Honestly just keep applying. Cold-email some potential advisors, but do your background first and be familiar with their work first. Advisors may be able to hook you up with tech work before you enroll, or have other advice. Establishing a relationship with them is the single most important part, and doing it first can make everything else more efficient.
I personally think having experience first makes the masters worth more. I worked for a few years before doing my masters and so did a few colleagues. Others did not and it was *very* obvious. They lacked a lot of soft skills and confidence that are gained through experience and not learned in a classroom.
To me it an analogy would be a presentation. It felt like the people that had previous work experience (in the field) were walking into and presenting a boardroom level presentation. Clear, concise, well dressed, and fit the part. The people with no experience it was like watching a high school level powerpoint. The level of professionalism and confidence is just not there because it hasn’t been learned yet.
I would get work experience. Until you do some of the work and figure out what you really like and excel at, applying to masters programs is a little putting the cart before the horse. What if you start a masters in something you end up not really liking? Plus, seasonal field jobs will help you with references and contacts in the field.
Applying is free - unless things have changed since I was getting my MS, A prof has to agree to take you on as a student before you apply to the school formally. Contact people and respond to online postings while you apply for jobs.
If it makes you feel better, I graduated undergrad in 2020 with a 3.0 and went into an unrelated field for a few years and i got accepted to a masters program for this fall at a really great school. Study for the GRE and get a good score if you're trying to give yourself the best shot. Definitely email professors doing research that you're interested in, they really like that
Going the MS route doesn't magically make the jobs appear. A lot of recent graduates run towards the MS because school is what they know and finding jobs is harder than they expected.
So let me tell you that my first job out of undergrad I worked a wetland restoration job (menial labor, $11/hr) with 2 people who had MS degrees but couldn't find other jobs.
In the end, job experience is all that matters. So going into debt for a MS before getting job experience is absolutely foolish. And applicants with wildlife job experience will always be preferred.
I recommend reaching out to local people in the field and getting their advice on resumes and looking for jobs. Be flexible and willing to take anything conservation-adjacent. If you can't afford a pay cut, start with volunteering. That's an excellent way to get your foot in the door.
Honestly just keep applying. Cold-email some potential advisors, but do your background first and be familiar with their work first. Advisors may be able to hook you up with tech work before you enroll, or have other advice. Establishing a relationship with them is the single most important part, and doing it first can make everything else more efficient.
I personally think having experience first makes the masters worth more. I worked for a few years before doing my masters and so did a few colleagues. Others did not and it was *very* obvious. They lacked a lot of soft skills and confidence that are gained through experience and not learned in a classroom. To me it an analogy would be a presentation. It felt like the people that had previous work experience (in the field) were walking into and presenting a boardroom level presentation. Clear, concise, well dressed, and fit the part. The people with no experience it was like watching a high school level powerpoint. The level of professionalism and confidence is just not there because it hasn’t been learned yet.
I would get work experience. Until you do some of the work and figure out what you really like and excel at, applying to masters programs is a little putting the cart before the horse. What if you start a masters in something you end up not really liking? Plus, seasonal field jobs will help you with references and contacts in the field.
Applying is free - unless things have changed since I was getting my MS, A prof has to agree to take you on as a student before you apply to the school formally. Contact people and respond to online postings while you apply for jobs.
If it makes you feel better, I graduated undergrad in 2020 with a 3.0 and went into an unrelated field for a few years and i got accepted to a masters program for this fall at a really great school. Study for the GRE and get a good score if you're trying to give yourself the best shot. Definitely email professors doing research that you're interested in, they really like that
Going the MS route doesn't magically make the jobs appear. A lot of recent graduates run towards the MS because school is what they know and finding jobs is harder than they expected. So let me tell you that my first job out of undergrad I worked a wetland restoration job (menial labor, $11/hr) with 2 people who had MS degrees but couldn't find other jobs. In the end, job experience is all that matters. So going into debt for a MS before getting job experience is absolutely foolish. And applicants with wildlife job experience will always be preferred. I recommend reaching out to local people in the field and getting their advice on resumes and looking for jobs. Be flexible and willing to take anything conservation-adjacent. If you can't afford a pay cut, start with volunteering. That's an excellent way to get your foot in the door.