly look into the matter for you and he is a real stand up guy who would most likely do so.

Aleksa, do you have anything to add on this? What do you feel are the pros vs. cons of transferring in terms of preparing for graduate school?

Also, Slobodan, since you are going to be comparing your coursework with that of American universities, I would really be interested to see your conclusions. Everytime that a student researches a specific area, I learn something But, hey, it makes me a better advisor.

I am delighted that you contacted the overseas educational advising center in Sarajevo. They will soon have an advisor in place. I was at a conference last week with some of the team there. They are really ready and willing to help students in BiH.

The centers in this region have good cooperation and this greatly benefits the students. We work together on projects and support one another. Hang in there, they will an advisor in there soon, but until then, we are more than happy to assist you.

Have you had a chance to visit over there and speak with Sanja? She is a really super person. I think that they may also have some information sheets as well. If you have time, be sure and ask her what resources in terms of hand-outs or information sheets that she might have available while we await the arrival of the new advisor.

Best regards,

Elz

[vu_s2002]

Hi Elizabeth

I did some research and tried to compare my courses with those at the U.S. colleges related to Ecology and Environmental science.

Well, as you know we don't have those courses like public communication, critical writing, creative exprerssion, core courses...

But here are the courses that do match: chemistry, physics, mathematics with statistics, biochemistry, general ecology, microbiology, genetics, evolution, geology, pedology, biology of fungi, environmental protection and policy, hidroecology, taxonomy of vascular plants, plant physiology, plant ecology, animal physiology, animal ecology, vertebrate zoology, invertebrate zoology.

We don't have courses like tropical ecology, marine biology, individual research, etc. But as far as I know we cover more subjects in general.

And there is another thing that makes difference. Courses are more specific overthere. For example, we study hidroecology in general here, but in the US they have separate courses for each field of hidroecolgy: river ecology, limnology (study lakes), marine ecology, wetland ecology... We also cover all those fields but in general, not as detailed.

I hope you can find something helpful here and make yourself a better advisor, no mention you are pretty good...

No, I haven't visited the advising center in Sarajevo yet but I have talked to Sanja and I think she is really kind.

And I have one more question that is not related to this topic, but I hope you can answer me here.

If you want apply for a scholarship they require you to be enrolled in some college, and if you want to be enrolled in some college you have to have your financial background available to them. My question is how to get out of that magic circle? What to do first?

Thanks...

Slobodan