getting another degree

[scoober78]

O Education and Degrees past the first one...

Ok...kind of an odd question here...My undergrad degree/s are in International Relations and Economics. I enjoyed it, did well etc...

I am interested in pursuing a Masters in Forestry Management or a closely related field. Obviously, I've got a bit of an uphill fight here because my undergrad work is essentially unrelated. I know that I am capable of handling the math/science coursework that would be required for this degree...but am likely going to have to prove that to a college at some point. So...

First, I am aware of CLEP's, but are there other ways to "make up" undergraduate coursework that I didn't take due to my major, with some Navy help? What have you done? What educational benefits/programs/tools, have you used? I am a newb to Navy educational benefits so speak slowly...

Second, does anyone have any reccomendations or advice for positioning myself for greater success in terms of admissions? What has been your best opportunity for Graduate level work while in the Nav?

 

[eddie]

What got you interested in forestry?

 

[lmnop]

Depending on what pre-reqs you're missing you can always use Tuition Assistance to take care of the missing classes locally or by distance learning. If you use TA you will incur an additional 2 year obliserv from the last course which you take, but it does run concurrently with any other obligated service you have. TA will cover $250 per credit, and I believe the max is $4000 a year. I've used the hell out of TA, but my current courses are running $950 a credit and I've used GI Bill top-up to cover the difference.

As far as convincing the admissions folks, your resume, statement of purpose, and GRE scores go a long ways towards showing them you have the ability to start a program despite a few missing undergrad courses. I only have one data point on that, and it worked for me. I did recently take a class that was a bit of a kick in the nuts and made me wish I would've knocked out a couple of the missing undergrad classes. But, it was doable, and I probably saved a bunch of time and money going the way I did.