The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

My experience and ESF was for the most part very positive. The courses were excellent and the faculty were very helpful and down to earth. However, there were a few professors within my department (EFB) who didn't play well with others. These conflicts seemed to be rooted in unequal resource allocation within the department and plain-old personality conflicts. Certain professors would not serve on committees together and seem to prejudge students depending on who their major professor was - I found this very disappointing. Some advice: interview your potential major professor CAREFULLY! Make sure you know what is expected of you and your time. Ask him/her how they plan to contribute to your project in terms of time, advice and financial support. Interrogate his/her present and past grad. students - this is very important!

I had thought that a smaller school would mean that students had a better chance at actually getting through their degrees. However, because it is a small school, there isn't a very uniform process for degree completion, and often students go about their program somewhat haphazardly. ESF is definitely a great school for environmental science, but it is also quite a cutthroat atmosphere, and a lot of students that start out for their PhD end up with Masters. There is a lot of competition between departments, and some faculty from certain departments definitely look down upon those from other departments. Rather than work together on an interdisciplinary program, these faculty would rather push their graduate students into a project that the student is not interested in than try to find links between different disciplines. Personally, I came in as a PhD student but finished an MPS (Masters of Professional Studies) instead, although I have applied to a different department at the school for a PhD program.

Most public school is pretty depending on its state's budget. ESF is not an exception. However, ESF shares many resources with Syracuse University, and it's a great merit for students who apply for ESF.

There is no Ph.D in my field here. I have had a very hard time finding a steering committee because there are no funds to replace faculty that leave and they are understaffed. They hire grad students to do more and more teaching and research but the grad students cannot be mentors for themselves!!!