IllinoisArcher Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Well my junior year of highschool is almost over and i still havnt even started looking at colleges yet...Iv narrowed what i want to be when i grow up to either a DNR officer or a Computer Programer....Do any of you guys know of any colleges that would be a good choice for one of those so i can look into them Thanks -Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DU_man_84 Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Re: Ideas for College i can tell ya right now, dont know much about the computer programmer, but as for DNR and if you mean CPO im guessing, in state i would definately go to SIUC for the forestry program, SIUC has the 2nd best might be 3rd now forestry program in the nation, if you go to SIUC concentrate on them grades dont take the hunting and fishing for granted like i did or you will end up back home real fast, if you want to go out of state for forestry go to UW in Stevens Point up in Wisconsin, they have the number 1 program in the nation for forestry, i was gonna go there but didnt want to pay the outa state tution, and, if your looking into IV, they got an ok forestry program, but looking into CPO you might want to check out criminal justice and go that route to become CPO, over at IV we are ranked one of the highest programs for criminal justice for a community college in the nation, thats what im over there studying now, and it is the best program ive ever taken, one of the teachers is a retired FBI agent of 26 years on the FBI, other one is a oglesby cop, and the other one is Tom Templeton, LaSalle county sherriff, all these teachers, dont go by the book, they go by real experience and prepare you for the real world, not by what a book says, but them are some of the colleges i would recommend, you could even go to IV for 2 years and then transfer somewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tarbaby Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Re: Ideas for College If you dont mind being away from home... Kansas State and Texas A&M have a couple of the best Wildlife Biology programs. I'm at K-State right now for Wildlife and I'm doing the Fisheries option. I like the program for sure. Whatever you do though, the curriculum for wildlife isnt the easiest. I spend a lot of time at the library studying. More than I thought but it is definitely worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Re: Ideas for College [ QUOTE ] Whatever you do though, the curriculum for wildlife isnt the easiest. I spend a lot of time at the library studying. More than I thought but it is definitely worth it. [/ QUOTE ] Thats college classes for ya, those classes are tuff for a reason, and you are paying big bucks for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowJoe Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Re: Ideas for College I say join the Air Force reserves because if you want to work in any capacity for the state, it will be 100 times easier if you go with a veteran background. Most state jobs (especially in IDNR) require you to have been a veteran or enlisted in the reserves. Plus you get your college paid for and it looks great on a resume. Believe it or not, Army Corps of Engineers is a good place to look too and you can work for them as well as go to college. They actually sponsor some students and you are hands on all summer. Rend Lake has an awsome program for college students. Couple of good choices in So. IL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest realtrhunter Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Re: Ideas for College BowJoe..you don't have to have a veteran preferance to work for the IDNR. It definatly helps with preference points, but the main thing to getting on te IDNR is having some political conections. IL is one of the worst states about giving jobs out to those that have a political conection instead of merit or education. SIUC has one of the best forestry programs in the nation and there are several different areas that you can concentrate in within the program. If you are thinking of being a CPO definatly get a minor in Criminal Justice. It is not absolutly needed but it helps. I would even suggest going to a community college and getting an Associates in Criminal Justice, or to just fill you basic core classes, then go off to a bigger school. Tuition is rising every year so going that way will save money, just make absolutly sure that what you take will transfer, don't take the counsilers word about it at the community college go to the school that you are planning on transfering too. I have seen to many people go get an associates and then end up at a 4yr school for 4years instead of 2 more. You should also look into the National Park Service if you are interested in Law enforcement. That is the number one field that they are hiring in. Just my biased opinion you should also look into doing some fire stuff, for the wild land fire crews. We have a club here that we go out and do perscribed burns for people in the area and we burn the woods on campus. PM me if you want some info for SIUC I can try to get you some stuff and send it to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bruteshooter Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Re: Ideas for College My son's planning the DNR thing and looking at a place in Colorado. Can't remember the name, but I'll find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clay008 Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Re: Ideas for College Virginia Tech! Greatest