FAQ

F&ES offers four 2-year Masters degrees: Master of Environmental Management (MEM), Master of Environmental Science (MESc), Master of Forestry (MF) and Master of Forest Science (MFS). F&ES also offers two 1-year mid-career programs for professionals who have 7 or more years of experience in the field.

Areas of study include, but are not limited to: ecology, ecosystems and biodiversity; social ecology and conservation and development; forestry, forest science and forest management; global change science and policy; environmental health; industrial environmental management; politics, economics and the law; urban ecology and environmental design; water science, policy and management; and many more. Students are not limited to a declared focal area in choosing their classes.

Joint degree programs are offered with the Yale Schools of Management, Law, Divinity, Public Health, Architecture, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (International Development Economics and International Relations), as well as the Vermont Law School and Pace Law School. There is also a joint program for Management with the Universidad de los Andes (Bogota, Colombia) for those with a special interest in the Andes region.

For more information on the courses required to complete each degree, please see the Masters Degrees page, which details each program’s curriculum.

Applicants to the Yale F&ES master’s program are required to use the online application system. The priority application deadline is December 15, 2011. All application materials, including test scores (sent officially by the test center), should be submitted to F&ES by this date. Late applications and materials may be submitted, but these application files will be considered on a space-available basis. More information is available on the Masters Admissions website.

Please note that admission materials should be submitted online. If you must send materials through the mail, please use the following address:

Office of Admissions and Financial Aid Office
Yale F&ES
195 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511
USA

You can check your application status through the online application system. We will contact you if we have any questions about your materials. Please note that all communications are sent to the email address you include on your application form, so please be sure to provide a current email address that will be active through the summer of 2012.

A standardized exam is required for the F&ES Master’s application, but it does not necessarily have to be the GRE. F&ES accepts the GRE, GMAT, or LSAT. Most applicants choose the GRE, but students interested in the joint MBA or JD degree programs can choose the GMAT or LSAT respectively. We recommend that applicants sit for these exams by the end of November so that scores can be received by the application deadline (December 15th). Applicants taking the LSAT must contact the F&ES Office of Admissions for special instructions. Please note that you can only submit the LSAT if you are currently submitting an application to Yale Law School, Pace Law School, or Vermont Law School. All others must submit the GRE or GMAT. For further information about these exams or to schedule an appointment, please visit the following websites: ets.org/gre, mba.com, or lsac.org.

F&ES does not have a minimum GRE, GMAT or LSAT score. Applications are reviewed on a holistic basis, and all pieces are evaluated to determine admission eligibility.

The iBT version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required for all applicants for whom English is not the official language of instruction at the institution where they received their bachelor’s degree. Applicants should contact the Office of Admissions if the TOEFL is unavailable in a specific country or region. The International English Language Test System (IELTS) may be submitted in this situation. Additional information about TOEFL or IELTS can be found by visiting ets.org/toefl or ielts.org respectively. Please note that we require a minimum score of 100 on the iBT version of the TOEFL and a 7.0 on the IELTS examination.

Yale F&ES welcomes individuals from a variety of undergraduate and professional backgrounds. While undergraduate science and/or math courses are not a prerequisite for admission, they are highly recommended. Introductory course work (at least two courses each) in the biological sciences (such as biology, ecology, zoology, botany) physical sciences (such as chemistry, physics, hydrology, geology), the social sciences (such as economics, political science, sociology, anthropology), and college mathematics (such as calculus, statistics) prepare students to take greater advantage of courses at the graduate level. For this reason, the Committee on Admissions favors applicants who have successfully completed a combination of these courses.

If your application is completed by the December 15th deadline, it will be forwarded to the Committee on Admissions for a thorough review. This consists of a two-tiered, individualized, and random evaluation conducted by 2-4 committee members. Applications are not categorized by degree type or area of interest. The review process occurs between January and March. Applications received or completed after the December deadline may still be accepted, but there is no guarantee that they will be forwarded to the Committee. For this reason, we encourage applicants to have all materials, including test scores, submitted by mid-December.

• Completion of an undergraduate degree. Whatever your major, introductory coursework in the biological, physical, and social sciences, plus college mathematics, is preferred.
• Achievement and integrity in your academic and/or professional career.
• Established commitment to professional and/or scholarly engagement in environmental issues, whether at the local, national, or global scale; two or more years of experience post-baccalaureate is a plus.
• Promise of a future career as an environmental leader.
• Demonstrated capacity for critical, creative, entrepreneurial, and strategic thinking.

Individuals interested in receiving a scholarship from F&ES must submit the F&ES Financial Aid and Family Support application forms by February 15. U.S. citizens and permanent residents must also submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (fafsa.ed.gov) by March 1. Please note that financial aid applications submitted after this deadline will not be considered. Visit the Financial Aid website for more information.

MESc and MFS applicants must identify up to three faculty members as potential research advisors at the time of application. The Office of Admissions may ask you to submit a short explanation as to why you would like to work with each potential advisor (one short paragraph per faculty member). This is because the research degree programs require a more in-depth thesis project, and these potential advisors are given the opportunity to review your application file before they accept you as a research student. For this reason, applicants are encouraged to contact prospective advisors when they apply to F&ES.

For the MEM and MF degrees, no selection of a faculty advisor is needed during the application process. These students are assigned an advisor once they arrive on campus in order to help design a course of study, but we also encourage you to collaborate with many faculty members to put together a program that best suits your interests. Of course, if there is a faculty member whose research is of particular interest, prospective students are welcome to ask that person to be their advisor.

Decision letters are electronically posted to your online application account on or around March 15. No materials will be sent by hard copy.

Tuition rates are the same for all students, whether you are a CT resident, U.S. citizen, or an international student. In 2011, the tuition rate was $31,900 a year, with an additional $16,400 estimated for books, health insurance and living expenses. For more information on the cost of attendance, please see the Financial Aid website.

Yale F&ES offers more than 120 courses a year. In addition, Master’s students can take up to 50% of their courses at other Yale schools. This means that you have the entire Yale University campus at your disposal to create the program of your desire. Many students choose to take courses in law, business/management, international studies, public health, or languages. The School Bulletin lists all courses at F&ES and their descriptions.

F&ES graduates find jobs in the non-profit, private, public, and academic sectors. The Career Development Office at F&ES offers a number of services to help you find your internship, a job after graduation, and positions later in your career. Among other things, the CDO website contains extensive employment data on past internship organizations and places of employment immediately following graduation.

YES! We encourage prospective students to visit campus. Three full or half day open houses are held during the fall term (October 14, November 11, and December 2). A complete list of our Fall 2011 on and off-campus recruiting events is available here.

If you cannot attend one of our scheduled events and would like to visit New Haven at a different time, please contact the Admissions Office at fesinfo@yale.edu or 800.825.0330. Visitors are welcome to sit in on classes of interest with no advance notice. It is best to visit campus on a Monday through Thursday if possible as classes are not offered on Fridays.

NOTE: Please plan your visit prior to the December 15th application deadline. The Office of Admissions will be closed from December 23 – January 3, and we will be busy processing applications from January – March. Admissions staff will have limited availability to meet with prospective students in January, and will not be available for visits during February and March.

F&ES representatives spend much of the months of September, October and November traveling to cities around the country to meet with prospective students. Information sessions are open to all prospective students and are excellent ways to learn about F&ES if you are unable to travel to New Haven to meet with representatives on campus. In addition, representatives attend a number of Idealist, conference, and college/university graduate school fairs, where you can also meet with an admissions representative. To see if a representative will be in your area and to sign up for an event, please see our Admission Events website.