Frostburg State University-Maryland (Applied Ecology & Conservation Biology; Wildlife/Fisheries Biology)

While the program sounds pretty good, there are some major problems with going to this school. The worst is the lack of financial aid. They will pay for tuition if you have an assistantship, but there are no other stipends to cover all expenses. They also don't provide an estimate of total fees on their website nor do they provide a estimate of total tuition costs. The biology website has hardly any information on it; most of the information is in the graduate school catalog. All of this makes me think it is probably not a very good school and lacks resources to help graduate students. This also suggests that the proper facilities may be lacking, though they do offer a course in electron microscopy. There is no FAQ, and information on TA'ing and the subject GRE is nowhere to be found. I cannot recommend this school because of these important details being left out.

Areas of Emphasis: Conservation Biology, Landscape and Watershed Ecology, Wildlife/Fisheries Biology
Min. GPA: 3.0
GRE: May be waived if you have a min. GPA of 3.5 and a graduate degree. If GPA is less than 3.0, a min. score of 1000 on the verbal and quantitative sections combined is required.
Subject GRE: Not required
Degrees Offered: MS only
In-state Tuition & Fees: $528 per semester per credit hour
Out-of-state Tuition & Fees: $575 per semester per credit hour
Financial Aid: Assistantships provide tuition waivers, provided the student takes 9-12 credits per semester that are relevant to the the degree. (I don't know if this includes the pre-requisites.) A few scholarships are available. Student loans are another option.
TA'ing Required: I can't find any information on whether or not it is required, so I'm assuming no.
Appealing Courses: Environmental Toxicology, Electron Microscopy, Watershed Hydrology, Plant Disease, General Parasitology

Pre-requisites for Applied Ecology and Conservation Biology:

• 1 yr. General Biology
• 1 yr. General Chemistry
• 1 semester Organic Chemistry
• 1 semester Statistics
• 1 semester of Genetics for Conservation Biology Emphasis
• 1 semester of Physical Science for Landscape and Watershed Ecology Emphasis
• 1 course in 3 out of 8 of the following fields: Anatomy or Morphology, Ecology, Physiology, Cellular or Molecular Biology, Evolution or Systematics, Natural Resource Management, Developmental Biology, Environmental or Earth Science

Pre-requisites for Wildlife/Fisheries Biology:

• 1 semester Organic Chemistry
• 1 yr. General Biology
• 1 yr. General Chemistry
• 1 semester Calculus
• 1 semester Statistics
• 1 course in 4 out of 8 of the following fields: Anatomy or Morphology, Cellular or Molecular Biology, Developmental Biology, Ecology, Evolution or Systematics, Genetics, Physiology, Natural Resource Management
• Natural Resource Management
• Developmental Biology
• Environmental or Earth Science

Deficiencies in either major's pre-reqs may be made up.

University of California-Berkeley (Plant Biology)

Although Berkeley is a top school, their plant biology program doesn't sound that great. Coming from an ecological background, there isn't much offered here; it's all molecular and cellular biology. It may be better to go for Environmental Science, Policy, and Management if you want to go to Berkeley for plant ecology or a similar field of botany. Nevertheless, there are some really cool sounding courses. The GRE scores don't have to be too terribly high to get in, and they offer full funding, which is promising since it is so expensive for out-of-state students. TA'ing may be a hard requirement to get waived, and their pre-requisites may be difficult to meet if you don't have a background in botany. Overall, I can't recommend this school for this program, unless you are insterested in doing something with plants that involves the molecular and cellular side of them.

Areas of Emphasis: Basic Plant Research, Development of Biotechnologies, Molecular, Cellular, Genetic, Biochemical, Physiological, Developmental, Structural, Plant Microbe Interactions

Degrees offered: PhD only

Min. GPA: 3.0

GRE: No min. score required, but current enrolled students have an average of 620 on the verbal and 700 on the quantitative portions of the test.

Subject GRE: Not required, but recommended

Appealing Courses: Diversity of Plants and Fungi, Biology of Fungi, California Mushrooms, Biology of Algae, Environmental Plant Biology, Digital Imaging for Biologists, Plant Biochemistry, Plant Molecular Genetics, Plant Cell Biology, Grant Writing and Research

Total in-state Costs: $31,702
Total out-of-state Costs: $46,708

Financial Aid: Guaranteed support of approx. $25,500 stipend. (All students are completely funded, currently, with all students having health insurance.) Research Assistantships or TA positions support students during the second year and on. Out-of-state fees are covered as well for the first year, after which time students are expected to have gained California residency. Fellowships are also available.


TAing Requirements: Required for 2 semesters; no information on whether or not it can be waived.


Pre-requisites: They say that you should have an undergraduate curriculum that is, "Roughly equivalent to undergrad program in Genetics and Plant Biology." The requirements for this major are listed below. They do not indicate if you can make up deficiencies or not.

• Chemistry (General and Organic)


• Physics (1 semester)


• 1 yr. Calculus


• Computer Literacy Statistics


• Biology focusing on the molecular, cellular, and development side of things


• Biology focusing on ecology and evolution


• Plant Morphology


• Plant Developmental Genetics


• Cell and Developmental Plant Biology


• Physiology and Biochemsitry of Plants


• Several Upper Division Plant, Chemistry, or Biology Courses

US News & World Report Ranking: 2/152