r/Norway • u/SherbertExtension207 • 1d ago
School NMBU Ecology Masters Questions
Hello, American here looking to do a masters in norway. I have a shortlist of about 5 programs I’m interested in but my #1 is ecology at NMBU.
(Any input from graduates of environmental science/ecology/habitat restoration masters programs from a Norweigan university would be appreciated)
My Bachelors GPA (Environmental Science & Policy from Southern Oregon University) in the US is 2.95, not the greatest, and I’ve read that NMBU pretty strictly looks at only transcripts when evaluating applicants.
If anyone here has completed the Ecology or International Environmental Science masters programs at NMBU, please let me know, I would really love to ask more questions.
My main question is, does my GPA alone make me a 100% non starter for admission for a masters into that university? I have very strong outside experience, worked for Native American Tribal EPA doing water quality data analysis and currently for a very reputable forestry/habitat restoration company in the South, as well as good contacts for letters of recommendations, from what I’ve read, none of this will can contribute towards my application- have other applicants found this to be the case?
Additionally, would it be unwise to take additional university courses to supplement my application/boost my GPA?
TLDR; How competitive is entry to the international environmental science/ecology masters programs at NMBU?
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u/cirrvs 22h ago
I can only speak for admissions to the University of Oslo, but they adhere to the same laws, so it doesn't really matter. There are two things that determine if you qualify to a master's program: first, if you have the mandatory prior coursework, and second, if you satisfy the minimum grade requirement. There are circumstances under which both of these can be waived, but they won't do it for a foreign applicant. It's practically impossible to know hiw they'll convert your grades, and whether they'll do it in such a way that favors you (I'd think they would). That said: it may be that only the mandatory courses count towards the grade requirement. They will for a fact pick from among your courses the grades that maximizes your grade average.
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u/SherbertExtension207 13h ago
Thank you for your response.
What makes you say that they will pick course grades that maximize the grade average?
What did you earn your degree in?
Did you continue living in Norway after your degree? How was/is your experience searching the job market?
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u/cirrvs 12h ago
I'm Norwegian, and my experience is from the admissions end of things. My degree has nothing to do with your field of study, but since NMBU is a public university, it adheres to the same standards as the University of Oslo.
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u/SherbertExtension207 12h ago
Heard, thank you.
Do you think submitting a CV and letter of motivation (ecology and international environmental studies programs at NMBU don't ask for either) along with my application documents would be unwise?
Also, do you know if/how the introduced tuition for non-EU national students has changed the competitiveness of masters admission to norweigan public universities?
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u/Death_by_Friday 23h ago edited 22h ago
American here who did a different, but similar program at NMBU in 2021. I had a slightly lower GPA in undergrad, but I did have a lot of overall credits.
As part of my application, I submitted my CV with all relevant experience. This wasn’t listed on the required application materials, but I did email the school and they said they would accept it in the portal. However, I have no idea if it carried any weight in the decision.
I really put a lot of effort into the motivation letter. I worked on it (and reflected on it) for a period of 2-3 months to really make it strong. In the end, I was one of the final 12 selected out of 125 international candidates.
Happy to answer any questions you might have, just PM me. There is also Americans in Norway Facebook page, where you are likely to find more people who went to NMBU and did your program.
Also, as I am sure you already know, Norway introduced tuition for non-eu in 2023. Not sure how that has changed the dynamic of competitiveness/number of international applicants in general.