college in the whole country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IL_HuNtIn_KiD Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Re: Ideas for College [ QUOTE ] BowJoe..you don't have to have a veteran preferance to work for the IDNR. It definatly helps with preference points, but the main thing to getting on te IDNR is having some political conections. [/ QUOTE ] i cannot disagree with you more.....i have family that works for IDNR and three dif. neighbors that are foresters for them..it has nothing to do about political connections Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davidmil Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Re: Ideas for College I got to say, your horizons sure do have the extremes. Let's start off with the conservation officer. Let's just say you won't have a lot of money and it get's very political beyond rookie. Now the computer program deal. You're locked in a box, but if you're good... you make a lot of money and make your own hours. My son spent 6 years at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond. Developers are a breed apart, but they do make good money and are in demand.... ALWAYS. So if you want the American dream of a house in suburbia(or the country), a soccer mom for a wife, 2 and a half kids and a SUV for mom... go the programmer route. If you are any good, happen to come up with the right nitch, you can retire like my nephew at 42. Oh, he's still working but only for another year that he gave the mega company that bought his programs and company. As a developer you also have the chance of being like my sons buddy from college. He went to work for someone for 6 months, then started a company with 2 others, ran it a year and sold to Microsoft.. His share at age 21 was 15 million. Now how much do you think that conservation officer is making after a couple years? The CO job is a pipe dream. The programmer job is a great start and a steady income no matter how slow you are. If you speak the language..... you'll have the toys. These two jobs are at extremes of the world. Aim high. You deserve the best. The college you chose REALLY doesn't matter in programming, other than if you get in one of the biggies, it get's you in the door for a lot of interviews. But, you don't have to necessarily have to come from a biggie college to make the money in programming. Programmers are truly a breed apart. If you want a headstart, look at Tuffs, MIT, Duke, Stanford etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Re: Ideas for College [ QUOTE ] I got to say, your horizons sure do have the extremes. Let's start off with the conservation officer. Let's just say you won't have a lot of money and it get's very political beyond rookie. Now the computer program deal. You're locked in a box, but if you're good... you make a lot of money and make your own hours. My son spent 6 years at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond. Developers are a breed apart, but they do make good money and are in demand.... ALWAYS. So if you want the American dream of a house in suburbia(or the country), a soccer mom for a wife, 2 and a half kids and a SUV for mom... go the programmer route. If you are any good, happen to come up with the right nitch, you can retire like my nephew at 42. Oh, he's still working but only for another year that he gave the mega company that bought his programs and company. As a developer you also have the chance of being like my sons buddy from college. He went to work for someone for 6 months, then started a company with 2 others, ran it a year and sold to Microsoft.. His share at age 21 was 15 million. Now how much do you think that conservation officer is making after a couple years? The CO job is a pipe dream. The programmer job is a great start and a steady income no matter how slow you are. If you speak the language..... you'll have the toys. These two jobs are at extremes of the world. Aim high. You deserve the best. [/ QUOTE ] Remember not EVERY programmer gets these opportunities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davidmil Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Re: Ideas for College But, if you're good, you'll get the chances. Programming is one of the few jobs in life where you can't bullcrap anyone about what you can do. If you can do it, people will pay you and pay you. It's a true performance job pay scale. Bonuses to programmers are wild. They can be yearly, monthly or weekly. There are no bounds. I know a young fella that made $60,000 a year while attending Tufts just doing code in his down time for Microsoft. He was roasted as a junior at a Microsoft bash for his summer internship. He had done code for them for 3 years. You can be the absolute perfect CO and you're still going to make $25,000 a year as a rookie. Aim high... shoot straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach1 Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Re: Ideas for College [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] BowJoe..you don't have to have a veteran preferance to work for the IDNR. It definatly helps with preference points, but the main thing to getting on te IDNR is having some political conections. [/ QUOTE ] i cannot disagree with you more.....i have family that works for IDNR and three dif. neighbors that are foresters for them..it has nothing to do about political connections [/ QUOTE ] And I must respectfully disagree with you. I know a few guys who work for the IDNR and they all tell me that you need to know someone to get in there. I've been done with school for almost a year and a half and I'm still trying to get in. It's my goal to get on with them eventually, but until we get a new administration in the State House, it's not happening. My advice is to worry more about being happy with your major/job and less about how much you're going to make. No matter what anyone says, money CANNOT buy happiness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davidmil Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Re: Ideas for College Most state and Federal jobs with few slots require insider pull. And then they're really a political thing....especially in the Department of natural resources area. If you're a minority, female, yada yada yada comes in to play.... ALWAYS. The two fields this person is considering are at extremes ends of the possibility scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tarbaby Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Re: Ideas for College It's sounding like the DNR thing is different than what I'm going after. In the line of Wildlife Biologist all that matters is experience. The more different jobs you have had that gives experience is better than having a 4.0 GPA with no experience. Whatever you choose you shouldnt worry about the money. Worry about if you will like doing the job. Thats being happy with your job right there. Over the summer I worked for Kansas Wildlife & Parks on a Public Wildlife Area and I had no problem getting up out of bed in ther morning or staying late just to get something done. The days are so much faster and easier if you are enjoying what you are getting paid for. Just my .02 Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosierbuck Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Re: Ideas for College Vincennes University in Indiana has a respected Law Enforcement program. It's a 2 year degree, so you would have to follow up with 2 more years to have a bachelor's and be competitive. Other things to think about with being a conservation officer are that you have to work the most hours when the hunting and fishing are at their best. HB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bruteshooter Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Re: Ideas for College [ QUOTE ] My son's planning the DNR thing and looking at a place in Colorado. Can't remember the name, but I'll find out. [/ QUOTE ] Silly me. It's the University of Colorado, but I'm also told that the University of Minnesota is one of the most respected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phaseolus (BeanMan) Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Re: Ideas for College Bruteshooter, Colorado State University has an excellent Wildlife Bio program and costs much less than CU. Also it's less likely your kid will turn into a liberal up in Fort Collins (CSU). I grew up in the Fort and am a CSU Alum. BeanMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach1 Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 Re: Ideas for College [ QUOTE ] It's sounding like the DNR thing is different than what I'm going after. In the line of Wildlife Biologist all that matters is experience. The more different jobs you have had that gives experience is better than having a 4.0 GPA with no experience. [/ QUOTE ] Here in IL, experience doesn't mean much...it's all in who you know. There have been some state jobs (not necessarily with IDNR) that were filled with people that weren't even qualified for the position and had no relevant experience for it....they just knew the right people in the right places. I, like you, am looking for a wildlife biologist position (with the DNR here), but I don't know the right people in the right places, so I'm pretty much s.o.l. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 Re: Ideas for College i'm with bowjoe on the national guard thing. they even pay you to go to school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowJoe Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 Re: Ideas for College I talk to the guys at Wayne Fitsgerell State Park and everyone of them has had some military background. They all say that you won't even be considered unless you have veteran status. Check on the websites for IDNR and ACOE and they both say that job preference is given to veterans. Imagine how many are out there. Tough crowd and they do hire veterans first bar none. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bruteshooter Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 Re: Ideas for College [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] It's sounding like the DNR thing is different than what I'm going after. In the line of Wildlife Biologist all that matters is experience. The more different jobs you have had that gives experience is better than having a 4.0 GPA with no experience. [/ QUOTE ] Here in IL, experience doesn't mean much...it's all in who you know. There have been some state jobs (not necessarily with IDNR) that were filled with people that weren't even qualified for the position and had no relevant experience for it....they just knew the right people in the right places. I, like you, am looking for a wildlife biologist position (with the DNR here), but I don't know the right people in the right places, so I'm pretty much s.o.l. [/ QUOTE ] Mach 1, send me a PM. Get me your resume and I'll see what's up. I know people. PS: As the father of a Marine Corp Recruiter, I can also vouch for the military experience plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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